NOTE: This is the “old” version of this review. It has been replaced by a new version.
Meet Peggy Hill. Mother of Bobby Hill, wife of Hank Hill, and Substitute Teacher of the year 1996. She’s, in a stereotypical sense, the glue which keeps the Hill family together, and this episode, “Square Peg,” focuses on her.
We start off seeing Peggy doing some grading work in her own unique way when Hank needs some help with his back. This just so happens to coincide with Bobby coming home from school with a note that Hank and Peggy have to sign. This scene works to establish very quickly how old fashioned Hank and Peggy are, given both how Hank reacts to having his shirt off when Bobby walks in, and then the subject matter in question in the note Bobby presents — it’s a permission slip for a sexual education class.
Hank immediately tears up the form, feeling that he and Peggy, as his parents, should be the ones to discuss this with him. Comically, their conservative nature gets the better of them and Hank suggests Peggy, as substitute teacher of the year 1996, should go in and handle this seemingly uncomfortable subject. This doesn’t go so well for Peggy. She tries to give Bobby “the talk” but aborts mission early on, unable to handle the fact that Bobby is “worried about being a slut” and him saying the word “penis.”
Peggy goes outside to where Hank, Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer are pruning a tree to let him know she couldn’t do it. Hank takes up the reigns by doing “the talk” the same way his own father did — by letting him see two bovines mate. Of course, it’s been easily 30 years since then and things at the old farm sure have changed — now they use artificial insemination systems, and while Hank tries to talk to Bobby about everything, the sight of the machine doing its work is just too much. Unable to have “the talk” with Bobby, Hank and Peggy decide it would be better to just let the school handle things.
Dale, being the conspiracy nut he is, is under the belief that Sex Ed is just a way to control the population and decides to threaten the teacher who was intended to give the class. With the slot vacant, the school calls Peggy to teach it.
So, Peggy has to learn the course material, quite quickly, and in contrast to her nature. We get a flashback to her own childhood (and a version of her mother who would be changed later in the series) and an example of how repressed her upbringing was. Hank is appalled by the subject matter, but Peggy holds firm in her dedication to her job.
Back outside working on the tree, Hank, Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer discuss this change of events, with Bill, as usual, talking himself into a corner. Hank still defends his wife, even though her teaching the class conflicts with the conservative nature of Arlen, Texas – eventually the whole town learns of her teaching the class, resulting in the community ostracizing the Hill family as “perverts.”
The entire situation puts Hank at odds, making him feel bad for being affectionate with his wife, the towns jeers getting to him. Following the conflict, Peggy doubles down and hank vents his frustrations on his tree. Peggy slowly gets more comfortable with the terminology, while Hank winds up pruning every branch from his tree!
Peggy finally gets comfortable with some of the terms, quite vocally, finally pushing Hank past his limit. He refuses to sign the permission slip, meaning Bobby cannot go to the course, even though Peggy is the one teaching it.
On the day the course is to happen, Hank takes Bobby to work at Strickland (our first sight of the business during the series) where Bobby finds the somewhat typical “pretty girls” calendar such a company would put out, and inquires about what Hank “think(s) mom is telling all those guys.” When Hank dodges the question, Bobby asks if his parents still have sex. Beyond giving hank the chance to make the “can’t you think of something pleasant” joke, it shows, quite honestly, the need for such classes, or at least parents need to give “the talk” somewhat early so children will understand the concept better once they do get curious.
We quickly cut to the classroom, with Peggy beginning to teach the class, nervous but committed to doing her job. Back at Strickland, Bobby tells Hank he doesn’t need to worry because he won’t ever have sex. Hank tells Bobby this isn’t an issue, but hints at it being one if Bobby was a girl. This leads to some talk about the “double standard” between men and women involving sexuality, leading Bobby to think his mother is automatically bad because she is talking about this subject and is a woman. This gets Hank thinking, and realizing how important what she’s doing actually is, with him growing proud of her as he thinks more about it.
Back in class, Peggy is stalling for time. Just as she runs out of ways to stall, Hank happens to show up with Bobby, to let him get the talk from his mother, but also in the school setting as opposed to in the home.
Peggy, filled with confidence at Hank’s approval, finally gets things going, telling those who did not get their parents permission to leave. The irony is, this winds up leaving only Bobby and no other students, thus making things much easier.
We end on Hank and Peggy finally getting romantic, with a bit of a comedic end when Dale calls to make another threatening call… and messes it up at the end.
Final Rating: 3.0/5
This episode was quite a thing for 1997. To cover such a touchy subject (no pun intended) as Sexual Education, a debate that still rages today between education in the home and in the schools, was quite edgy for its time. Still, the episode covers it with care and honesty — there are situations where parents should handle things, but the schools exist for a reason and can help ensure no child is brought up thinking something bad about themselves, or the subject of sexuality.
Even today this episode kind of amazes me for the fact it exists, but at the same time, being an early episode, is a little rough and is mostly character and world building. Just what it needed to be, and nothing more.