'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 12

Along Came a Sister

Here’s a nice cartoon that does some good justice for the relationship of the Loud siblings through mostly showing how much they're willing to help each other when they need it.  It all unfolds when Lincoln volunteers to look after Frank, his class’s pet spider, over the weekend.  The only problem is that Leni is absolutely terrified of spiders and will most likely freak out and kill Frank if she finds out about him.  Now, the rest of Lincoln’s sisters end up finding out about what Lincoln’s up to and for the rest of the cartoon, they actually show off some nice genuine concern for the dilemma.  They all want to make sure that Leni doesn’t know about Frank and are quick to step into action when Frank is let out and gets loose in the Loud House through searching for him and making sure Leni doesn’t see him when he’s in sight, which also includes a cute humorous bit involving Lisa claiming that Leni is “lack-toes intolerant.”  However, the best and most entertaining source of family help comes in at the climax when an exterminator is called in to get rid of Frank for good.  Not only do all of Lincoln’s sisters show off a great amount of care for protecting Frank on their brother’s behalf, but they also make for a lot of gags that’s sure to keep the audience invested.  The best part about the climax though is what it ends up doing for Leni’s character.  She may be dumb, but that doesn’t stop her from being a truly loving and caring sisters since it’s she who puts her fear of spiders aside, saves Frank, and gets the exterminator to leave.  To think that I needed more proof as to why Leni is one of animation’s best dumb characters.  This may not be one of my favorite cartoons from the show, but the amount of sibling love shown from everyone involved make it a good watch which is all that really matters. 9/10

Chore and Peace

I understand that some people not always being happy with the chores they’re assigned is a normal part of life, which is what’s portrayed in this cartoon, but I can’t abide those feelings going to such extremes that make life hard for everyone else.  This is what happens with Lincoln, who is assigned with taking out the trash, when he feels like his sisters have better chores than he does and goes on strike from doing his chore unless someone trades with him.  I’m fine with Lincoln not liking his chore and wanting a different one, but the way he goes about expressing these feelings feel so wrong.  The striking scenes are tolerable, with a lot of humor from his chants, but the cartoon really falls apart because of how far Lincoln goes with his behavior.  Without him taking out the trash, the house becomes infested with the stuff, and Lincoln doesn’t seem to care about it.  I know he wants a different chore, but does he really want the house to stink and be full of trash?  If that’s not enough, the sisters respond to this by going on strike as well. This makes the cartoon more frustrating because they were shown to clearly not like the effects of Lincoln’s strike, yet they’re making the issue worse.  Again, do they seriously want this?  Couldn’t they try less house-destructive means to solve the issue?  Plus, after everything’s resolved, they all go on strike again because they don’t get paid for chores meaning this whole mess will happen again.  After what I saw become of the Loud House due to these actions, I’m certainly not happy about that.  Some little things save the cartoon from total destruction.  Like I said, there’s a lot of humor from the striking scenes, especially the chants, and there are some good laughs while everyone suffers the mess the house ends up in.  Mom and Dad have a nice comedic bit of constantly deciding not to get involved with what’s going on, which is a good commentary for tropes in shows where the parents aren’t present when the kids have issues.  Plus, there’s genuine suspense and heart when everyone rushes to do their chores when they find out Lily’s missing.  While these points prevent the cartoon from being bad, I still find it pretty frustrating to sit through due to the high amounts of irrationality.  It’s just not my idea of entertainment. 6/10

The Ranking

1.      Undie Pressure

2.      Project Loud House

3.      Space Invader

4.      Driving Miss Hazy

5.      Left in the Dark

6.      Picture Perfect

7.      Sleuth or Consequences

8.      Hand-Me-Downer

9.      No Guts No Glori

10.  Changing the Baby

11.  Along Came A Sister

12.  Sound of Silence

13.  Butterfly Effect

14.  A Tale of Two Tables

15.  Overnight Success

16.  In Tents Debate

17.  Linc or Swim

18.  The Sweet Spot

19.  Heavy Meddle

20.  Get the Message

21.  Ties that Bind

22.  Making the Case

23.  Chore and Peace

24.  The Green House

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where you'll surely rock out to Luna's first starring role with "For Bros About to Rock," and experience yet another sibling brawl in "It's a Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House."