Cereal Offender

"Cereal Offender" is the thirty-sixth episode of the first season of The Loud House.

Plot

The Loud children make a trip to the supermarket to do the grocery shopping for their mother, but Lincoln has other plans.

Synopsis

Lincoln is watching TV while eating a bowl of cereal. Suddenly, a TV announcement is presented showing a new cereal called "Zombie Bran". Excited, Lincoln runs towards Rita, who is unclogging the kitchen sink, and asks her if they can get the new cereal. She denies, telling him that they have a very tight budget and that also they have a very big shopping list so there's no money left for treats. But Lincoln convinces her saying that he can do the shopping and still have enough money for Zombie Bran and while he does that, she can do all the things she wants to during her free time which she agrees to. As Lincoln prepares to go shopping, he is stopped by his sisters who want to accompany him. He tries to get rid of them until Lynn says that they will help him to shop, so Lincoln accepts and all of them (except Lily) go shopping.

At the supermarket, the Loud kids are warned by the supermarket's manager that if they get caught causing trouble, they'll be kicked out. Lincoln then begins to find all the products of the shopping list taking only the products that are half priced or in an offer, but during his path, he is forced to stop his sisters' antics and avoid being caught by the manager.

Later, Lincoln manages to find all the products on the list and manages to leave enough money to buy Zombie Bran. But when he's going to grab the last box of cereal, another kid (who wears similar clothes like him) takes it and mocks Lincoln before running off to the cash register. Lincoln proceeds to chase him and at the same time avoid being caught by the manager. In the end, the manager catches the bratty kid and kicks him and his mother out, allowing Lincoln to finally get the cereal.

After that, he brings all of his sisters to the cash register to pay for all the stuff he bought. They ask him why he is in such a hurry and he says that he's too close to obtaining his cereal thanks to the deal he made with their mother, making all the sisters begin to argue about it and subsequently begin fighting. During the brawl, Lincoln is pushed towards a stack of cans accommodated by Bobby, dumping all of them to the floor. The manager then kicks out the siblings without their purchases.

On the ride home, Rita states to Lincoln that she is disappointed in him because he couldn't do the shopping without anything bad happening, and also states that she will have to go grocery shopping in the next town over for a while. This makes his sisters feel guilty and sorry for him for their reckless actions.

The next day, Lincoln is watching TV at his house while eating the same boring cereal alongside Lily, feeling sad about what happened yesterday. After seeing another Zombie Bran announcement and turning it off, his sisters enter the house imitating a horde of zombies. Lincoln believes it's a joke, but then he's glad to see they bought the cereal. They apologize to him, saying that it was the least they can do as it was their fault that he couldn't get it. In appreciation of what they had done, Lincoln imitates a zombie and then begins a food fight with his sisters using the cereal.

Cast

• Grant Palmer as Lincoln
• Catherine Taber as Lori
• Liliana Mumy as Leni
• Nika Futterman as Luna
• Cristina Pucelli as Luan / Bratty Kid's Mom
• Jessica DiCicco as Lynn / Lucy
• Grey Griffin as Lana / Lola / Lily
• Lara Jill Miller as Lisa / Female Customer / Zombie Girl
• Carlos PenaVega as Bobby
• Jill Talley as Rita / Sample Lady
• Calvin Zwicker as Bratty Kid / Zombie Boy
• Gary Anthony Williams as Manager / Announcer

The Farmer has no lines in this episode.

Trivia

• The episode takes place in February 2015, as the calendar on the fridge has 28 days.

• On the fridge is a haiku with an A+. It says:
  A house full of kids
  Mostly girls (except Lincoln)
  Chaos will ensue
  -M.F.
  This poem has been mentioned online before.

• In the original storyboard for this episode, the portrait of Lori that Bobby made was decorated with soda cans instead of paper towel rolls.
• When the siblings stop fighting after the manager tells them they are kicked out, they are in the same pose they were in "Slice of Life" when Lynn Sr. tells them to stop fighting, and in "Changing the Baby" (except Lincoln) when the latter whistles to them when they were fighting over Lily.
• Lily breaks the fourth wall at the end of the episode by imitating a zombie's groan towards the audience.
  • The manager only refers to Bobby as "Boo-Boo Bear" and not once as his actual name (probably to mock him).
• What the girls did in the store:
  • All of them: Taking away Lincoln's cereal after they didn't think it was fair that he was getting a treat; this got them all kicked out
    • Lori: Admiring Bobby's employment and stocking skills
    • Leni: Setting the lobsters and the grilled chickens free
    • Luna: Jamming on the PA
    • Luan: Juggling and balancing eggs
    • Lynn: Riding a shopping cart at a high speed
    • Lucy: Sculpting a cake monster
    • Lana & Lola: Fighting with produce hoses
    • Lisa: Sitting in a freezer to test for her cryogenic studies
  • Lily was the only one not to get in trouble with the Manager, as she did not go to the supermarket with her siblings.

• This episode revealed that the last time Rita had a pedicure was seventeen years ago, meaning this was before Lori was born or when she was a baby.
• The scene with Lynn riding on a shopping cart was cut in the UK airing, as such an action could be imitated by younger viewers.
• Irony: The sisters (except Lily) promised they will help Lincoln with the shopping, but instead of doing that, they just left him alone by running into the store to create a huge mess.

References

• Cereal Offender - The title of this episode is a parody of the phrase "serial offender".
• Peanuts - The bowl in the title card has the same design as Charlie Brown's shirt.
• Die Hard - When Lynn says "Yippee-ki-yay, market shoppers", she references John McClane's catchphrase "Yippee-ki-yay, motherf***er".

• Pringles - When Lincoln is talking to Leni, there are some chips which have a logo resembling the potato chip brand.
• Eggo - The advertisement that says "Hands Off My Waffles" is a parody of Eggo Waffles slogan "L'eggo My Eggo!".
• The Simpsons - When Bratty Kid says "Ha Ha!" at Lincoln covered in pineapples, it is said in the same way how Nelson Muntz's infamous catchphrase did.

• Sugar Bomb - When Lincoln finds the last Zombie Bran, there's another cereal called "Sugar Bombs", which is a real cereal.
• Girl with a Pearl Earring - In both the original storyboard and the finished episode, the portrait Bobby made of Leni strongly resembles this painting.

Errors

• Bratty Kid put his shoes under the fake snowman, but he's wearing them in the same scene.
• When Lincoln started acting like a zombie after he splatters the cereal all over his face, his sideburn and his bags were missing. Also, in one part, the cereal in his face was cut off by his eyes.
• The lobsters in the supermarket are red, although lobsters are usually blue and are only red when you cook them.