User blog:AustinDR/Thoughts on Future Tense

Well, I had watched this episode online earlier today before going to school. It was a pretty good episode. So the Loud family meet the new neighbors that had recently moved in, and they are seemingly perfect and without blemish. Particularly the kids; and so, Rita and Lynn Sr. are worried about the future of their children, and try to press them to be more "well-rounded."

So to get this out of the way, I was a little unnerved by the Yates family. They just seemed too nice. That isn't to say that they are necessarily bad, but some of their affability appears contrived. Just...my gawd, I hate it when people smile like that. The Yates family had that perpetual grin on their faces almost as if they were frozen on and any attempt of making a different expression would cause them great pain. I might be saying this because I rarely smile myself, but come on, don't tell me I wasn't the only one who felt sinister vibes from the family. As for the rest of the episode, it's okay. It's not great, but it isn't bad either. Some of the places that the Loud parents send their kids too are pretty hilarious and unexpected. For instance, Lynn having to make a math class, and then coming home wearing glasses and nerdy get-up. Or there's Lucy being a basketball player which I would never be able to visualize. Or Luna having to take a proper English class (and then saying "we don't need no education" when Vanzilla was pulling off), or Lola working at a soup kitchen. And Lincoln actually doesn't have to do any of that; rather, he is made to read educational comic books. Just, wow....they really don't expect much to come out of Lincoln in comparison to his sisters, don't they? Sorry, Lincoln. Or then there's Luan being made to be an assistant for the mayor. Really, all of the situations the children find themselves in were really hilarious.

On an unrelated note, this episode reminded me a lot of "Health Kicked" except as a role reversal. The parents are worried for their children's futures much like how the kids want their parents to be around by the time that they grew up. And then when that happens, the kids are tuckered out, much like how the parents worked them out in "HK." However, I felt that in "Future Tense's" case, the parents were primarily self-serving. They really only take an issue with their kids' futures just because another family had children that they raised differently. And then they get completely carried away by it. I get that they wanted their kids to succeed at life, but they were putting too much pressure on them.

As for minor gripes on the episode...well, I honestly wanted this episode to be futuristic. Maybe have the parents - after working their children to the bone - go to sleep, and they have nightmares about how their kids turned out in the future. Really, the title is kind of misleading as while the future is still a primary concern, it's a current issue. Also, I don't mean to nitpick, but with every scene where the kids get dropped off at a building, the animators seem to use the same animation for each of the kids whenever the yell at their parents as the van rolls out. It wasn't really funny, and it seemed like an overly long joke.

Overall, it's a pretty good episode with a misleading title (and intro if I might add). The parents were self-motivated in their wishes of ensuring that their kids have good futures, the Yates family was creepy. But, it was a pretty funny episode. It's not the best episode of the series by far, but it is enjoyable.