User blog:AlexKawa/Season 2 Recap

So, last night, I had the chance to watch Snow Way Down and Snow Way Out, which, of course, closed out Season 2 of The Loud House. So I thought I'd take a few minutes to give my thoughts on the season as a whole, and my expectations and wants going into Season 3.

Overall, I'd say this was a really solid season. This was the first season of the show I actively sought out. I found out about this show in August 2016 while I was in New Jersey, and this was on Nickelodeon, and I was just waiting to go back home to Connecticut because I had arrived in New Jersey literally right after finishing a two-week trip to California, so I just watched it because, hey, what else was there to do, my 14-year-old self asked. I thought it looked pretty good. Between then and September of this year, I watched the show one or two more times, and heard people talk about it, and that month, I saw a livestream of episodes on YouTube, and I checked it out. I said to myself, "You know what, this is a really good cartoon.  I'll definitely take more looks at it."

The first new episode I watched was Tricked!, and it is, without a doubt, my favorite of the season, probably of both seasons. The plot moved along perfectly, packed with plenty of funny jokes and a catchy song to go along with it. Yes Man is a close second, at least as far as this season goes. The ending was the best ending I have ever seen in a Loud House episode (someone please get that song out of my head right now!), and I just found the episode in general hilarious! I don't think this was intentional, but I found it to be great satire in the advertisement industry, what with the sisters overexaggerating their pitches to their parents. It is one of the best parodies of advertising I have ever seen! I'll link you to my all-time favorite adverstising parody here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVeZDqvNKM0 (watch the whole thing, legitimately one of the funniest videos ever on YouTube!)

Anyway, moving on, let's talk about the characters. Starting, of course, with Lincoln. He remains a likeable protagonist, definitely showing plenty of flaws, but still getting me to root for him somehow in the end. The best examples I can think of this for this season are No Such Luck and Read Aloud.  In the former episode, which I've already reviewed, Lincoln lied to his family about being bad luck and eventually began to take advantage of all free time he was getting because of his lie, but seeing him get kicked out of the house just really makes you feel sorry for him. He was dishonest and selfish, but it kind of makes you want to punch Lynn Sr. and Rita in the face. We'll get back to that in a minute. Onto Read Aloud, when Lincoln taught Lola to read and ultimately lost the contest for his family, he lied and took the blame for Lola. I'm gonna be brutally honest with you guys, this scene triggered me inside when I first saw it. I don't blame Lori and Lynn for blaming Lincoln, as he had told them he fell asleep instead of getting Lola to read like he had promised, which is kind of lazy. I was kind of upset when Luna called him out before he had taken the blame, as she had pretty much no evidence to do so. It's easy to forgive though for a few reasons: 1) it's just the immediate reaction to the situation, which we're all guilty of, 2) he had said he would handle Lola on his own (that sounded wrong), and 3) she was just as guilty as everyone else.  That brings me to a point, what initially triggered me is now just hilarious to think of!  Most of that has to do with how Lynn Sr. and Rita were angry at Lincoln for losing their chance to go to that Chuck E. Cheese's knockoff, I mean, they're adults, and they're angry about losing a free trip to a kids' restaurant.  That concept is silly enough, but it works out better when you actually see the scene.

Anyway, turning back to Lynn Sr. and Rita in NSL, I blame them more than anyone for kicking Lincoln out of the house, and I'll admit, it's become kind of hard to watch them in following episodes. The sisters are easy to forgive from that episode because they're minors, and have either shown absolute kindness to Lincoln, have worked together with him, or just have had a good time with him since, what with episodes like Party Down, Fed Up, Pulp Friction, Room With a Feud, Yes Man, etc. However, Lynn Sr. and Rita kicking him out was just downright illegal, and it's kind of hard to see them in a good light now. I think I like Lynn Sr. somewhat better, as we've seen him work with his son in Fool's Paradise and Legends, but they still need to work on Lincoln and Rita's relationship. Forunately, we have seen them bond in episodes like A Novel Idea, but that was Season 1, so hopefully we can see more episodes between them in Season 3.

As far as the sisters go, I'd say they're all fairly solid characters. While I tore into a couple of them in my rankings of the Loud sisters, they overall are still kind, caring sisters to Lincoln, and it just makes me always look forward to what they'll do next. We got a Lincoln-Lana episode and a Lincoln-Lola episode this season, and both were really good. With Clyde's dads, I thought Snow Way Down definitely gave us a great inside look into their overprotective personalities, and seeing them (at least kind of) let go of them in the end.

Now, onto Season 3. What's gonna happen? What do I want to happen? Well, let's clear up the elephant in the room here, Chris Savino's gone, so the show will change at least somewhat. Will it change for better or worse? I'd say better. Kyle Marshall, for instance, directed plenty of enjoyable episodes this season, such as Pulp Friction, Room With a Feud, and Mall of Duty. This is just one example, but I've seen enough evidence to rest assured that Season 3 will be a good one. Now, what do I want for Season 3? Well, there are a couple of things, but above all, I want a Lincoln-Lynn episode. If you guys saw my rankings of the Loud sisters, you'll know I put Lynn at #3. I braced myself for a lot of backlash for this choice, so I was pleasantly surprised to see virtually none. Still, I'm not gonna lie and say that Lynn's relationship with Lincoln doesn't need any more developement. While I really like her for being the half villanous, half caring older sister she is to Lincoln, I do think that the caring side could use a little more exploring. If we do get something like that, I would be very pleased. And, to and extent, we have gotten these episodes, but I think we could use some more.

So, those are my thoughts on Season 2 of The Loud House. I'm not gonna give this season an overall grade, as I, admittedly, haven't seen every episode, but I will say that what I did see was really good overall. I'm stoked for Season 3, and I hope you all are, too. So, guys, what did you think of Season 2? Sound off in the comments, and I'll see y'all later!