Suite and Sour
It’s been established a lot that the Louds are chaotic by
nature, meaning that it’s not uncommon to see them get up to mischief outside
their house. However, this cartoon is
also strong proof that their hearts really are in the right place. One point of interest is that this is the
first cartoon to feature the parents in the spotlight, which is fitting since
the show is now allowing their faces to be shown. Mom and Dad are excited because they finally
raised enough money to book a weekend at a luxury spa hotel, and thanks to
their newly revealed features, it’s easier than ever to feel their satisfaction. As for the kids,
their role here starts another welcome trend for the series. In most cartoons prior, the girls appeared to
all have a common mindset while Lincoln led his own life separate from them,
leaving little sense of a
team, let alone a family. At times, they
were shown as one whole team, but what we mostly got was Lincoln against the
girls or a sister against the rest of the family as opposed to one whole unit. Here, all 11 kids are on the same page
through wanting to go to the hotel too, and show the start of a consistent
sense of teamwork. It’s shown when they
put on a play to convince Mom and Dad to take them which is big on humor
and entertaining moments from every kid.
The unity continues when we get to the hotel. Usually, it would be just the sisters going nuts, becoming the true detriment to everything else. Here, all the kids, including Lincoln, equally
take advantage of the fun and excitement of the hotel through moments like Lynn
and Lana racing in the elevators and breaking them, Leni being mistaken for a
concierge and going along with the misunderstanding, and Lincoln and Lucy going
ghost-hunting. As fun as the kids’
antics are, you’re still able to feel sympathy for Mom and Dad as what their
children do gets in the way of the relaxation they wanted. However, the kids aren’t just oblivious
thrill seekers. When their parents find
them out and ground them for disrupting their relaxing time, they feel bad and
strive to do better. This is further
shown when another set of hilarious antics occurs in their hotel room which
they try to prevent. Even when the whole
Loud family ends up kicked out of the hotel, the kids still strive to appease
the parents whose fun times they interfered with. They set up their own hotel at home with
their own custom-made amenities just for Mom and Dad, including the entire
space of the house. The parents’
satisfaction with their kids’ thoughtfulness is highly rewarding after what
they’ve been through as well as a solid display of heart amidst the kids’
desire for fun. There’s even a scene to
balance this out when we end with a reveal that amidst following the rules, Mom
and Dad have a mind for fun like the kids since they got them kicked out of the
hotel for something…suggestive to say the least. It could turn some people of that the kids
don’t find out about this, but the strong levels of heart from the story and
characters make this cartoon a pleasing entry for the season. 9.5/10
Back in
Black
Each of the Louds have their interesting personality traits
which make them such dynamic characters to spend a series with. One sister who really stands out regarding
personality is Lucy for how much of a different approach to life she has. While the other Louds are highly energetic
and sociable, Lucy is more prone to silence and, through her love of darkness,
tends to scare people away. As this
cartoon shows, even with estranged personalities, these characters are still
only human as they simply try to get by in life. It has Lucy go through the common occurrence
of coming across a cute person and crushing on him/her. Her crush in this case is a small boy named
Rocky, the little brother of one of Lincoln’s friends Rusty, who’s brought over
when Rusty has to complete a solar system project with Lincoln. Even as Lucy watches Rocky go about his
business in her usual way of spying on him in the darkness and popping out of
nowhere when trying to talk to him, she still gets some strong sympathy as
Rocky either doesn’t notice her or runs away.
Lucy expresses genuine sadness of not getting Rocky’s attention and as
she delivers her sadness, it’s done in a unique way through working in her dark
and foreboding nature. Speaking of that,
Lucy feels that the only way to get acquainted with Rocky is to change herself
internally and externally. The other
sisters (and I do mean all of them) give her a complete makeover, leading to a
lot of interesting new looks for someone like Lucy, and coach her on how to
act. When they test Lucy’s final result
on a little date with Rocky at a mini golf course, while it’s humorous to watch
Lucy attempt to act like an average girlfriend, it goes wrong and Rocky doesn’t
seem impressed by her new appearance and mannerisms. Although out of this failed date, we get a
nice moment of the sisters letting Lucy know that in spite of what happened,
she’s great the way she is without blaming her for the failure.
Also, the drama Lucy went through reaches an appropriately nice end
point when she finally befriends Rocky and the two of them are on good
terms. This is certainly a great
starring role for Lucy for showing how endearing she is despite her unusual
ways. It’s not perfect though since it
has all the sisters act as the same judgmental and opinionated character. It’s hard to picture messy sisters like Lana
and Lynn to be up for makeovers or passionate and expressive sisters like Luna
and Luan to drive how one should act when winning over a crush. It would’ve been better if sisters who do
have a mind for romance and makeovers, the first ones in on the main conflict
Lori, Leni, and Lola, were the only ones helping. Not to mention they stick to unfortunate
stereotypes of not letting Lincoln help because he’s a boy which is a poor
excuse to not include him, especially since he ultimately brings Lucy and Rocky
together. Speaking of Lincoln, the
subplot of him and Rusty constantly needing to rebuild their solar system is a
mixed bag. Sometimes it getting
destroyed is funny, sometimes it’s watchable when it’s their own fault it
breaks, and other times it’s hard to watch like when the sisters deliberately
break it to get Rocky back for Lucy and when it breaks at the very end. I might not like that ending for Lincoln, but I can
tolerate it since the more important plot ends well. Even with these weak points, this is still a
nice cartoon that does justice for a dark, spooky character like Lucy, proving
that “you can take the girl out of the coffin, but you can’t take the coffin
out of the girl.” 9.5/10
The Ranking
- 11 Louds a Leapin’
- Baby Steps
- Suite and Sour
- Back in Black
- The Old and the Restless
- Intern for the Worse
- Brawl in the Family
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Lisa attempts to fit in with Lincoln's gang in "Making the Grade" and the family tries to break up Dad and a new family car by trying to get back their old broken down car in a "Vantastic Voyage."
