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Description

Selfie Improvement

This was a really fun episode. While another Lori episode isn’t something I’m necessarily excited for in theory, a well-executed, funny, engaging and enjoyable tale is worth admiration for what it is, regardless of concept or initial expectations. Lori takes centre stage once again as she engages in a heated rivalry with Carol Pingrey, a character who has been mentioned since season 1, and has received some attention from portions of the fan-base, but hasn’t yet made her on-screen debut in the series (until now). If there is one thing that stuck out in my mind when watching this episode, it was how strong the portrayal of the characters was. Lori is being her overly dramatic, easily angered and irritable self, but her struggle is somewhat relatable and identifiable, given how we are given flashbacks showing her constant overshadowing and defeats by the hands of her rival; an ongoing occurrence which apparently dates back to their kindergarten days. It’s funny how some lovably over-the-top characters can sometimes take these mundane scenarios, such as the mere activity of taking selfie photos and uploading onto online social media platforms for everyone to see, and transform them into serious, intense feuds and competitions. One humorous gag was all the times in the episode where Lori would reflect on how her rival would think she could one-up her in taking selfies, and she would take a dramatic and aggressive pose and declare retaliation, and state she’s going to prevail in their contest (all the while with that animated blue background behind her, making it look as if she suddenly stepped into a Japanese Anime or something along those lines). Of course, while Lori’s faults of being overly jealous, envious, competitive and obsessive are amusing t watch, it’s also satisfying to see her overcome her jealousy and obsession with Carol come the end of the narrative (sort of). After having a heel realisation moment and ceasing to neglect her caring and dedicated boyfriend, who went to great lengths to please her despite her constantly ignoring him, Lori recognises the silliness of the situation and retreats in practicing her competitive ways (seriously, thinking about it, this type of plot would do wonders for Lynn Jr’s character in a future episode, if the writers ever decide to give a damn about fixing her and giving her screen-time/development). As she goes to return her picnic items she encounters Carol, who finally makes her first on-screen appearance in the show.

And this is where the strength of the characterisation yet again becomes apparent. Most have gained the impression Carol is a bit of a jerkish alpha b*** to Lori, and while she certainly seems to have a large amount of popularity and high social status, we actually receive a lot of development for her when she finally shows up. Granted, I would have liked to see her on-screen for a bit longer, instead of her predictably just being mentioned by the other characters and shown in pictures, but at least she did make that crucial appearance, even if it was only brief. For the time she does appear, though, she makes a solid impression. We learn she actually felt the same way Lori did, as she admires Lori for her diversity in other talents, as well as the relationship she holds with her younger siblings, who all look up to her. Behind all the popularity, Carol has insecurities, and struggles of her own, and through this common ground, the two are able to overcome their rivalry with one another and embrace a more genuine friendship, making for a very fulfilling ending to the story. Of course, while Lori (and Carol) mostly learn from their behaviour in this story, it’s done in a way that is feasible. By that, I mean they learn from the experience and change for the better to a realistic extent, but they still exhibit certain jealous and competitive characteristics even after the plot has concluded. While Lori learns to appreciate her loved ones, and those that care for and will do anything for her (like Bobby) in this story, and that such bonds are more important than feuding with old rivals, she is still Lori Loud, and one experience, while it will improve her behaviour and make her less recklessly envious and driven towards one-upping others, will not completely destroy and remove those core tendencies of her character. While one could argue the final scene, in which both Lori and Carol unite to combat against a new duo of rivals who start beating them at getting likes, undermines their growth through the experiences the underwent in the events of the plot, it actually isn’t such a bothersome or problematic issue, considering this ending works in a similar manner to the Lynner Takes All ending. In that episode, Lynn may have not lost her gloating tendencies entirely, but she learned to control her urges better and spare the feelings of her siblings by doing it in private only. As Luan pointed out, it’s all about baby steps. Here, a similar thing happens with Lori. She learns to some extent to stop feuding with Carol over selfies, or at least that such rivalries are not as important and she precedence over the loving relationships she has with her friends and family. But the experience, while helping Lori improve her behaviour and reduce the severity of her faults, doesn’t completely eradicate said faults completely, in the same way it would have been implausible for Lynner to have Lynn completely abandon her over-competitive ways and annoying gloating. One story isn’t going to give a character a total 180 degree transformation in the opposite direction. That extent of sudden character alteration is not feasible. But while Lori (and Carol) still shows some of her envy and over-competitiveness come the episode’s end, it doesn’t mean she’s learned nothing at all or hasn’t grown as a character. It just means it was achieved on a more realistic level, as it cannot be expected she will drop such strong characteristics entirely after one episode. If anything, this ending actually makes that approach work better than Lynner did, but that’s mainly because at this stage, Lori has had far more focal stories and is a more developed character than Lynn (which is why people weren’t happy with the baby steps approach to Lynner’s ending as they were more desperate for her to undergo more drastic changes due to her static and unlikeable current status).

The other characters were serviceable. Most notably, Leni was adorably fun in this episode. The way in which she has been incredibly of Lori, making an effort to cheer her up every time Carol defeated her in some form of contest, dating back from when they were kids all the way to the present day, was not only heart-warming, but reflective of the good-natured will of this hilarious simpleton. Even though Leni’s “encouragement” did more to depress or anger Lori further unintentionally in many of those instances, such as how she mentioned how many likes Lori had for each of her selfie attempts, only to point out how she merely had almost as many as her rival, it was still an admirable effort on her part to try and perk up Lori’s spirits. But that’s Leni for you, lovably caring and always trying to be helpful, but can often accidentally screw something up or exacerbate a situation due to her limited comprehension and thinking skills. The other siblings were serviceable, given their role as obstacles against Lori. Rather humorous gags resulted from Lori’s failed attempts at taking photos because of her siblings, such as Lucy digging a grave, Lynn playing sports, and Lincoln flying a remote controlled toy helicopter. They weren’t being intentionally mean, annoying, destructive or antagonistic, the siblings were just being themselves and doing their things, and that just happened to cause problems for Lori. The siblings were able to serve their purpose as road blocks without derailing into unlikeable jerks just for the sake of presenting the struggle of Lori’s dilemma, which is something I am thankful for.

Overall, this was a very strong episode. While Lori is the sister least in need of more focal stories right now, the writers took this premise and ran pretty far with it. It not only exceeded in terms of telling an entertaining story with solid characterisation, but it also provided a lot of laughs along the way. I especially liked how Lori’s online name with Literally_Lori (because of course!). While nothing spectacular or anything, I really liked this one.

Final Rating: 8.5/10

Description

Selfie Improvement

This was a really fun episode. While another Lori episode isn’t something I’m necessarily excited for in theory, a well-executed, funny, engaging and enjoyable tale is worth admiration for what it is, regardless of concept or initial expectations. Lori takes centre stage once again as she engages in a heated rivalry with Carol Pingrey, a character who has been mentioned since season 1, and has received some attention from portions of the fan-base, but hasn’t yet made her on-screen debut in the series (until now). If there is one thing that stuck out in my mind when watching this episode, it was how strong the portrayal of the characters was. Lori is being her overly dramatic, easily angered and irritable self, but her struggle is somewhat relatable and identifiable, given how we are given flashbacks showing her constant overshadowing and defeats by the hands of her rival; an ongoing occurrence which apparently dates back to their kindergarten days. It’s funny how some lovably over-the-top characters can sometimes take these mundane scenarios, such as the mere activity of taking selfie photos and uploading onto online social media platforms for everyone to see, and transform them into serious, intense feuds and competitions. One humorous gag was all the times in the episode where Lori would reflect on how her rival would think she could one-up her in taking selfies, and she would take a dramatic and aggressive pose and declare retaliation, and state she’s going to prevail in their contest (all the while with that animated blue background behind her, making it look as if she suddenly stepped into a Japanese Anime or something along those lines). Of course, while Lori’s faults of being overly jealous, envious, competitive and obsessive are amusing t watch, it’s also satisfying to see her overcome her jealousy and obsession with Carol come the end of the narrative (sort of). After having a heel realisation moment and ceasing to neglect her caring and dedicated boyfriend, who went to great lengths to please her despite her constantly ignoring him, Lori recognises the silliness of the situation and retreats in practicing her competitive ways (seriously, thinking about it, this type of plot would do wonders for Lynn Jr’s character in a future episode, if the writers ever decide to give a damn about fixing her and giving her screen-time/development). As she goes to return her picnic items she encounters Carol, who finally makes her first on-screen appearance in the show.

And this is where the strength of the characterisation yet again becomes apparent. Most have gained the impression Carol is a bit of a jerkish alpha b*** to Lori, and while she certainly seems to have a large amount of popularity and high social status, we actually receive a lot of development for her when she finally shows up. Granted, I would have liked to see her on-screen for a bit longer, instead of her predictably just being mentioned by the other characters and shown in pictures, but at least she did make that crucial appearance, even if it was only brief. For the time she does appear, though, she makes a solid impression. We learn she actually felt the same way Lori did, as she admires Lori for her diversity in other talents, as well as the relationship she holds with her younger siblings, who all look up to her. Behind all the popularity, Carol has insecurities, and struggles of her own, and through this common ground, the two are able to overcome their rivalry with one another and embrace a more genuine friendship, making for a very fulfilling ending to the story. Of course, while Lori (and Carol) mostly learn from their behaviour in this story, it’s done in a way that is feasible. By that, I mean they learn from the experience and change for the better to a realistic extent, but they still exhibit certain jealous and competitive characteristics even after the plot has concluded. While Lori learns to appreciate her loved ones, and those that care for and will do anything for her (like Bobby) in this story, and that such bonds are more important than feuding with old rivals, she is still Lori Loud, and one experience, while it will improve her behaviour and make her less recklessly envious and driven towards one-upping others, will not completely destroy and remove those core tendencies of her character. While one could argue the final scene, in which both Lori and Carol unite to combat against a new duo of rivals who start beating them at getting likes, undermines their growth through the experiences the underwent in the events of the plot, it actually isn’t such a bothersome or problematic issue, considering this ending works in a similar manner to the Lynner Takes All ending. In that episode, Lynn may have not lost her gloating tendencies entirely, but she learned to control her urges better and spare the feelings of her siblings by doing it in private only. As Luan pointed out, it’s all about baby steps. Here, a similar thing happens with Lori. She learns to some extent to stop feuding with Carol over selfies, or at least that such rivalries are not as important and she precedence over the loving relationships she has with her friends and family. But the experience, while helping Lori improve her behaviour and reduce the severity of her faults, doesn’t completely eradicate said faults completely, in the same way it would have been implausible for Lynner to have Lynn completely abandon her over-competitive ways and annoying gloating. One story isn’t going to give a character a total 180 degree transformation in the opposite direction. That extent of sudden character alteration is not feasible. But while Lori (and Carol) still shows some of her envy and over-competitiveness come the episode’s end, it doesn’t mean she’s learned nothing at all or hasn’t grown as a character. It just means it was achieved on a more realistic level, as it cannot be expected she will drop such strong characteristics entirely after one episode. If anything, this ending actually makes that approach work better than Lynner did, but that’s mainly because at this stage, Lori has had far more focal stories and is a more developed character than Lynn (which is why people weren’t happy with the baby steps approach to Lynner’s ending as they were more desperate for her to undergo more drastic changes due to her static and unlikeable current status).

The other characters were serviceable. Most notably, Leni was adorably fun in this episode. The way in which she has been incredibly of Lori, making an effort to cheer her up every time Carol defeated her in some form of contest, dating back from when they were kids all the way to the present day, was not only heart-warming, but reflective of the good-natured will of this hilarious simpleton. Even though Leni’s “encouragement” did more to depress or anger Lori further unintentionally in many of those instances, such as how she mentioned how many likes Lori had for each of her selfie attempts, only to point out how she merely had almost as many as her rival, it was still an admirable effort on her part to try and perk up Lori’s spirits. But that’s Leni for you, lovably caring and always trying to be helpful, but can often accidentally screw something up or exacerbate a situation due to her limited comprehension and thinking skills. The other siblings were serviceable, given their role as obstacles against Lori. Rather humorous gags resulted from Lori’s failed attempts at taking photos because of her siblings, such as Lucy digging a grave, Lynn playing sports, and Lincoln flying a remote controlled toy helicopter. They weren’t being intentionally mean, annoying, destructive or antagonistic, the siblings were just being themselves and doing their things, and that just happened to cause problems for Lori. The siblings were able to serve their purpose as road blocks without derailing into unlikeable jerks just for the sake of presenting the struggle of Lori’s dilemma, which is something I am thankful for.

Overall, this was a very strong episode. While Lori is the sister least in need of more focal stories right now, the writers took this premise and ran pretty far with it. It not only exceeded in terms of telling an entertaining story with solid characterisation, but it also provided a lot of laughs along the way. I especially liked how Lori’s online name with Literally_Lori (because of course!). While nothing spectacular or anything, I really liked this one.

Final Rating: 8.5/10