Heavy Meddle

**"Heavy Meddle"** is the third episode of the first series of *The Loud House*.

## Plot

Lincoln tires of his sisters' meddling until he gets picked on at school.

## Synopsis

At Royal Woods Elementary School, Lincoln spends his day trying to go about with his business, but finds that someone is constantly pranking him, such as pantsing him, tying his shoelaces together, putting whoopee cushions on his favorite lunch seat and even stuffing his locker full of garbage. Every time this happens, the other kids laugh, take pictures or record it at his expense. When Lincoln's had enough of it, he decides that he is going to have to resolve this one way or another and demands that this instigator meet him in front of his house at 3:30. Clyde is worried about what might happen if they're going to fight, but Lincoln assures him that they will just have a civilized talk about it. Clyde suggests that Lincoln talks to his sisters about it, but Lincoln refuses to resort to that as they will only meddle in his affair. His sisters have had a history of meddling in his life, such as one time when he got a paper cut on his finger and they all checked up on him as if it were a medical emergency. Lori took his temperature, Lisa took his x-rays, Luna and Luan bandaged him up real tight, and Leni dropped scalding hot soup on him. He wants to keep this bully issue a secret from them. They also notice a piece of watermelon lime-flavored ABC gum in Lincoln's hair and a sticky note that says "Lame-O" on it. If his sisters see it, they'll butt in for sure. To get it out, Lincoln decides to use some smooth peanut butter.

When he goes into the house, he delivers a weather report about his life to the viewers that everything is clear for now. As he makes his way to the kitchen, he sees Lily playing and tells her to keep quiet. Then he comes by and hears Lori talking to one of her friends on her phone about a fashion fiasco her friend went through on a date. He makes his way over to the fridge, but Luna comes in and he hides the gum in one of the crisper drawers. Luna thinks he's finding a new way to "chill out" and requests a pudding cup. Lincoln hands it to her and at the moment she leaves finds the peanut butter jar only to find that it's empty and rants why people put empty stuff back in the fridge. He then puts it back in the fridge. He needs to find a new way to get the gum out, and Lori, while still talking to her friend, says "cut it out," Lincoln gets the idea to simply cut the gum out of his hair with a pair of scissors. He then comes across Luan who walks down the stairs and delivers a joke that he doesn't get, and she admits she has the punchline, but still needs to set it up. When she leaves, he finds a pair of scissors and sneaks off to his room only to be told to take out the trash by his parents. He requests that he be given a few minutes before he does it, but they demand that he does it right away, therefore, he has no choice and takes out the trash. But then Leni comes by looking for her desk lamp, thinking she accidentally tossed it in the trash. Lincoln tells her that it is in her room, as she surprisingly bought this, and she notices Lincoln wearing the garbage can lid on his head. He passes it off as a new hat trend. She buys it and decides to give it a try. He makes his way back to the door to his room, only for Lisa to find out about the gum and easily deduce that Lincoln's being picked on. Lincoln begs her not to tell the others and she seemingly promises, claiming she "has no room in her brain for such tomfoolery".

However, the second Lincoln snips the gum off his hair, the sisters find out about this, making Lincoln believe Lisa broke her promise, but she says she never made one because she had no room in her brain for his secret and leaked the information out to Lynn, who then told everyone else. They notice the gum in his hand and he tries to pass it off as his own, but he can't stand the taste of his own hair and spits it out. Lincoln begs them not to get involved as they'll only make the situation worse, but Lori corrects him saying they'll make it better, and they suggest different ways for Lincoln to get back at the jerk for such an act. Lola advises Lincoln to tell his school principal about it, but Lori thinks that's too good for him, and suggests texting an embarrassing photo of him to his posse. Luan considers telling insult comedy to him, Lynn suggests beating him up, and Luna considers slamming cymbals together in his ears. Lynn goes off and brings back a random boy who she believes is the bully, and the sisters order him to stop bullying Lincoln because that's what they do, but Lincoln explains that this boy isn't the bully and figures that the boy's probably going to hate him for what his sisters falsely accused him of. After kicking the boy out but before Lynn can grab someone else, Lincoln reveals that the person bullying him isn't a boy, much to his sisters' surprise. After Leni asks if it's a dog, Lincoln explains that the person bullying him is actually a girl.

Upon hearing this, the sisters are shocked but suddenly get so excited that they go crazy and embrace Lincoln in a big group hug. Even the usually calm and not-so-easily excited Lisa squeals about this, as she joins in as well. They assume that Lincoln has a girlfriend now and are so proud of their brother, but Lincoln has no idea what they're talking about. They explain to him that if a girl is picking on him, that means she likes him, and they squeal in glee once more as Lincoln is completely dumbfounded of what his ten sisters have gotten him into. Lincoln, vexed, finds that reason to be stupid, but the sisters insist that it's true. Even when he explains something horrid she did to him, they see that as her charming him. Lori thinks that, instead of giving her a piece of his mind, Lincoln should give her a piece of his heart. Lincoln is instantly horrified to hear that from his eldest sibling. Leni even goes so far as to saying Lincoln should kiss her, as Lily makes kissing faces. The sisters get so cheerful for their brother that they go even crazier than before and Lincoln makes a weather update that they're about to butt in on his life with the sisterly storm: the "Sisternado". This sister twister has the sisters all beckoning Lincoln to go out and kiss this so-called bully. Lincoln quickly hides in the bathroom and tells Clyde about the situation at hand and Clyde actually believes this, who points out, "[Your sisters] may be right. They *are* girls, after all. They probably know more about this kind of stuff than either of us do". Lincoln is still in denial about it but suddenly considers that maybe it could be true. Maybe they're right about it. So, he decides to face them and tells them to get him ready for the moment of love.

Lincoln is ready to go out there and meet the girl who has been a pain in his neck only to want his attention, and the sisters are so happy for their brother. And Leni is even wearing a trash can lid on her head, thus taking Lincoln's fashion advice from earlier, and say they should wear it to his future wedding because they're all the rage right now. Lincoln steps outside and gives the girl a kiss, but she responds by giving him a black eye. Thus, it seems that the sisters were very wrong about their assumption. They try to apologize to Lincoln, but he is so enraged at them that he refuses to forgive them, and he orders them to stop meddling in his life as he slams his door in a rage.

In his room, with his dog Charles (who is sleeping) next to him, and now very upset with what his sisters put him through the day, Lincoln has come to the conclusion that he was right about that girl, and that she just wanted to torment him. Just then, the girl tosses a rock through his open window and leaves a note, apologizing for the black eye and leaving him her phone number. She also hands him a steak to clear up his injured eye with another note, revealing her name: Ronnie Anne. Lincoln realizes that he was wrong about Ronnie Anne and his sisters were right about their assumption but begs the viewers not to tell them that.

## Cast

* Grant Palmer as Lincoln
* Catherine Taber as Lori
* Liliana Mumy as Leni
* Nika Futterman as Luna
* Cristina Pucelli as Luan
* Jessica DiCicco as Lynn / Lucy (*expressions only*) (*uncredited*)
* Grey Griffin as Lana / Lola / Lily
* Lara Jill Miller as Lisa
* Caleel Harris as Clyde
* Jill Talley as Rita
* Brian Stepanek as Lynn Sr.

Lucy has no lines in this episode, but can be heard squealing with her sisters. Also, the supposed bully has no lines in this episode either. The kids who were watching Lincoln being bullied are not listed in the credits but are heard laughing.

## Music

 **‣** Wide Right (a) - Galileo Seven, Marvin Strait, Dre Zagman *[Title card]*

 **‣** Ooh La La! (A) - Laurence Cottle *[Opening]*

 **‣** Traffic Jam - Herve Pouliquen *[Flashback to Lincoln's sisters trying to help him feel better]*

 **‣** Extreme Measures - William Brown, Mikael Sandgren *[Lincoln continues sneaking into the house]*

 **‣** ? *[Lincoln pretends to be a weatherman]*

 **‣** ? *[Lori on the phone]*

 **‣** Extreme Measures - William Brown, Mikael Sandgren *[Lincoln sneaking into his room]*

 **‣** Bend Game - David Inlander *[Lincoln sneaks his way downstairs]*

 **‣** ? *[Lincoln's sisters found out he's being picked on]*

 **‣** ? *[Lincoln pretends to be a weatherman again]*

 **‣** Expectant Stab - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin *[Lola saying what she'll do to the bully]*

 **‣** Emergency Force - Richard Birdsall *[Sisternado]*

 **‣** Step Out - David Lowe *[Lincoln's sisters cheer him on as he goes to kiss the girl]*

 **‣** Bend Game - David Inlander *[Lincoln comes back in with a black eye]*

 **‣** ? *["No more meddling!"]*

 **‣** Cash is King - Thomas Farnon *[Lincoln back in his room]*

 **‣** ? *["Sorry, Lame-O. Here's my number. Text me."]*

## Physical distribution

This episode is available on the "Welcome to the Loud House", "The Complete First Season", "L'amour Vache", and "Intégrale de la Saison 1" DVDs.

## Trivia

* Rita and Lynn Sr.'s voices are heard telling Lincoln to take out the trash, making this episode their first appearance (albeit off-camera).
* During Lincoln's bad day at school, the kids who point and laugh at his expense all have five fingers, while all the other characters only have four. Four fingered hands are easier to draw on characters, so it is unknown if the five fingers on the other kids were intentional, or an animation error.
* In this episode, it's revealed that all ten of Lincoln's sisters tend to be overprotective of him, especially when it comes to someone bullying him.
	+ In addition, his sisters also really care about his love life.
* The flashback to the sisters taking care of Lincoln over his paper cut was used in an early promo for the show.
* The scene where Lincoln gets punched in the eye by Ronnie Anne was reused in "White Hare".
	+ Relating to the scene, when the girls cringe at Lincoln being punched for his kiss, Lucy can be seen smiling at Lincoln's expense.
* **Irony:**
	+ **Possible:** When Lori was talking on the phone, she mentions cargo shorts are the worst thing she has ever heard, despite the fact that she wears cargo shorts herself.
		- She *could* however be referring to specifically wearing cargo shorts on a date.
	+ When Lincoln grabs the empty jar of peanut butter from the refrigerator, Lincoln expresses his anger at other family members for putting away empty containers, before ironically putting away the empty jar.
	+ Lori said if a girl is picking on Lincoln, then that means she likes him, despite the fact that she was then the first sibling with dating experience.
	+ **Possible:** The sisters kept telling about how they will protect Lincoln from his bully, but when they saw the bully actually hitting him, they did not intervene.
		- It's possible his sisters were displaying these tactic to protect Lincoln from a *male* bully but completely ditched them upon learning that the bully is *female*.

## References

* ***Heavy Meddle*** - The title of this episode is a pun on "heavy metal," a subgenre of rock music.
* ***Patch Adams*** - In the flashback, Luan is dressed as this late Robin Williams' character.
* ***National Weather Service*** - Lincoln's weather statements are "sourced" from this federal agency.
* ***Rodney Dangerfield*** - Luan's joke "You're so ugly, you have to trick-or-treat over the phone" borrows from two lines of his 1983 song "Rappin' Rodney": "I was an ugly kid, always alone. Halloween I had to trick-or-treat over the phone," marking the only dialogue-based song reference not done by Luna.
* ***The Legend of Zelda*** - Lori telling Lincoln to give Ronnie a piece of her heart sounds similar to "Piece of Heart", which are elements of the Nintendo game series.

## Errors

* When Leni is wearing the trash lid on her head, claiming that they should wear them at Lincoln's wedding, her sunglasses are missing, but in the next shot when she and the other sisters are looking out the window, her sunglasses are back.
* When Clyde says "They know more about these things than we do," the closed-captions spell "than" as "then."
* As Lincoln interacted with Lily, Bun-Bun is in the background along with her other toys. Later on, Bun-Bun is in Lincoln's room.
* When Lincoln and Clyde were walking home from school, Clyde had a chipped tooth.
* When Lincoln meets up with Luan before going upstairs to cut the gum out of his hair, her braces keep flashing between being their regular color, and the color of her teeth.
* When Leni encounters Lincoln while he's taking out the garbage, there is a baseball on the ground, and the red stitch line goes outside of the ball itself.
* When the sisters first come into Lincoln's room after hearing about the bully, Luna is holding Lily, but later when they hear the news of the bully being a girl, Leni is holding Lily, and when the sisters all get Lincoln ready to meet the girl, Luna is holding Lily again.
* When Lincoln asks Lola for lip balm, she is on Lincoln's right hand side. But in the next scene, she is on Lincoln's left hand side.
* The gum attached with a note to Lincoln's head didn't come off with it, despite the same happening in the previous episode, where it does.
* When Lincoln shushes Lily, his eye bags were missing.
* Lincoln gets Luan to not see the gum by going in the wall, but a piece of gum was still there, and Luan would've noticed it.

## Video

The Loud House - Sisternado - Nickelodeon UK