"The Substitute Spanish Prisoner" is the one hundred-fourteenth episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on March 3, 2002. The episode was written by Etan Cohen, and directed by Kyounghee Lim and Boohwan Lim. The episode title is a pun on the Spanish Prisoner con scheme and Peggy's job as a substitute teacher of Spanish and other subjects.
Summary[]
Peggy is dubbed a "genius" after taking an on-line test from the Texas Institute of Intelligence, which leads her into a series of confidence schemes.
Plot[]
After handing back tests to her math class, Peggy is dumbfounded when Stuart Dooley asks her to explain the answer to a question and she is unable to comprehend said answer. This makes Peggy suddenly insecure about her intelligence, revealing to Hank that she's never taken an IQ test and has only been assuming she has a high IQ (this despite telling numerous people she has an IQ of 170). To reassure herself she decides to take an online IQ test from the "Intelligence Institute of Texas". The online results come back that Peggy is a genius and she is overjoyed. Peggy soon gets a letter in the mail from the Intelligence Institute, inviting her to a dinner where she may purchase an "official Institute registry" of the 150 Smartest People in Texas. Hank informs the guys that Peggy is excited to attend the dinner, but when Dale learns that the Intelligence Institute provides both the online IQ test and the registry, he deduces that the entire thing is a scam.
Hank informs Peggy of Dale's concerns, but Peggy insists that the Institute is legitimate. She attends the dinner where Dr. Robert Vayzosa congratulates the attendees and shows the registry to the assembled guests. Before he presents them however he offers them a chance to obtain a PhD through an Institute program for $999. Though many attendees, including Jimmy Wichard, are hesitant, Dr. Vayzoza eventually succeeds in convincing them and Peggy to purchase the program, with Peggy using funds from her and Hank's retirement account to do so. Peggy begins the program that night and by daylight completes it, printing a "degree" from the Intelligence Institute. In the morning she reveals her new PhD to Hank and Bobby, and Hank is infuriated when he learns Peggy used their retirement fund to pay for the program. Hank and Peggy have Luanne take the online IQ test to determine whether it is legitimate or rigged to make anyone a genius, and Peggy realizes it is a scam when Luanne's score also states she is a genius.
Peggy confronts Vayzoza at the "Institute", revealed to be a rundown apartment building. Vayzoza refuses Peggy's request for a refund, and she gathers the other nine victims of Vayzoza's scam and informs them about the situation. She pitches they scam Vayzoza by luring him to a fictional betting parlor at the EconoSuites and letting Vayzoza win money on a number of fake races to convince him to bet $10,000 on a final bet, which they will have him lose. When the others ask how they will pay Vayzoza's initial bets, she states they need to invest another $1,000. Though hesitant, Peggy convinces them to go along. She approaches Vayzoza and asks him to give her the $1,000 back if she gives him insider information on a betting parlor where she has a connection. Vayzoza, intrigued, agrees, and they go to the fictional casino being run by the other victims. Vayzoza, using Peggy's "connection", places a number of bets which they let him win. When he wins another $10,000 Peggy convinces him to make a final massive bet, hoping Vayzoza will put all $20,000 down. Instead she's shocked when Vayzoza declines and states he's happy with what he has, laughing as he reveals he knew about the scam.
Hank rushes to the hotel upon learning about the scam from Bobby, and finds Peggy in tears over Vayzoza besting her again. Hank, determined to recover the money, goes to Vayzoza's room and begins demanding to be let in, threatening to break the door down. Panicking, Vayzoza puts the money in a room safe and lets Hank in, denying he has the money. Hank searches the room but is unable to find the money and leaves after Vayzoza points out the police won't help. Vayzoza goes to reclaim the money but discovers that the room safe is gone. He demands an explanation from the front desk but they explain they don't provide room safes. In reality Peggy had placed the safe there and, with Boomhauer's help in the next room, sawed a hole into Vayzoza's room big enough to take the safe before repairing the hole afterwards. Vayzoza rushes back to the room the fictional casino was in only to find it abandoned, with only a copy of the 150 Smartest People in Texas left behind. Vayzoza holds his head in his hands in defeat.
At a local restaurant "Al's Diner" Peggy gives each person their money back as they celebrate. She reveals that she knew Vayzoza would know the casino was fake and wouldn't place a final bet, and so she planned to let him think he won. She then would let Hank think she had been scammed again so he would go to confront Vayzoza, leading Vayzoza to put his money in the safe. When Hank, admitting he was wrong to have doubted her, asks what would have happened if he didn't show up, Peggy reveals Vayzoza valet parked his car and the EconoSuite has no valet. Hank, though concerned that this was a potential felony, congratulates Peggy nonetheless.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Boomhauer
- Dooley
- Clark Peters
- Luanne Platter
- Dr. Robert Vayzosa
- Jimmy Wichard
- Tug
- Betty
- Anne
- Alice
- Susie (non-speaking)
- Judy (non-speaking)
- Leventhal (non-speaking)
- Shawn (non-speaking)
Stinger Quote[]
- Jimmy Wichard: "Aah! She pulled her thumb off! Call a doctor!"
Quotes[]
- Peggy Hill: What if I'm not as smart as I always thought. What if I'm... average?
- Hank: Peggy, you have an IQ of 170. You said so lots of times.
- Peggy Hill: Well, there could be a margin of error. Especially since it's my own estimate.
Trivia[]
- Peggy's frequent claim of supposedly having a high IQ of 170 is revealed to be self-diagnosed, with her having never taken a legitimate IQ test before. The average person's IQ is between 85 to 114, while genius-level IQ is considered after 160, thus proving Peggy's gross overestimation of her own intelligence.
- The con Peggy uses to try to get all their money back is called the Wire Game.
- Peggy's at-home doctorate course took one night to complete, when it usually takes around six-to-eight years to finish a doctoral degree.
- The toothpicks bit Dr. Vayzosa mentions is a reference to the movie Rain Man. Dustin Hoffman's character Raymond is an idiot savant. He can multiply huge numbers instantly and provide the exact day of any date, but cannot say what 2 + 2 is. There's a scene in the movie where a waitress drops a box of toothpicks and he instantly calculates exactly how many toothpicks are on the floor.
Goofs[]
- Hank searches Dr. Vayzosa's Econo suit room for the money he's just scamming from Peggy. When Hank is knocking on the door, Dr. Vayzosa takes the money from the briefcase, leaving the briefcase on the bed, and places the money in the closet safe. When Hank begins to search the room, the briefcase is no longer on the bed, and has disappeared.
- It's never explained why Dr. Vayzosa brings exactly the amount of cash that the group is trying to recover from being conned originally. He could have just as likely brought any amount short of the amount that was lost to use as betting money.
- Vayzosa's first two bets paid 1:1, not 2:1 as claimed in the dialogue. i.e., he received $4k on his first bet for a net of $2k and $12k on his second bet for a net of $6k. These net payouts are considered 1:1 in betting.