"Director's Rut" is the twenty-fifth episode (twenty-sixth in production order) of the fifth season, and the two-hundred-twenty-fourth episode of The Loud House.
Luan turns to Mr. Coconuts for help after she struggles to direct her school's play.
Synopsis[]
Luan is participating in a playwright contest, as well as the other students of the Java Club. One week after Luan submits her script, Mrs. Bernardo arrives and tells the members that whoever's script is chosen gets to direct their play. Mrs. Bernardo announces that after careful consideration, she has chosen Luan's script as the winning script, and Luan is ecstatic that she gets to direct the play.
Luan begins directing her play.
Later, Luan tells the other members of the Java Club that her play, Don't Sassafras Me: The Life and Times of Joannie Sassafras, is about her idol: a comedian named Joannie Sassafras who made it big as a comedian by taking a chance. After handing everyone the script to see who they're playing, Luan prepares to start directing the play. However, for every scene they try to rehearse, the members would put in their own additions, including...
Amy and Rex including themselves in a scene they're not in
Shannon (playing Joannie) speaking in a cockney British accent, despite Joannie being American
Lyberti singing a song (even though it's not a musical), and Amy doing a tap dance to spice up the scene
When Luan sits in the director's chair after taking five, she explains to Mr. Coconuts that her friends are making so many changes, it's deviating from her initial plans. Suddenly, Amy and Rex fall into the orchestra pit, and become inspired to add in a scene of them having a karate competition. Unable to take it anymore, Luan exits the school and proclaims that the production is a disaster. Mr. Coconuts urges her to stand up to them, Luan refuses, saying she doesn't want her friends to be mad at her. When Mr. Coconuts says that he has no problem speaking his mind, Luan suddenly gets an idea.
The next day, as the Java Club arrives for rehearsals, they discover that Mr. Coconuts has taken over the role as the play's director, much to everyone's confusion, as it's just Luan taking on a different personality. However, they soon learn first hand that with Mr. Coconuts in the director's chair, he's more strict towards them, as he punishes anyone who attempts to deviate from the script, like...
Ordering Shannon to run 20 laps around the seats when suggesting that she parachute into the scene instead of using roller skates
Dumping a bucket of water onto Spencer when he suggests wearing a hot dog costume from a previous play
Throwing a pie at Lyberti when she suggests using a hoverboard to enter a scene instead of walking
Hurling a sandbag at Rex when suggesting riding on a horse
When rehearsals end, Luan thanks Mr. Coconuts for helping bring production to her original vision.
Luan realizes that letting Mr. Coconuts take over as director was not the best idea after all.
The next day, the play is about to premiere tonight, and it's only one more hour until curtains up. When Luan arrives, she sees only Benny present. He explains that everyone quit the play because they were terrified of Mr. Coconuts and his strict behavior. When Luan starts panicking on what to do, Mrs. Bernardo, having camouflaged into the brick wall backdrop on the stage, comes out and tells her that the reason why she chose her play out of all of them was because it was about a woman who stood up to make a difference. She tells Luan that she needs to speak up to her friends by herself instead of using Mr. Coconuts to do it for her. Invigorated, Luan proceeds to do so. Approaching her friends, Luan apologizes for what happened yesterday, saying that they kept adding in their own changes, it felt like she no longer had control. Her friends forgive her, apologize for interfering with the script, and agree to go back to working on the play.
Later, after the show concludes, the crowd gives it uproarious applause, and Shannon introduces Luan to the crowd. Luan says that she couldn't have done the play without Mrs. Bernardo's help, and tells her to come in a take a bow. Suddenly, Mrs. Bernardo arrives by descending on a sandbag, when suddenly, the rope she's holding onto snaps, causing her to fall into the orchestra pit.
Lincoln and Lana can be heard in the audience cheering after Luan's play ends, suggesting that the Loud family might be in the audience.
This episode marks the first since "Stage Plight" that Grey DeLisle Griffin voices Shannon. But unlike that episode, she sounds as raspy as when Nika Futterman voiced her in "Feast or Family".[citation needed]
Irony: Shannon explains during the rehearsals of the clown college scene that she's speaking with a British accent because she was inspired by William Shakespeare, who "made all of his actors speak in a British accent." In real life, William Shakespeare was British.
International edits[]
In the Finnish dub, Shannon speaks with a high-pitched voice instead of a British accent.
References[]
Director's Rut - The title of this episode is a pun on "director's cut", a piece of media edited in a way the director originally envisioned it.
A Streetcar Named Desire - Spencer mentions that the high school once put on a play called A Meat Cart Named Desire, a parody of this southern gothic play.
Errors[]
Rex the Sandbag Cowboy
Plot hole: The remaining theatre club members: Leo, Unnamed Punk Girl, Parvana, Ruby, Jackee, and Errol were not seen. It could be hinted that they either quit or joined another club or that they were absent.
When Mr. Coconuts is asking if anyone else wants to make changes to Luan's play, his mouth moves like how a human's mouth would.
When Rex gets hit by a sandbag, his body disappears in one frame.
Also, Rex's cowboy boot is disconnected.
Videos[]
The Loud House + The Barbarian and the Troll Promo - May 21, 2021 (Nickelodeon U.S.)
The Loud House - Luan Directs Her School Play! - Nickelodeon UK
