u/Hamiltonfan25

Yes, we have the two pretty well known instances of her not being a good big sister, but first off, I do not count ANY of her behavior from Kate’s introductory episode because as I have shared numerous times, DW had nothing but the purest (if not ignorant) intentions towards Kate. She was practically sabotaged by Jane and David (and the Tibbles) into acting out when her right to uninterrupted sleep was disturbed.

I can fault her for the episode where she threatens to pinch Kate and is sent to her room, however, I also give her kudos for being able to process the error of her ways and recognize what she did was wrong. She even came to that conclusion before her timeout was finished…this is a side note, but it’s wild that Jane left Kate in the same room as DW before her ten minute timeout was even finished. Like, DW is in a ten minute timeout for threatening to pinch the baby, and you put that baby alone with DW before the timeout is even finished?

Nearly every other time we see DW interact with
Kate, she’s playing quietly and gently with her, talking to her, giving her wagon rides, etc.

I also think that the flash forward of their dynamic in DW and the Beastly Birthday does show some parallels to her relationship with Arthur. Like how DW wants Kate out of her room and the “keep out” signal with Kate’s picture on it (which is a really clever callback to the famous “that sign won’t stop me” meme), however, there do seem to be a few differences between the two girls when compared to DW and Arthur.

Okay, I have to contend that one of those differences is that Kate does seem to be significantly less pushy towards “Dora” when compared to DW and Arthur HOWEVER I think another difference is that when DW is telling Kate to leave her alone, her tone is significantly calmer than the tone Arthur always seemed to use with her. There are so many times in this show where DW is just asking a question and Arthur just instantly defaults to either yelling at her (or yelling for their mom).

Dora on the other hand seems to keep a level head and calm tone with Kate, even when she’s essentially telling her to leave her alone, and I do think that makes a difference. She even gave Kate the cute nickname of “Katie Bug” at some point and I think that’s sweet.

Anyways, yeah, I think that the fact that they are sisters and will likely have similar interests as they grow up does play a part, but it does also speak highly of DW that she does seem to want to put forth an effort to have a strong relationship with Kate, especially because I feel like the cards were kind of stacked against DW to have her resent Kate.

So, even though she was mainly working off of her orders given to her by our "man with a plan" Luan was still the driving force towards making Lori's transition in living back in Royal Woods as complicated as possible.

Even though it is never brought up that this is the reason why Luan was the one who helped Lori get her barista job (I could just as easily believe it was just out of the kindness of her heart) I do think it is a nice full circle moment for the two of them. I could see Luan feeling really guilty that she made Lori's life so challenging when she first moved back home. Heck, I could even maybe believe that the reason Luan went after the barista job to begin with was maybe out of the hope that she could one day use the role to help Lori out should she ever need it.

I know lots of people don't like "Trouble Brewing" and I definitely do not like the complete piece that the episode was, Lori acted REALLY unlikable and made Luan's life especially challenging for no real reason (Luan didn't have a good reason to make Lori's life difficult when she first moved home, but she at least had A REASON) (even if it was only because she wanted to practice her acting skills, while also providing her family help), but I do have a soft spot for the clear bonding experience that it was for Lori and Luan.

I have made an entire post before about how Leni is always going to be the sister Lori is closest to, but how her and Luan's relationship has undergone the most insane improvement (which is fitting because both of the sisters have undergone the most insane improvement in their family).

I get that she was just being honest and I do like their ultimate compromise, but Jane…it’s all your fault people are going to continue asking about the chip. You gave Bitzi permission to publish the story in the newspaper.

I understand parents make mistakes and (unlike other times) she does apologize and it sounds very sincere, but the whole thing got so out of hand. Jane didn’t even ask her daughter if it would be okay to share it..you really feel how helpless this whole mess made DW feel and it’s all because Jane clearly had no respect for DW’s feelings.

Rita and Lynn Sr. Promise to go to a certain event for one of their kids, but then some of the other kids have events are going on at the same time, and without realizing, they promise 4 different siblings they will be at their events.

They then have to constantly rush all over to get to the events and try to be engaged, but they aren’t able to focus too hard or enjoy watching any of these activities because of how much running around they are doing, so they ultimately let all the kids down.

But the kids aren’t mad and are instead grateful that their parents tried so hard to be there for all of them.

The two biggest ones that stand out to me are her friendships with Brain and Buster. I personally don't count Binky because he kind of stays more in the grey area with Arthur, and if anything, it could be argued that DW and Binky became "friends" before he and Arthur really did. At the point in the series where they connected, Arthur still viewed Binky as more of a bully then anything, and DW was actually the one who showed Arthur Binky's softer side, but I digress.

I think DW's friendship with Brain is probably the most wholesome. simply because I feel like they work off each other really well. DW is always curious and keen to learn and be in the middle of everything, and Brain gets a lot of joy out of teaching others, so they both really seem to get something out of the friendship. I also like that (probably because he is an only child) Brain can enjoy spending time sharing knowledge with an honorary little sister...who he is free to leave at any time.

I have always said that patience is really key to handling DW and that impatience is probably one of Arthur's biggest flaws. I don't blame him for it because LIVING with a little sibling is a kind of nuisance that only children simply cannot understand, and I do contest that living with DW day after day would likely wear anyone down, but it is interesting to see that DW seems to respect and listen to Allan in a way she doesn't with Arthur and I think there's evidence to show that part of the reason for that is that Allan is patient with her.

Buster definitely knows DW's less desirable side more than Brain does, and because of his loyalty to Arthur, they aren't quite as close as her and Brain, but they do still have some sweet moments. I like how Buster is good at playing along when DW is being goofy (her intentionally calling him the wrong name in Buster's Back comes to mind). Whereas Arthur (and often even their parents) scold and get temperamental with her when she steps out of line, I like how Buster can maybe recognize that sometimes she's just being goofy for the sake of being goofy.

I also REALLY like his scene with Arthur in the "Beastly Birthday" episode where he calls out that Arthur really wasn't usually all that nice to DW and how most of the time he just wanted to get away from her. I feel like if it were any other friend calling him out (like Francine or even another only child like Sue Ellen) it wouldn't hit as hard. Buster and Arthur being best friends means they are around each other constantly, so even though Buster is technically an only child who really doesn't know what it's like to live with a sibling, he has spent enough time with DW to really make the point stick for Arthur.

She and Buster also had a sweet dynamic in the "Rhythm and Roots" episode. I like how they both had to endure their own feelings of loneliness and a lack of belonging, and how they were both able to make each other feel better about it. I also like how it was Buster who knew how to explain that a five-hour car trip would equal 10 episodes of Mary Moo Cow. When I was DW's age, I totally would tell time using TV shows like that...even today, when I get to the last 90 minutes of my workday, I like to say "okay, you are now roughly 1 Disney Renaissance movie away from being able to go home."

I feel like because it devolved into a running joke that was at Arthur's expense that a lot of people think about DW's Snowball as just another reason that she is the worst, but the origin of how she got that snowball was actually super wholesome.

The Blizzard feels like the first SUPER high-stakes situation of the series. The episode itself is sprinkled with so many terrific jokes that I do think it is easy to more or less ignore how actually scary what they were all going through was. Francine tying it back to the pioneers was really clever, and you do kind of know nothing too terrible is going to actually happen, but the show runners do kind of make you...sit with the situation along with the characters. You feel how helpless they all feel and there is kind of an uneasiness about the whole situation.

DW and her dramatics are some of the comedy highlights of the episode, but you do get the feeling that she really IS deeply scared by what is going on. Yeah, she relates it back to issues that are really not issues in the grand scheme of things (not being able to watch Mary Moo Cow), but when you look at it from the perspective of her being four years old and probably never once experiencing a big weather-related disaster...you can't help but feel sorry for her (at least I always do).

Elwood City is not portrayed as the type of town where natural disasters occur super often, so it isn't too big of a stretch to assume that DW has never once dealt with one before. Especially something like a blizzard. Snow is seen as this super magical thing for kids and so realizing that too much of it can be a really bad thing has to be scary on some levels.

I like how the snowball kind of represents her being able to reclaim snow as a good thing, being able to go outside and play with her family again is kind of her way of processing that she was able to come through the other side of her first big emergency. It is also super sweet how she describes it as "the best day of her life". Like, this is a kid who can often come across as shallow (again, largely because of her age). She values materials like toys and TV and CDs and such, but the best day of her life had nothing to do with any of that. The best day of her life was getting to spend TIME with her family and make memories playing in the snow.

That part is also super interesting because it shows so well how kids see the world. In reality, Jane and David were probably stressed out about missing income for a couple of days (and having literally the whole town crammed in their homes), but once the storm passed...they were able to just pause for a minute. They knew that the roads still needed to be cleared and people needed to return home and assess the damages, all that to say, they couldn't just automatically return to work or their busy lives...they were more or less forced to slow down and take a break and actually play with their kids and spend the kind of time with them that they often don't have.

Anyways. totally over analyzing it, but that's what subreddit's are for.

I feel like these 2 are both honestly pretty terrible characters (especially to be working at an elementary school) but I’m curious who you guys think is worse?

They both have a problem with jumping to conclusions, like what Miss Tingley did to Arthur in “Arthur Accused” and how Mr. Marco instantly believed a new student as opposed to a student he has had in his classroom since the start of the school year.

I guess I would have to give the edge to Miss Tingley because she was (somehow) promoted to principal after Mr. Haney left (died) and let the power go to her head in the worst way…seriously, how does a secretary get promoted to interim principal??

It’s obviously an iconic episode, but I do have a question. The opening scene shows that for several years leading up to the current New Years Eve shows a younger Arthur repeatedly trying (and failing) to stay up till midnight on New Year’s Eve. His repeated failures have led him to deciding he’s not even going to try to stay up this year (which is honestly super relatable).

My question is that throughout the episode, DW is making a big deal out of being frustrated that she’s not considered old enough to even try to stay up late, but the opening scene implies that Arthur was always allowed to at least TRY to stay up late.

I’m not saying Jane and David shouldn’t have rules in place regarding how old you have to be to stay up that late, but it does kind of seem like there’s a double standard of them suddenly making a big deal out of having permission to stay up late…that point is also deeply defeated when they themselves aren’t even going to be home to enforce the rule, instead leaving a grandma who loves spoiling all her grandkids to enforce rules.

Yes, I know I’m taking it too seriously, but that’s what subreddits are for.

Both episodes center on DW’s selfish side. I do think it’s definitely one of her less desirable traits, but she’s also four years old and I feel like we were all a little selfish at that age.

I know some people have a soft spot for “More!” Because they find it funny and enjoy seeing Jane and David not tolerate DW’s disrespect, but again, it’s another one where they are basically expecting their toddler to understand a very complicated thing like money without taking any time to actually explain it to her.

I also think it suffers because we think DW learned her lesson when she and Emily make up, but then the episode ends with her still asking for more money and nothing was really learned. I get that some episodes are designed with entertainment at the forefront and lessons on the background, but this episode clearly had a lesson it wanted to teach and didn’t do so very well at all in my opinion.

“Never, Never, Never!” Is still more hands off parenting from Jane and David than I like to see, but Arthur really did come through in this episode as DW’s honorary third parent. It’s satisfying as HECK to see him take a stand against the Tibble twins on DW’s behalf. More often than not, he’s kind of content to let those boys give DW sweet, sweet, karma knowing that they annoy her in a similar fashion to how she annoys him. It’s nice to see that when push comes to shove, he’s not going to let those boys truly mess with his little sister.

It’s great too because not only does DW learn her lesson (I like that she admits she acted selfishly BEFORE Arthur comes to bail her out, and the episode ends with her happily working to come through for him) but for the most part, I think the lesson sticks.

This episode really was a turning point in their relationship. It’s kind of a crossroads of their antagonistic relationship in early seasons to their generally healthy (if not stale) bond in later seasons.

I understand that part of the joke is that Lincoln was probably the most well-rounded Loud child at this point in the series, so there was no need to put him into a random activity to make him more well-rounded, but he still got off so easy and it’s kind of funny but also a tad annoying that he was still trying to victimize himself on the same level as his sisters.

Like, okay dude, you have to go home and read a series of comic books that you don’t enjoy…meanwhile, your science driven sister is being forced to do crafts and your goth sister is forced to be outside and your funny sister is being forced to become a politician…you are getting off so lightly. You are definitely the favorite in this specific situation.

One of the things I do genuinely appreciate about this series is the fact that all of the characters are written to have flaws. It’s part of why I think this show has stood the test of time. No one in this show is all bad or all good…they have good moments and bad moments and grey area moments because at its core, that’s what growing up is all about.

Arthur was always a pretty good kid, but he was still a kid. He had flaws and vices all the way back in season 1 and all the way through the end of the series. They joke a lot of times about him being kind of the “every kid” or the blank slate (or the “just goose” if you will) but he DID always have a personality and parts of that personality have always been flawed.

If anything, he did get to be kind of a boring “Mary Sue” type kid near the end of the series, so I actually appreciate so funny I forgot to laugh for bringing his flaws back.

He’s not a very good listener, (1001 Dads, Arthur the Wrecker, Arthur’s Knee, etc). So I think it’s perfectly in-character for him to not be listening to Sue Ellen when she told him to stop teasing her. Arthur is also pretty prideful, he doesn’t like admitting fault and he has a certain desire to be the center of attention and to be the best at things. Again, totally natural feeling for a kid to have. I can see Arthur honing in on the positive attention of making his friends laugh and having them think it’s funny while also not really registering that he is taking it too far.

Arthur has also always had a temper. Even taking out the notorious “Big Hit” episode, he does lose his temper with his sister, friends, and even parents quite a bit. There are plenty of episodes where he just gets hostile for seemingly no reason, and I have zero issues believing he would struggle to regulate his emotions in this situation.

About the only common criticism I do wholeheartedly agree with regarding this episode is the utter hypocrisy shown by Muffy and Francine. These two are absolutely not the ones who need to teach anybody anything regarding bullying…I suppose I do also contend that Buster defaulting to the “silent treatment” is probably not the first thing Buster would think of as a way to teach Arthur a lesson, but Buster did try hard to act as a voice of reason in the first half of the episode, so I can’t get too mad at him.

In your opinion, what do you think is the darkest joke in the show? I know a big part of the appeal of the series is that it’s edgier than most of its contemporaries on PBS, but I’m curious to know what you all think is the darkest joke (we can include imagine spots).

Here’s my personal top 3.

1. Jane saying she wouldn’t be surprised if DW drew up a will in “The Chips are Down”. The whole situation is really dark when you think about it, but the way Jane is just laughing about how her toddler thought she was going to die is really messed up.

I know it’s meant to be more of a quip about how DW is dramatic, but Jane laughing about it so openly is really messed up.

2. Arthur telling DW she’s going to be a lonely child “WHEN” he sells her. Like, not even “if” he’s basically saying he is actively trying to sell her and is just waiting for a buyer. It is 100 percent on brand for siblings and it is funny, but it is still really dark.

3. The South Park parody when they “squish” Buster. Not only is it really dark and absolutely hilarious that this PBS kids show is parodying one of the raunchiest TV shows of all time, but the fact that the idea was based on a submission from a real kid…it is my personal favorite of the dark jokes.

Honorable mentioned goes to Jane literally imagining abandoning all three of her children AND HER HUSBAND to drive a red sports car…I think what makes it especially messed up is the knowledge that there are real kids watching who have likely experienced parental abandonment and seeing Jane considering it is pretty darn twisted.

This is less about whether the punishment itself was right or wrong because there’s already been a crap ton said about it. What I specifically find interesting is that the no tv for a week punishment was only laid down after Arthur refused to apologize to DW.

I feel like he’d still maybe have been punished if he apologized right away (and I do understand why he didn’t want to apologize right away) but I wonder if the severity would have been lessened if he just blindly obeyed and said he was sorry.

We don’t see him apologize to DW at all until the end of the episode (presumably several days after it all happened). And for all the mistakes the episode does make, I do appreciate that he doesn’t apologize until he really means it. It’s just a sort of random thought I had.

The voice actress of our favorite lovable comedian turns 57 years old today! I am obviously biased, but I think she is the best voiced of the sisters. She brings a real likable and youthful energy to the character and is wildly talented. She single-handedly brings a true soul to the fourth eldest Loud girl, and I wish her the best birthday and many more!!

It took so many retries and start overs, but I finally accomplished the goal! It felt really good and it weirdly felt like reignited rewarded my random gaming accomplishment because ever since I started Ripto's Rage, I automatically had permanent superflame!

Did anyone notice the cute little duck who showed up in the second verse where Amber is talking about using magic to impress their parents. It sits there and looks and listens to her (and she’s not even using her Queenly voice).

I feel like it kind of foreshadows the climax of the episode where Amber makes the hedge unicorns listen to what she’s saying. It might not have been intentional, but I like the indication that even when she’s not using the queen voice, when she’s talking (or singing) earnestly and honestly, people and animals do listen to her.

It definitely is no where near as deep as a song like “that’s not who I am” but I do like the exploration of Amber feeling inadequate in the face of her remarkable younger sibling.

I actually think her and Zane could have a fun dynamic if they allowed it.

I also hope we get more of Amber earnestly trying to make connections with animals. She’ll never be as tight with any animal as Sofia is with her animals, but I really do think the indication that she now has this special ability of her own, she’ll learn a little of the “great power/great responsibility” stuff (even though she’s already pretty darn responsible).

Okay…this is gonna be a controversial AF take and I’m going to try to word it in a way that is respectful to all sides, but…Lincoln can be just as hard on LJ as LJ is to him.

It comes out differently because Lincoln isn’t physically strong like LJ, and let me make this so clear, it’s ALL TYPICAL SIBLING STUFF. Neither of these kids are bad kids or bad siblings. They are two different (fictional) individuals living in a chaotic mess of a home.

Even as far back as season 1, Lincoln messed with the bike that Lynn Jr worked hard to repair and make her very own. When she got it, it was a useless unicycle from Luan and Lynn Jr worked hard to make it the awesome bike that it was.

Lincoln is so often viewed as the hardest working sibling because of all the things he does for his sisters, and yes, those things are noble and good, but the other siblings all have to work hard in their lives too and just because they aren’t the main man, it doesn’t mean that work should be scoffed at. Lynn Jr is a terrific athlete because she works hard at it.

Yes, she gets too rough and aggressive, and Lincoln often gets the brunt of it, but look at it from her perspective…Lincoln is not only the closest in age for her, but as the only male, Lynn Jr likely does have these toxic ideas about being able to roughhouse with him in a way that she’s NEVER able to do with any of her siblings.

If anything, I’d argue she’s the biggest outcast of the whole family in that regard. She’s got a pretty sizable age gap with her own roommate and outside of Lana (who is still super young) no one else likes anything that she likes. Yet her super strength has saved everyone’s lives (including Lincoln’s) more than any other sibling…again, even Lincoln.

One of the times she saved Lincoln during his fan film and not only got zero credit in said film, but made Lincoln out to be a cool hero…in return, Lincoln intentionally sabotages her out of a mattress that she rightfully earned and needed…yet she still had the decency to give him her old mattress. A mattress she still took care of and kept neat compared to Lincoln’s disaster mattress.

And y’all still want to put her in the same leagues as chandler…it’s kind of insane if I’m being so honest. I don’t even particularly like Lynn Jr (or jock characters in general) but she deserves so much better than she’s given.

I really enjoy the episode “The Princess Problem” for a number of reasons. I think the episode really gets DW right…warts and all.

What I mean by that is, it uses DW’s stubborn nature to its full advantage by showing her learning about an injustice and having her go full force to correct it.

When she learns that there aren’t Princess movies that have disabled princesses and then learns about a real life Princess with a disability, she becomes obsessed with it in the cutest way and she never falters in her adoration of the Princess. Even standing up to one of her best friends over it.

What’s extra cute is DW can’t even read yet, but when Lydia reads a little bit about the princess from a book, DW becomes so obsessed with it that she sleeps with the book clutched in her hand like it’s her Bible.

This is a side note, but for a series as pro reading as Arthur is…it can surprisingly be mean towards DW for not being able to read yet. What I mean by that is Arthur is shown hating having to read books to her, despite him loving reading himself. I do understand that him being an 8 year old boy is going to mean he will have different taste in literature from a four year old little girl, but like, it’s not DW’s fault she doesn’t know how to read yet…excuse her for still wanting to enjoy books.