User blog:Justsomeordinarydude/Future Tense: Episode Reaction.

'' Spoiler Warning: For those who are unaware of this episode’s premature release, or those who would prefer to wait for the date when the episode was actually supposed to be first made accessible, this is a reaction to the episode in question so feel free to leave if you wish to avoid spoilers. Otherwise, let’s dive into what my thoughts are regarding this episode… ''

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Future Tense

Okay, so thanks to an error on Amazon’s part, it appears we received one of this month’s new episodes a few weeks earlier than originally intended. Apparently, the new bomb of episodes was supposed to be released from September 4th to 7th. But when Nickelodeon decided to push it back to 18th– 21st, Amazon failed to become aware of this, and uploaded the episode on the originally intended date. As of the time of writing this post, this episode, along with its sister episode, Lynner Takes All, have both been removed from the site. I’m surprised this has happened but considering we had a random hiatus in the middle (or towards the end) of the 2nd season last month, I’m not complaining about receiving a new story a few weeks early. But then again, that’s only if the episode happens to be a piece of television that is actually worth watching.

 Fortunately, Future Tense is a legitimately solid story. It primarily focuses on the dilemma the parents face when they encounter the Yates family, who they perceive as perfect idols to imitate. This then results in all the kids being forced to become more “well-rounded” (which raises the question, is this story a subtle nod, or even critique, towards the analysis and evaluation provided by fans such as myself towards the material presented by the show regarding how the writers handle the characterisation of their main cast?) This scenario leads to a number of noteworthy and effectively humorous gags. Some especially notable instances of visual amusement stem from the results of the parents making an effort to “help” their kids by expanding their interests and making them do more than just what is part of their respective niches. For example, nerdy Lynn and lawyer Luan seem to have become minor memes amongst the fandom, and there have been a number of jokes which have derived from their appearances in this episode. Basketball Lucy was another gag that functioned so well based on how little you would ever actually expect to see the goth in that attire. There were also some instances of dialogue, created by the happenings of this plot scenario, which were quite funny, such as when the parents told Lana she had to learn good graces, and she argued back against them after they dropped her off and drove away, only to burp after finishing her sentence, effectively proving their worries right. A similar joke occurs when Luna argues "we don't need no education!" following the parents telling her she needs to improve her English. Luna’s incredibly polite and soft-spoken vocabulary, which she learns after the parents send her to be educated in using proper English, is quite amusing in how strong in contrast it is from her usual rough idiolects. Also, for all the efforts taken by Lynn Sr and Rita to enhance the skills and talents of their kids, they kept staying at home, watching comedic videos and slacking off, while expecting the children to do all the work and self-improvement.

The parent’s dilemma and actions were relatable. While watching, it is easy to develop the impression that their intention to ensure successful futures for their kids by making them do more is, while a noble and theoretically sound idea, a very poorly thought out and executed one. There is a certain form of logic that went into their choices, such as how they believed Lucy, in relation to her tendency to stay in the shadows out of everybody’s way, could benefit from learning the valuable skill of teamwork. Of course, the problem is their intention is generated by a problematic motivation. Lynn and Rita are only of the belief that they need to enforce more activity on their children because they are conducting an attempt of mimesis after observing the apparent success of the new neighbours. It’s basically Homer and Flanders but without the rivalry and mean-spiritedness. While wanting their kids to learn new skills and become more rounded individuals is not bad in and of itself, the problem is they don’t undertake this attempt for the right reasons. For example, the parents decide to let their kids have their down time in the weekend initially, but when they find out the Yates are planting trees that day, they decide to send the kids off to clean the highway. It becomes clear as the narrative progresses that they are more concerned with competing against the standard set by the supposedly perfect Yates family than actually making sure they help the children to ensure great futures. They started to take their efforts way too far as a result and enforced far too much upon the kids.

As such, I admire the ending, where Lynn and Rita realise the most important thing is to let kids be kids. That’s not a bad moral. Although, I would have liked a little more clarification regarding the message this conclusion conveyed. The notion of ensuring your kids are more well-rounded and become competent in more than one area of life is not a negative one, or the idea that you should push your kids to work hard and do well in life. It just needs to be acknowledged that there are limits to how much this philosophy should be pushed on them when they are young, as well as the fact that efforts to get them to do new things should be done for more admirable reasons than just competing with another family. I would have found it slightly cleverer if it was stated (or at least, implied) that pushing your kids to be more well-rounded people is great, but there are also times when you need to stand back and let them be themselves. Both of those factors can work with each other, rather than against each other all the time, and if the ending reflected that a little more clearly, the episode would have been that slight bit better. Still, the ending message was nevertheless pretty solidly executed in spite of that, and it shown the parents in a positive light. They are flawed individuals just like anyone else, but they have their hearts in the right place, and everything they did in this story, at least partially, was motivated by their desire to assist their children in leading prosperous lives. Their stance in this story was relatable and admirable; they just did the right thing for the wrong reason, and it caused their efforts to backfire as a result. But the episode did portray an advantage to their approach in raising their kids in comparison to the Yates, as even the “perfect” Yates parents had to admit they didn’t think of allowing their children to take a break once in a while (which can be very healthy for young minds).

The Yates were serviceable but a little bland and forgettable. They provide their basic function as serving as a foil to the highly imperfect Loud family, but outside of their constant smiling (which honestly made it seem like they were on drugs), there was nothing to take a note of regarding their characters. They have little to no personality or uniqueness. Other than the family’s introduction sequence, where we discover some of their interests through their current achievements, we know nothing about their likes, dislikes, other interests, hobbies, ambitions, or otherwise. They strictly serve as plot devices, which is rather disappointing, as they could have been some truly great and lovable supporting characters. Unfortunately, because the plot spends so much time focusing on the parents reflecting on how they are failing their kids and what measures they need to take to put that right, as well as the results of these efforts and how they transform the Loud siblings into different individuals, there is no time devoted to this new family. I haven’t seen the fans take much notice of them at all, which is rather strange considering how they will practically fall in love with other one-time characters like Maggie (probably because characters like her at least did something and shown some degree of personality outside of just serving exclusively as a plot device). Maybe since this family are new neighbours of the Louds, they could make future appearances, but for now, they leave very little of an impression on me…

Overall, this was a really fun episode. The results of the attempts made by the parents to make the kids more well-rounded were memorable and amusing, with the transformations in the appearances and behaviours of the siblings being very funny to watch unfold. There were a few problems, such as how one-note the Yates were. Also, if we’re nit-picking, there were some minor continuity issues (remember in Health Kicked, all the siblings, including sports nut Lynn, were against the parents making them exercise, but here, she shows great excitement when she believes their idea of making the kids more well-rounded is to bulk up; although the fault probably lies with that story more than this one since enthusiasm instead of opposition for exercise is in her character). But there was a lot more good than bad to be found here. Some people may have been annoyed by the fact that an episode called Future Tense wasn’t actually a story showing us the future for the Loud family. True, that would have been a narrative far more significant, and it’s a concept I think we would all like to see explored (I even put a future episode on my recent wish list for season 3), but this is not the first time the fans have made predictions of what a given episode is going to be about based on the implications surrounding its title. Episode titles can be somewhat misleading initially, as the story could be based on something different to what the title may suggest it will focus on. Besides, berating a story because it’s not a completely different type of story which you personally wanted to see and originally thought it would be, and not because of any actual faults regarding storytelling, characterisation, or production is not a valid reason for repugnance. That’s like me hating The Dark Knight just because it is a movie about Batman instead of a tale about an actual knight that roams medieval England during dark hours. While a future episode would have been neat, let’s judge the story for what it is and not what it could have been. For what it is, Future Tense is a highly enjoyable and coherently realised segment of animated television.

'''Final Rating: 8/10. '''