Thursday, May 30, 2019

Gown and Out / Breaking Dad (The Loud House Season 3 Episode 12) - 'Toon Reviews 30

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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."
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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