ROX #3: Tequila Conflagration

J: As is the case with several of these earliest episodes, this one packs plenty of portent for the future of ROX. We can only ponder in wonder the humble beginnings of the “potable” theme in ROX, as discovered here.

“I thought you were mispronouncing something,” I say when B asks me if I know the word 'potable.' I meant it back then: I didn't know the word. Ironically, I would later come to be known as the potable guy. Frat-boys would stop me at the bar, say something about drinking or alcohol, and inevitably conclude their blabber with some variation on the phrase: “it's potable!” This word, so new to me back in the early 90s, will hover over my head til my dying day.

Not that I mind. It's better than words like “pervert” or “sex-offender.”

There is other foreshadowing to future themes here. B makes reference to being “a slave to the bean” — a topic we explore in-depth two... [More...]

Lynn: This episode bills itself as a tequila special, and yet the hosts are running low on tequila.

This is another long episode. A featured player is “cosmic rocker” (whose true identity is the “sonic rocker”), one of those little dolls on a stand that moves in response to noise.

There's a lot of yammering I'm not remembering very well right now.

The show ends by facing the existential question (I've only seen a similar moment on “Seinfeld”). They decide that death would be too good a fate for having inflicted the first 2 episodes on an unsuspecting public. Fortunately for them, Cosmic “Christ-symbol” Rocker takes the weight of their sin by being immolated with the help of some lighter fluid and a match, as the two sinners chant.

The funniest moment is when the oblivious duo realize that burning plastic in a confined space is not a good idea. What fools be these?