Peggy discovers that Arlen's founding mothers were prostitutes, which embarrasses Hank and prompts the city manager to take advantage of the find by cashing in on the sleaze.
Tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Hank says this to the people of Arlen after Candee Lace announces her retirement to move to Arlen as it should be.Hank: We have a choice to make. Which version of Arlen do we want? The uncut, X-rated one with shocking footage, or the PG one that's grown-up but still appropriate for kids?
- Continuity Nod: Bill was in the audience at the Texas Adult Video Awards and shows knowledge of those in the industry just like he did in secretly helping Hank in his case against the video store.
- Covert Pervert: Hank drops Bobby over to John Redcorn's place, who just so happens to be fully dressed in a suit. When Hank asks John what's the occasion, he responds that he has a "gala" when it's clear that he was about to go to the Texas Adult Video Awards.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: The city manager seems to actively ignore any of Peggy's ideas, despite the fact that she was the one who rediscovered the town past to begin with and he knew she was the wife of his most ardent opponent. In other words, exactly the type of person he would need to watch out for the most. This effectively hoists his own petard, as sure enough, she turns from his most loyal apprentice to stewarding the opposition with a lead foot- it would've been much harder to get Hank to the ceremony if she wasn't moping with him to begin with.
- Everyone Has Standards: Eventually even people like Buck Strickland and Ted Wassanasong start to realize that the whole "Harlottown" theme is not quite how they thought it would be when Arlen hosts the Texas Adult Video Awards and witnessed what they see around them. They even end up signing Hank's petition to take Arlen back to how it was.Ted: These decorations look tacky and inappropriate.Buck: Yeah. When I played this out in my head, things looked a lot better. Especially the people.
- Likewise, the adult film stars all eagerly sign the petition at Candee's prompting. Buck even notes "It puts a different spin on things when sleazy people think we're too sleazy."
- Face–Heel Turn: At first, Kahn wanted to join Hank's crusade to keep the town's shameful history a secret, but when he finds out Ted Wassanasong is one of the people who want to capitalize it, he switches sides.
- On the opposite end, after initially supporting the city manager and planning several events to hype up the Harlottown past, Peggy is alienated by his actively ignoring most, if not all, her ideas or only hearing them just so she'd stop talking, with the final straw being his turning her idea for an Arlen Heritage Museum into an Arlen Museum of Prostitution. Almost on the verge of tears, Peggy immediately signs Hank's petition and from that moment on fights against it.
- Hopeless with Tech: As much as he doesn't want to get involved, Hank is compelled out of pity to offer help to a pair of adult film actors whose car had broken down once he sees they clearly have no idea what they're doing:Hank: "Peggy, they tried to fix their engine by changing the tire; they'll die out here."
- Not What I Signed Up For: Peggy makes it clear that her main reason for being honest about Arlen's origin as Harlottown is because she wanted to give its founding mothers their due. She's appalled that the city manager is more interested in hyping up the sexual side of things, to the point of proposing a "museum of prostitution."
- Slut-Shaming: Candee Lace feel that despite wanting to move on from the adult video business to start a shop to make sparkling shoes, people won't buy from her due to her past. Thankfully, Hank gives her confidence due to the town's "founding mothers" becoming legitimate people which gives her courage to help Hank set the town straight.
- Special Guest: Gary Cole as Vance Gilbert, Shannon Elizabeth as Candee and Henry Gibson as Bob Jenkins.
- The Theme Park Version: The new city manager, upon learning about Arlen's origins as Harlottown, wants to use the town's dark history as a way to make tourist dollars. To that end, he does things like planning to convert the old soldiers-and-sailors home into a museum of prostitution (complete with an erotic bakery and a gentleman's reading room) and have Arlen be the home of the Texas Adult Video Awards. It becomes clear to Hank and Peggy that instead of learning from its history like Peggy wanted, the town is becoming a Disneyland for pornography. They, along with a former adult film star, appeal to the people and ask if this is what they want kids to learn.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Peggy finds out that Arlen started out as the most notorious brothel in all of Texas. It used to be called Harlottown, and then it became Harlen because, according to Peggy, "People were in so much of a rush to get here, they ran out of breath to say Harlottown." The many visitors to Harlen included President Garfield, the Terry's Texas Rangers, the 1884 University of Notre Dame football team, and Mark Twain. Hank, being closed-minded, thinks it's this trope since he doesn't like the idea that his hometown started out as a brothel. However, he soon learns to respect the town's "founding mothers" since they eventually became legitimate, honest people.
