"Unbalanced Load" is an episode of the first season from Rocko's Modern Life. In series' production order, it is the second segment of the fifth episode of the first season, as well as the tenth episode overall.[1]
Summary[]
Rocko's trip to the laundromat to clean his dirty clothes turns into a surreal misadventure.
Plot[]
Rocko and Spunky are sleeping when an air of stench emerges through the door and slaps Rocko in the face, prompting the wallaby to finally notice the smell. At first, he thought that Spunky had an accident in his bedroom, but he then notices the prolific amount of dirty clothes (some of which are coming to life) that need washing, as well as the unsanitary condition around his bedroom. So he packs up all the clothes, loads them up in his car, and takes Spunky along to go to the laundromat named Scrub 'n' Fluff. As Rocko walks inside, he slips his dollar into the coin machine to get change, but it continues to fly out and soon, it gets stuck to the back wheel of a steamroller when Rocko tried to flatten it. Rocko later uses a big washing machine (which seems to come alive and spits out some clothing right before Rocko quickly shuts the door) and adds in the detergent. Some of the clothes grab Spunky and the dog, now wet, successfully gets out. He shakes off the water on a customer, who promptly shoves Rocko in the coin machine. The washing machine Rocko had put his clothes in later goes out of control and Rocko finally notices it hopping away. He hops on top of it to stop it, but to no avail. Finally, Rocko whacks it with a baseball bat, which finally stops it from hopping. Rocko returns to the laundromat and puts his clothes in the dryer, oblivious to the fact that Spunky has hopped in. He then notices that his clothes are catching on fire, as well as Spunky himself, who hops into the sink as Rocko opens the dryer. He puts Spunky into another dryer to dry up. As Spunky steps out, his dryness elicits static electricity, causing all the clothes to stick on him, including Gladys Hippo's cups, which lands in Rocko's face. The hippo catches him and tosses Rocko headfirst into the coin machine, causing his teeth to fall out through the coin return. As Rocko finally finishes the laundry, a pair of mysterious hands emerge from the dryer and takes Rocko's shirt, prompting the wallaby to chase after the mysterious figure through the dryer to retrieve it. He then comes across a bunch of socks known as "The Gripes," who steals and destroys everyone's clothes. As a result, Rocko runs through the big holes in a quest to retrieve his shirt and successfully grabs it. He escapes through a dryer, which Gladys Hippo is using, and she tosses him outside on the pavement, where he is flattened by an upcoming steamroller, in which he retrieves his dollar from. Back at home, Rocko has sorted his clean clothes and cleaned the bedroom. Just then, a washer hops through the bedroom walls and a customer chases after it. One of the members of The Gribes later appears and swings a blow torch as the episode ends, concluding the season.
Characters[]
- Rocko Rama
- Spunky
- Gladys Hippo
- Gripes
Trivia[]
- In the video game Spunky's Dangerous Day, the fourth level is named after this episode. It's also the last level in that game.
- Heffer does not appear in this episode or "Clean Lovin'", making the only half-hour Heffer is absent from in the series.
- The animation of the car crashing in response to the washing machine hopping down the street is recycled from "Who's For Dinner?" when a car crashes when trying to avoid Heffer rolling down a hill.
- The line "Eat steel, Rocko!" said by one of the members of The Gripes has become an Internet meme.
- Additionally, it's unknown how they know Rocko's name. Rocko does, however, mention he's heard of them.
- The Gripes are based off of modern day wives' tales and attributing clothing damage and faults of laundry machine based mishaps to "gremlins", ranging from missing socks, clothing burn damage by excessive dryer heat, and other malfunctions.
Continuity[]
- One of the flashbacks that shows Rocko when he describes his favorite shirt is the episode "Carnival Knowledge", when he won the Chinese finger puzzle. However, Tom Kenny is still credited at the end for voicing Heffer, when he instead performed a few incidental voices (such as Dr. Katz in "Clean Lovin'").
Quotes[]
- Rocko: Spunky! Pew! Bad dog!
- Rocko: This place is looking like a pigsty.
- Pig: Oh yeah? You gotta problem with that?
- Rocko: Amscray!
- Rocko: Yes but it’s the only clean one left I can’t go naked.
- Rocko: Laundry day is a very dangerous day.
- Hippo Lady: How dare you!
References[]
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