Cults can take many forms and have a variety of goals. But even the most pervasive and convincing of cults eventually runs into someone they can't manipulate, as the Omegas did with Luanne Platter on King of the Hill. In Season 6, Episode 17, "Fun With Jane and Jane," she gave the Omegas and their jam-making ways the biggest run for their money since Homer J. Simpson nearly broke the Movementarians on The Simpsons.
Until she met her future husband Lucky Kleinschmidt, Luanne struggled to figure out where she fit in. Her parents were both in jail, she bounced back and forth between careers and schools -- including a short stint as an amateur boxer -- and she often had trouble connecting with people. Luanne found acceptance with the Hills as well as the other residents of Rainey Street who became her real family. Yet both she and Homer crossed organizations that wanted to supercede their families.
King of the Hill's Luanne Accidentally Joined a Cult
King of the Hill regularly showed that Luanne was highly suggestible and not the sharpest knife in the drawer. When combined with her almost crippling need for acceptance, this whole package made her the perfect target for the Omegas. In "Fun With Jane and Jane," the cult was masquerading as a sorority. They wooed young women into joining their ranks, then broke them down physically, mentally, and emotionally before shipping them off to a secret ranch to work.
Unfortunately for the Omegas, Luanne wasn't as easy a mark as they were hoping for. Her combination of innocence and ignorance made her incredibly difficult to convert to their ways. She kept acting like the Omegas were a sorority -- and it wasn't until her aunt Peggy Hill got involved that both of them ended up under the Omegas' thrall. The whole situation fell apart for the Omegas in a fashion similar to the Movementarians after their run-in with Homer.
The Simpsons' Homer Baffled a Cult Leader
In The Simpsons Season 9, Episode 13, "The Joy of Sect," a cult named the Movementarians came to Springfield. The town's citizens were easy pickings for the Leader... until he met Homer. Homer's inherent selfishness and general stupidity made him nearly impossible to brainwash. The Movementarians only got through to him when they started singing about the Leader to the tune of Adam West's Batman TV series.
Homer and Luanne are surprisingly similar characters. They are both incredibly innocent and also inclined to do some pretty ridiculous things. It's worth noting that Luanne means well while Homer is a repeat felon who's constantly being sued by pretty much everyone he has ever met, so they're not identical. But their most obvious common trait is their overall lack of common sense. Neither Homer nor Luanne are particularly bright, but that quality turned out to be their best defense against the cults they faced.
Hank Hill and Marge Simpson saved their respective families from the Omegas and the Movementarians. The cults lost their footholds in Arlen and Springfield because of their actions. While these cults were eventually able to win Luanne and Homer over, facing off against them created the cracks in their foundations that led to their destruction.
The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. on Fox and streams on Hulu and Disney+. King of the Hill is now streaming on Hulu.