Originally written November 21, 2024 - this one isn't approved yet but it will be soon
Season 8 is finally over and I have no idea how to feel about this one. This season has been filled with ups and downs, especially with how short it is. We’ve gotten some great episodes like Only Mime Will Tell and terrible episodes like Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind. Which leads me to this: how did we simultaneously get the best episode of season 8 with the second worst episode? Writing "second lowest" in the title felt strange, because this episode really is worse than Close Encounters in writing, but it's 44 minutes, making it way more annoying.
Trouble Brewing is an utterly ridiculous and terrible episode all things considered. This episode has terrible characters, cringeworthy dialogue, and puts everyone at the maturity level of an infant. This episode subverted my expectations in all the wrong ways. Complete opposite of what I thought this was gonna be, Luan was surprisingly the most sympathetic character in this episode. This episode starts with Lori sneaking into the house for some food because she didn’t want to bother her family and doesn’t have any money after paying rent. But here’s something that doesn’t align. In the ending of Homeward Bound, Lori said Mr. Grouse let her stay in the garage by paying him with golf lessons. So why all of a sudden are they going back on this? You can’t even call it a disregard for that episode because later on Lori comments how the siblings ruined her job interview in Homeward Bound… you can’t just leave one thing out but then reference another from the same episode. Unless Mr. Grouse suddenly changed his mind, but it was never said even if he did.
Luan offers Lori to work with her because she’s part-timing at the Burnt Bean coffee shop and they need a new barista and she’s tight with the manager, who isn’t the blonde haired lady that looks like Sam voiced by Cristina Pucelli. Why all of a sudden did they swap the coffee shop manager for another lady when it would’ve been a lot easier to just keep the same model and voice actor who is also Luan’s? I really think this episode is just trying way too hard with their coffee puns. They call baristas “bean-ristas”, the new manager’s name is Beany, and their customer greeting is all full of coffee puns. It just comes off really awkward, at least when they do it with the Burpin’ Burger it’s not this shoved down your throat. But really this is only a minor thing, just thought it should be brought up.
Beany has to go to a conference so she promotes the “top bean” Luan to manager. She’s only 16, but this is honestly a great situation for her. She runs her own company, she’s got this in the bag. Luan hopes Lori will be okay with her as the manager and she is… at first. Then Luan shows her the ropes because this episode didn’t want to follow logic and show Lori the ropes before she started working. The amount of items stresses Lori out and she fails to work the advanced espresso machine properly, but Luan is very supportive and helpful throughout this whole scene. Then she fails at making coffee art, making a butt instead of a heart because haha funny. Then she doesn’t use their proper greeting (which granted she didn’t know but once again Luan’s really nice about), and later starts talking to her friends on the clock. Luan pulls her away and tells Lori to do her job, which she’s mad about? Oh, and then she makes another butt shape because comedy. After their shift, Luan gives her a review (Beany’s policy). She didn’t smile and gave a customer the wrong order, so Luan marks her off two beans, one left and she’s on “pro-bean-tion”. Lori’s still upset for some reason, but what happens after is even worse.
It’s date night and Rita puts Leni in charge. But because Lori wants to spite Luan when she did nothing, she would rather stay home instead. She purposely orders Luan the wrong pizza and forces her to clean the gutters on the roof in the dark. She questions if Lori’s mad at her but she tells her no. After cleaning the gutters, Lori gives Luan a review and she gets 3 “sister strikes”, which means she has to go to bed at 6:30. Side note: I never knew a character I once hated then loved after season 2 could fall this hard in a single episode. I knew it was like that for Chloe Bourgeois over seasons 3 to 5, but wow did this episode really take a huge nosedive. It doesn’t really ruin Lori or bring her down to where she started since this is only one episode, but her reason for being mad and wanting to spite Luan is really unjustified.
Now Luan takes it out on Lori, by telling her she has to park 2 miles away because she’s in the manager’s spot. She comes running in, 5 minutes late and trying to get this other guy Paraag into their fight, but he doesn’t wanna be a part of it. Same dude, same. So now a bunch of seniors come in for their special “Slowjoe Sunday”. Lori gets upset again after Luan asks her to get the decaf, not paying attention to what she’s pouring into the cups, or even the pouring itself. After some remarks from Lori, Luan tells her off saying her ego is bigger than their “bean kahuna” cup size, which is well deserved after everything she’s been through. Then they scream at each other and realize that Lori accidentally gave the seniors the “Jumpin’ Java” instead of the decaf, which makes them all look like children after too much candy. They all take charge and eventually stop the problem. The sisters apologize to each other and have a hug, ending the episode. At least it’s not some joke like most of these modern episodes nowadays.
This episode was all around horrible. It’s so cruel and so character-derailing. 1 out of 10.
Next up is season 8’s best episode, The Cling and I. Believe me when I say this episode was truly a diamond in the rough. Last time Lana had a full episode to herself was You Auto Know better from season 6 (I’d argue Leave No Van Behind is more Lynn Sr.), so I was excited for this one. And it once again subverted expectations, this episode is truly great and fixes some issues with other episodes in this show.
The episode starts off with Lily following Lana around doing various activities with her like feeding the dog, painting the car (which she ruins by drawing an adorable picture), and building a castle in the mud. After Lily follows Lana to the bathroom, Lana’s pretty sick of it, resulting in her hiding in a cabinet with Hops to get away from her. To get Lily off her back, she forces her to go with Leni to the mall having a sale on bucket hats. But Lily gets out of it in a creative way, bringing back her maturity and smarts from Any Given Sundae, then gets her to watch Lynn play a game to try and get her out of her hair. She crawls up a tree, where Lily once again follows her. That morning, Lily wants to play with her, but Lana pretends to be asleep so she doesn’t have to deal with it. Then Lola gets Lily to join her because Mr. Sprinkles got stood up. Where we get to the best part of the episode, Lily and Lola bonding together. Maybe I’m just biased because of how bad Wild Goss Chase was, but this is how you write Lola, not a rude piece of trash, but someone with a sassy exterior who is really nice and really cares deep down. At first, Lana’s really happy to get Lily away, but she sees them together and gets jealous.
Now Lana wants Lily back, so she tries to bribe her with mud pies and a pillow fort. Some funny gags with Lisa and Lana later, Lana builds Lily a castle to try and win her back, but she just uses it to play with Lola more. Lola doesn’t know what’s going on between Lana and Lily either, so you can’t even fault her in this episode. To her, it’s just a kind act from Lana. Lily forgets something, so she leaves Lola in the castle. Lana, in desperation, locks Lola in the castle to try and get Lily back. This time with a tea party and couch cookies. When that fails, she goes back to her hiding place, where Rita finds her and has a shining moment of being a good parent for once. She tells Lana that Lily just has phases, ala Changing the Baby from season 1. So now Lana’s happy and says she will write a list of things to do with Lily when she’s ready. Lana not forcing Lily to play with her and instead saying “when she’s ready” is such a minor detail that goes such a long way, showing how compassionate Lana is. I love what they’ve been doing with her recently, rather than just being “the gross one”.
She starts on the list that night, when Lily comes in wanting Lana to read her a bedtime story. Lana adorably gives Lily her hat, but then they hear Lola screaming at the door. She is aaaaangry because she had to tunnel her way out of the castle, ending the episode with Lana and Lily pretending to be asleep to avoid the wrath of Lola, bringing back a trait from early seasons and not butchering it. This is how you do it, this is how you make a really heartwarming and adorable episode with great execution and writing all around.
So now here’s the question: why did this episode succeed when similar episodes like Roll Model and Changing the Baby failed? For Roll Model, they don’t treat Lana or Lily like the bad guy like Ronnie Anne in Roll Model. In Roll Model, Carl’s a little too old for this to make sense, but the fact that Lily is a baby and Lana is only 7 years old, that is perfect for this plot. It feels like a rewrite of Roll Model and if that was their goal then hats off to them because they succeeded in one of the best ways they could’ve. For Changing the Baby, this episode isn’t annoying or forced like that one felt. Everyone was pressuring Lily in it after they realized her sibling mimicry, which was a little uncomfortable to watch. Plus, Lincoln and Clyde weren’t in it.
Isn’t it ironic that the last good episode, Sales Forced, and this episode were both written by Michelle Hantman? I hope she will keep up the good work in season 9 because this episode was incredible. 9 out of 10.
