Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Tripped! (The Loud House Season 3 Episode 1) - 'Toon Reviews 30

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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.


If you would like to check out other Loud House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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