Review: The Casagrandes “The Golden Curse”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The Casagrandes celebrate Paco’s wedding, but they need to find las arras that Sergio lost.

Our Take:

The Louds aren’t the only family making a return with brand new episodes. It’s been quite a while since I last watched The Casagrandes. Not that I didn’t like this Loud House spin-off, of course, as I still find it to be an enjoyable expansion of this universe. It’s that I don’t have the extra time to watch it. Since they announced that the show is canceled, I figured it’s best to get into its remaining episodes before it reaches its end.

“The Golden Curse” is a half-hour episode that has the Casagrandes preparing for a wedding between Paco and Paulina. Sergio is chosen to be Paco’s best man and is responsible for holding onto las arras, coins that bring good luck to the marriage. However, after a long night of partying, Sergio loses the coins, resulting in him and the family finding them in time for the wedding.

The humor in this episode consists of Sergio and the kids searching for las arras in the places they’ve been, including the arcade. The second half sees the family suffering from bad luck at the wedding, only to discover that the last coin is still missing. As a result, Sergio sets out to find it, which happens to be in the hands of Maybelle. The episode’s second half was the most entertaining part due to its solid slapstick. More importantly, it has Sergio taking responsibility for his actions since he’s displayed as a self-centered parrot in specific episodes.  

The episode is another great example of the show’s representation of its Hispanic traditions. “The Golden Curse” represents las arras as paraphernalia used in Christian wedding ceremonies in Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines. However, it puts a fictional twist on this tradition by resembling las arras as a form of luck. The show offers plenty of Hispanic education into its scenarios while incorporating some mystic elements to make them entertaining, and “The Golden Curse” continues that tradition with ease. It’s still a shame that Nickelodeon is canceling something that delivers this balance effectively.

Overall, “The Golden Curse” avoids getting bad luck by offering an amusing approach to one of its traditions. In terms of its humor and plot, the episode is a splendid continuation of the show’s third (and possibly last) season that sees Sergio facing a huge responsibility and a massive amount of bad luck.