'Toon Reviews 13: The Loud House Season 2 Episode 13: The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos

The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos

It’s time for another half-hour special for this show which shakes up the aesthetic by giving us the biggest example of the current trend of fleshing out side characters, in this case Ronnie Anne and her family.  I’m not just talking about her, Bobby, and their mom, but also their big family with grandparents, an aunt and uncle, and four cousins.  They are the Casagrande family, and they’re their own set of distinct and entertaining characters.  We got the hospitable grandma; the gossiping grandpa; the over-emotional Aunt Frida who loves to photograph everything; Uncle Carlos who points out fun facts at given moments; the excitable fashionista Carlota; Carl the 6-year-old ladies’ man; Carlitos, the toddler who communicates through mimicking; the pets Lalo the dog and Sergio the smart-talking parrot; and CJ, a boy with down-syndrome who gives them justice for being treated normally despite his disability.  The Casagrandes have a strong dynamic where everyone livens things up in their own way, and it’s an interesting setting for Ronnie Anne to explore.  While Bobby easily gets by in the family and finds lots to love including the family’s bodega, Ronnie Anne, as we learn in this special, prefers to have her own space, but despite generally loving her extended family, they're too overbearing for her.  This issue gets complicated when it turns out that her mom was planning on surprising her and Bobby that they’re moving in with the Casagrandes so they can be more connected with family and not be lonely.  True, she doesn’t consider that Bobby has a lot of jobs and a girlfriend back home, but given her intentions are noble and the Casagrandes are very likable, they’re worth going along with, especially with what happens later.  From here, we get a believable look at how hard moving into a new place can be for some.  It’s clear to see Ronnie Anne’s unease of so many people in her space, so her tactics to try and get herself out of moving is understandable.  We also have how moving away can harshly effect people you’re leaving behind when Lori and Lincoln enter the plot.  While Lincoln isn’t as affected since he easily bonds with the Casagrandes, Lori instantly steps in to Ronnie Anne’s aid, knowing this move will separate her from Bobby.  Through all the misfires of Ronnie Anne’s plans to get out of the move, which interestingly work in the quirks of the Casagrandes she’s so used to, the hardships are balanced out by ways moves can work.  Lori and Bobby’s relationship is made to work when Bobby reveals a plan of how he can adjust to his new life and get together with Lori when they make it to college a year later.  As for Ronnie Anne, just when she’s finally convinced her mom not to move in a nice scene between the two, there's an even nicer scene where the Casagrandes, for all their quirks, show they understand her desires by giving Ronnie Anne her own room.  It gets Ronnie Anne to see the great potential of living in a big family and she adjusts, and this shows even more when she helps everyone protect a cake from a vicious gang of cats who break in.  Maybe more time could’ve been devoted to Ronnie Anne deciding to move, but since there was a good reason for her to decide to adjust, I can take what we have.  So, the status quo of the show is changed with major side characters moving away which proves the show is willing to take risks and attempt to make them work.  Plus with relatable story points and a lovable new family in the cast, this special is a great memorable entry for the season. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. 11 Louds a Leapin’
2. L is for Love
3. Pulp Friction
4. Frog Wild
5. Party Down
6. Lock n Loud
7. Fed Up
8. Potty Mouth
9. The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos
10. Baby Steps
11. Shell Shock
12. Suite and Sour
13. Back in Black
14. Patching Things Up
15. The Whole Picture
16. The Old and the Restless
17. Kick the Bucket List
18. Intern for the Worse
19. Cheater by the Dozen
20. Pets Peeved
21. Making the Grade
22. Vantastic Voyage
23. No Such Luck
24. Brawl in the Family

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where a decent Clincoln McCloud plot is made even better when Lola gets involved in "Out of the Picture," and "Room with a Feud" features a proper sibling fight plot.

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

'Toon Reviews 13: The Loud House Season 2 Episode 9: Kick the Bucket List/Party Down

Kick the Bucket List

This is another cartoon about Lincoln and Clyde getting up to activities best suited for their age, so that’s a sign that it’s not going to be as exciting as something with more interesting characters like most of Lincoln’s sisters and the side characters.  Nevertheless, what’s present in this cartoon is still fun and even relatable to an extent, especially if you’re a student.  If you are one or were one, breaks from school are no doubt something special to look forward to such as spring break.  With many days off, there are so many opportunities for fun, which is precisely how Lincoln and Clyde approach their upcoming spring break.  They have a whole itinerary of the best things they could do in a week and intend to do everything on their list.  It is smart that they planned what to do ahead of time and that the very thing that gets in the way of their schedule is out of their control.  Clyde’s dads surprise him with a vacation to Hawaii which Clyde won’t be back from until the last day of the break.  This factor makes it easy to get behind their attempts to work a week’s worth of activities into one day.  However, even if what Lincoln and Clyde decide to do is easy to get behind, it’s still not that exciting especially since it’s easy to predict that rushing through the activities will backfire if you’re old enough to know that’s what happens when you do it in real life.  From watching recorded episodes of their favorite TV show as it fast-forwards, to attempting and failing to ride a new Dairyland ride by cutting the line, to ending up orange while trying to swim in a pool of gelatin, the fun activities that continually backfire just keep on coming and their pretty obvious.  They’re thankfully funny most of the time, but they happen so much you wish that Lincoln and Clyde would remember what they learned about how schedules shouldn’t get in the way of having fun back in “Overnight Success.” There’s even more backfiring fun when their rushing leads Lincoln and Clyde to split up to finish the list.  This is where the enjoyment picks up when some of Lincoln’s sisters are thrown into the mix at times as well as Clyde having a humorous running gag of posing random objects as Lincoln as he does his share of activities, and constantly loses them.  However, the most exciting part of the cartoon comes at the end when Lincoln and Clyde meet up and have a ride home filled with non-stop action which always has you question what will happen next.  Not only does the race home save the most amount of entertainment for last, but it also effectively gives Lincoln and Clyde the message of how having fun is more important than schedules, even though they should already know this.  It may be easy to predict that things will go wrong, but since this cartoon is still highly entertaining as it is, it’s easy to forgive all that and enjoy what we have. 9/10

Party Down

What’s so special about taking a lot of distinct characters and bringing them together for a party?  It’s that a cartoon featuring this scenario is bound to turn out to be an exciting gathering with various character interactions and various points of view.  That’s the case with this party-themed cartoon, and the way the party builds up to a big, fun gathering is effective through the story direction.  It’s about Lori being allowed to throw her own party, and she wants everything to be perfectly sophisticated based on what she reads in a magazine.  However, through Lori following the magazine closely, the party may be sophisticated, but it’s very boring for all the guests that attend, and you really get their boredom as they struggle to go along with the sophisticated mannerisms of the party without enjoying themselves.  It’s only when some of the Loud siblings show off their skills when the party gets more fun for the guests, unsophisticated as it is. They include Luna making music out of anything she could fine, Luan telling jokes with her dummy, Mr. Coconuts, to an audience more receptive than her family, and Lincoln performing party tricks he studied disguised as a Russian exchange student.  Since what they do doesn’t fit the guidelines of Lori’s magazine, Lori ultimately bans them from the party, though thankfully, she isn’t nearly as harsh or bossy when doing so as she was earlier in the series, so that’s another clear sign of development for her.  However, without Lori’s family around, the party suffers as more guests are driven to leave and Lori slowly realizes that her trying to be sophisticated isn’t making for a good party.  Even if she was in the wrong for relying too much on that magazine, Lori is still sympathetic in this case since her intentions were understandable and she was never too hostile towards anyone who was simply trying to liven up the party.  However, that long time of Lori’s boring party and brief scenes of her siblings wanting to make things fun is what builds up to an incredibly lively party big on fun and featuring one fun character moment after another.  It also builds into a more satisfying conclusion to show that Lori’s learned to lighten up and have fun when it comes to parties.  It starts off with a fun party with her family that even she adds onto, but then Leni, through her interest of posting things, informs the guests who left of a more exciting party, which leads to Lori being rewarded with the big party she wanted as well as enjoyable interactions between the guests and the Louds.  Then when Mom and Dad come home to the wildly fun party, it would be easy for them to ruin the mood and stop the party just when it was getting fun.  Thankfully, they willingly join in the harmless fun, sealing the deal to this ending party being the perfect conclusion to this story.  Basically, this is one of those cartoons where everything just works with Lori’s great portrayal, a relatable setup, and a sense of fun that builds up to a grand finale of memorable character moments. 10/10

The Ranking

1. 11 Louds a Leapin’
2. Frog Wild
3. Party Down
4. Lock n Loud
5. Baby Steps
6. Suite and Sour
7. Back in Black
8. Patching Things Up
9. The Whole Picture
10. The Old and the Restless
11. Kick the Bucket List
12. Intern for the Worse
13. Cheater by the Dozen
14. Making the Grade
15. Vantastic Voyage
16. No Such Luck
17. Brawl in the Family
    

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the kids get "Fed Up" with Dad's making the same dinner every week and team up to do something about it, and Ronnie Anne returns to team up with Lincoln for an egg baby challenge in "Shell Shocked."
If you would like to check out other Loud House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 13: The Loud House Season 2 Episode 3: Baby Steps/Brawl in the Family

Baby Steps

Since this season has already given development to the Louds’ neighbor, the gas station owner, and Lincoln’s grandpa, that sets up a major strength for this season, which is developing characters outside the Loud family . This makes the show’s world more vast and appealing.  This time, it’s Clyde’s turn to get development which helps move him past just being Lincoln’s supportive friend and constantly crushing on someone older than him. He’s given a believable conflict to deal with which comes with understandable anxieties.  He hears and sees signs that his dads are planning on adopting another baby, meaning that he’ll be a big brother, except he doesn’t know how to pull it off.  Since his best friend is a big brother of a significant number of sisters, of course Clyde turns to Lincoln for help.  We’re treated to several examples of how Lincoln really knows what to do when taking care of his younger siblings which give Clyde good reasons for turning to him.  From cheering up siblings who get hurt to simply helping them with a problem or difficulty, Lincoln’s character is on good display as he shows how to deal with his younger siblings as well as act cool under the pressures of a big family.  Plus, his brotherly moments are particularly adorable.  Clyde, being someone who’s new to being a big brother, is understandably not as good as Lincoln, completely cracking under the pressure of the younger sisters’ demands for help, having no choice but to bribe them with cookies.  The thing that makes Clyde endearing here is that he admits that it’s because he lacks confidence for caring for a younger sibling, which is a reason why anyone can falter badly at anything.  With Clyde’s problem easy to get behind, that’s enough to hope that he can get through it.  Lincoln at first has some of the younger sisters’ stage fake problems for Clyde to solve, but he finds out the act.  What does get Clyde the confidence he needs is rescuing Lana from a tree when she’s genuinely in trouble.  Not only does the moment show a more endearing side of Lana (which we’ll see more of this season) but it’s a very nice and clever end to Clyde’s anxiety problems.  They do seem all for naught when he finds out his dads were just talking about getting a kitten.  I would also say that the plot could’ve been avoided if Clyde asked his dads what was up at the start (which will be the case with many cartoons this season), but at least what made Clyde initially believe what he did seemed convincing at the time.  Plus, while he doesn’t have a new human sibling, what Clyde learned is at least put to some good use.  Overall though, this cartoon is a cute little success for Clyde as a lead character, further enhanced by the noteworthy and adorable moments of all who support in the story. 9.5/10

Brawl in the Family

I never thought this show's cartoons could get worse than “The Green House,” but here we are.  Everything about this cartoon snowballs into a completely frustrating pain for the entire runtime, going against everything great about this show. 

It’s about Lori and Leni buying the same dress which leads to a fight between them.  You might wonder what the big deal about this is.  Fights happen between the Loud siblings all the time and actions are always taken to stop them when they go too far.  Here, the fight is approached with a protocol with very harsh and unfair guidelines as to what rooms can be accessed, what activities people can do, and what things people can use.   I don't know about you, but I'd say that the fight leading to guidelines like this is definitely it going too far. That said, the biggest point of frustration is that almost everyone doesn’t see a problem with this.  Do they seriously WANT to be forbidden from getting a good snack from the kitchen or use a bucket to do their business instead of the bathroom?  Also, how can they POSSIBLY tolerate letting what’s going on get in the way of their hobbies?  I certainly don’t expect Luna to be fine with not being able to play music, Lynn not playing sports, Lisa not doing experiments, or anyone not being able to watch their favorite TV shows.  All this is because two of the sisters can’t get along, and the fact that their routines are drastically shaped from this one fight over something frivolous is unhealthy.  It’s the equivalent of giving into a spoiled brat or an abusive partner in a relationship.  Behaviors and fights like this should be not tolerated, not treated as a normal part of life especially when they direct what innocent bystanders can and can’t do.  It gets even worse when even the parents (despite disciplining the kids when they were out of line before) and people outside Loud family just go along with this.  The only character smart enough to see the protocol's problems is Lincoln which only enhances the pain when it directly affects him through him getting kicked out of his room or him losing his bedsheets.  Yet, he’s not portrayed well either.  The show constantly establishes him as the man with the plan who knows how to get around the Loud House and how to solve problems between him and his siblings, which was even present in the cartoon this one is paired with.  Here however, Lincoln idiotically makes the fight worse by saying insulting things about Lori and Leni wearing the dress which of course wouldn’t work.  You just know the cartoon will just get worse if it has to go against one of the big rules of the show’s setup to make the plot work.  If that’s not enough, there’s another frustrating source of fight escalation.  Lincoln actually comes up with a smart plan of having Luna bunk with Lori and Luan bunk with Leni.  Going back to the protocol, it’s said to exist to not have others get involved in the fight.  Ignoring that lives being shaped by the fight and the victims moving the fight’s instigators already botches the protocol, Luna and Luan completely break that rule by taking sides in Lori and Leni’s fight instead of staying neutral and ignoring them talk about what happened.  Plus, they and other sisters add on stupid insults that have nothing to do with the dress issue which escalates the fight, but SOMEHOW this is Lincoln’s fault.  Speaking of that, everything builds up to an ending where Lincoln escapes the fight for a while, and it stops when he returns.  The sisters explain that whole fight stopped because Lincoln left.  I get the cartoon is trying to say there are some problems you can’t solve, which is true to real life, but the ending’s execution makes it seem like ALL problems as opposed to SOME problems could be solved if Lincoln wasn’t around, and bring unfortunate implications that anyone watching could solve problems if they weren't in anyone's life, or life in general.  That's just really depressing and hurtful; no one should ever feel like they're worthless no matter what the circumstances.  Basically the scene’s a big disgrace to Lincoln’s established role in the show which is hammered in further when we end with him starting another fight with idiotic and pointless insults…

I know this review ended up being pretty long, but this cartoon is filled with so many problems and points of frustration that I ended up with lots to vent about.  It could’ve turned out this way because it needed to be get to the animation phase quickly which meant there wasn't time to fix any story issues, or what the writers find funny is simply different from people like me find funny.  No matter what the reason for the quality, this cartoon is one huge mistake.  It goes against everything this show has established regarding how fights are approached, how Lincoln is portrayed, and how fine with overbearing abuse and ridiculousness the world around him is.  It’s hard to see humor or entertainment, and is devoid of the heart the show is known for.  As a result, the audience is left with a complete pain of an experience.  Take my advice, avoid this cartoon and watch better ones from this show (or any other show) instead.  For now, we can only hope that The Loud House never messes up this badly ever again. 1/10

The Ranking

1. 11 Louds a Leapin’
2. Baby Steps
3. The Old and the Restless
4. Intern for the Worse
5. Brawl in the Family

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we see how well Mom and Dad can carry a cartoon now that they're free to express themselves with their faces shown in "Suite and Sour," and we see how well Lucy can act as a regular, normal girl in "Back in Black."

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

'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 22

Dance, Dance Resolution
 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a really fun cartoon that delivers splendidly with the storytelling, characterization, humor, and relationship development.  The fun really starts when Lincoln, after ducking Ronnie Anne so to avoid going to the Sadie Hawkins Dance as opposed to a night at the arcade, gets roped into going to the dance with four girls who just happen to be generously chosen for him by my top four Loud sisters, Luna, Lucy, Lynn, and Luan.  From the rocking and cute sounding Tabby, to the silent and poetic Haiku, to the constantly roller blading Polly, to the comedian straight out of clown school Giggles, each of the girls Lincoln ends up dating all prove to be an entertaining bunch of characters who really bring about a certain charm to the scenes they’re in.  It’s also really cool to see how Lincoln manages to juggle all four of the dates without anyone noticing what he’s up to.  However, this cartoon proves that none of those girls will replace Ronnie Anne in his eyes, so much of the cartoon ends up being a challenge for him to keep her from finding out what's going on as well as continuing to keep his dates happy.  Once again, it’s really clever and amusing as to how he gets around the challenge by having Clyde and three random boys he knows spend time with the four dates, and the dates actually end up enjoying their company more than Lincoln’s.  The four pairings we get are easily some very good fits, including Clyde and Haiku who bond over the shared experience of love with an older person.  I’d really like to see more of this couple than Clyde constantly flirting over Lori.  As for Lincoln, it’s especially great that he ends up happy in the end as well.  At first, Ronnie Anne catches him at the dance and it looks like their relationship will be soured.  Then, we go on to further see how alike they really are when Lincoln tells her the whole truth, and she reveals that she’s not really into the Sadie Hawkins Dance either.  This honesty and understanding is a great way to show that Lincoln and Ronnie Anne are a nice couple to get behind and all the reason to be happy for them when they both have a fun time at the arcade as the cartoon comes to an end.  This is a start to finish delight with a lot of fun and nice moments from characters old and new. 9.5/10

A Fair to Remember
 

 

 

 

 

 

So many great moments from the characters involved are packed into this cartoon, and it all comes together very nicely.  One of them involves Lincoln finding a big brother figure in Lori’s boyfriend, Bobby.  Seeing the two of them enjoy themselves in so many ways as bros feels so nice and pleasing, mostly for how much it must mean for Lincoln since he lives with so many sisters.  It also does a good job of fleshing out Bobby’s character beyond just being Lori’s boyfriend.  “Save the Date” showed just how great of a big brother he is to Ronnie Anne, allowing her feelings to decide the decisions he makes, but here we learn that underneath that, he wishes he had a brother to feel complete.  That’s more than enough proof that he and Lincoln make a great pair.  As fun as it is to watch Lincoln and Bobby enjoy themselves, it doesn’t prevent you from feeling for Lori.  As the one who convinced Bobby to hang out with Lincoln, the fact that she gets sidelined as they grow closer as friends greatly shows off how much she did not expect what would become of this idea.  This makes it all appropriate to care about the fact that Lori is basically a lost cause without Bobby which is especially felt as Lori spends most of the cartoon trying to make Bobby jealous by having an unconscious Clyde accompany her to the county fair.  Throughout the fair scenes, the cartoon excels at playing with your emotions making you enjoy watching Lincoln and Bobby have a fun time while also feel sorry for Lori as she tries to get her boyfriend back in addition to Clyde not being conscious to know that he’s spending time with his crush.  What’s more, things actually conclude in a way that’s satisfying for everyone.  Lincoln and Bobby decide that most of Bobby’s attention should go towards Lori but agree to hang out once in a while, Lori gets her boyfriend back, and Clyde gets a reminder of his time with Lori at the fair and it’s actually a nice moment unlike other times he expresses his love for her.  It’s refreshing that after all we’ve seen, all the characters involved end up happy, with many relationships re-established, and others giving the impression that this is not the last we’ll see of them.  Everything in this cartoon puts together one of the best displays of character moments on the show, which is all you need to convince yourself to come back to it. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1.      For Bros About to Rock

2.      Undie Pressure

3.      Project Loud House

4.      Space Invader

5.      A Fair to Remember

6.      Driving Miss Hazy

7.      Left in the Dark

8.      Toads and Tiaras

9.      Picture Perfect

10.  Dance, Dance Resolution

11.  House Music

12.  Save the Date

13.  Sleuth or Consequences

14.  Hand-Me-Downer

15.  No Guts No Glori

16.  Roughin’ It

17.  Attention Deficit

18.  Changing the Baby

19.  Along Came A Sister

20.  April Fools Rules

21.  A Novel Idea

22.  Sound of Silence

23.  Butterfly Effect

24.  A Tale of Two Tables

25.  Cereal Offender

26.  Cover Girls

27.  It’s A Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House

28.  The Waiting Game

29.  Overnight Success

30.  Raw Deal

31.  In Tents Debate

32.  Lincoln Loud: Girl Guru

33.  Out on a Limo

34.  Linc or Swim

35.  The Sweet Spot

36.  Heavy Meddle

37.  Get the Message

38.  Come Sale Away

39.  Ties that Bind

40.  Making the Case

41.  Chore and Peace

42.  The Loudest Yard

43.  Two Boys and a Baby

44.  The Green House

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode with male stereotypes galore when Lincoln sees what it would be like to have 10 brothers in "One of the Boys," and Lola proves that even brats can perform noble deeds in "A Tattler's Tale."