"Trouble Brewing" is the twenty-first (twenty-second in production order) episode of the eighth season, and the three-hundred-fifty-fourth episode of The Loud House.
At nighttime, the Louds are woken up by someone ravaging their fridge. Lincoln, having anticipated this, sets up a trap in order to capture this "midnight snack thief", and the moment it activates, the family discovers that the thief is Lori. She explains that she is practically broke after Mr. Grouse started to charge her money in order to let her rent out his garage and has been unsuccessful in finding a job for the past few weeks. Suddenly, Luan reveals that the Burnt Bean is looking to hire a new barista, but when Lori brings up how she blew her interview when she moved back, Luan states that, because she works there, she can persuade her boss to give Lori a second chance. Seeing it as the perfect opportunity to earn some money on top of getting to work alongside her sister, Lori accepts the offer.
A few days later, Lori and Luan drive to the Burnt Bean. Upon arriving, they, along with a third employee named Paraag, are told by their boss, Beany, that she'll be going to a conference, and that she has assigned Luan to be the boss while she is gone. The moment Beany leaves, Luan gives Lori a rundown on where all their equipment is and what kinds of drinks they serve. After Luan finishes her rundown, the three baristas immediately get to work when customers begin to arrive. However, as Lori does her job, Luan uses her position as the boss to micromanage her on everything she does, whether it involves doing her coffee art incorrectly, telling her to use the preferred greeting to a customer, and not engaging with the customers while at their table. By the end of the day, Luan, as per Beany's policy, give Lori an employee review, where she states that she has made two major mistakes, and if she had gotten one more, she would've been placed on probation. Unbeknownst to Luan, Lori has become really fed up with her micromanaging her.
Arriving back home, Rita and Lynn Sr. reveal that they're going on their date night and, assuming Lori wants to go back to her apartment, decide to put Leni in charge. Suddenly, Lori gets an idea and states that she'll be in charge while suggesting that Leni tag along with them. The moment the three leave, Lori gets to work babysitting her siblings. Soon enough, it is revealed that Lori is using her position as the boss to micromanage Luan back as payback for how she treated her at the cafe, ranging from deliberately getting her pizza order incorrect, telling her to redo her froyo recipe, and telling her to clean the gutters instead of chatting with Benny (even though it's nighttime). By the time Luan finishes her chore, Lori gives her a "sister review", where she tells her that she made three mistakes, and punishes her by sending her to bed early (even though it's only 6:30). Realizing Lori's intent, Luan storms off.
The next day, Lori and Luan are prepared for their next day of work. After Luan gets back at Lori by making her park at the mall (causing her to arrive five minutes late after trekking for two miles), Paraag informs the two that today is senior discount day, and a large group of seniors arrive. As the three work to serve the seniors, Lori and Luan get into an argument over their micromanaging, while Paraag tries to stay out of their fighting. Suddenly, the three discover the seniors acting wildly; Lori realizes she had accidentally served them a highly caffeinated java instead of decaf. Needing to calm the seniors down, Luan tells them what to do: she'll change the music to something more calming, Paraag to get out the bingo game, and Lori to serve them sleepy time tea. Thanks to their combined efforts, the three baristas manage to calm the seniors enough to make them all fall asleep. With the crisis averted, Lori and Luan apologize for their earlier behaviors and promise to each other that they'll be better. As the two head home, they proceed to sing about working together.
Lori brings up the events of "Homeward Bound" by mentioning how she failed to secure a job at the Burnt Bean after blowing her interview. However, in this episode, she applies there again after Luan convinces her boss to give her a second chance, and successfully lands the job.
As of this episode, Mr. Grouse has started to charge Lori money in order to let her rent out his garage.
This is the second episode to have Lori be in charge of all her siblings, the first being the Season 1 episode "No Guts, No Glori".
This episode reveals the following:
Luan has a part-time job working at the Burnt Bean.
The boss of the Burnt Bean is named Beany.
Luan likes pineapple pizza.
Luan hates Brussels sprouts.
The distance between the Royal Woods Mall and the Burnt Bean is two miles.
This is the first episode to close on a fade-out instead of a cut to black or an iris out.
Foreshadowing: Luan makes a point to mention that the decaf is in a green pot, so when Lori is tasked with serving decaf to the seniors, the pot she's pouring is not green, hinting that she is serving the wrong coffee.
Cartoon Physics: Lori's spinning of Luan to give her "Sister Review" resulted in the quick removal of all the mud and leaves off of her when Luan had to clean the gutters.
References[]
Trouble Brewing - The title of this episode is an expression used to describe an unpleasant situation that is bound to happen.
Errors[]
Lori greets the two customers sitting at the table as her old classmates, Carol and Roger, despite them bearing little to no resemblance to them.
