Future Tense

"Future Tense" is the eighty-seventh episode of The Loud House.

Plot
When Mom and Dad meet an impressive family, they worry their kids aren't doing enough to ensure successful futures.

Synopsis
It's a normal day at the Loud House, and the siblings are outside, just doing their favorite hobbies. As Rita and Lynn Sr. pull out dandelions growing out of their garden, they, along with the kids, witness a new family arriving into the neighborhood, and moving into a house close to theirs, which was previously owned by the Crowleys. The parents decide to hold off on weeding so they can welcome their new neighbors to the neighborhood. Later, the parents arrive at the house of their new neighbors, and the neighbors introduce themselves as Bumper and Jancey Yates. The Yates let the Loud parents into their house, where the Yates' children introduce themselves one by one. As they introduce themselves, Rita and Lynn Sr. are amazed at how well sophisticated the Yates children are, and the Yates parents explain that they like to make their children "well-rounded" so they can use their full potential, and state that if they don't use up all of their potential, they're failing. When Rita and Lynn Sr. leave, they immediately declare that they're failing their own children.

Sometime later, all the siblings are in the van, driving in parts of town that they've never seen before. One by one, each of the siblings are dropped off at a specific location by their parents as a means of making them more "well-rounded". Lynn is dropped off at a learning center to become more academic, Lisa is dropped off at an art studio to take a ceramics class in order to "embrace the arts", Lori, Leni, and Luna are dropped off at the community college (Lori and Leni to take SAT prep classes and Luna to brush up on her English), Luan is dropped off at city hall to intern for the mayor to show that life isn't about laughs, Lucy is dropped off at a basketball court to play basketball so she can learn to cooperate with other people, Lola is dropped off at a soup kitchen to do volunteer work, and Lana is dropped off at a finishing school to learn about valuable social graces. With all of the sisters dropped off, Lincoln fears on where he's going. The parents tell him that he's going home to read comics. Just when Lincoln begins to feel relieved that he doesn't get to go anywhere, the parents reveal that they actually want him to read educational comics that deal with real world things, such as lawmaking and temperatures. At night, the parents are happy at the fact that they're making their kids more "well-rounded".

The next day, as the reluctant siblings prepare another day of their "well-rounded" activities, the parents tell them that it's Saturday, and that they should go have fun, much to their happiness. As the siblings go on with their usual activities, Rita and Lynn Sr. notice the Yates family about to do volunteer work by planting trees. Out of fear, the Loud parents decide to make their kids do volunteer work as well by cleaning up on the interstate. After arriving back home, the parents force their kids into visiting the opera after Lynn Sr. tells them that he saw Bumper at the coffee shop, and said that they're taking their kids to the opera for "cultural enrichment". Once again, after arriving back home, the parents force their kids into helping the schools raise money when Rita bumped into Jancey, and said that they're raising money for school so it can keep them "civic-minded" (which is not met with lukewarm response, as they get their faces slammed on every house they visit). In the dead of night, the siblings decide to call it a day, and as Rita and Lynn Sr. watch TV, they witness the Yates family on the news, having saved an endangered turtle. Unhappy with this discovery, the parents tell their kids to wake up so they can go turtle saving.

The next day, after having fed their rather vicious turtle, the siblings arrive back. Lana has passed finishing class, Lynn got first place in the State Math Bowl, Lori and Leni's SAT scores went up, Lisa has created 13 whole plate settings, Lucy made the all-star team, Lincoln and Lola have cleaned the entire interstate from Royal Woods to Flint, Luna (now speaking clear English instead of slang) tutored new citizens in English, and Luan has managed to solve the city's parking crisis. Happy with their progress, Rita and Lynn Sr. decide to take their kids out for ice cream, but they deny, saying that it'll make them sluggish. When the parents ask if they want to go to the movies instead, they also deny that, asking how movies will make them move on in life. Realizing what they've turned their kids into, the parents tell them to come outside.

Outside, Rita and Lynn Sr. apologize to their kids for trying to make them more "well-rounded", and encourage them to be themselves, saying that they can deal with their futures later on in their lives. As the siblings proceed to have fun, the Yates arrive, and ask the Loud parents what they're doing. The Loud parents state that they're just "having fun". The Yates parents, not understanding what "fun" means, learn that from time to time, there has to be a moment where kids need to wind down. When the Yates parents allow their kids to have fun with the Loud kids (for only 7 1/2 minutes), they decide to watch TV with the Loud parents so they can let the children play contently.

Cast
Although being casted in the credits, Lily has no lines in this episode.
 * Collin Dean as Lincoln
 * Catherine Taber as Lori / News Reporter
 * Liliana Mumy as Leni
 * Nika Futterman as Luna
 * Cristina Pucelli as Luan
 * Jessica DiCicco as Lynn / Lucy
 * Grey Griffin as Lana / Lola
 * Lara Jill Miller as Lisa
 * Jill Talley as Rita
 * Brian Stepanek as Lynn Sr. / Announcer
 * Maureen McCormick as Jancey
 * Carson Park as Bumper Jr.
 * Stephanie Sheh as Beatrix / Belle / Beau
 * Barry Williams as Bumper Sr.

Accidental release
Before The Loud House's next episode bomb was even announced, this episode was accidentally released on Amazon Video on September 4, 2017, two weeks before its intended release date (September 18, 2017). According to Nick and More (@nickandmore), a Twitter account that specializes on broadcasting information for children's TV channels, this was an error on Amazon's part. Beforehand, the Loud House bomb was going to be broadcast on the week of September 4 - September 7, but Nickelodeon pushed the bomb further down to September 18 - September 21. However, Amazon failed to get word of this update, and ended up releasing the episode on its original release date instead of its intended release date. On September 7, Amazon took the episode down, along with its sister episode, upon hearing word of the update.

Trivia

 * This episode marks the news reporter's first appearance in Season 2.
 * The Yates Children's eyes were never revealed, until the end of the episode.
 * This is the twenty eighth episode where Lincoln does not speak to the viewers.
 * This episode brings back Leni's arachnophobia.
 * This episode has a callback to "For Bros About to Rock", with the family going to an opera, and Lisa being the only one who's into it.
 * This is the first episode since "Fool's Paradise", where a part of Luna's dialogue alludes to a popular song.
 * This is the sixteenth episode where Lincoln is not the main focus (instead, Rita and Lynn Sr. are).
 * This is the second time Lynn Sr. is the main focus instead of Lincoln. First being "Vantastic Voyage".
 * As of this episode Lynn Sr. is the third character (besides Lincoln) to have an episode focus on him.
 * This the fifth episode that focuses more than one character besides Lincoln. The other three were "Patching Things Up" (the Loud twins), "Pets Peeved" (the Loud pets), "Back Out There" (Clyde, Zach, Liam, and Rusty), and "Change of Heart".
 * Episode 19 of Season 2 is the ninth episode where neither segment focuses on Lincoln.
 * Activities the Loud parents made their kids do to make them more "well-rounded":
 * Lincoln - Read educational comic books.
 * Lori and Leni - Take SAT prep classes.
 * Luna - Brush up on her English.
 * Luan - Intern at the mayor's office.
 * Lynn - Become more academic.
 * Lucy - Play basketball.
 * Lana - Attend
 * Lola - Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
 * Lisa - Attend a ceramics studio.
 * Lily was the only one not encouraged to do an activity, due to her being an infant.
 * The books Lana balances on her head are the same ones Lola was balancing on her head from "Chore and Peace".
 * There are 48 question marks on the title card. This includes the ones Lincoln is obscuring.
 * According to Lincoln, the Yates family moved into a house that once belonged to a family called the Crowleys. This is a reference to Loud House writer, Sammie Crowley.
 * This is the first time Lucy's hair is styled into a ponytail.
 * This is also the first time Luan's hair is styled into a bun.
 * Lana's finishing school certificate shows that her middle initial is "L".
 * For comedic effect, when Jancey shakes hands with Lynn Sr., her arm is stretched to unimaginable proportions.
 * This is the second episode after "Two Boys and a Baby", where one of the Loud siblings experiences something gross in front of Lana, who follows up by jealously saying "Lucky".
 * When coming home after picking up trash, Lincoln mentions, an actual city in Michigan.
 * Irony: When Luna was told she needed to brush up on her English, she yelled out "We don't need no education!", which is a double-negative sentence, which further emphasizes the fact that she really does need to brush up on her English.
 * Karma: Mr. and Mrs. Loud ended up making their kids so "well-rounded" that the activities the kids were "encouraged" (i.e., "forced") to do made them lose interest in the stuff that they actually found fun, such as going out for ice cream or going to the movies.
 * Moral:
 * Important things can be dealt with in the future.
 * You're only young once--enjoy it while you still can.
 * Don't force someone into something if they're honestly not interested in it.
 * There's lots of different ways to make a person more "well-rounded".

Errors

 * In the credits, Lily is listed the credits even though she did not speak and Beau is credited as having a Jr. prefix in his name. However, no other member is named Beau.
 * Because of this, Bumper Jr. isn't listed in the credits.
 * When Lynn Sr. was using the leaf blower to blow the dandelions off of Rita, Rita's lipstick is missing.
 * When the Yates kids are going to have fun with the Loud siblings, Beatrix's eyelashes are disconnected from her eyes.
 * When Luna yells out "We don't need no education!", her voice sounds deeper than usual.

Running Gags

 * Rita and Lynn Sr. wanting their kids to be more "well-rounded".
 * This is usually accompanied by one of the Loud parents or Yates parents drawing an imaginary circle.
 * The Loud parents seeing the Yates family participate in some activity, and prompting their kids to do the same.
 * The parents wanting to watch TV, and saying "Do I!" when suggesting what to watch.