Sunday, March 4, 2018

'Toon Reviews 13: The Loud House Season 2 Episode 20: Yes-Man/Friend or Faux

Yes-Man








It’s great to know that Lincoln’s been on good terms with his sisters a lot this season, especially since Season 1, more often than not, portrayed them as obstacles that seemed to exist to give him a hard time.  Not only has he gotten along well with them more, but he’s also seemed to have made himself known as a competent plan-maker the others are willing to follow, which is good considering the events of the show’s biggest misfire from earlier this season.  With this cartoon, we have possibly the best use of Lincoln as a highly valued and trustworthy Loud.  The plot presents him as the “Master of Convincing” which means that he’s skilled at convincing Mom and Dad to give him money for certain things, in this case, a ticket for a VIP concert featuring his favorite band, SMOOCH.  Before he can convince them however, Luna overhears his Master of Convincing claims, and begs him to work his skills to help her win an auction for an antique t-shirt.  On a side note, in a season with little for her to do, this cartoon is one that does great justice for Luna as a character.  For one thing, when asking Lincoln to help her get money, she makes a good effort to keep her cool and not get hostile, which is especially refreshing considering her portrayal in another cartoon about money.  Plus, her gratitude towards Lincoln when his advice of convincing with her strengths and talents gets Luna the money she needs is adorable and a good show of her caring ways, as is how she proudly tells the other sisters about his talents, and her being the most considerate about Lincoln’s later problem.  For now, when the other sisters find out that Lincoln’s the Master of Convincing and he takes even more time out of his ticket plan to help them, there’s even more proof of how effective Lincoln has become as a man with the plan.  Through a montage of all the sisters doing what makes them so entertaining as they convince Mom and Dad to fund what they want, they successfully get their money, and they all nicely praise Lincoln for their success.  They may not do so to Luna’s extent, but their appreciation is still satisfying.  Going back to the problem Lincoln runs into, it turns out that while his advice works for his sisters, when he finally approaches Mom and Dad for what he wants, they say no.  While it’s easy to figure out right away that it’s because they ran out of extra money through giving it away to his 10 sisters, Lincoln doesn’t get that, and spends much of the third act in a panicky state that he, the Master of Convincing, had tactics that worked for others, but they didn’t work for him.  Even if he’s not seeing the clear meaning of the situation, I can watch and enjoy Lincoln pull off many crazy stunts, including imitating how the sisters got money, because it’s believable that he’d be desperate to maintain his status.  He eventually finds out the obvious reasons for Mom and Dad’s denial, and while it’s sad for him to not get what he strived for, it really does make perfect sense and there’s no malice in their reasons at all.  However, this sad moment for Lincoln brings on what is perhaps the best portrayal of sibling love this show has put out.  All the sisters put on their own concert for Lincoln, and serenade him with their own rock ballad of how grateful they are for his helpfulness, and believe me when I say that it’s one you’ll constantly be humming after you hear it.  They even spice it up by having SMOOCH themselves come in to join them.  Everything about this ending is just so fun and so heartwarming that you’re automatically invested, and it really makes itself clear that despite everything, Lincoln’s sisters really do love him and appreciate him for the good brother he is.  Along with a fun story, great character moments, and genuine family love all around, I say yes to this cartoon being another highlight to this season. 10/10
Friend or Faux







I’ve stated before that Lisa is not one of the most interesting Louds since there’s really nothing to her aside from being a genius at four years old.  Still, that shouldn’t stop her from getting some development, and we get that in one of the most enjoyable and adorable entries of the series.  For starters, we see how Lisa’s intellect and passion for science distances her from the kids in her kindergarten class, which can be relatable to anyone who can get too absorbed in their interests to socialize with others.  This character flaw becomes the major driving force of the plot.  On her report card, Lisa has many As, but since she distances herself from the other kids and hasn’t made a single friend, she has an F in social skills.  Her focus set on maintaining a perfect academic record, Lisa makes a deal with her teacher that if she can make a friend, her grade will be raised.  The following sequence of Lisa attempting to research the meaning of friendship no doubt features her at her most entertaining.  She approaches something as simple as making a friend as something complicated that requires extensive field work where she observes her family socializing with their friends, and records her findings.  It’s certainly a unique approach to something so simple, and it’s done to great appealing effect here.  This is, after all, one of this show’s biggest strengths.  Lisa then puts her research to use and gets the friendly attention of her classmate, Darcy.  Personality-wise, Darcy is as standard little kid as you can get, wide-eyed, excitable, carrying a stuffed animal, and always wanting to play.  However, what we see of her is best-suited for her to work off of another character.  A cutesy character like Darcy and a smart character like Lisa make for many nice interactions as they go about their school day.  Their completely different traits bounce off each other very well with one’s mannerisms being responded to by someone who doesn’t fully understand what they’re saying or doing especially since Lisa is just befriending Darcy for her own academic purposes.  Speaking of which, Lisa expects her bond with Darcy to be over and done with the moment she gets that A in social skills.  However, Darcy, as you’d expect, can’t get enough of her new friend while Lisa just wants to return to doing her own thing.  You’d think that this would make Lisa unlikable, but even when she’s trying to avoid Darcy, she’s making a genuine attempt to be respectful towards her.  Later when Darcy makes the ultimate move with a friendship bracelet, Lisa turns it down saying that she used Darcy to get an A the whole time.  If you need any more proof that Lisa’s still likable despite what she does, you’ll find it when she feels believable regret for hurting Darcy’s feelings with her words.  Not only that, but when Lisa’s put in timeout for how she treated Darcy, she finally gets the point of friendship when Darcy offers her a cookie out of sympathy, and she gladly accepts Darcy into her life, for she makes it better as good friends do.  In all, this whole cartoon works as a great way to make Lisa feel the most relatable she’s been and end up with her most significant form of development.  It also greatly reaches out for anyone who has trouble making friends and why they’re worth making, leaving an adorable cartoon with a friend pairing worth watching, and one I hope we see more of.  For all these reasons, this is indeed one of this show’s friendliest offerings. 10/10

The Ranking
  1. 11 Louds a Leapin’
  2. L is for Love
  3. Pulp Friction
  4. Frog Wild
  5. Yes-Man
  6. Party Down
  7. Friend or Faux
  8. Room with a Feud
  9. Lock n Loud
  10. Fool’s Paradise
  11. Fed Up
  12. Out of the Picture
  13. Job Insecurity
  14. Potty Mouth
  15. The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos
  16. Spell it Out
  17. Baby Steps
  18. Shell Shock
  19. Suite and Sour
  20. Back in Black
  21. Future Tense
  22. Patching Things Up
  23. The Whole Picture
  24. Health Kicked
  25. Garage Banned
  26. Back Out There
  27. The Old and the Restless
  28. Kick the Bucket List
  29. Intern for the Worse
  30. Lynner Takes All
  31. Cheater by the Dozen
  32. Pets Peeved
  33. Making the Grade
  34. Vantastic Voyage
  35. Change of Heart
  36. ARGGH! You for Real?
  37. No Such Luck
  38. Brawl in the Family
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Luan is driven to give up comedy, and it's "No Laughing Matter," and while planning Mom's birthday party, the Louds try to ensure that Leni gives "No Spoilers."
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