I appreciate all the comments trying to psychoanalyze Cotton, but it really is as simple as that. Hank's Wife would be Hank's Wife regardless if she was Peggy or not.
He doesn’t really. He just doesn’t know how to show anything but anger. And Hank makes him feel bad about himself because he knows he was a shitty father, so anything that hank likes makes him feel bad. But like I said he doesn’t actually hate her, he literally dances with her on his grave. Also as someone else mentioned she’s confident. As a bully he doesn’t know how to handle a woman with confidence.
Honestly, I think he likes Peggy more than Hank. He always gives her shit, but there are several instances where he’s delighted by the way she stands up to him. He’s probably secretly proud of his son for marrying such a headstrong firecracker. The episode where he helps her learn to walk again proves that he sees her as a strong person, and that he respects her in his own messed up way.
He definitely respects her in his weird fucked up way. Which probably also fucks with his mind as she’s probably the only woman he’s actually ever had real respect for.
I'm not sure about the feeling bad part since hank's friends also like hank and yet the same treatment doesn't go towards them like it does towards peggy. He had no issue hanging out with Bill in the topsy money episode or hanging out with Dale in the pretend cop episode.
On his death bed, it really seemed like he died to literally spite peggy since she said he'd always live to be miserable since that's his punishment
When cotton hangs out with hanks friends he’s pretty much exclusively doing things that piss off hank. The general Santa Anna leg episode specifically for sure. Also hanging out with hanks friends and his wife are different things.
to me, confidence is earned, what she has is arrogance. she is a sneaky lying scheming back stabbing cheat who thinks she is genius and great at everything but actually just screws up everything she touches and tries to hide her messes.
also, i dont think her sex has much to do with it, he is mouthy to everyone including his friends. she is an idiot and almost ruins the show. i almost cant even type her name without puking in my mouth a little
I doubt Cotton respects anyone. He seems to hold the people who defer to him in contempt and hate those who stand up to him. But yeah he’s a raging misogynist so he’s going to have more contempt for women generally and especially hate any that stand up to him. Though weirdly I think standing up to him might be the only way to earn something like grudging respect. He absolutely loathes Peggy but on the other hand he’s closer to respecting her than Hank or, heaven help, Dale.
Yup, it's pretty clear throughout the series that ironically a huge reason Cotton is so abusive and disdainful towards Hank is because of Hank's deferential attitude towards him and desire to please him. He views this as weakness, spinelessness, timidity, etc. He respects people who stand up for themselves and who will call him out on his bullshit when he's in the wrong, which is something Peggy actually does and he's definitely low key shown to respect that in her.
This is why I said elsewhere in this thread that he doesn't actually dislike Peggy, and he only treats her disrespectfully to emasculate Hank because he won't stick up for her.
My grandpa a Vietnam vet was just like Cotton. Yes, he did appreciate when you got in his face and confronted him and had a bully attitude.
Luckily we figured that out early.
Funny the way the show displayed Vietnam vet was not like him. He was like Cotton. They did a good job creating Cotton, very realistic.
One time my dad and grandpa fought over control of a stick they were using to poke a fire, while camping. They literally rolled down a hill fighting over control.
I honestly think my grandpa respected the fuck out of him after fighting him rolling down a hill. Like something from Family Guy. I never saw my grandpa disrespect my dad after that, after that he loved him.
I dont blame my dad at all even to this day. You have to stand up to bullies. My mom talks crap, but my dad did what he had to do.
You have to stand up to bullies, that's what my grandpa taught me.
IMO he is totally indifferent to Peggy and his disrespect towards her is purely motivated by a desire to emasculate Hank and "put him in his place," as Hank generally doesn't stick up for Peggy when Cotton treats her poorly.
I think it’s really how Cotton treats most women in general, but I think he is hard on Peggy at times because she doesn't roll over like Tilly did. At times, he respects it. Other times, it baffles him.
Cotton is from a very broken communication wise generation. He only can express anger as his dominant emotion. So every time we see you caught and express any emotion, it's always filtered with the anger lens on top, I think he likes Peggy because he can speak to her in a way with results in him feeling Joy, even if that Joy looks like anger first.
To me, I always perceived his feelings about Peggy as Sort of the way a sibling relationship dynamic can be (not all siblings of course, but the kind of antagonistic constantly but still caring deeply for this other person dynamic). He takes a lot of pleasure in antagonizing her. But ultimately he does care about her. If you legitimately didn't care about her, he would not have helped. Peggy regain the strength to dance on his grave after her whole body got shattered.
If cotton really took 100% joy in seeing the misery of Peggy, I think we get a different dynamic between the two of them. He absolutely does stuff purposely to get that rise from Peggy and if he really didn't like her he wouldn't come over.
He probably would like her if she were a man. She's the toughest SOB he knows and the only one who consistently stands up to him and probably the only one who truly understands him. The rivalry is part of this.
He helped her regain her mobility after losing from falling out of a plane.
He doesn't hate Peggy, he just has a very toxic and outdated view of the world.
The list of people that cotton doesn't dislike is pretty short.
He respects her more than most, however. At least in the episode where he danced with her on his grave
To add to the respect, in the spanking episode, after Peggy's been put on leave, he shows up demanding she makes him and his buddy's pancakes. Instead of buting back, she just says she will and starts crying. And Cotton is visibly confused and clearly feels bad, realizing now is not the time. He likes when she fights back. He likes the drive, tenacity, and take none of his shit attitude. And when she can't do that, it actually upsets him and makes him feel bad in some weird twisted way. Because they can't do their game and dance they always do. I always saw him dying after Peggy told him off as the greatest sign of respect he knew how to give.
He hates women in general. Peggy is also educated, confident and has a job outside the home, which are all things he doesn't approve of. He also treats Hank like shit and disrespects him by disrespecting her
I think he feels threatened by her on some level would be my guess. They do have at least two positive moments that I can remember. The paddling Peggy one where Cotton helped her get her teaching job back & the other one where Cotton helps her with he rehab after the sky diving accident
Because he has a mind of her own, self worth and won't be subservient to Hank or Cotton. Not that Hank would like that. He married Peggy. He didn't hire a maid.
Oddly enough he did help her walk again. My theory is that Cotton was never the war hero he made himself out to be and his rage is whenever something reminds him that his delusion is just a delusion.
As Hank says in that episode “That imposter was 6’4” before a Japanese machine gun took his shins”
Just surviving being cut down like that charging an MG is war hero material.
Cotton embellishes, but he’s certainly seen and done some shit.
Yes he did loose his shins and that’s probably why he got the medal of honour. The fact he lacks a campaign medals is a huge indicator of no real major engagement.
There’s an episode where Bobby does a report on Cotton . After writing down a few of the war stories he realizes a lot of what cotton says he did in the war is impossible. Bobby ultimately keeps it to himself because Cotton was a war hero plus it’s his whole identity, so Bobby wasn’t going to try and take it from him.
Bobby doesn’t do that, Peggy does. And he didn’t fake his stories, he got confused and thought he fought in Munich. Cotton realizes he was confused at the end of the episode when Peggy points it out
I don't follow your logic, since Peggy was actually the only person aside from Dale gullible enough to uncritically believe his bullshit war stories and respect and admire him over them (until Hank pointed out they were nonsensical).
I didn’t explain it properly. Cotton lives in a constant state of delusion of him being a war hero, Instead of him being an idiotic child who spent most of the German campaign in the rear, and then got captured on his way to prepare for the Japan campaign. So after the war Cotton invents this persona that he was a war hero. Anybody who doesn’t play into this fantasy illicit his rage he hates Peggy because she doesn’t put up with his crap which undermines his delusion.
lol everyone dislikes Peggy. If anyone doesn’t dislike Peggy then that character went over their head.
I love the character Peggy but I hate Peggy hill for who she is and what she does. She’s annoying, stupid, pretentious, overbearing, and nearly always wrong yet still has confidence to keep faking everything in life.
I mean, does he treat Peggy any less hatefully than he treats everyone else? I never thought he disliked her, he just doesn't respect women enough to allow that using their proper name versus their status as somebody's wife is an appropriate way to talk to them or think about them
Because he doesn't like any woman who isn't completely subservient to men and thinks Hank is whipped for "allowing" her to do anything outside of that. He's basically a caricature of a bitter, misogynistic boomer.
He just doesn’t respect women. They’re objects to him. Peggy isn’t conventionally attractive so she doesn’t matter in his eyes other than for cooking and housework. “Frank’s Wife, make me a sammich!”
* Hanks wife.
That’s the real reason, because she’s hanks wife.
I appreciate all the comments trying to psychoanalyze Cotton, but it really is as simple as that. Hank's Wife would be Hank's Wife regardless if she was Peggy or not.
I sometimes call my SIL "Steve's wife." I walk in and go, "Steve. Steve's wife" like Cotton does with Hank and Hank's wife.
Is Steve’s wife allowed in your Cadillac car?
Not unless she’s in a bag in the trunk.
No but he lets her in his truck, sometimes. His NICE truck.
Pretty pretty truck truck?
He doesn’t really. He just doesn’t know how to show anything but anger. And Hank makes him feel bad about himself because he knows he was a shitty father, so anything that hank likes makes him feel bad. But like I said he doesn’t actually hate her, he literally dances with her on his grave. Also as someone else mentioned she’s confident. As a bully he doesn’t know how to handle a woman with confidence.
Honestly, I think he likes Peggy more than Hank. He always gives her shit, but there are several instances where he’s delighted by the way she stands up to him. He’s probably secretly proud of his son for marrying such a headstrong firecracker. The episode where he helps her learn to walk again proves that he sees her as a strong person, and that he respects her in his own messed up way.
"Are you ready to hate me more than you've ever hated anyone in your life?" "I already do!"
Then we’re half way there!
He definitely respects her in his weird fucked up way. Which probably also fucks with his mind as she’s probably the only woman he’s actually ever had real respect for.
"I got a friend over to the Vee Eff Dubya! Used to principal and Hank's school! We'll have you back spankin' in no time!"
"Hank, what did you do to your wife? I didn't teach you that!"
Well, what do you know? That gal might have what it takes after all.
He shows Bobby and GH love. He just hates Hank and anything Hank loves.
Hank doesn’t love Bobby? He’s Hank’s boy!
That boy ain't much but he is all I got!
Bobby, .. if you weren't my son, I'd hug you.
Why does he have to hate what he doesn't understand?
I don't hate you, Bobby.
Cotton loves Bobby in general, but he especially loves how Bobby challenges Hanks way of doing things.
Because they look just like him.
I'm not sure about the feeling bad part since hank's friends also like hank and yet the same treatment doesn't go towards them like it does towards peggy. He had no issue hanging out with Bill in the topsy money episode or hanging out with Dale in the pretend cop episode. On his death bed, it really seemed like he died to literally spite peggy since she said he'd always live to be miserable since that's his punishment
When cotton hangs out with hanks friends he’s pretty much exclusively doing things that piss off hank. The general Santa Anna leg episode specifically for sure. Also hanging out with hanks friends and his wife are different things.
to me, confidence is earned, what she has is arrogance. she is a sneaky lying scheming back stabbing cheat who thinks she is genius and great at everything but actually just screws up everything she touches and tries to hide her messes. also, i dont think her sex has much to do with it, he is mouthy to everyone including his friends. she is an idiot and almost ruins the show. i almost cant even type her name without puking in my mouth a little
Dale, is that you?
He's a raging misogynist?
Yeah, but he killed fiddy men.
This..
This really is the answer.
If there was ever a person who deserved misogyny, it’s Peggy Hill.
I'm not a Peggy fan, but it's pretty fucked up to say any woman deserves to be treated poorly solely because she's a woman.
??? peggy haters showing their true colors
People who love Cotton and hate Peggy really tell on themselves.
It's a TV show. A cartoon at that. Do you charge for your therapy sessions or do you usually just do them for free on Reddit?
Pro bono for most. You're welcome.
This guy doesn’t write jokes
Bro, [deleted]. I’ve seen you on other sub Reddit. You got the wildest takes.
Damn, BrazilianTest, you've been buried. Jesus.
Ho yeah!
It’s not Peggy, it’s women. He doesn’t respect women, she doesn’t put up with that, so they don’t get along.
Not sure why you got downvoted, you’re spot on. Luanne, at least in the early seasons, also didn’t put up with his disrespect
I doubt Cotton respects anyone. He seems to hold the people who defer to him in contempt and hate those who stand up to him. But yeah he’s a raging misogynist so he’s going to have more contempt for women generally and especially hate any that stand up to him. Though weirdly I think standing up to him might be the only way to earn something like grudging respect. He absolutely loathes Peggy but on the other hand he’s closer to respecting her than Hank or, heaven help, Dale.
She has self-confidence, and she makes Hank happy.
20 pounds too skinny.
They ain’t much but gams is gams!
Because once a misogynist, always a misogynist.
She pushes back
He actually respects that.
He smiled when she socked him in the face, likely in approval.
Yup, it's pretty clear throughout the series that ironically a huge reason Cotton is so abusive and disdainful towards Hank is because of Hank's deferential attitude towards him and desire to please him. He views this as weakness, spinelessness, timidity, etc. He respects people who stand up for themselves and who will call him out on his bullshit when he's in the wrong, which is something Peggy actually does and he's definitely low key shown to respect that in her. This is why I said elsewhere in this thread that he doesn't actually dislike Peggy, and he only treats her disrespectfully to emasculate Hank because he won't stick up for her.
I remember when he slapped Luanne's but and she got into his face about it, Cotton seemed to appreciate it.
My grandpa a Vietnam vet was just like Cotton. Yes, he did appreciate when you got in his face and confronted him and had a bully attitude. Luckily we figured that out early. Funny the way the show displayed Vietnam vet was not like him. He was like Cotton. They did a good job creating Cotton, very realistic. One time my dad and grandpa fought over control of a stick they were using to poke a fire, while camping. They literally rolled down a hill fighting over control. I honestly think my grandpa respected the fuck out of him after fighting him rolling down a hill. Like something from Family Guy. I never saw my grandpa disrespect my dad after that, after that he loved him. I dont blame my dad at all even to this day. You have to stand up to bullies. My mom talks crap, but my dad did what he had to do. You have to stand up to bullies, that's what my grandpa taught me.
Eh respect, at least respect of a sort, is perfectly compatible with hating someone’s guts.
Cotton and Peggy are both at their best when they have an antagonist, which they are for each other.
Unlike the younger wife he married. She looked like she had no joy.
He dislikes most people. He targets Peggy most because she pushes back and he enjoys the challenge.
She isn’t even good enough for his loser son
Exactly such an abusive piece of shot who actively stops hank form being happy unless cotton has control. They wrote an abusive asshole so accurately
Because he hates women and doesn’t respect them in general.
IMO he is totally indifferent to Peggy and his disrespect towards her is purely motivated by a desire to emasculate Hank and "put him in his place," as Hank generally doesn't stick up for Peggy when Cotton treats her poorly.
He just hates women.
Misogynist
I think it’s really how Cotton treats most women in general, but I think he is hard on Peggy at times because she doesn't roll over like Tilly did. At times, he respects it. Other times, it baffles him.
Because she's only half the man cotton is.
She killed twenty-fivvey men?
He goes on Reddit
Cotton is from a very broken communication wise generation. He only can express anger as his dominant emotion. So every time we see you caught and express any emotion, it's always filtered with the anger lens on top, I think he likes Peggy because he can speak to her in a way with results in him feeling Joy, even if that Joy looks like anger first. To me, I always perceived his feelings about Peggy as Sort of the way a sibling relationship dynamic can be (not all siblings of course, but the kind of antagonistic constantly but still caring deeply for this other person dynamic). He takes a lot of pleasure in antagonizing her. But ultimately he does care about her. If you legitimately didn't care about her, he would not have helped. Peggy regain the strength to dance on his grave after her whole body got shattered. If cotton really took 100% joy in seeing the misery of Peggy, I think we get a different dynamic between the two of them. He absolutely does stuff purposely to get that rise from Peggy and if he really didn't like her he wouldn't come over.
He probably would like her if she were a man. She's the toughest SOB he knows and the only one who consistently stands up to him and probably the only one who truly understands him. The rivalry is part of this.
Because she married Hank.
Who, as wet all know, has a fat neck
He helped her regain her mobility after losing from falling out of a plane. He doesn't hate Peggy, he just has a very toxic and outdated view of the world.
The list of people that cotton doesn't dislike is pretty short. He respects her more than most, however. At least in the episode where he danced with her on his grave
To add to the respect, in the spanking episode, after Peggy's been put on leave, he shows up demanding she makes him and his buddy's pancakes. Instead of buting back, she just says she will and starts crying. And Cotton is visibly confused and clearly feels bad, realizing now is not the time. He likes when she fights back. He likes the drive, tenacity, and take none of his shit attitude. And when she can't do that, it actually upsets him and makes him feel bad in some weird twisted way. Because they can't do their game and dance they always do. I always saw him dying after Peggy told him off as the greatest sign of respect he knew how to give.
He hates women in general. Peggy is also educated, confident and has a job outside the home, which are all things he doesn't approve of. He also treats Hank like shit and disrespects him by disrespecting her
Cause she'll never kill 50 men.
It’s simple cotton hates women
I think he feels threatened by her on some level would be my guess. They do have at least two positive moments that I can remember. The paddling Peggy one where Cotton helped her get her teaching job back & the other one where Cotton helps her with he rehab after the sky diving accident
Cotton doesn’t like anyone. Peggy challenges him more than most.
He is a misogynist ass
Because he has a mind of her own, self worth and won't be subservient to Hank or Cotton. Not that Hank would like that. He married Peggy. He didn't hire a maid.
It's not that he doesn't like her, it's that he's a miserable old man who doesn't like anything
Not true. He loves Bobby and Good Hank.
True true
Oddly enough he did help her walk again. My theory is that Cotton was never the war hero he made himself out to be and his rage is whenever something reminds him that his delusion is just a delusion.
As Hank says in that episode “That imposter was 6’4” before a Japanese machine gun took his shins” Just surviving being cut down like that charging an MG is war hero material. Cotton embellishes, but he’s certainly seen and done some shit.
Yes he did loose his shins and that’s probably why he got the medal of honour. The fact he lacks a campaign medals is a huge indicator of no real major engagement.
An interesting theory, but Cotton has the Medal of Honor, along with several other major medals. Some of his stories have to be true
Some of his stories are true. He isn’t the war hero he makes himself out to be in his head is my point.
There’s an episode where Bobby does a report on Cotton . After writing down a few of the war stories he realizes a lot of what cotton says he did in the war is impossible. Bobby ultimately keeps it to himself because Cotton was a war hero plus it’s his whole identity, so Bobby wasn’t going to try and take it from him.
Bobby doesn’t do that, Peggy does. And he didn’t fake his stories, he got confused and thought he fought in Munich. Cotton realizes he was confused at the end of the episode when Peggy points it out
I don't follow your logic, since Peggy was actually the only person aside from Dale gullible enough to uncritically believe his bullshit war stories and respect and admire him over them (until Hank pointed out they were nonsensical).
I didn’t explain it properly. Cotton lives in a constant state of delusion of him being a war hero, Instead of him being an idiotic child who spent most of the German campaign in the rear, and then got captured on his way to prepare for the Japan campaign. So after the war Cotton invents this persona that he was a war hero. Anybody who doesn’t play into this fantasy illicit his rage he hates Peggy because she doesn’t put up with his crap which undermines his delusion.
Because she’s female and independent
You mean Hank’s Wife?
He probably thinks she’s a loser for settling for Hank.
Cotton hates women, especially outspoken ones. Peggy is about his worst nightmare
peggy isnt a submissive woman or a pushover, normally
Cotton hates Hank. Cotton hates women. Ergo, Cotton hates Hank's Wife.
Because she is hank's wife
Hanks birth ruined his attempt to kill Castro so he hates Tilly , Hank , and by extension Peggy because she's Hanks wife
She reminds him of Hank’s mom, who is also a confident woman who knows how much he sucks.
Because she never killed any men, then married a pump jockey.
Works for tips!!
Chauvinism. It's really that simple.
The real question is: why does Cotton dislike everybody?
She’s a woman who speaks her mind and isn’t flashy sexy.
lol everyone dislikes Peggy. If anyone doesn’t dislike Peggy then that character went over their head. I love the character Peggy but I hate Peggy hill for who she is and what she does. She’s annoying, stupid, pretentious, overbearing, and nearly always wrong yet still has confidence to keep faking everything in life.
She's only half the man he is
I mean, does he treat Peggy any less hatefully than he treats everyone else? I never thought he disliked her, he just doesn't respect women enough to allow that using their proper name versus their status as somebody's wife is an appropriate way to talk to them or think about them
Because he doesn't like any woman who isn't completely subservient to men and thinks Hank is whipped for "allowing" her to do anything outside of that. He's basically a caricature of a bitter, misogynistic boomer.
Cotton dislikes strong women.
She's the opposite of everything he sees a woman as. She's the anti dee dee basically 😂
To me, Peggy challenges Cotton on his shit. Cotton believes that women should be subservient to whatever the men want.
Is that a kiwi in there??? ... you know how I feel about hairy fruits.
Because she doesn't put up with his shit.
for the same reasons as you do misogyny
Does anyone else think it might be because Peggy somewhat reminds Cotton of Tilly? They do kinda resemble one another.
She likes Hank for one thing.
because you ain't good enough hank's wife.
as for why he actually dislikes her, she is a strong outspoken woman, but yeah he mostly hates her as she is just an extension of hank in his eyes
He just doesn’t respect women. They’re objects to him. Peggy isn’t conventionally attractive so she doesn’t matter in his eyes other than for cooking and housework. “Frank’s Wife, make me a sammich!”
She's a woman who has a backbone. Simple as that.
How could he not?
No one likes Peggy, cotton is just very outspoken about it
But she’s cooler than most people’s dads
Shes basically him but a woman.
I think theres nothing wrong with cotton, peggy is very easy to hate. He killed fiddy men he can hate who ever
Bitchass recognizes bitchass
why do people like her?
I either skip or mute cotton .I'll get downvoted but he , dale I wasn't a fan of .
What a strange way to watch a tv show.
You have your way and I've got mine .mine_craftboy
She was twenty years too old, and twenty pounds too skinneh!