After Lincoln tries to help Lynn get over a heckler at her soccer game, the Louds realize they all have critics.
Synopsis[]
Lynn is playing a soccer match against Beaverton. As the family watches her play, Scoots, who is in the audience, proceeds to heckle at Lynn by telling her that she has the legs of an emu. This causes Lynn to miss the goal, much to her frustration. Near the end of the match, the score is tied 6-6, and there's only 10 seconds left. Lynn attempts to stay focused so she can make the winning goal, but as she dashes toward the goal, Scoots' heckling gets stuck in her head and ends up freezing in place when the mean comments get the better of her, causing Beaverton to steal the ball and make the winning goal.
Lynn furious about Scoots' comment at her game.
Arriving home, an angry Lynn marches to her room to begin "rage lifting". Lincoln says that he'll go talk to her. Entering Lynn's room, Lynn tells her brother that she's usually good at blocking hecklers out of her mind, but Scoots' comments were so severe, that she was unable to fight it and lost her mojo. Lincoln, now understanding the situation, says that he knows make her feel better, and offers her to come downstairs.
In the living room, Lincoln shows Lynn that she isn't the only member in the family to have a critic. He proves this by showing video camera footage of one of Lola's pageants where, despite giving a flawless performance, one of the judges is bored out of her mind due to the fact that Lola's doing yet another ribbon dance. Lynn is at first unphased by this, but Lincoln, expecting this reaction, reveals that the Louds have more critics than she thinks. Following afterwards, Lincoln and Lynn snoop around town and experience most of the Louds being criticized behind their backs, including...
the Burnt Bean manager saying that she would rather listen to her grandmother's piccolo band than the Moon Goats
Mr. Grouse saying that Lynn Sr. should stick to only lasagnas after eating a meal at Lynn's Table he doesn't like
an angry letter directed towards Rita at her workplace that states that her advice ruined her life
a bunch of mean comments on a video Luan has on her website
a scientist saying that he's tired of Lisa using Todd during her presentations, with his colleague agreeing
By the end of the day, as the Louds eat their dinner, Rita is surprised at how much Lynn has cheered up. Lynn explains that Lincoln made her feel better by saying that she's not the only one in the family who has a critic. At Lynn's request, Lincoln reveals to Luna, Luan, Lola, Lisa, Rita, and Lynn Sr. the nasty things that their critics say behind their backs, which causes all of them to sulk and become saddened. The next day, after the criticized Louds struggle to sleep after having nightmares on their criticisms, they wake up and attempt to get through their day without thinking much of their critics.
Unfortunately, the criticized Louds ends up having a terrible day after thinking about what their critics say behind their backs, like...
Lola being unable to perform her ribbon dance at a pageant when she imagines all the judges will be bored by her performance
Luan being unable to deliver jokes during a livestream when she thinks about the negative comments she got
Lynn Sr. freaking out by imagining Mr. Grouse being critical of his cooking (and even panics when the real Mr. Grouse talks to him)
Luna imagining Chunk and her bandmates as the Burnt Bean manager questioning why she ever bothered hiring her to perform at her restaurant when she could've asked her grandma instead
Rita imagining getting countless hate letters from the people whose lives have been ruined by her advice
Lisa freezing in fear when she imagines that all the scientists will criticize her for using Todd in her presentation (or in their words, "that idiot dancing robot")
By the end of the day, as Lincoln watches TV in the living room, the criticized Louds arrive home, extremely furious at Lincoln, where they question him on why he had to tell them about their critics, saying that they couldn't get through their day without freezing up. Lincoln says he only told them about their critics because he just wanted Lynn to feel better, but at that moment, Lynn arrives home, equally furious at Lincoln. Lynn tells him that his trick to make her feel better didn't work because Scoots had heckled her at the mall's food court and her words ended up getting the better of her. Lincoln questions his family on why they're paying attention to their critics, saying that it doesn't matter what they say, but his family accuses him by saying that he doesn't have to deal with it (as he doesn't have a critic) and leave after they brand him as nothing but a "life-ruiner". After they leave, Lincoln spots the video camera he used earlier and gets an idea.
Never listen to your critics.
The next day, Lincoln brings the criticized Louds to the living room and tells them that he actually does have a critic. Using the video camera, he plays footage of himself getting heckled by Chandler, whether he's announcing the middle school news, playing the dance game at Gus' Games and Grub, or doing a magic show. Once the footage ends, Lincoln explains that the point he's making is that, while Chandler's comments initially got to him, he began to ignore them, which eventually made things much easier, and also questions why he should even care about what Chandler has to say, as he's only doing what he loves, and that's all that matters to him. Touched by this, the criticized Louds agrees to take Lincoln's words of ignoring their critics to heart. At that moment, Mr. Grouse arrives to the Loud House to tell Lynn Sr. something, but Lynn Sr., thinking he's just here to criticize his cooking again, proceeds to pretend to not hear him. Mr. Grouse bluntly tells a stubborn Lynn Sr. that he forgot to put the parking brake on Vanzilla again, causing the van to roll backwards and Lynn Sr. to chase after it.
The only Louds to not have shown critics (with the exception of Lori, due to being at college) are Leni, Lucy, Lana and Lily.
Coincidentally, they all do not have lines in this episode.
Luna and Luan are the only roommates who both have shown critics.
The song the Moon Goats perform while at the Burnt Bean is "My Band", which was first heard in "Band Together".
The way that Scoots gets into Lynn's head, along with its outcome, is similar to that of the goat from "Cow Pie Kid".
This episode seems to imply that the Louds are unfamiliar with how much Chandler tries to make Lincoln's life miserable, as Lynn's comment of "That Chandler's a real jerk" comes off as her sounding like this is new to her.
Cartoon physics:
Lynn is able to punch through things and carry very heavy things effortlessly.
Lincoln is easily able to get himself back on his feet after Lynn throws all of her things at him.
Foreshadowing: A majority of the Louds' hecklers are visible on the title card: Scoots (Lynn), red letters (Rita), Mr. Grouse (Lynn Sr.), a pageant judge (Lola), and Chandler (Lincoln).
Irony:
Rita wishes that Lynn wouldn't take her loss at the soccer game personally, only for her, Lynn Sr., Luna, Luan, Lola, and Lisa to take their critics' words personally.
Lynn Sr. became so paranoid about Mr. Grouse being critical of his cooking, he couldn't bear the sight of him, up to the point that the real Mr. Grouse asking him a genuine question is enough to scare him.
Mr. Grouse tried to warn Lynn Sr. about Vanzilla rolling backwards because he forgot to put up the parking brake, but Lynn Sr., thinking Mr. Grouse is just going to criticize him, was informed a few moments too late.
References[]
The Taunting Hour - The title of this episode is a pun of the anthology series The Haunting Hour.
Errors[]
Bentley Griffin is mistakenly credited twice in the credits, as his name also appears under the characters voiced by John DiMaggio.
Despite being listed in the credits, Clyde does not appear in this episode.
A Russian promo for this episode left one of Rita's lines ("Lincoln!") undubbed, and also had the line play when Lola was speaking on screen.
In the scenes where the Loud family was in the bleachers, there are several errors:
When the family cheers after Lynn scores, Luan's head is detached from her body for one frame.
When Lincoln cheers on Lynn, the shadow that was supposed to be under Leni's feet is instead on her foot.
Lana's left eye is smaller than her right eye.
Leni's left arm is going through Lisa's hair and Lily is overlapping Lisa.
Luan's gag flower is missing on her shirt and can be seen attached to her sign with Lynn's name.
After Lynn's team lost the game, Lily disappears when Leni gasps even though she was holding her in the previous scenes.
When Lynn is trying to score the winning goal, in the wide shot, her cleats are white instead of black.
When Lynn tells Lincoln that Scoots had heckled her at the mall's food court, Luan appears to be taller than Luna, even though Luna is older than Luan.
When Lynn sits on her meditation ball and it knocks Lincoln over, the switch for the light switch disappears.
It is unknown why Lily was alongside the criticized Louds when they woke up, since she wasn't one of the Louds who had a critic, It could however be that Lisa's sleep-talking kept her awake and made her wake up like Lisa.
Luan is shown to be home during the montage of the criticized Louds freezing up from their negative comments, so it's unknown why she was with the rest of her family arriving home late at night to confront Lincoln.
Vanzilla started rolling backwards the second Mr. Grouse tells Lynn Sr. that he forgot the put on the parking brake again, so there's no possible way Mr. Grouse knew the parking brake was off from a stationary vehicle.
Despite knowing how to develop thick skin in "Head Poet's Anxiety", Luan was seriously affected by her critic saying that she's not funny in this episode. The reason for this is unknown.
Possible:
When Lynn opens one of the hate letters, the computer screen behind her moves to the left. However, it could've moved as a result from the hate on the letter being blasted.
Plot hole: If the Burnt Bean manager admits to hating the Moon Goats' music, it is unknown why she keeps hiring them to perform at her restaurant. However, it may be because the performances/music attracts customers, and the manager only hires them for the customers' sake.
Videos[]
Lincoln Teaches A Lesson - The Loud House - Nickelodeon UK
Scoots Heckles Lynn ⚽️ - "The Taunting Hour" Full Scene - The Loud House
60 Minutes of Luna & Sam Being The ULTIMATE Power Couple ❤️ - -PrideMonth - The Loud House
