Revisiting the Disturbing ‘King of the Hill’ Episode

No animated sitcom, old or new, celebrates Halloween quite like The Simpsons. Yet, if we’re talking about sheer creepiness, then one certain episode of King of the Hill just about beats anything from “Treehouse of Horror.” Sure, this series is generally low on Halloween entertainment, but there are moments of Season Seven’s “Pigmalion” that play out like a genuine horror movie. You’re never scared during the episode, of course, but you also wouldn’t be wrong to feel a little disturbed by it.

The Simpsons was poked fun at—sometimes the series itself did the poking—for airing a couple of “Treehouse of Horrors” episodes in November, due to the Fox network’s sports coverage. “Pigmalion,” though, takes the cake for unseasonableness; this episode was scheduled in January of 2003 after being held over from Season Five. Nevertheless, confused but understanding King of the Hill watchers—episodes were delayed or aired out of order all the time—got a belated Halloween treat. Really the last one in the show, come to think of it.

King of the Hill’s first Halloween episode was Season Two’s “Hilloween” (1997), in which a local Evangelist tried to cancel the holiday. Hank Hill and others, however, protested the town’s newly imposed curfew by dressing up and trick-or-treating. In addition, the presence of a hell house made “Hilloween” feel topical, whereas “Pigmalion” is more timeless. By no means is the backdrop of Halloween hidden here; decorative jack-o’-lanterns, witches and whatnot are visible throughout, and the story’s climax occurs at a Halloween party. Even so, there is no culture war going on, like there was in “Hilloween.” So the setting, while not integral to the plot, still adds something to the atmosphere once things start to get weird.

In contrast to The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad! and South Park, King of the Hill features storytelling that, regardless of its constant stream of fast-acting antics and cast of eccentric characters, is rooted in reality. “Pigmalion,” though, is an anomaly that doesn’t gel with everything else in the show. Instead, it’s an out-there, not to mention dark, episode that has divided fans since its first airing. If you were trying to escape the ungroundedness of The Simpsons or Family Guy, then “Pigmalion” would have felt like the first sign of bad things to come, or maybe even the last straw.

Image: Trip Larsen delivers a gift for Peggy in “Pigmalion”.

King of the Hill was a TV show that defied the many odds stacked against it. Yet even when there was no promotion to help it along, and the network was strangely indifferent, the series still did pretty well. John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, the new showrunners as of Season Seven and until the end of Hill’s original run, particularly didn’t have it easy after creator Mike Judge, also the voice of Hank and other characters, stepped back creatively, and subsequent showrunners relied on formulaic stories. As the pair explained around Season Eleven’s premiere, the series had “lost its way” after Judge and, eventually, co-creator Greg Daniels reduced their input or just moved on entirely.

There’s a good chance that “Pigmalion” is lumped in with the supposedly off-track and routine episodes, on account of it originating in Season Five’s production batch. Then again, “Pigmalion” neither has a standard Hill story nor does it coast on what Altschuler called character “drifts” (in lieu of evolutions). Yes, it centers around Luanne Platter (voiced by Brittany Murphy), Hank and Peggy Hill’s impressionable and fickle niece, but she’s eclipsed in the long run by a one-off role. And all the complaints about Peggy’s mid-series drifting aren’t as warranted here, either. Peggy’s self-absorbed behavior indeed comes out early on when she quits Luanne’s job for her—without Luanne’s consent—and Peggy also inadvertently puts her niece’s life in danger. That said, Peggy is only a small part of this episode, one where her narcissistic sensibilities are relatively mild. At least when compared to those episodes that zero in on Peggy’s egotism.

The trouble begins when the CEO of Larsen’s Pork Products, Trip Larsen (voiced by Michael Keaton), becomes smitten with Luanne upon spotting her at his entrepreneur lecture. One thing leads to another and Luanne is dating the older but seemingly okay Trip. Even Hank, who is usually disapproving of all of Luanne’s life choices as well as mistrusting of the men she dates, gives the thumbs-up once Trip charms him. On top of appealing to Hank’s love of propane, Trip’s wooing includes showing Hank a little experiment of his; Mr. Larsen has concocted what he deems the perfect pig. The specimen in question, the J-5, is morbidly obese and looks to be in agonizing pain for every second it’s alive. Naturally a man such as Hank would be impressed by Trip’s aim for a more efficient product, although it’s alarming how unbothered he is about the state of the J-5. In retrospect, Hank here is acting more like Homer Simpson than Hank Hill.

Image: A picture of the Larsen Pork Products mascots and their pig in “Pigmalion”.

Peggy (voiced by Kathy Najimy), on the other hand, isn’t won over by Trip. At first she’s sore over the fact that she can’t get her niece, who tends to follow her aunt’s advice without too much pushback, to do what she wants anymore. Luanne is now taking Trip’s suggestions all to heart, which is totally in line with her character. In no time, though, Peggy comes to see there is something very off about Trip. From his braiding Luanne’s hair to his dropping off a headless pig on the Hills’ doorstep, Mr. Larsen is proving to be more than just your average eccentric millionaire. Sadly, no one listens to Peggy until it’s almost too late.

The episode’s sinister side starts to show as Luanne, after a fight with her aunt, is moved into Trip’s place. This, like Peggy did with Luanne’s job, is done without her knowing. From there Trip gradually makes the young Miss Platter in the image of Larsen’s Pork Product’s female mascot: a pigtailed redhead in a dirndl. The dye job, by the way, happened when Luanne was asleep. And as if Luanne didn’t have enough to worry about, she is almost killed by the J-5, which has been living inside Trip’s house this whole time.

Circling back to the problem of characters becoming more like caricatures of themselves, Luanne’s foolishness was absolutely played up as the show went on, but at least “Pigmalion” somewhat addresses the matter. When Luanne first met Trip, he told her she was ignorant rather than stupid. Luanne’s visceral offense at being called “ignorant” then immediately fades as Trip explains she simply hasn’t had the chance to learn all the wrong things. And similar to how he handled Hank, Trip’s knack for flattery reels in Luanne and gets him one step closer to his ultimate goal. It’s worth noting, though, that Luanne might not have been as receptive to Trip’s methods had it not been for the always-interfering Peggy. Luanne, who’s not unaware of what her aunt does with more regularity than she would prefer, even says, “It would be really nice if, sometimes, you could ask me when you make decisions about my life.” True to form for Peggy, the criticism goes in one ear and out the other.

Image: As Luanne watches in horror, Trip Larsen wrestles a pig in “Pigmalion”.

All the unusualness so far finally leads to what has to be the sickest moment in King of the Hill. During the Halloween party hosted on Trip’s property, Luanne is confronted by the ugly truth of her peculiar makeover. Trip, who has come dressed in a full pig-man costume, asks Luanne to marry not himself, but some random guy named Javier! Like he did with Luanne, Trip has transformed this Javier into a Larsen mascot, in the hope that he can recreate that old image of said mascots posing with their rotund pig pal.

When you think this episode would stop there and leave things as just odd and creepy, “Pigmalion” leaps into a harrowing, horror movie-like conclusion garnished with levity. In short, Luanne, Peggy and Trip end up in the slaughterhouse on the property, and after a brief struggle with Luanne on the slaughter line, Trip gets turned into human sausages. Mind you, Michael Keaton’s character got a brief feeling of mental clarity after receiving a jolt of electricity straight to his noggin. “The voices have left my head,” are among his last sane words before he gets the sausage treatment. Meanwhile, Luanne has acted on her aunt’s advice from the first act—that she needed to learn to help herself—and is congratulated on being her own woman. Mind you, this happens as Luanne and Peggy stand mere feet away from what remains of Trip.

Conceivably, Trip’s death has left the two witnesses in shock; Luanne searches for the bright side in this situation, and Peggy initially invalidates her niece’s notion of Mr. Larsen now being in a better place (“Honey, Trip had a mental breakdown and is now a sausage. That’s not a better place.”). Yet on second thought, and when considering Luanne’s personal breakthrough to be a sort of happy ending, Peggy says through a winced smile: “Happy enough.”

What began as another instance of Luanne getting herself into a bind, then needing her aunt or uncle to fix things, ends up being more distinct. There’s a twist in the tail—a real curly one, you might say—that makes this episode stand out. There are fans who find “Pigmalion” to be bizarre and unsettling, but for others who don’t mind entering the dark side of comedy every now and then, those qualities are what make it appealing.

King of the Hill, including the revival, is now streaming on Hulu.

Image: Unlike Luanne, Michael Keaton’s character Trip isn’t so lucky in “Pigmalion”.