Attention Loud Crowd! Starting today, we’re going to pay another visit to the house of the
biggest family on Nickelodeon for another full season of reviews:
The Loud House (Season 2)
Basic Premise
Not long ago, Nickelodeon released what turned out to be
their best show in a very long time, The
Loud House. The general idea of a
show about the lives of a big family with one boy, Lincoln, and his 10 sisters,
Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, and Lily, sounded
appealing enough for an animated series. Their dynamic personalities
working off each other, the relatable and down-to-earth stories, and the comic
strip feel in the visuals made it something great. After years of weak series that felt too
gross, mean, and stupid, Nickelodeon finally had a show where the effort showed. From quoting characters to staying
up to date with when new cartoons would air, there’s something I found enticing to this
show.
However, as the first season showed, despite being so
well-made, The Loud House seemed to falter too much to be named as one of the
best animated TV series ever. While most
of the cartoons had a lot of heart and good sense of character,
others fell into the trap of the prior weaker Nickelodeon shows. There were
more than a few cartoons fueled by mean moments, stupid moments, and characters
acting like they were trying to make life for others difficult. Worst of
all, some cartoons ended on a bad note despite all the hardships the characters
were put through throughout the cartoon.
Given that things like these happened so frequently and weren’t once in
a while deals, it just didn’t feel right to give it top 10 status. The fact that it still had great material though gave a sign that the reason certain cartoons didn’t turn
out right was because the show was trying to figure out
what works. Any weak point could be brought under
control with later seasons. Speaking of
other seasons, I’ve been waiting for just the right time to discuss the second
season of this show. Now that it’s completely finished airing, the time to
look into it has arrived. So, will
Season 2 really improve over Season 1, or is this show doomed to remain in the
shadow of stronger animated works? We’ll
soon find out as we spend the next several blog posts looking into the cartoons
and half-hour specials that compose the season.
Let’s enter the house of the Louds and off we go!
Now on with the reviews:
11 Louds a
Leapin’
With a show like this that focuses on a big family, it’s only
fitting for it to get a Christmas special sooner or later. Not only is that the case for the season premiere,
but it’s one of the
best works this show has turned out.
One of the biggest things there is to Christmas is how it brings family together to share in its spirit of generosity and goodwill to people. In the Loud family, there’s a lot of family members to get into the spirit. Lola forces herself to be the sweetest little girl ever to appease Santa Clause while Lisa uses logic to shoot down all her beliefs in him. Lana happily tests reindeer traps. Luan frequently pops up to share one of her “12 Puns of Christmas.” Leni has a humorous running gag of making a dress out of random decorations Mom’s using. Luna struggles to write the perfect Christmas song which is constantly brought down by materialistic lyrics. Lori, in an interesting turn for the oldest Loud sibling, has a hard time keeping herself in check from opening presents, including a really big one, before the 25th. As to be expected from these characters, they all have their special entertaining quirks to reflect the diverse and versatile lifestyle of the Loud family. Working in the Christmas special makes it even better. All these characters’ ways of celebrating the holiday are entertaining enough, but it’s great that the main plot brings them all together.
It starts off simple with Lincoln losing his sled in crabby neighbor, Mr. Grouse’s yard, and he claims everything that lands on his property. This is especially bad because Christmas is when he shows the most disdain towards the Louds. Of course, we get some comedic antics as Lincoln tries to retrieve his sled, but during that time, we uncover interesting information about Mr. Grouse. He’s from a big family like the Louds, but can’t afford to be with them at Christmas, and being alone at that time of year is one of the saddest things ever (to me anyway).
When Lincoln tells everyone what he found, what follows is one of the show’s biggest displays of family love. His sisters pity Mr. Grouse and the whole family sets up a wondrous display of Christmas cheer for him. It’s complete with a festive feast and décor set up in his house, a bus ticket as a gift to unite him with his family, and Luna’s song finally coming together to heartwarming effect. There's even something that reshapes the status quo of the series…
One of the biggest things there is to Christmas is how it brings family together to share in its spirit of generosity and goodwill to people. In the Loud family, there’s a lot of family members to get into the spirit. Lola forces herself to be the sweetest little girl ever to appease Santa Clause while Lisa uses logic to shoot down all her beliefs in him. Lana happily tests reindeer traps. Luan frequently pops up to share one of her “12 Puns of Christmas.” Leni has a humorous running gag of making a dress out of random decorations Mom’s using. Luna struggles to write the perfect Christmas song which is constantly brought down by materialistic lyrics. Lori, in an interesting turn for the oldest Loud sibling, has a hard time keeping herself in check from opening presents, including a really big one, before the 25th. As to be expected from these characters, they all have their special entertaining quirks to reflect the diverse and versatile lifestyle of the Loud family. Working in the Christmas special makes it even better. All these characters’ ways of celebrating the holiday are entertaining enough, but it’s great that the main plot brings them all together.
It starts off simple with Lincoln losing his sled in crabby neighbor, Mr. Grouse’s yard, and he claims everything that lands on his property. This is especially bad because Christmas is when he shows the most disdain towards the Louds. Of course, we get some comedic antics as Lincoln tries to retrieve his sled, but during that time, we uncover interesting information about Mr. Grouse. He’s from a big family like the Louds, but can’t afford to be with them at Christmas, and being alone at that time of year is one of the saddest things ever (to me anyway).
When Lincoln tells everyone what he found, what follows is one of the show’s biggest displays of family love. His sisters pity Mr. Grouse and the whole family sets up a wondrous display of Christmas cheer for him. It’s complete with a festive feast and décor set up in his house, a bus ticket as a gift to unite him with his family, and Luna’s song finally coming together to heartwarming effect. There's even something that reshapes the status quo of the series…
Mom and Dad’s faces are finally shown, and with a few
exceptions, they remain shown. As
someone who liked their faces being hidden to keep the show from Lincoln and
his sisters’ perspective, I consider
this a welcome change of pace. It
overall felt pointless to keep hiding the faces since the faces of all the
other adults were shown. Not to mention there were several times in Season 1 where they
constantly teased us by showing their eyes and mouths but never both at the same time. Plus, with Mr. Grouse getting a lot of focus
and development here, Mom and Dad showing their faces opens up other characters
the chance for story ideas centered on
them.
As for the special, what the Louds do for Mr. Grouse has enough Christmas spirit and family love to really make what we see a true modern holiday tradition in the spirit of the show. Yes, the ending establishes that Mr. Grouse is still going to be cranky, but it’s not enough to dispel the genuine happiness and joy of the season from his moment with the Loud family.
In the end, what’s here is successful Christmas material and one of the most amazing pieces of Loud House material. 10/10
As for the special, what the Louds do for Mr. Grouse has enough Christmas spirit and family love to really make what we see a true modern holiday tradition in the spirit of the show. Yes, the ending establishes that Mr. Grouse is still going to be cranky, but it’s not enough to dispel the genuine happiness and joy of the season from his moment with the Loud family.
In the end, what’s here is successful Christmas material and one of the most amazing pieces of Loud House material. 10/10
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where things take an "Intern for the Worse" when an internship at Flip's Food and Fuel threatens to get in the way of Lincoln and Clyde's friendship and Pop-Pop gets some nice development for his character in "The Old and the Restless."
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