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A lot has changed with my tastes since I last looked into
this show, but I’m nevertheless glad to be back at the house of Nickelodeon’s
biggest family for another season of reviews.
The Loud House (Season 3)
Basic Premise
I have to be honest here; I’m not as into The Loud House as I used to be. It’s hard to explain why, but I think the
most likely reason for this comes from how long I’ve been reviewing all kinds
of animated shows. Many of them are just
far more creative, exciting, and funny than even many of the show’s best
efforts. Even other slice-of-life shows
come off as far more thought-provoking with much stronger emotions and
character development. Plus, while I
still believe it improves with every season, its early days have way too many
weak cartoons behind it. It’s gotten to
the point where many of them aren’t that great on re-watch and that I probably
should have given those lower scores, especially the Season 1 cartoons.
That said, while I have brought it down significantly when it
comes to animated shows of all time, I still think The Loud House is a very good and fun show in its own right. I’m still drawn to see what the Loud
siblings, their parents, and their friends get up to with each new
adventure. Other shows may have
performed its strengths better, but that doesn’t mean this show doesn’t pull
them off well. It still brings a mostly
positive experience, especially since, like I said, it improves with every
season. Much of the second season proves
this with far less mean-spiritedness, focus on more interesting characters
besides Lincoln, and making the show’s world feel bigger. That’s all you need to anticipate where the
show takes it with the third season.
Interestingly enough, considering that the series creator, Chris Savino,
was revealed to be a bad dangerous person, I think the strengths could grow
without him in charge.
Overall, while I may not hold the show in as high regard as I
did a few years ago, I’m excited to share my thoughts on what The Loud House Season 3 has to
offer. So, let’s check it out and turn
it up Loud.
Now on with the reviews:
Tripped!
Big families usually bring a lot of character and
perspectives to life. For this
full-length cartoon, we follow the Louds on one of their biggest endeavors, a
road trip.
The biggest strength is how
every member of the family has something memorable in every phase of the
trip. The first few minutes show a
flashback montage of how they raised money with the scenes playing to each
family member’s appealing quirks and unique talents. As for their actual drive, it’s more
ambitious than expected, at least to the characters. For audiences, it’s honestly normal to see
shows about road trips dominate with things going wrong. At least in my experience, the worst thing about
them is usually bad traffic. However, in media, especially in cartoons, there’s
much more imaginative ways for things to go wrong.
Here, the challenges are
plentiful varying in magnitude, but many are more enjoyable than others. The worst ones have an abundance of gross-out
gags. There are unfortunate implications
when the family accidentally drive into porta potties, everyone vomits
weeks-old sandwiches, and constant reminders of Lori’s fart
problem. Stuff like this really holds
back the comedy of this show from being as funny as it can be, expecting the
audience to simply laugh at something gross.
Other ways things go wrong are entirely at the fault of the family which
can be a positive and negative. They unwisely decide to race someone which
crashes them in a ditch, they lose the car by not putting in the right gear,
and one sibling stays behind making them miss a bus. They’re some of the more believable ways for
things to go wrong making them more enjoyable, but it also makes the family
look too dumb to follow. That’s not even
mentioning the parents’ roles with Mom constantly forgetting Lily and Dad
putting more value in puzzles and his cowbell than his wallet. It's moments like this that imply that they don't deserve to raise 11 kids.
All this said, the best thing about things
going wrong on the trip are the ways the Louds find ways around them making for
exciting moments. In a lot of cases when
things crash or they need to fix something up, young Lana impresses with her
repairwoman strengths. There’s also a
fun family blues number to raise money making good use of recounts of all their
troubles. The climax where the family
flies a plane to their destination and later to try and get their car back is
also among the show’s most exciting moments.
As for the one guy they tried racing, that move turns out to greatly
make up for the family’s endless challenges.
During the trip, they find him again and put their competitiveness aside
to help him. Because of this, just when
the special is about to be ruined with the Louds about to lose their suite, the
man returns the favor by having them stay with him. This gives the special a well-deserved
satisfying conclusion and fitting payoff through showcasing the benefits of
befriending people you meet on the road.
Not all of the many road trip hassles are very pleasing to watch, but
what makes it all worth it is following a huge family of colorful
characters. Sure many are just the butts
of jokes and contribute to things going wrong, but it’s nice to see them work
as one unit instead of all sympathy on one character. Also, with a solid payoff, I give this show’s
take on road trips a good pass.
B+
The next Loud House review shows what the show would be like if it starred rabbits, and the kids meet their new "grandma."
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Know Your Fusion" from Steven Universe.
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