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Recap / Rockos Modern Life S 3 E 7 I See London I See France The Fatlands

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The seventh episode of the third season of Rocko's Modern Life.

I See London, I See France

Rocko and Heffer break away from an obsessed tour guide on a trip to Paris, Rocko to find true love and Heffer to find a decent place to eat.

The Fatlands

Spunky puts on a lot of weight, and Rocko tries to make his dog shed the extra pounds. Meanwhile, Bloaty the Tick and Squirmy the Ringworm have a wild west adventure in Spunky's new-found "Fatlands".


"I See London, I See France" provides examples of:

  • Berserk Button: The Tour Guide has two; don't deviate from his schedule, and don't try to leave his tour.
  • Big "NO!": The Tour Guide, after chasing Rocko and Heffer all day, lets one drop as their plane departs.
  • Control Freak: The tour guide is very much this, as he doesn't like it when people deviate from his schedule or question his choices of what is featured on the tour, and when Rocko and Heffer leave the tour, he absolutely loses it.
  • Distaff Counterpart: Claudette is a wallaby who looks like a female version of Rocko.
  • Eiffel Tower Effect: Parodied. All Rocko wants to see in Paris is the Eiffel Tower, but that's not part of the tour; when Rocko sees the Tower out the window and starts giving facts about it, the Tour Guide is livid that someone is doing his job for him. Later, when Rocko is looking for Claudette, a local tells him that she is probably at the Eiffel Tower because "all cheesy love stories end there." Sure enough, she is there... eating with Heffer at the Chokey Chicken restaurant at the top of the tower.
  • Gay Paree: This episode's events take place in Paris, France.
  • Jerkass: The bus driver in spades. When Rocko asks a question about when they’re gonna reach the Eiffel Tower, he ignores it and when Rocko asks again, he gets livid.
  • Mask of Sanity: The Tour Guide's cheery disposition gradually drops, first from him getting pissed at Rocko asking when they're going to see the Eiffel Tower. He then loses it completely when he finds out Rocko left, chasing after him and Heffer like a madman throughout the city. He reappears at the end, still driving the bus and screaming at the two to get back on as Rocko and Heffer depart on their plane for America.
  • No Indoor Voice: The Tour Guide tends to shout whenever he gets angry.
  • Nose Shove: While at a Chokey Chicken restaurant, Heffer puts a pair of chicken drumsticks in his nostrils. Claudette does the same thing at the Chokey Chicken at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
  • Sanity Slippage: The Tour Guide goes completely nuts after Rocko breaks away from the tour.
  • Scooby-Dooby Doors: Done with a French canal instead of a building; the chase involved Rocko trying to find and impress Claudette, Heffer following a truck advertising a Chokey Chicken restaurant, and the insane tour guide hunting them down in his bus. At one point, the characters (including the vehicles) start walking up and down the sides of buildings and riding boats through the canal.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Rocko leaves the tour and the guide goes crazy, Heffer decides to leave as well, with the tour guide hot on his trail.
  • Ship Tease: On their way back to O-Town, Heffer says to Rocko that he thinks Claudette likes him. Rocko tells Heffer that he doesn't feel that way about Claudette, as he feels that Claudette is not his type, prefers to see them as distant pen pals, and likes Melba.
  • Shout-Out: The many Chokey Chicken restaurants shown in France is a reference to Europe's real-life abundance of fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's and Burger King.
  • Take Our Word for It: On the tour, the Tour Guide points out the ugliest man he's ever seen. The man is never shown since the camera continues to focus on Rocko, who is sitting on the opposite side of the bus.
  • That Cloud Looks Like...: On the tour, one of the mundane sights the Tour Guide points out is a cloud that looks like bacon and eggs.
  • Tour Guide Gag: The Tour Guide points out mundane sights you can see anywhere instead of the famous landmarks of Paris, and absolutely refuses to let any tourist off the bus, lest they face severe repercussions.
  • You Are Number 6: The Tour Guide refers to the tourists by the numbers on their hats, rather than their names. He calls Rocko "#11" and Heffer "#13".

"The Fatlands" provides examples of:

  • A Day in the Limelight: This is the third epsiode that focuses on Bloaty and Squirmy.
  • Book Ends: At the beginning of this episode, Bloaty complains about doing the same thing every day; waking up, going to work, going home, watching tv, and going to bed. At the end of the episode, after defeating the Blood Brothers, Bloaty looks forward to going back to doing his usual routine. Both times, he says, "Up, work, home, TV, bed!"
  • Chekhov's Gag: There are two in this episode that overlap with each other. When Bloaty and Squirmy arrive at Tickle Flats, they have to be careful, as the slightest disturbance will cause Spunky to itch and cause a claw-valanche, wherein Spunky's rear paw will scratch the parasite who caused the disturbance away. Later in the episode, when Bloaty and Squirmy meet the Blood Brothers, the bandits reveal that the money they save on personal hygiene they spend on dance lessons, and perform a dance number. When the Blood Brothers take Bloaty and Squirmy to Tickle Flats, the two trick the bandits into performing the dance number as their last request to make Spunky itch and scratch them away.
  • Clock Discrepancy: The Blood Brothers warn Bloaty and Squirmy to leave town by high noon or face them in a showdown. Only several seconds after leaving the saloon, as Bloaty and Squirmy prepare to leave themselves, the Blood Brothers burst back into the saloon telling them time's up, but Squirmy points out that according to his watch it's only 11:00 AM, and that they have a whole hour to get out. The Blood Brothers leader reminds them, "Daylight Savings Time, remember? And spring forward fall back?"
  • Cowboy Episode: Played with in that it's not done with any of the main characters, but rather Bloaty and Squirmy. In this episode, Bloaty and Squirmy travel to newly discovered lands with a western theme due to Spunky's weight gain. They become the sheriffs of Scabstone and get into a showdown with the Blood Brothers.
  • Damned by Faint Praise: After the Blood Brothers show off their dance routine, Bloaty and Squirmy attempt to pacify them by describing the act as "interesting". The Blood Brothers immediately see through our heroes' "back-handed compliment" and get offended anyway.
  • The Fat Episode: In this episode, Spunky has put on a lot of weight from overeating, to the point where his feet don't even touch the ground, so Rocko takes him to Dr. Hutchison to give him a liposuction. Meanwhile, Bloaty and Squirmy have a wild west adventure in Spunky's newfound "Fatlands".
  • Flea Episode: This episode focuses primarily on Bloaty and Squirmy, a pair of parasites that live on Spunky's body.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: When Bloaty and Squirmy first meet the Blood Brothers, they mistake them as nice gentlemen who escorted the previous sheriff out of town.
  • Last Request: When the Blood Brothers take Bloaty and Squirmy to Tickle Flats to exterminate them, they ask them if they have any last requests. Bloaty and Squirmy ask the bandits if they could perform their dance number for them. The Blood Brothers do so, causing Spunky to itch and scratch them away.
  • Mosquito Miscreants: The Blood Brothers are a trio of mosquito bandits who rob the town of Scabstone.
  • New Job as the Plot Demands: Dr. Hutchison gets a job as a veterinarian in this episode.
    Rocko: Didn't you used to be a dentist, and a surgeon, and a pharmacist?
    Dr. Hutchison: Yes, it's been quite a year. (laughs)
  • Stock Footage: This episode re-uses the Bloaty and Squirmy intro from "Dirty Dog".
  • Temporary Bulk Change: After eating too much, Spunky grows steadily fatter until eventually his feet don't even touch the ground. At the end, he's given liposuction, becoming slightly slimmer than usual.
  • Terrible Trio: The Blood Brothers, who are a trio of mosquito bandits.

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