Halloween
Lincoln and his friends are going together for "tricks or treats" (we use Peanuts lingo around here) as a unified costume theme from an old movie they've been watching called "Planet Protection Patrol" which I'm sure will not come into play at all in this 44 minute long episode, nope. ---Fast forwards----well never mind.
The Loud sisters have another haunted house has part of their traditions, but it's not scary. Honestly, the real Mr. Coconuts is scarier than Luan wearing a mask of him. It's so no scary, that a five-year-old girl , Darcy, wasn't scared by it, it's so not scary that it made Charlie Brown actually want to get rocks, it's not scary that Jack Skellington decided to quit being the king of Halloween of disgust. (Doing this long joke huh?)
Clyde, Zach, Rusty, Stella, and Liam show up all of them also dressed up their costumes. Oh yeah Lincoln is commander because he's the leader. [ Also minus 1pt for that you know what that was] The Planet Protection Patrol is supposed to be some parody of I guess "Star Trek" maybe? I don't know, but also has a tree character because uhh I don't know. The Loud sisters lurk in the background as they think the group is acting too "geeky" or something. My question is where have they been? Have they've never seen these people before ever. Also are Zach's parents right? Is Halloween a conspiracy by big candy? Then again, it might be a conspiracy by both big candy , dentists, and Disney. [That last one isn't even a joke ] (you learn things in this post)
Zach has brought weapons that apparently his parents built and actually work. Is this how the Gurdles make their money? I'm sure these also will not come into play in the plot at all, nope. (don't do this twice) While Lynn's backhanded concern is nice, does she know that people dress in all sorts of costumes on Halloween? If anything any bullies coming by would really be trying anyone just to get the candy, that's why someone would bully on Halloween. (probably)
There's a trick or treat scene , then Chandler and Trent show up to be a fake scare out. (cat jump scare would be more purrfect) Do they serve a purpose? Yes, they are there to get the plot. One of the devices Zach brought was a communicator that can broadcast to space. Now, this thing will actually work, get that out here now. But (big but), Since thing works, why did it work here? Has it done any communicating before? Why did Zach bring this, it's not even a weapon? He did promise his parents not to turn it on, but why that thing? Besides plot. Chandler decides to mess with the thing and sends a message to random aliens. Then two girls see something strange hovering and run. Hmm....
The group goes to see Sheryl and Meryl for candy, but they aren't there, which is strange. They don't seem to mind too much, as they take some candy and leave. Liam also eats some lemon gelatin. [I'm mentioning this for later effect]
[end of part One]
Flip's is open. I don't know why anyone would go to Flip's for free candy, Flip for free don't match. (I don't why anyone goes there anyway) . This scene mostly exists so Flip can get abducted. I will say this episode is really good at setting up the mystery of what's going on and we don't see the figures that take Flip. The group shows up and notices that Flip isn't there it's strange. They grab his candy which is older than American politicians by a few years. I'm sure that candy will not come into play later.
Lincoln feels something is off, but he's not sure why. There's more of that yellow stuff from before. They see Trent and that's to Clyde staying on character he wants to help and wonders where Chandler is. Chandler has also disappeared. Also random interrupting Mrs. Bernardo. Also she's littering. Randomly there for some reason.
They find Trent's boots but no Trent. There's also the same yellow stuff that was found at Flips and the stuff Liam ate. Great, Liam is going to die. Zach does a quick test and the yellow stuff is alien. Rita calls and says she needs Lincoln to come home, Lucy needs someone to play a "dead body". Lincoln warns them about aliens but they don't believe him. Then they get abducted. And that's the Louds out of the way for awhile.
[End of Part 2]
The group goes to the police, but *spins wheel* they don't believe them. Kind of sad we didn't get a Zach's parents part to come in they would have loved this. [minus 0.1 pts] The aliens return Flip, because they have taste. (And they needed someone for plot exposition) [minus 0.1pts for underwear Flip] The aliens are looking for one more human, thankfully it has to be a frequent character and thankfully they can use one who is voiced by the same person as Flip.
The group stops at Mr. Grouse's house to see the alien. We get to see the alien design, the yellow stuff, is the clue... also Liam ate that... it's an alright design. Nothing that really stands out with it. Also apparently, alien rays are weak towards metal trash cans. They try and take down an alien. I like how the alien has the power to use anything broken off from it to still attack. Also, never do a celebrate it's premature and yeah.
Lincoln gives up his shield and helps Clyde, but then he gets zapped away. There's only a brief bit of mourning as a fun part comes up. Zach decides there's something that can be done. I do think this turnaround was a little too fast. I think there should have been a slightly longer mourn then Zach gets the idea and brings in the optimism. Only a small pick though.
Zach's parents made a teleportation device, randomly for this plot. Also, they are somewhat on par with being as smart as Lisa. The alien spaceship looks like a CD player. Also they transport to the space ship in the photo booth thing. The group starts fighting the aliens. Some one (sickos) might complain that this is just children beating up aliens and wondering hmmm... as if that's not something done in any movie ever when it's been done many times in movies and shows. So yeah, have some fun. [minus 0.1pts for the elevator having music, that's a dead joke let it go]
We see all the people who've been abducted and somehow everyone is able to breath and talk normally in this liquid. Chandler still can be insulting while trapped as a prisoner. Also Lola can be mean while still trapped as prisoner. (I'd leave) They are trying their best, Lola, you allowed yourself to get abducted so... yeah. With everyone free the ship is starting to crash because they were being used as batteries. What?
[end of part three]
Lincoln is going to use the movie to trave a spaceship because... sure alright. If that part bothers you, why aren't you bothered about the part where Liam ate some alien goo, why aren't you concerned?! The plan to land is now to use the Loud House front yard which has a giant spider web to stop it, don't question it, there's aliens and a waffle phone.
The family apologizes for making fun of Lincoln and his friends earlier, I guess that was a thing. Oh the aliens easily could have explained this earlier able to talk , they could have easily just explained things earlier. Also, Chandler's call comes back to haunt him. (Idiot) Also the reason was , again, human batteries. [It's true though] The aliens accept their fate, and want to get vaporized, but sadly, this show doesn't have that kind of rating so they get forgiven and Lisa finds a way to help the fly back home without human power but first they have to work at the haunted house. (Still choosing death) Why does Darcy re-show up? Is she greedy?
I really loved some of the background music used in this. It has the electronic synth sound like it's Stranger Things or an 80's kids adventure film where the it's real PG and kid gets to say one swear word, sadly not here in this episode. It fit the vibe of the special having some of that feeling. It was really a fun aspect of the special, also fitting in an almost cinematic feel and the music was really a good touch to it.
I liked the Halloween evening setting it felt very eerie and daunting. There was a good mixture of color as well to balance it out. I liked the character costume designs as well. The pacing was generally good, though there are some things that I think going a little slower on would have been better, but nothing too bad. I think the first 3/4ths were the strongest.
Though, the alien bit was a little weak, as they seemingly yes, were easily defeated, but there's only so much that could be done with a show with this rating. The alien motive was slightly done and seemingly could have been handled better by them talking in the first place instead of snatching people. The haunted house part was unnecessary, overall, as it only seemed to exist to later have the aliens do a job I guess as TV-Y7 payback for kidnapping them. Otherwise, it wasn't much to that part of the plot.
I don't mind that the Loud family, beyond Lincoln, were sidelined. The friends put on a strong performance. I think Zach should have had a larger lead role than he got, because aliens are his thing. The show should be a little more confident in him to use him that way. I am glad he did get a part. Mrs Bernardo's part really served nothing but to be funny, I guess. The opening establishment part was a little weak, but not bad. That's the only weaknesses I found to this episode.
Overall, the length of time was well used, and story beats were clean and well done. I liked how it didn't drag things out. The only conflict was the aliens and that kept it easy and not too over done with unnecessary stuff. I really liked how it kept the aliens unknown for a large chunk and set the atmosphere well. The episode doesn't go for the normal traditional Halloween horror of things like vampires, ghosts, monsters, or zombies; that's fine to a point. This show-yes this show- has done things with ghosts, zombies, possibly monsters, and fake vampires, so might as well not draw from that well. The idea of being abducted by other worldly beings can be horror too. This also gives the episode a little stronger rerun ,not holiday value, and if The Simpsons can do Halloween with aliens than so can "The Loud House"
I think this was a really fun episode, the most fun in a long while. I think there's a lot of fun to this episode. I think a real problem for the episode is comparing it to the rest of the series, as it does go wacky and bring in real aliens. I think it slightly has worked better here than their past strange effort of trying to bring in non realistic things. The execution works here since it's an interesting story and beats well versus it going weird or losing steam, or trying to force something supernatural in a plot that didn't need it. Would the episode have been as fun as if the aliens weren't real? Probably not. I'm glad they aren't trying to force the show into doing episodes with lesson beats all the time now.
It was a fun episode. I give it (calculating) 8.4/10. That's it for now, tune in next time when we find out that Zach and his family are aliens.
