Thursday, May 9, 2019

Net Gains / Pipe Dreams (The Loud House Season 3 Episode 6) - 'Toon Reviews 30

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Net Gains

Whatever your opinion is about Lynn, it’s an unfortunate truth that she doesn’t have much development.  She’s all about playing extreme sports which often tends to make her rough around other people.  This comes with a huge desire to win everything she plays complete with extreme superstitious rituals which usually makes for some of the most divisive or most hated cartoons.  It's somewhat of a blessing that while it isn’t much, it’s very nice that this cartoon finally starts giving Lynn some development when it comes to winning. 
She goes out for the girls’ basketball league since that’s a sport she still needs to get a win in as part of something called FLIBBR.  To her dismay, she ends up coaching a team of girls’ who aren’t very good.  If I can be frank, I don’t really see how some of them are even allowed to play since one has a broken leg and another is severely narcoleptic.  These and other weaknesses involving lisps and nervous sweating streaks make Lynn see that the best way to win is if she always has the ball.  It’s her usual flaws at work as she keeps her teammates from getting in on the action, implying that she has no faith that they can amount to anything.  She could easily train them to help them be good.  At least she never acts like a jerk to them over their shortcomings.  Thankfully, the cartoon’s direction helps her realize this when the other teams catch onto her strategy, so only giving the ball to her is not too viable. 
However, she then responds by looking for ringers to fill in for two of her teammates, though the best ones she can find are two older girls from out of town.  Because they’re out of town, Lynn has to make crazy arrangements to make them eligible for her team, and I can’t exactly believe that they’d easily go along with them.  At the next game, Lynn gets exactly what she wants with a win thanks to the ringers, but she also starts understanding how she made her official teammates feel.  The ringers hog the ball all throughout and even use Lynn’s own words on how a win is a win against her. 
This leads to what’s easily defined as Lynn developing past her shortcomings.  Now getting the feelings of her teammates, she decides that they deserve a shot at basketball too.  Come their next game, it’s impressive how all the girls, including the physically disabled, put up a strong performance and score a couple baskets.  All the same, they still lose by a lot, yet regardless of how beaten they are, Lynn is very content with the outcome and her team’s performance.  It really seals the deal that she’s discovered that winning isn’t everything.  Still, I don’t see anything wrong with Lynn also working for her team to improve their skills so they can really progress with the sport.  That’s just me though, for it’s still satisfying that Lynn learns something that she’s honestly needed to learn for quite some time. 
For all its head-scratchers and basic setups, this cartoon is a pretty good winner in my way of thinking.

A-


Pipe Dreams (not to be confused with the Rocko’s Modern Life cartoon of the same name)

In the beginning, cartoons were mostly about Lincoln’s challenges of living in the Loud House, then they started looking into challenges the sisters usually face.  While Mom and Dad have been main characters before, this cartoon is one all about their challenges with their home.  In this cartoon’s case, it’s all about their frustrations with constantly having to wait to use the only bathroom in the house.  It’s a case showcasing how unethical the setup of the house really is. 
The kids take a long time in the bathroom for menial things when other people need it desperately, especially Mom and Dad.  Not only that, but when the parents finally do get the bathroom, it’s so vile you’d swear they were in the alternate dimension from “One of the Boys.”  So much of the first act makes Mom and Dad fully supportive when they decide to build a second bathroom just for them.  It’s an objectively smart move to make life in the Loud House easier.  On another note, this is an interesting case where they’re both full of sneakiness and spunk you’d usually think would be reserved just for the kids.  Their searching for parts and stunts to keep their new bathroom a secret are very elaborate and humorously staged making for something fun.  Through it all, Mom and Dad have very enjoyable chemistry and are compatible all through their stunts really proving to be a supportable couple.  By the time their bathroom is complete, it’s impressive and satisfying that they successfully pulled it off. 
As enjoyable as their plot is, it’s a huge implication that maybe Mom and Dad are not fit for running a big family.  They’re the adults here, so they should be firm with the kids that they need time in the bathroom and have truly important matters to prepare for.  If the kids complain, they have the authority to say they’re out of line.  I mean, they have shown backbone before, but given the stunts they pull to keep their second bathroom a secret, they might as well be kids themselves.  This continues into the second part of the cartoon where the pets find ways into the second bathroom, and Mom and Dad keep jumping to the conclusion that the kids got in.  This results in elaborate stunts to keep intruders out and survey the area when they’re not around. 
The thing is, as over-the-top as these security measures are, they would have worked if not for one boneheaded move.  One of the locks involves a code that needs to be punched in, but Mom and Dad forget it while using their bathroom.  This leads to them getting locked in with the kids needing to bust them out and the entire bathroom getting wrecked.  Once again, this all could have been avoided if Mom and Dad just wrote the code down and kept it hidden.  Instead, one bad decision that didn't need to be made forces the flawed status quo back in place.  I will say that a legit reason of being strapped for cash justifies not fixing the new bathroom, but can’t Lana just fix it for free?  Also, it’s hard to find satisfaction knowing the lines for the single bathroom are still too long and the place is still a mess. 
With all this said, this cartoon is an entertaining one with humorous stunts and character chemistry.  However, while the faults aren’t total deal breakers, the implications of how poor parents Mom and Dad are and boneheaded moves that didn’t need to happen really show.
C

The Ranking

1.      Roadie to Nowhere

2.      Insta-Gran

3.      Selfie Improvement

4.      Net Gains

5.      No Place Like Homeschool

6.      City Slickers

7.      Fool Me Twice

8.      Tripped!

9.      White Hare

10.  A Fridge Too Far

11.  Pipe Dreams
The next Loud House review has Lucy experience a relatable theme of introducing others to her favorite show, and Mom gets out of motherhood by getting herself arrested.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Three Gems and a Baby" 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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