Character Retrospect: Lynn Loud
Now, I was going to go with Lisa (though I'll probably save her for Friday), but I decided that when you compare her to say Lynn, Lynn easily wins out. With Lynn, there was quite a bit that I wanted to discuss about her already, so without further ado, here's the next Character Retrospect, this time on Lynn.
Lynn Jr. is the fifth eldest sister of the Loud kids, who is roommates with Lucy. The one thing that comes to my head whenever I think of Lynn is her love of sports. In fact, she's proficient in seemingly any sport there is, whether it be soccer, football, among others. She's a tomboy is where I'm getting at. Now with Lynn, she scored roughly around #6 of my list for my favorite of the Loud sisters, so I think best to explain why. With Lynn, I don't hate her; I don't hate any of the sisters in general. They all have their faults, but it's what adds to the humor. Lynn is something of a mixed bag for me. There isn't anything that I particularly dislike about her, but if I had to choose, it has to be how she treats Lincoln. Say what you will about Lori, Luan, and Lola, but at the very least they all have moments that show that they aren't that bad at heart. With Lynn, however, I honestly cannot name one episode in which she doesn't do something to Linc. Whether it be punching him, doing the Dutch oven on him, karate chopping him, or outright threatening to beat Lincoln, I just never felt that she displayed any genuine affection for him. Maybe being harsh with him is her definition of affection, I would have no part in it. By far the worst case of this is when she and Lucy have a nasty fight with each other, thus instigating the events in "Space Invader." Lincoln reluctantly lets her spend the night in his room, and it's there where she basically makes it her room. She is an absolutely terrible roommate to Lincoln. I already explained the above Dutch oven fiasco, but there was also the fact that she plays Lucha Libre with Lincoln against his will, punches him in the arm whenever he flinched, kept him from getting sleep which resorted in him resting in the bathtub. Through all of this, Lynn just came off as ungrateful to Lincoln who was forced to let her spend the night in his room when she used the puppy dog eyes on him. I mean if she's this bad of a roommate, no wonder Lucy kicked her out. Besides, I also found her vulgar a few times. Like that one episode in which Lynn lends Lincoln her jockstrap. I mean....ew......
Really, I can name anytime she does something physical with Lincoln. Oh, wait, that came out wrong, let me rephrase that. For instance, there's that one scene in "The Sweet Spot" in which she suggests to play a game that involves punching Lincoln whenever they passed by cars. As Lincoln is the universe's punching bag, he gets punched repeatedly by Lynn. I guess where Lynn's character falters for me is whenever she treats Lincoln like garbage. Well, there was "Loudest Yard" in which she took Lincoln's place in the football team, but I wouldn't call it a bonding moment. It's more of a "it benefits me" relationship. It just didn't come off to me as genuine. Take episodes like "Toads and Tiaras" or "For Bros About to Rock." Both of those episodes have Lincoln bonding with one of his sisters, and the feelings were mutual. With "Loudest Yard," I never felt that Lincoln and Lynn truly bonded. Lincoln takes advantage of Lynn's love for football to avoid having to exercise, the lazy bum. Sure, Lynn doesn't mind it, but I still felt that that was cold on Lincoln's part. I guess the only thing I can really say that I just want Lynn to be more open with Lincoln, and to stop treating him like a punching bag. The guy's already had enough.
With all that being said, is there anything remotely good about her? Well, while she isn't one of the nicest sisters to choose from, she does have moments - keyword moments - in which she does show that she cares. In "Heavy Meddle," she was the first person to kick down Lincoln's door when she heard that he was being bullied, and actually showed Lincoln some techniques of beating the bully. Granted, they involved Lincoln getting hurt in someway, but the thought's still there. And then when she was about to beat up that boy that she thought was bullying her brother. Granted, that was the wrong guy, but it does show that she and her sisters care deeply about Lincoln. Well, they also like to poke fun at him, but that's what siblings do.
Overall, Lynn's a mixed bag for me. Well, the negatives kind of outweigh the positive aspects of her character, but I don't absolutely hate her. For what it's worth, I personally believe that she should lighten up with how she treats Lincoln. I don't mean to make her girly, just make it to where she doesn't act first with her bare fists. And with that closes this week's Character Retrospect.