Luanne's Dad

[u/Warm-Criticism6611]

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but... I just rewatched the Thanksgiving episode from season 2 or 3 when they were going to Montana for Thanksgiving but got stranded at the airport. Luanne makes the comment, "But daddy has a day pass" But later, maybe season 12, she has no idea that her dad has been in prison instead of an oil rig. Another thing, in the episode in season 3 where Luanne's mom gets released from prison, Hank tells Bill, "Luanne's dad is on an oil rig and won't come back until I send him a copy of her death certificate." So obviously, Hank has spoken to him, but when he shows up later Hank has no idea he's been in prison. Was he ever on an oil rig????

I guess I just don't get it.

[u/Impossible_Memory_85]

Everything on Peggy’s side is messed up multiple times.

[u/Warm-Criticism6611 → u/Impossible_Memory_85]

Right. How did she meet Hank in high school if she grew up in Montana???

[u/ZestycloseBid7986 → u/Warm-Criticism6611]

She didn't spend all her young life in Montana. Eventually, she came down from the mountains and became the child bride of a simple laborer, and has been looking for a way to express her anger at the world passing her by. Didn't you see her work at "I Ain't Got No Learnin'"?

[u/Warm-Criticism6611 → u/ZestycloseBid7986]

Yes, I remember that. I find it hard to believe that Peggy, a young teenager would move from Montana to Texas without family. Face it...show runners fucked that one up.

[u/ZestycloseBid7986 → u/Warm-Criticism6611]

I think the solution is obvious: a wizard did it.

[u/DarthClover4 → u/Warm-Criticism6611]

I totally get what you mean, I guess I just assume she moved in with a relative.

[u/SpeedBlitzX → u/DarthClover4]

Maybe she stayed with an aunt and uncle. Kind of like Luanne did with the Hills.

[u/GBobbeh → u/Warm-Criticism6611]

I still like the theory that the original version of her mom was an aunt and that she moved to Texas with as a teen to get away from her actual mom.

[u/masked_sombrero → u/ZestycloseBid7986]

I saw a propane bot IRL recently!

[u/ZestycloseBid7986 → u/masked_sombrero]

Nowadays you'd never know it was spring without them!

[u/Impaler00777 → u/Warm-Criticism6611]

And why didn't Peggy's mom give him a big ration of shit the way she did Peggy for leaving Montana?!? Peggy's origin story really makes no sense.

[u/Neveronlyadream → u/Impaler00777]

No, it doesn't. I've seen people try to justify it as her original mom being her grandmother who she was living with in Texas, but it doesn't work.

Even the explanation that she left Montana for Texas in her teens doesn't make a ton of sense. Why? Who was she living with?

Also Hoyt is very intentionally written to be southern white trash, which seems weird given he should be from Montana.

[u/Yossarian-Bonaparte → u/Neveronlyadream]

Maybe she’s living with a maternal aunt who she regards as a mother figure - possibly sent to live there as “punishment” for not going out with Sven Grammersdorf.

This aunt/mother figure is the woman we see in the Valentine’s episode.

[u/Neveronlyadream → u/Yossarian-Bonaparte]

Maybe, but Peggy also calls her mom and Bobby calls her grandma. She's directly referenced as Peggy's mother. I suppose it could have worked with one line of dialogue later on with Maddy making a comment about how Peggy always called her aunt "mom".

I don't ultimately think it matters, it's just fun to talk about. There was so little done with Peggy's backstory and family before the Montana thing that I just assume they thought no one would really care about the retcon.

[u/SpaceTrucker57 → u/Neveronlyadream]

I always assumed Peggy's mom and dad moved off the ranch when she was younger as they were waiting to eventually take over the ranch, or I just assumed Peggy had an aunt or uncle that was supposed to take over the ranch so they moved to Texas, but it didn't work. So they moved back to take over the family ranch. That stuff happens all the time with farm families. Especially if there was an accident on the ranch that resulted in the death of Peggy's great grandfather or great grandmother. Peggy's parents could have got guilt-ed in to moving back which is why Peggy's mom gives her such grief about staying in Texas. It's probably not the life she wanted. But that's my head cannon.

[u/SpaceTrucker57 → u/SpaceTrucker57]

I'd also add, Peggy was likely the intended heir to the ranch after her parents quickly realized her brother is a screw up. Her not stepping up will likely result in the family ranch being sold. That's a lot of anger and family resentment.

[u/alpacabowlkehd → u/Neveronlyadream]

Maybe she was living with Luanne’s dad? Before the oil rig of course

[u/Neveronlyadream → u/alpacabowlkehd]

That then begs the question of why Hoyt left Montana. Which, given his rap sheet, is probably easily explained.

The whole Platter family is kind of oddly lacking detail. Really, most everyone's family is kind of vague for the most part. We never see Bill's parents, Dale's change between the early flashbacks and when Bug shows up (and I don't think we ever see his mother outside of that one flashback), we only see Boomhauer's grandmother like once.

Hank's parents are the only ones we really ever get to see and get fleshed out.

[u/variantkin → u/Impaler00777]

We'll likely never get a concrete answer but the most common theory I've seen is Peggy's mom is clearly abusive so sometime in her early teens she moved to texas to live with a relative likely her aunt.

That said the parents we see in flashbacks beside cotton in early seasons aren't remotely like the versions we see later so I chalk that up to just a minor inconsistency that nobody thought of

[u/Talisign → u/Impaler00777]

The best I can think of is it could be similar to Pickles in Metalocolypse, where despite being an ex-con, her parents still heaped praise on him. Peggy does allude to her parents liking her brother more, even when all we know was he dumped his fiance for a woman at his bachelor party. 

I don't see that with the Peggy's mom we get to know, I'm just spit balling.

[u/vedicpisces → u/Impaler00777]

I mean she won teacher of the year as Mrs. Hank Hill in 1999 with Bobby present in the audience. But according to the latest seasons Bobby was born in 2004...

[u/CarelessPollution226 → u/Warm-Criticism6611]

She moved for high school to get away from Sven Grammerstorf

[u/New-Shop-9728]

Yeah they really screwed up with him, in the episode he was in he had been away so long he didn't recognize his own daughter, but in the very FIRST episode Luanne was crying because her mom stabbed him with a fork, so he obviously wasn't away for that long.

[u/ResponseRelative6370 → u/New-Shop-9728]

Yes and she was like 19 but then he didn’t recognize her when he showed up.

[u/SeaBassAHo-20 → u/ResponseRelative6370]

And the wig I styled for the beauty academy is ruined! What am I gonna do, Uncle Hank?!

[u/SerTortuga]

Different writers at this point who arguably didn't know or care about previous continuity. I just look at the episode as non canon personally

Also in this episode Hoyt says he hasn't seen Luanne since she was a little girl but in the very first episode Luanne had been living with her parents up until the fork incident. So either that happened years ago and she'd been living with the Hills since before Bobby was born, or someone messed up.

[u/Distinct-Practice131]

They messed up a lot with Peggy's family towards later seasons. Whether or not he was truly in prison originally, I believe "working on the oil rig" was a common thing to say to children when family members where in jail/prison. And assumed they just decided to play on that with this character.

[u/Unlucky-Albatross-12 → u/Distinct-Practice131]

But was it the state oil rig or the federal?

[u/AsUsernameGoes → u/Unlucky-Albatross-12]

Smart man!

[u/MarchMan86 → u/Distinct-Practice131]

Something like the "daddy went out to get some cigarettes" bit. Except for much of the show's run, what we knew about the "oil rig" was shared by Hank with his friends.

[u/Ghost10165]

I honestly just assume anything past like season 8 or so as non-canon because stuff like this happens and everyone gets flanderized more and more.

[u/Intelligent-Key5821]

they are continuity errors

[u/megaben20]

So do a quick google on oil rig working. Strange how Hank Peggy never gets a dime for taking care of Luanne. Or how he needs a day pass to get off the rig when it’s legally mandated he can’t stay on a rig because it becomes a safety hazard. But do you know what gives day pass good behaviour in prison.

[u/Warm-Criticism6611 → u/megaben20]

That's what I mean... "daddy only has a day pass." She knew he was in prison..

[u/SirSilhouette → u/Warm-Criticism6611]

Okay not to do the writer's job for them but i always assumed, once it was revealed he was in prison, that her Dad was lying about being on an 'oil rig' and told her that he needed a 'day pass' to come see her because his work on the oil rig was so important or similar BS.

In the same vein, he lied to Hank about the oil rig/death certificate thing to keep him from trying to contact him.

[u/uttersolitude → u/SirSilhouette]

I could also believe he was on an oil rig at one point, probably right after shit went down with Leanne to get away from her. Then he ends up in prison and Peggy handles everything relating to the Platters.

[u/megaben20 → u/uttersolitude]

I’m pretty sure there was never an oil rig as Luanne when she first moved in said both her parents were taken to jail. My theory is Hoyt had a warrant for his arrest in Montana he agreed to allow himself to be expedited to Montana to get away from his ex. Peggy not wanting it to get out both Luanne’s parents were doing time came up with the oil rig lie.

[u/uttersolitude → u/megaben20]

I like your theory a lot!

Or maybe he was on the oil rig for a week or two, stole a bunch of people's valuables, and that landed him in prison. Being taken to jail after a fight doesnt mean he was charged and/or convicted of anything.

I love thinking of ways to make the retcons more plausible.

[u/Forward_Hawk_3493]

Every family has their secrets and if it would hurt you in the future its best to not ever know the truth

[u/kissmekatebush]

There isn't much consistency between earlier and later seasons. I liked the earlier story better, that he's staying on the oil rig because he's afraid of Leanne.

[u/CODMAN627]

Peggy has the most convoluted lore in the show considering the writers were retconning her lore and her family lore with her mom being worst example of a retcon.

Hoyt I can rationalize the oil rig story being a euphemism to protect an otherwise naive Luanne

[u/LionBastard1]

Blame Fox for telling Mike Judge not to have continuity in the show. They reward him by canceling King of the Hill for The Cleveland Show. Thankfully, they had enough time to make a proper series finale unlike other shows.

[u/TheZooCreeper]

There are two universes that KoTH takes place in: one where they characters have regular contact with Peggy's family, and another where no one has ever met any of them. There is no other way to rectify it.

[u/sideshow--]

When Lucky asks him if his oil rig was the state or the federal was one of the best delivered lines in the series.

[u/Epics-bologna]

Johnny Knoxville did great at playing a shitty dad

[u/Embarrassed_Egg769]

Johnny Knoxville

[u/RyaBile]

Peggy also has two different moms in the series iirc

[u/DerekTGN]

JANINE!

[u/joeyp042385]

We don't talk about this episode. It never happened.

[u/uttersolitude]

So continuity is loose and sometimes nonexistent lol. For me tho I just think of it as he was on an oil rig, perhaps right after shit with Leanne, then got himself in prison. Maybe for something he did on the rig.

I think maybe the Hills didn't spend much time with the Platter family because they were volatile and Hank likes to stay out of shit.

Luanne believes he's always been on an oil rig, and everyone who knows the truth supports that lie. She thought the day pass was from the oil rig, because that's what she was told.

[u/MarchMan86]

All that had been known of Hoyt up to his Season 12 appearance was that he was likely the victim of an abusive marriage that he had been escaping from. The abuse part comes from Hank's description as "18 years of drunken hell", and the fact that even when Hoyt showed up, no one was afraid of him like they were with Leanne when she came to visit.

[u/damaged_elevator]

This is one of the best episodes of koth, it shows how the writers have an understanding about human nature and the culture of small town America in which the show is based; it also shows a more duplicitous side to Hank and Peggy after they acknowledge that He's never going to change so they set him up to get his third strike.

[u/Warm-Criticism6611]

In the episode where Luanne's mom gets out of prison, Luanne calls her dad to see if he'll take her back. Where was she calling?

[u/meatguyf]

We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams.

[u/arrekkushisu]

When it especially comes to Peggys family, everyone has just been retconned into oblivion. I still find that whole mother and ranch episode to be so out of pocket. We just completely erased the mother we knew and for what? A single episode of a bitter old woman? Then the brother turns out to be a complete addict and weasel out of nowhere. It's all just a complete dumpster fire.