Lincoln tries to prove he can handle dinner at the adult table.
Synopsis[]
Dinnertime at a terrible rate for Lincoln.
One evening at dinner, Lincoln is annoyed by the messy and annoying antics of his younger sisters at the "kiddie table", and he envies his older sisters, who get to eat with Rita and Lynn Sr. at the "grownup table". Sometime later, he gets Clyde to come over to help him prove that he is mature. After following Clyde's lessons on talking 'adult", learning the individual table utensils, and looking sharp, Lincoln manages to get his parents' approval to get a seat at the grownup table.
However, the experience of being mature proves to be not as exciting as Lincoln had hoped; there's no singing or joke-telling, the family engages in boring small talk, and liver is served rather than chicken nuggets. Lincoln sees that the kiddie table is actually more fun, but Clyde was against him asking his parents to go back. That night, Lincoln has a nightmare in which he is bound to the grownup table. Upon waking up, Lincoln realizes that it's his fault for wanting to be so mature and devises a plan to get back to the kiddie table.
All 11 siblings at the kiddie table.
The next evening, he arrives at the grownup table and makes a complete fool of himself by imitating his younger sisters' unsavory and crazy table manners. When his parents have enough of his behavior and ask him if he wants to go back to the kiddie table, Lincoln happily obliges and joins an in-progress food fight to celebrate Lincoln's return. As he happily engages in the mess, Lynn asks if she can join them as well. Lincoln agrees and Lynn says she never thought it would be possible to leave the grownup table. The other older sisters join their younger siblings as well, and the 11 children start a big food fight (as well as their parents) as the episode ends.
‣Pop Punk - Doug Rockwell [Title card] ‣The Four Seasons (Spring) - Allegro - Antonio Vivaldi [Lincoln imagines himself at the grownup table] ‣Wiggin Out - Christian Mondstein, Jo Part [Phase one and two of Clyde's advice] ‣Night Talking - Anthony Hymas [Grownup table simulator] ‣Wiggin Out - Christian Mondstein, Jo Part [Phase three of Clyde's advice] ‣ ? [Lincoln goes to the grownup table] ‣Robots Don't Cry - David Bergeaud [Lincoln imagines what would happen if he asked to leave the grownup table] ‣Emergency Force - Richard Birdsall [Lincoln imagines his escape from the grownup table] ‣Vibe Link (b) - Richard Myhill [Lincoln sees Bun Bun] ‣ ? [Lincoln acts his age] ‣Pop Punk - Doug Rockwell [Lincoln returns to the kiddy table] ‣ ? [Ending]
This episode, along with "The Sweet Spot", was released on Nick.com and other digital platforms on April 1, 2016, ahead of its television premiere.
During that time, the video file had the episodes switched, and this would play before "The Sweet Spot".
This episode is probably set after "Any Given Sundae" because in that episode, Lily never had any ice cream before, but Lily is seen eating ice cream in this episode.
When Lincoln turns on C-SPAM, the stock ticker on the bottom of the TV screen reads "Morgan Ltd.", a reference to prop designer Jared Morgan.
This episode has the same casting end credits as its sister episode.
Also, a fictitious callsign "WTOZ" appears in the top-right corner of the TV screen.
Bobby's dad, Arturo Santiago, is mentioned in this episode, and according to Lori and Lynn Sr., Dr. Santiago had recently gotten a hernia-operation done.
Innuendo: Clyde tells the cardboard cutout of Lori that he will share his buns with her.
Irony:
The parents require sophisticated behavior at the grown up table, but they themselves aren't above childish behavior.
Lincoln could've just asked to return to the kid's table.
In this episode, Lincoln is unhappy sitting at the grown-up table, and Rita tells him that he is not ready for it. However, in all other episodes where the Loud family eats dinner, Lincoln is shown sitting at the grown-up table, looking fine.
The elder sisters are annoyed and disgusted by Lincoln's immature behavior at the grown up table but immediately end up joining Lincoln and the rest of their younger siblings for dinner when the former is sent back to the kiddie table.
Aside from a flashback in "Homespun", the kiddie table never appeared in any other episodes. Instead, everyone sits at the grown up table.
Foreshadowing: There were a couple of hints that lead to the reveal that Lincoln's older sisters weren't happy about being at the grown up table either.
Lynn and Lori sounded bored when talking to their parents.
Luan and Luna looked pretty depressed when they told Lincoln that jokes and songs weren't allowed.
Lynn almost joined Lincoln in throwing food before holding it in.
International edits[]
In some foreign dubs, the reference to the Republicans is localized:
In the Dutch dub, the Republicans are referred to as "the current cabinet". A possible explanation for this change is that it sounds more familiar for Dutch listeners: because the Netherlands has a large number of political parties that are each too small to hold power alone, each administration (or "cabinet") consists of a coalition, which is a group of several different political parties sharing power together.
In the Finnish dub, Lincoln speaks about day-to-day politics instead of the Republicans.
In the Latin American Spanish dub, the Republicans are referred to as politicians.
References[]
A Tale of Two Tables - The title parodies the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities.
C-SPAM
C-SPAN - The channel Lincoln turns on is C-SPAM, a parody of C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network), known for its live broadcasts of the United States Congress in session.
Rocky - While preparing Lincoln for the grown-up table, Clyde appears dressed as Mickey.
Freaks - The "One of us!" chant from Lincoln's nightmare comes from a scene from this film.
Shave and a Haircut - When Lincoln is hit with sausages for the third time at the start, the twins smack him to the beat of this fanfare.
