Please note: This post containers spoilers about the brand-new The Loud House episode "L Is for Love" that you may wish to avoid.
Anyway, this post is based on a post by autostraddle.com, and, as this episode hasn't yet premiered in the UK, I'm presuming all the info is correct.
The The Loud House episode “L is for Love” begins with a love note being delivered to the Loud House, addressed to “L. Loud” and signed “secret admirer.” Well, everyone in the Loud family’s name starts with “L”, so naturally, chaos ensues.
First, we get to see everyone interacting with their crushes. Lucy, having read a book about vampires dealing with romantic relationships, suggests on sending their crushes a signal to let them know that they're interested in them, which will lead to them making a second letter, which will give more information. The siblings agree to go with this plan, as each of them approach their respective crushes while giving them a subtle wink to let them know they like them.
The Loud kids all send little gifts to their crushes, but Luna watches the band walk by her on the bus and loses her nerve, deciding against giving Sam her favorite guitar pick, calling herself a lonely heart, and later telling her siblings she just isn’t convinced Sam would be into her. The third letter comes and mentions music and a love of all things British, so the siblings decide (excitedly) that the letter is definitely for Luna and help her get ready for her date with Sam.
When they get to the restaurant, everyone has their eyes peeled, but no one can see Sam. Now, throughout this episode, Luna’s siblings were talking about “Sam” as if it was a known fact that Luna has a crush on Sam, and when Luna lamented Sam was out of her league, the way her siblings jumped in made it sound like they knew Sam. This scene confirmed it; “I don’t see Sam,” one of Luna’s siblings said. Meaning they knew exactly who they were looking for (even though technically viewers don’t know yet).
Instead of Sam, the Loud children see their parents, and are told that the letters were from their mom to their dad. It’s the 20th anniversary of their first date, and secret admirer letters were how she asked him out the first time. The kids explain that they thought the letter was from Sam for Luna — again, talking as though everyone knows exactly who Sam is — and their mom asks Luna if she’s okay. She admits she’s a little bummed, but her parents’ story inspired her and gave her the courage to just go for it and tell Sam how she feels.
In fact, all the siblings are inspired, and we go through a montage of everyone giving their crushes love letters, which goes over so much better than all their other shenanigans. We end with Luna, who slips a letter into a locker, then watches from around the corner as the band walks by.
This time, everyone in the band keeps going and says goodbye to Sam, who is revealed to be the blonde girl in the band, not the boy! What’s great too is that it’s a plot twist for those who just assumed it was the boy, but also cool reveal if someone somehow had been wondering if Sam was the boy or the girl in the band this whole time.
Anyway, Sam reads the letter and when she gets to the end she smiles, and Luna smiles from around the corner, knowing Sam likes her back.
This isn’t the first time this show has dropped a LGBTQ+ subject like this on us like pros. In an episode from season one called “Overnight Success,” Lincoln’s best friend Clyde is dropped off for a sleepover by his two dads, Harold and Howard McBride. They also drop off a large pile of supplies, a long list of phone numbers, a photo of themselves, and a few shed tears after dropping off their little boy for the first time. “I love him so much,” Mr. McBride wails as they walk away, his husband comforting him. Simple, funny, perfect.
And just like that the first married gay couple (and an interracial one at that!) is on Nickelodeon, and kids now have a frame of reference when they meet a new schoolmate who says they have two dads. Instead of “You have to have a mom and a dad,” they’ll say, “Oh, like Clyde McBride!”
The Loud House is also breaking other diversity barriers in other ways. Last month, the Nicktoon introduced a character with Down syndrome.
Although the networks first-ever married same-sex couple, Harold and Howard weren't the networks first same-sex couple. In 2014, the series finale of Nickelodeon's hit original animated series The Legend of Korra ended with Korra and Asami, two of the shows female characters, embarking on a romantic relationship, with fans endearingly calling the couple 'Korrasami'.
Although the The Loud House episode “Overnight Success” drew lots of praise and applause, sadly the episode drew negativity from some uber-conservatives felt the need to criticise the episode. And after learning that The Loud House, Hey Arnold! and The Legend of Korra have been banned in Kenya as The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) because they think the shows "promote homosexuality" (sadly, I'm not joking about the ban, this really is happening, oh, and Nickelodeon Pakistan has been fined by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) because they ruled that a character is shown indecently dressed in the Winx Club episode "The Emperor’s Throne"), it's great to hear that Nickelodeon are continuing to represent the real world in a positive light in its programming, and hopefully the praise for storylines like these will continue to far outweigh the negativity.
If you missed the episode, you can catch up by watching it on nick.com and the Nick App.
More Nick: How Animated Series Are Tackling Diversity Issues Impacting Young Audiences!
Additional sources: ToonZone Forums member Toon4Thought; The Loud House Encyclopedia; Huge thanks to @PinkiePie97 for the correct.
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