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Gown and
Out
At this point in the series, it’s hard to consider Lola as
all-out vain and bratty. Plenty of
starring roles have shown that for all her faults, she’s an endearing human
being with her own challenges, and abilities to learn and grow from her experiences. Roles like this always
bring something cute to the forefront, and this cartoon is no different.
A big part of Lola’s character is that she’s
always setting out to be the best of the best when it comes to pageants. She can’t even picture the very idea of
losing one, and it doesn’t seem like that’s happening anytime soon as we open
with her winning the top prize at one.
On a side note, there’s another strong showing of continuity with plenty
of references to Lincoln knowing the exact details of her pageant routine. He did majorly study up on the subject a while back. Anyway, Lola’s role in this
pageant is so great, she’s invited to take part in a regional pageant with many
little girls from across the state.
She’s so excited about it, arrangements have to be made for Lori, the
eldest Loud, to go with her while the parents are too busy.
For all the times Lola has been
over-confident with her appearance and has come out on top, what follows is a
bold direction for her. Many of the
contestants are just as focused on being beautiful and pageant worthy as she
has, probably more even. They’ve even
had far more professional accomplishments than her. This makes Lola feel very intimidated by the
competition, and any confidence she had in herself is quickly diminished. She still holds onto some of her perfectionist
tendencies through getting nauseous from just saying the word losing, but the
major point remains and she’s still relatable.
While this is so, Lola’s reaction to these newfound anxieties is kind of
cheap and works a little too well. With
a little makeup on the day of the pageant, she makes Lori think she’s sick and
unable to compete. Even if it’s
easy to debunk if one were to closely observe her blotches and spots and her
overacting, Lori easily buys into the act.
Out of this though, we get a lot of great support from Lori. She has the opportunity for a spa day from
accompanying Lola, but while believing her sister’s sick, she chooses family
over her own needs. This is among her
most wholesome moments as the oldest sibling in the family and shows the
makings of a great caretaker.
In fact,
her care is so big, Lola ends up breaking down and tells her the truth about
her condition as well as her fears of the competition. Rather than being sore about the lying, Lori
understands why Lola did it, and even recounts to her that she was in the same
position too. In the end, Lori provides
Lola with honest yet encouraging advice that while competitions get tougher as
you get older, it’s better to try than back out. So, with the aid of Lincoln’s beauty
expertise, Lori’s encouragement gets Lola to try the pageant anyway. The main message proves effective as Lola
puts on a great performance, even if she ends up not winning. She’s still left with the thrill of getting
there and even somewhat intimidates the other girls for next year’s regional
pageant.
In all, this cartoon is a
cutely relatable experience enhanced by meaningful character development,
strong continuity, and some of the most genuine family love.
A
Breaking
Dad
Under the impression that the show keeps improving with every
new season, I also believe it gets slightly more mature with its plots as
well. Rather than just focusing on the
hijinks the kids get up to, there are a few instances dealing with the subject
of parenthood. Most of them involve the
more interesting parent in the Loud family, Dad through what he gets up to when
trying to be loving and supportive to his kids.
As a result, what he gets up to here can resonate well with parents
trying to connect with kids, especially when they’re just infants still getting
to know the world. There’s also a strong
reminder that running a family means making some sacrifices at times.
Fitting a trend of making one-off gags from
earlier seasons more prominent in later ones, Dad is excited to attend a
cowbell festival. However, he’s unable
to find a suitable caretaker for Lily with her daycare out of commission. Dad’s at the risk of missing the festival,
but is able to convince next-door neighbor, Mr. Grouse, to watch over Lily for
the day. Although Mr. Grouse is not open
to babysitting and has to be bribed with lasagna to do it as usual, it’s still
remarkable how he’s more social and open to helping the Louds than before. Even though he has to constantly call
Dad for help, he does follow his instructions well enough to please Lily. It would be a lot easier if Dad just followed
Mr. Grouse’s suggestions to just come home and take care of Lily, and it’s at
this point where putting cowbells first gets concerning.
However, this direction works for the
consequences it seems to bring. Because
he put his own interests first, Dad finds that Lily appears to be more attached
to Mr. Grouse than him by calling him “da-da” and not wanting him to
leave. It’s at this point where parents
can truly relate to this cartoon. When
people have kids, the biggest thing to hope for is that they’ll look up to you
and trust they’ll be taken care of. Not
being considered a mom or dad to a kid can really leave a big sting and be hard
to live with if you think about it. Dad
experiencing this pushes him to pull out all stops to please Lily and let her
know who her real father is. He spends a
whole day appeasing any interest she develops be it her usual customs, buying
her things at the mall, and keeping her home from the reopened day care. It’s a crazy amount of affection for sure,
but the weight behind Dad’s insane actions is undeniable especially when Lily
still calls Mr. Grouse “da-da” despite the attempts.
In the end though, it turns out Lily was
calling Mr. Grouse that because he was wearing one of Dad’s sweaters, making
good use of an earlier scene. This
reveal is somewhat clever, but also a little obvious if you think about it hard
enough. I could also say that Dad’s
fears turning out to not be nonexistent is a bit of a cop-out, but kids
drifting away from parents who put their interests first feels like it can
really happen.
It’s not the most
stand-out cautionary tale, but it makes its point all things considered. Enhanced by Dad’s genuine desire to be seen
as a good parent, Lily’s cuteness, and Mr. Grouse’s bonding with her, this is
an adorable cartoon literally great for the whole family.
A
The Ranking
1. Head Poet’s Anxiety
2. Roadie to Nowhere
3. Shop Girl
4. Breaking Dad
5. Gown and Out
6. Fandom Pains
7. Insta-Gran
8. Selfie Improvement
9. Net Gains
10. No Place Like Homeschool
11. The Mad Scientist
12. City Slickers
13. Missed Connection
14. Fool Me Twice
15. Deal Me Out
16. Teachers’ Union
17. Tripped!
18. White Hare
19. A Fridge Too Far
20. Pasture Bedtime
21. Friendzy
22. Pipe Dreams
23. Rita Her Rights
The next Loud House review brings the only true dud of this season involving finding a place to stay while termites are in the home, and Lincoln brings down his own cartoon by being a lazy mooch in an assignment.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is another marvel from Steven Universe "Storm in the Room."
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