Review: The Loud House “Cheer Pressure/Stroke of Luck”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Cheer Pressure

The cheerleaders challenge Lynn and her teammates to a cheer-off when Lynn dismisses them as athletes.

Stroke of Luck

Lori becomes a celebrity at school when she hits a hole-in-one on a notoriously difficult course.

Our Take:

The plot in the first episode consists of Lynn’s basketball team taking on a different type of sport: cheerleading. When Lynn insults the cheerleaders by calling them “athletes”, they are challenged to a cheer-off, with the loser riding the trailer with their kangaroo mascot, Crikey, for the whole season.

The humor in “Cheer Pressure” sees Lynn and her teammates attempting to practice their cheer moves with little to no success, including the pyramid. However, when they discover that Meryl and Cheryl are a former cheerleading duo called the “Split Sisters”, Lynn and her friends ask them to train them in the basics of cheerleading, including the three pillars: strength, spirit, and teamwork. Unfortunately, their training is all for naught, as the cheerleaders easily win the cheer-off, resulting in Lynn understanding the significance of a cheerleader’s role in sports.

The plot in “Stroke of Luck” has Lori getting showered with praise after getting a perfect 18 on the golf course. However, Lori’s “luck” was due to Lisa’s flag-seeking ball, which she accidentally took from the Loud residence. She attempts to tell her classmates the truth amid her getting free stuff but worries that people will tear her apart once she spills the beans. When Coach Niblick asks her to demonstrate her hole-in-one, Lori desperately seeks Lisa’s ball in a massive ball-cleaner machine, which wipes its logo clean. So she goes through every “practice shot” to find the flag-seeking ball. After a bunch of attempts, Lori finally comes clean and makes up for her mistake by being everyone’s personal “caddie”.

Overall, both episodes have enough spirit to prevent the show’s sixth season from getting a stroke of bad luck. “Cheer Pressure” is an amusing episode about Lynn and his teammates discovering the importance of cheerleading while participating in a “Bring It On”-style cheer-off. “Stroke of Luck” is a predictable yet enjoyable episode that has Lori embracing false fame thanks to Lisa’s latest piece of technology.