SYNOPSIS: Luanne, two weeks away from delivery, finds herself at the center of a tug-of-war after meeting Lucky’s sister Myrna at her baby shower.

Myrna clashes with Peggy over their divergent styles of childrearing – Peggy’s being old-fashioned and Myrna’s being more modern – and the two struggle for control of the future of Luanne and Lucky’s offspring.

Myrna manipulates Luanne into decorating the nursery in a nontraditional manner and into giving birth at a birthing center – a decision Luanne ultimately rejects.

Luanne convinces Peggy to spring her from the birthing center with the help of Hank, Lucky and Bobby. Ultimately, she chooses to give birth to Gracie Margaret Kleinschmidt (eight pounds, five ounces, twenty one inches long) at the hospital and in her own fashion.

The B-plot features Bill’s pursuit of the fast-food intercom operator with whom he’s been flirting for weeks. His odyssey takes him to a call center where he finds out the object of his affection is only eighteen. Both immediately agree to stop their flirtation.

King of the Hill often takes a thoughtful look on the art of parenting an adolescent, but the exploration of the raising of infants – outside of the use of Cotton and Didi Hill’s GH – hasn’t been explored often. The general result of the long-awaited birth of Gracie Kleinschmidt is touching and yet humorous, and done with the show’s typical mixture of down-to-earth humor and emotion.

The most interesting aspects (outside of the birth of Luanne and Lucky’s child) include the slight maturation of Peggy’s character and the fruition of Luanne’s gradual blossoming toward adulthood, both show-long themes.

Don’t worry; Peggy’s still her typical self-assured and (in her mind) all-knowing self – but this episode took a different look at her occasionally obsessive over-fostering of Luanne, and allows her to let her, for once, to let Luanne make her own decisions. She even (gasp!) doubted for a little while that the way she’s brought up Bobby’s the right way – and the ultimate moral of the episode does indeed suggest that the middle ground between her and Myrna’s zealous over parenting might just be a path Luanne will discover with success.

This is the first time in a very long time that I’ve liked and sympathized with Luanne, who’s been dumbed down to better match the character of Lucky. The old Luanne was more hopelessly naive than stupid, an emotionally needy girl who gradually grew up into a responsible woman (before marrying Lucky, at least). Her interactions with Peggy and Hank in this episode fulfill the promise her character once had (nearly naming little Gracie “Lasagna” notwithstanding).

Even Lucky himself got one good line in this episode (I still don’t like the main thoughtline behind his character, but if he’s funny I can get behind him).

I also admit I “aww-ed” out loud at Luanne naming her daughter after Peggy.

On the downside, Myrna wasn’t a terribly interesting new addition to KOTH’s rich stable of characters – a stock nemesis in the vein of many, many of Hank’s rivals over the years; the typified oversensitive “modern” parent with touchy-feely ideals.

The Bill subplot was painfully pointless, and was a terrible waste of the character. It’s typical of his level of intelligence and emotional maturity to travel across Texas in pursuit of love, but the plot ends abruptly and exists in the episode simply to siphon away time from the main story.

Viewing tip: Fast forward the Bill subplot. Your brain will thank you. 

Recommendation: Worth watching, worth keeping due to its historical value.

Ratings: The show garnered a 2.3, actually .1 better than a Simpsons repeat preceding it. Fox has bizarrely chosen to intermix new episodes of its Animation Domination block alongside repeats, and pitting the lineup against the Grammys without a new Simpsons or Family Guy garnered both KOTH and American Dad record-low numbers.

Upcoming Episodes: The next new episode of KOTH will be “What Happens at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis stays at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis”, and it’s scheduled to air February Fifteenth. Check back on the sixteenth for a full review!