The Order of the Straight Arrow

The Order of the Straight Arrow is the third episode of King of the Hill, third episode overall.

Sypnosis
Hank, Boomhauer, Bill, and Dale decide to take Bobby's scout troop, the Order of the Straight Arrow, into the wilderness in an effort to "make men out of them." The foursome, who were members of the same scout group when they were children, approach John Redcorn for "Indian stuff" for an initiation ceremony. Redcorn tells them of a ritual involving the sacred Wematanye. The men love the idea and decide they will use it. Later, Hank and his friends load Bobby, Joseph, Randy, and Garth into their cars and begin the journey. The moment her family leaves, Peggy hops in Hank's pickup truck and heads out for places unknown. As the journey continues, Hank tires of the boys' incessant talking. He orders a twenty-four hour oath of silence, using Slim Jims as "silence sticks." Unfortunately, Bobby forgets he is to remain silent throughout the test, and his Slim Jim is nibbled away to almost nothing. Concerned, Hank warns his son that he will not make Straight Arrow if he loses one more bite of Slim Jim.

The group pulls into a campground populated by environmental activists led by a woman named Mona. That night, Hank and his friends gather the boys around a campfire. Hank tells the boys of the spirit Wematanye, and how it respects all of God's creatures. As a final test, Hank sends the boys out into the wilderness to hunt down the dreaded snipe. Taking the assignment very seriously, Bobby accidentally wallops a Whooping Crane, a rare and protected bird on the endangered species list.

Hank hides the animal's carcass inside a beer cooler. Afterward, Joseph tells Bobby that his father invented the story about the snipe. But Bobby maintains his father is the Arrow leader, and would never lie. In the morning, a park ranger enters the campground. He explains that a Whooping Crane tagged with a transmitter has disappeared. Hank covers as best he can and the ranger leaves the camp. Meanwhile, Peggy meets up with Brock, a handsome Texan...and owner of a shoe store for the "large-footed lady." Peggy purchases Italian loafers. Back at the camp, Hank assembles the boys and speedily drives towards the park exit. As the ranger closes in, Hank makes a desperate attempt to bury the crane. But before he does, Hank admits to Bobby that he lied about the snipe hunt, explaining it is part of the experience of becoming a scout. Suddenly, the ranger arrives. As he prepares to arrest the group for killing an endangered species, the bird suddenly springs to life. Realizing that the bird was only knocked unconscious, the ranger lets everyone go.

Trivia

 * Victor Aaron, who originally voiced John Redcorn had died on September 4, 1996, 5 months earlier. This episode was dedicated to his memory.
 * This episode first establishes the fact that Peggy has large feet (size 16-triple EE, according to the shoes she bought) and the fact that she's ashamed of it (which would be touched on in "Westie Side Story" and "Transnational Amusements Presents: Peggy's Magic Sex Feet").
 * Though Hank and the Park Ranger believe the bird was simply unconscious, it could not have possibly survived in a cooler for an entire night with little to no air.
 * In this episode, we learn that Peggy has been purchasing her shoes secretly at at distant store named: "Lubbocks Very Big Shoes." When Hank happens by, she pretends that the big box is a new microwave, not her giant new pair of shoes. Inside the store there are autographed photos of women who are quite famous, like Attorney General Janet Reno.
 * When they got to the camp site, they had sticks instead of slim jims.
 * When the hippies chase the group, they run over bird eggs and rip through plants, all things hippies protect.
 * The shot of Peggy driving through to Mexico on the road was reused in "Next of Shin" for Hank, Bill and Dale traveling to Las Vegas.
 * The Order of the Straight Arrow is modeled after the Order of the Arrow. Wematanye is the KotH version of Wimachtendienk. The Orderal from the Order of the Arrow is shown as the 24 hour oath of silence. In the Order of the Arrow, a stick from a fruit-bearing tree is to be worn around the neck by all pre-Ordeal members until they have finished the Ordeal. This is seen in the Order of the Straight Arrow. There are many inconsistencies, whether they're placed there on purpose or just due to a miscommunication about the actual Order of the Arrow, but this episode is probably one of the only popular culture references to the Order of the Arrow.
 * When Dale was jumping out of the tent and falling down, his hat falls off, revealing a full head of hair.
 * In real life, a snipe is a small bird native to the North America that is prized for its elusive and hard-to-kill nature, leading to the term "sniper" to refer to a sharpshooter.
 * In the forest, Hank and crew are seen as kids drinking an alcoholic beverage labeled as Captain Colonel's Bloody Mary Mix. However, it is incorrectly referred to by the group as alcohol, as opposed to non-alcoholic mix as seen on the label, which reads "just add vodka".


 * Bobby and Joseph are seen jousting with power drills. When Bobby drops his into a metal canoe, he looks around nervously and runs away.
 * Boomhauer references the "hand-in-a-bowl of warm water" trick. Bill states that Lenore's tennis socks will be used as spirit bags. However, they are later on used as bags to capture snipe with.
 * Bobby reveals to have earned a sewing badge. However, it is stated that he has never been in the Order before.
 * Ironically, Bobby's sewing badge falls off of his uniform due to poor sewing.
 * Bobby and Joseph put flashlights in their mouths to simulate the experience of eating hot coals.
 * This is the first time the offensive word "fuck" is almost used in the series. It is also used as "pig fucker" censored-ly by Tid Pao Souphanousinphone in the Season 7 episode, Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do, but was changed to "pig farmer". The word is also said by Dale in Father of the Bribe. The latter of whom was censored and remained.
 * Joseph compares Peggy's scent to that of Miracle Whip.
 * Dale refers to Eustace as "useless".
 * The character Garth resembles the "Wayne's World" character of the same name.
 * The Order if the Straight Arrow would again be focused on in the episode "Straight As An Arrow".
 * Although Dale rolls the truck window down to moon the group (thus performing a "hang"), Boomhauer refers to his ass as a "pressed ham", which would be pressing a bare butt onto a rolled up window.
 * Eustace is revealed as a patent lawyer.
 * Dale is seen mooning the group twice.
 * The second time Dale moons the group, Bobby's original line (as seen in the subtitles) was to be "Wematanye, I see Mr. Gribble's ass, Wematanye."
 * This is the first episode to reveal Hank's disgust for hippies.
 * Hank's ad-libbed fake Indian name is "Kicking Elk".
 * Hank's Indian prayer includes portions of Psalm 23, the lyrics of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky," and the Pledge of Allegiance.
 * Peggy checks into a "motel 7".
 * Peggy checks into the hotel and buys shoes under the alias "Gracia Ibanez", a combination of the Spanish word for "Grace", as well as guitar manufacturer Ibanez.
 * The Arrow pledge protests bill H.R. 57, which would allow the importation of South American propane.
 * Bill refers to each twig as a "whoop-ass stick".
 * Hank uses the actual snipe call, although in a normal tone instead of the more-preferred falsetto.
 * Hank wants to dump the bird in a dumpster behind a restaurant called Stuckey's.
 * Peggy pretends to be Mexican at the shoe store.
 * The shoes Peggy buys are so big that they require two men to carry out to the car.
 * Hackey sacks and a Frisbee are thrown at the gang as they rush out of the camp ground.
 * Bill's request for the group to return Lenore's socks show his strong emotional attachment to her.
 * When the park ranger wakes the group up in the morning, a young, half-naked woman is seen sneaking out of Boomhauer's tent, with Boomhauer close behind.
 * Peggy apparently tries to hide the size of her feet from Hank by scraping of part of the "size 16", making it read "size 6".
 * Hank ironically states that the family goes through microwaves quicker than most families go through shoes.
 * The word "wematanye" is said 39 times in this episode, leading to an average of almost twice per minute.
 * This marks the first and only appearance of Bill's father Eric Dauterive.

Errors

 * When Peggy's car fails to start, it is sitting in the driveway, facing the alley. In the next shot, Peggy is pushing the car to get it started, and the car has magically moved to the alley, which can be seen behind Peggy as she pushes. Hank took Peggy's Buick because it had more room for the other scouts than his pickup truck.
 * In another Error from this scene, when the battery is dead, Peggy suggests that they pop the clutch, a method commonly used to get vehicles with manual transmissions started. Peggy's car has an automatic transmission.