Peggy learns to walk again, with the help of Cotton, who is trying to get interred at the Texas State Cemetery on the merits of war heroics.
Tropes:
- Bald of Authority: Ramsey who runs the rehab program Peggy is initially enrolled in is black, with not one hair on his head and is eager to help people get back into shape.
- Booze Flamethrower: Cotton's story about how he hid in a barrel of sake that was transported to Japanese troops and after the soldiers got drunk, he jumps out and burns them all using the sake and his lighter.
- Brick Joke:
- When Peggy first meets Ramsey, he tells her that it will take a while for her to get completely mobile again and to build strength up. Then he says it took the Grand Canyon 200 years to carve, to which Peggy says it was actually a million years. Then in the next meeting, he says they were both right: it was 200 million years.
- Hank boasts at a dinner he prepared that the steak is so tender that Cotton won't need his teeth. After a scene of mortification at Cotton's "rehab" program for Peggy, he gives her a plate to eat on the floor. The scene ends on Peggy complimenting Hank on the tenderness of the steak.
- The Cameo: Not As Himself, but actor Barry Jenner is awarded a plot at the Texas State Cemetery for his portrayal of Dr. Jerry Kenderson on Dallas.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Cotton assumes this role to help Peggy learn to walk again (and to torment her).
- Exact Words: Cotton's grave is at top of a hill, and he urges Peggy to come up here, and tells her that if she can climb to the top of the hill, he'll let her dance on his grave. Peggy does and even manages to stand up straight, before asking him if she can have this dance. And Cotton obliges her.
- Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: Cotton brings Peggy to the VFW and he has her hoist the American flag up the pole. She struggles and leaves it at half-mast. He then berates her about how she deserves to die and she responds by punching him in the nose, which greatly impresses him.
- Heroic BSoD: Peggy begins to doubt herself after she suspects Cotton made up his war stories and thinks he was just torturing her.
- Heroic Resolve:
- Cotton invokes this in Peggy to motivate her to walk again.
- And Hank's story of Cotton when Peggy doubts his stories and intentions.Peggy: What was I thinking? Munich?! Rat tails?! He's no hero. He was just torturing me! He is a complete fraud!
Hank: [incoherent muttering]
Peggy: What? What are you muttering? Are you actually trying to defend him?
Hank: [sigh] I said, "That 'fraud' used to be 6 foot 4."
Peggy: So?
Hank: When he came back from the Pacific, he was 5 foot even. A Japanese machine gun blew away his shins. The doctor said he'd never walk again. 18 months later, he walked right over to that doctor, reached up, and punched him in the kidneys. Now, I can't prove what he did at those battles. In fact, I don't even know if the part about hittin' the doctor is true, but I do know that my dad doesn't have shins. And somehow, he walks. And that's pretty heroic to me.
- Historical Character Confusion: After Cotton gets his plot approved for the Texas State Cemetary, him and the Hill family head up there to see his grave. On the way, Bobby sees the grave of Stephen F. Austin, known as "the father of Texas". He asks Hank if that's the bionic guy or the wrestler. Hank then shakes his head in disappointment.
- Hypocritical Humor: Dale uses Peggy's cast for carpooling to save time. Boomhauer sees him and shames him before taking the cast. Then later on, he uses it for his sexual roleplay games where he's in the cast and his date dressed as a nurse to give him a sponge bath.
- I Can't Hear You: Cotton does this with Peggy:Cotton: Sittin' there high and mighty in your wheel like you're some Franklin D. Eleanor Roosevelt. Well I gots a telegram for ya. You're no FDR. Stop. You're wastin' my time. Stop. I'm not even sure you want to walk.
Peggy: Well, Cotton, of course I do.
Cotton: Well, tell me you wanna walk.
Peggy: [meekly] I wanna walk.
Cotton: I can't hear you!
Peggy: [a bit more inflection] I want to walk.
Cotton: What was that?
Peggy: [with authority] I! Want! To! Walk! - Immediate Self-Contradiction: When Cotton officially begins training with Peggy: "Don't you eyeball me! Don't look away!"
- Instantly Proven Wrong: At dinner, when Cotton informs Hank that he's helping Peggy to walk again and how she quit the rehab and states she doesn't need her wheelchair anymore. Afterwards a crashing sound is heard and Peggy is seen dragging herself into the room.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cotton at least seems sympathetic for his hated daughter-in-law and helps her learn to walk again (in his own way of course).
- Never My Fault: Peggy is cradling G.H. when Cotton grabs him to resume training. The baby cries and Cotton tells her "Look what you've done", despite the fact the baby didn't start crying until he grabbed him. Although he could have said that to get Peggy motivated.
- Noodle Implements: Apparently, Cotton invented a bayonet technique that's used to gut people today while in Japan in WWII.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted; when Cotton introduces Peggy to his friends at the VFW: Stinky, Fatty, Stinky, Brooklyn, Stinky, Brooklyn, Fatty, Fatty and Doc. And Irwin Linker.
- Pet the Dog: Cotton helping Peggy to learn to walk, despite how much they despise each other
- Another moment in a twisted way is when he tries to get her to climb and sit on the chair so they can have dinner. She tries but fails, but Cotton praises her for the effort and puts the plate on the floor for her.
- Peggy helping Cotton with his application to be buried at the Texas State Cemetery. She briefly turns against him after doubting his stories, but then pulls through for him in the end.
- Physical Therapy Plot: Peggy initially sees an actual physical therapist. But afterwards, she learns to overcome her difficulties by working with Cotton.
- The Power of Hate: What Cotton uses to motivate Peggy into walking normally again, by taunting and berating her.
- Reduced to Ratburgers: Cotton recalls to Peggy before she leaves for rehab the story of how he was locked in a bamboo cage and had to eat rats for food. After getting down to his last rat, he let it live and ate its droppings. He eventually became thin enough to fit through the bars of the cage, strangle the guard to death with a rope made out of rat tails tied together, and escape.
- Shout-Out: To A Few Good Men with Dale and Cotton in his military outfit about to head to his hearing and Dale asks if he's going to check into a motel room and shoot himself.
- Stalker with a Crush: Bill takes Peggy's discarded body cast and brings it to his house. He then puts a picture of her on it and plays Boggle with it.
- To Be Continued: In-Universe: Cotton says these words after Peggy leaves for rehab after hearing his rat story.
- Training from Hell: Cotton gets Peggy to become mobile again has her struggling to crawl and drag her self as he yells and taunts her. He even makes her shine his boots he wants to be buried in.
- Troubled Fetal Position: After a bad day in rehab, Peggy has Hank put her in bed and tells him to put her in this position.
- Unreliable Narrator: After investigation, Peggy discovered that some of Cotton's war stories are embellished, saying he fought in Japan and was in Munich, Germany. Since he couldn't have been in both places within two days, this led Peggy to doubt the authenticity of his stories and brought her into a Heroic BSoD and made her think he was just torturing her for fun. It's implied that Cotton got confused and he was never in Munich.
