Gown and Out

"Gown and Out" is the twenty-second episode of the third season, and the one-hundred-twenty-third episode of The Loud House.

Plot
When Lola advances to a regional pageant, she worries she could lose for the first time.

Synopsis
At the elementary school, Lola is competing in the Little Miss Royal Woods pageant. As she competes, Lincoln shows off how his advice is beneficial to her success. Once the pageant is finished, Lola is announced as the winner. As the family begins to congratulate Lola on another successful win, Cheryl tells Lola that she has been invited to Little Miss Southeastern Michigan pageant this upcoming weekend. Lola is aghast at this news, since she's never competed in a pageant of that level before. Unfortunately, Rita and Lynn Sr. will be occupied during the weekend, so they enlist Lori to chaperone for Lola. Lori declines at first, but she relents when her parents decide to throw in a spa package.

The next day, Lori and Lola arrive to the Caribou Suites in southeast Michigan to check in. As they wait, Lola meets the other pageant contestants. There's Chinah, who has won the most titles before the age of 7, Jackie, who stars in toothpaste commercials, and Claudette, whose gowns are all made in Paris. Realizing that the girls are more talented than her, Lola nervously excuses herself so she can get ready for rehearsals.

Upon arriving to the practice hall, Lori decides to use her spa package, but the spa turns out to be packed (up to the point where the spa's worst masseuse is taken). During rehearsals, Lola is clearly awestruck at how much more talented and smarter the other pageant contestants are, making her ditch practice and head back to the hotel room she and Lori are staying in. Excusing herself to the bathroom, Lola calls up Lincoln and explains her dilemma with the other contestants as well as her fear that she could lose for the first time in her entire career. Lincoln, however, explains that Lola is not going to lose, and advises her to get some sleep so that she won't look like a mess the next day. After hanging up, Lola suddenly gets an idea.

The next day, Lori wakes up and discovers Lola looking really sick. Seeing how Lola needs to skip out on the pageant, Lori decides to spend her day with Lola as she gets better, spending her money on necessities, such as "Get Well" balloons, flowers, mani pedi products (the fancy kind), and cookies that cost over $5. Eventually, while pretending to be in a pageant, Lola breaks down crying. When Lori asks what's wrong, Lola says that she's not really sick. She explains that she faked being ill just to avoid competing in the pageant out of fear that she'll lose. Lori immediately feels sympathetic towards Lola, as she remembers how she almost skipped out going to homecoming out of fear that she wouldn't win homecoming queen. But after sucking it up, Lori went anyway, and despite losing the title of homecoming queen to Carol Pingrey, Lori says that while it hurt that she lost, she would have missed out on a fun night if she hadn't come. Lola realizes that as she gets older, the competition will get harder, but that shouldn't stop her from doing what she loves. Inspired and her spirits back up again, Lola wants to compete in the pageant, but considering her current condition (and the pageant starting in 10 minutes), Lori calls up Lincoln, as he knows how to fix up Lola in a short amount of time.

At night, the pageant begins, and Lola, with encouragement from Lincoln (via video chat) and Lori, presents her stuff with great joy. Nearing the end, the emcee announces the winners: Claudette and Jackie are the runner-up winners, and Chinah is crowned Little Miss Southeastern Michigan. With the pageant complete, Lola admits that even though she lost, she’s glad that she did what she loved (even Jackie commends her for a great job, as well as stating that she and the others will have to look out for her next year). With that mind, Lori decides to take Lola to the spa for some "well-deserved pampering."

Cast
Leni, Luna, Luan, and Lucy have no lines in the episode. Lana and Lisa also have no lines in this episode, however, they can be heard supporting Lola. Carol Pingrey and Bobby only appeared in Lori's flashback.
 * Collin Dean as Lincoln
 * Catherine Taber as Lori
 * Jessica DiCicco as Lynn / Jackie
 * Grey Griffin as Lana / Lola / Cheryl
 * Lara Jill Miller as Lisa
 * Brian Stepanek as Lynn Sr.
 * Jill Talley as Rita / Claudette
 * Carlos PenaVega as Emcee / Spa Customer
 * Maddie Taylor as Dana / Chinah / Spa Attendant

Trivia

 * This episode confirms that Lola has never lost a beauty pageant before in her entire career.
 * Lola lost for the first time in this episode.
 * Apparently, Lola can't say the word "lose" without getting nauseous.
 * However, this might only apply in the context of Lola referring to herself as a loser, since in "Lynner Takes All", she's comfortable with asking Lynn if she's afraid of losing a game she's never played before.
 * Lola doesn't wear her signature tiara and sash in this episode.
 * If one were to look closely on the title card, the outline of Lola's face can barely be seen through the outline of the box. This could be an insight on how the title cards are designed. A bigger image is made first, which is then cut down to size to make it fit into the box.
 * There are six Lincolns on the crown Lola is wearing on the title card.
 * This episode references how Lincoln is the twins' pageant coach.
 * Lincoln also references "Roughin' It" when he tells Lola to remember "eyes forward, chin up, tushie clenched", which is what Lola taught him on how to keep balance.
 * Lori brings up how she lost homecoming queen to Carol Pingrey in "Picture Perfect" and "Selfie Improvement".
 * This is the second episode where a Loud sibling has lost for the first time (in this case, Lola). The first episode was "Lynner Takes All" (Lynn).

Errors

 * When Lola states that she might lose to the other pageant contestants, her eyelashes are missing.
 * Carlos PenaVega is credited as the voice of Chinah and Spa Attendant, and Maddie Taylor has been credited as the voice of Emcee and Spa Customer, despite the fact their voices had switched.
 * Lola's earring were removed during rehearsals, but when she turned the sink on after entering the bathroom, the earring on her left ear appeared for a second before disappearing.
 * When Lola is shocked by Jackie's gymnastics routine, her left earring appeared for a moment.
 * Lana's name isn't listed in the credits.
 * Lori was missing her eyelashes twice in this episode, when she went to the spa, and later when she was encouraging Lola.
 * When Lori yawns by waking up without her earrings, her earrings appeared when she shock at Lola's sick.
 * Plothole: Lola would become nauseous whenever she says "lose", but in Takes All Lynner Takes All" she had no problem saying that when she says to Lynn "If you're afraid of losing".

Running Gags

 * Lola getting nauseous when she says the word "lose".
 * Lola worried about doing well in the pageant.