Baby Steps: Clyde thinks that Howard and Harold are going to have to adopt another baby, so Lincoln helps him learn how to be a good big brother.
Brawl in the Family: When Lori and Leni both buy identical dresses from the mall, a fight breaks out in the Loud House, and the Sister Fight Protocol is initiated. No relation to the webcomic of the same name.
"Baby Steps"
- Brick Joke: Whenever cookies or treats are mentioned, Lincoln or Clyde get tackled by either the sisters or the kittens.
- Cat Up a Tree: Played with; it's Lana who gets stuck up in a tree and has to be rescued by Clyde.
- Censorship by Spelling: Lincoln advises Clyde to use this trope as a big brother, given that Lily knows what a cookie is. Later, Clyde tries this when telling Lincoln he didn't need the cookies to calm Lola and Lana down. Unfortunately, the twins know how to spell, and they start fighting with Lincoln for the cookies.
- Continuity Nod:
- Lincoln tells Clyde that Lana and Lola can spell. It was previously revealed in "Ties That Bind" that the latter could do this.
- When Clyde rescues Lana from a tree, he mentions that he is afraid of heights, something that is shown in "Dance, Dance Resolution".
- A Day in the Limelight: For Clyde.
- Death Glare: When Lincoln is trying to explain to Clyde about his point on boosted self-confidence, Clyde silences him with a very nasty look while handing back Lily.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Lincoln actually bribes almost all of his younger sisters to go to Clyde with minor problems that he can easily solve, so it will boost his self-confidence. Clyde does not take it well when he finds out.
- Everyone Has Standards: Most of the younger Loud siblings are bribed by Lincoln to ask Clyde for help through Obfuscating Stupidity. When Clyde finds out and is furious, the Loud siblings look shocked and guilty, except for The Comically Serious Lisa.
- The Glomp: After Clyde gets Lana, who is afraid of heights, and her rat out of a tree. Lana is in gratitude, and jumps up to Clyde’s head level to give him a big hug. Clyde is at first stunned by this, but then he smiles. He could practically hear his Big Brother Instinct calling.
- Locked Out of the Loop: When Lana asks Clyde for help, Clyde just found out about the helping the other Loud sisters were asking for from him were bribed, and he assumes that Lana is in on that, too. Lana asks what he’s talking about, showing she had no idea about that plan.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Lincoln pays Lisa and Lola to play dumb so Clyde can "help" them. Lisa pretends she doesn't know how to tie her shoelaces, while Lola pretends she doesn't know how to fasten her seat belt. Because of this, Lisa asks to be paid double for acting so stupid when she is a certified genius.
- Ocular Gushers: Lily does this twice:
- First, she cries gobs of tears when she hurts her thumb while playing with her toys.
- Then, she cries fountains of tears after one of her toys is broken.
- Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: This plus finding baby clothes in the laundry and baby bottles in the dishwasher is what leads Clyde to believe that he's going to have a sibling.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Clyde, at least if the word he has to rhyme is “Lori”.
- Series Continuity Error: Clyde says he doesn't know how to take care of babies, yet in the Season 1 episode "Two Boys and a Baby", he says he's great with babies and shows his knowledge when he helps Lincoln babysit Lily. Maybe this episode takes place before "Two Boys and a Baby"?
- Tears of Joy: Lincoln has these when Clyde gains his confidence after rescuing Lana.
"Brawl in the Family"
- Achievement In Ignorance:
- By staying over at Clyde's, thus removing himself from the picture, Lincoln actually resolves the whole conflict.
- At the end, the sisters only manage to stop fighting by tricking Leni into letting Lori wear the dress on all the days that end in Y. Meaning Leni would never get to wear it.
- All for Nothing: At the end, Lincoln spouts off more insults, making the settled sisters lose their tempers and attack each other again, thus leaving all the girls’ crazy work wasted and the SFP ruined.
- Ax-Crazy: All of the sisters during the episode, especially at the end, after Lincoln lets slip insulting secrets one time too many. They fight so hard they shake the entire house.
- Berserk Board Barricade: Mr. and Mrs. Loud barricade themselves in their room, along with Lily, once the threat level in the house goes up to “Stampeding T-Rex”. Mr. Loud only gets to put up one board before realizing he forgot to bring a bucket.
- Big Ball of Violence: Three of these are shown in the episode:
- When Lincoln tries to grab the TV remote, Lola, Lynn, and Lucy beat him up in this form.
- When all of the sisters sans Lily start arguing, they fight in one of these. The results immediately after are not shown.
- All of the sisters engage in one of these at the end of the episode after Lincoln accidentally spills some dirt on them. It’s so hard in fact, it shakes the whole house!
- Blinded by Rage: The sisters throughout the whole episode, especially at the end, thanks to Linc insulting them by saying hidden secrets about each other. They spend far more time yelling at each other rather than bothering to solve anything. It's only when Lincoln leaves the house do they finally make up.
- Broken Aesop: The idea of the episode is to let some conflicts settle by themselves without getting involved, which is technically right as Linc's attempts to settle the fighting prove more than futile. However, given that the sisters entire protocol results in them not allowing him to do anything simple in the house, such as watching TV or even letting him be in his room, all while going to outrageously stupid lengths just to keep the warring sisters apart without actually letting anyone solve anything, the whole point of the Aesop seems completely moot, since Lincoln’s life is being messed with and thus he has every valid reason to want to stop the fighting. Or another way: the sisters say that Lincoln shouldn't get involved in the sisters' fight, but by kicking him out of his room or stealing his sheet, they are necessarily involving him in the fight. Furthermore, the sisters keep telling Lincoln to stay out of it, yet those who aren’t fighting do every unfair thing just to stop the angry sisters from seeing each other, plus when Lincoln has Luna and Luan switch rooms with Lori and Leni, the former two go at it as to who had the dress first, meaning they just broke their own rules. In the end, the fighting only stops not because they managed to work out their issues and come to a compromise, but because Lori managed to trick Leni into wearing the dress on all days of the week that don’t end in Y, as in, not wear it at all. Meaning the whole ordeal was all for nothing and the whole system was a complete failure.
- Call-Back: This is the first time since the pilot short that Lincoln (offscreen) takes a dump, albeit having to do so in a bucket due to the Sister Fight Protocol. This also affects Lynn Sr. too.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Lincoln spending the night with Clyde is what leads to the sisters reconciling and ending the fight offscreen.
- Dark Secret:
- Lincoln accidentally ends up revealing these to Lori and Leni, revealing Lori thinks blue makes Leni look washed-out, and Leni thinks wearing taffeta makes Lori look like Aunt Ruth.
- He accidentally does this again in the end, revealing Lynn is annoyed by Lisa's nonstop lectures and needs a windshield to block her out, and Lana thinks Lola snores like Pop-Pop.
- Downer Ending: Lori and Leni finally stopped fighting over the same dress, but Lincoln inadvertently slips out of what his sisters think to one another, and the whole fight starts all over again.
- Dresses the Same: What starts the whole conflict. Lincoln complains at how petty it is, given he and Clyde once did the same during School Picture Day.
- Failed a Spot Check: The sisters repeatedly use Lincoln’s room and sheets as part of their system, but don’t seem to realise that they could easily use anyone’s room and sheets. Plus, they’d have to reach 3 earlier rooms just to get to Lincoln’s. But of course, everything goes in the name of Butt-Monkey.
- Feud Episode: Between Lori and Leni, and soon, everyone else (except Lincoln and the parents). Even Lily at the end.
- Freudian Couch: Lincoln talks to Clyde about his problems on a couch, with Clyde imitating his psychologist Dr. Lopez.
- Gasshole: Lola reveals in this episode that Lana farts loudly while sleeping.
- Green Around the Gills: Lincoln after eating the booger covered bagel.
- Here We Go Again!: As Lincoln expresses how happy he is that everything's back to normal, he again lets slip what some of his sisters really think of each other, starting an entirely new fight.
- Hypocrite: The No.1 rule of the SFP is to butt out and let those arguing solve it on their own. Yet after Lincoln has Luna and Leni switch rooms when his sheets are used for a divider, Luan and the former start going at it over who had the dress first, meaning they just broke their own rule.
- Likewise, Lucy claims “It’s a sister thing” that boys wouldn’t understand, yet Bobby, who’s a teenage male and not even a Loud, is in on the whole fighting procedure too.
- Idiot Ball: Every single character in the episode! ...Except for Clyde.
- The sisters for not bothering to inform their own brother of the Sister Fight Protocol, thinking it would be of no concern to him, although it is clearly interfering with their everyday life. And they continue to use his possessions as part of the procedure, even though they could easily use anyone else's room and bedsheets. Luna and Luan in particular, despite the rules of butting out, get involved in the conflict after Lincoln has them switch rooms with Lori and Leni. Lola and Lana do not think about the different zones properly, causing a collision, and the rest of the girls in general do not work as a team and bother to think anything through. And to top it off, the solution they come up with only works because of Leni's ditziness. Lori would wear the dress on all days of the week ending in Y. In the end, the whole mess happens due to terrible communication and Insane Troll Logic. And in the end, when all has settled down, they don't even apologize or feel bad for any of the unnecessary craziness they caused all day.
- Lincoln himself for casually mentioning the insults his sisters hide from one another behind their backs.
- The parents for just letting the system play out rather than bothering to punish Lori and Leni for starting the feud in the first place.
- Even Bobby (and that's saying something) for buying into the Sister Fight Protocol and therefore not delivering the pizzas properly.
- The only character that averts this is Clyde, as he does whatever he can to help Lincoln cope with the fight without worsening it.
- Jerkass Ball: The Loud sisters take it up to eleven by not bothering to tell Lincoln about the SFP, for using his bedsheets and room without his permission, not allowing him to do his usual things in the house, and for fighting over petty reasons.
- The Jinx: Lincoln's attempts to help his sisters settle their quarrels end up making things a lot worse. In fact, Lisa credits him with resolving the entire fight by refusing to get involved any further (and it's hard not to agree with her). Mostly due to his big mouth spilling insulting secrets and making the girls mad again. Saying he truly helped the conflict by leaving the house and staying over at Clyde's, letting them sort it out by themselves.
- Karma Houdini: Despite what's mentioned below, the Loud parents never even bother to punish the Loud sisters for their petty fighting, and just hid in their bedroom like cowards. Lincoln does attempt to chew them out and demand that they stop as he takes back his sheets, but the girls just won’t take the hint.
- Laser-Guided Karma: In the end, the sisters are at it again when Lincoln lets slip more insults about them, attacking each other while Linc hides with his parents. Given the ordeal they put him through for the last two days, this may count as the girls' punishment (even though Lincoln will continue to suffer).
- Loose Lips: Lincoln tries to help Lori and Leni make peace, but he accidentally blabs a Dark Secret one thinks of the other, reigniting the fight. He does it again at the end.
- Loud Sleeper Gag: Lana complains that Lola snores. Lola retorts that she's surprised Lana can hear it over her own sleep-farting.
- Never My Fault: While it is true that Lincoln's big mouth was a main cause of the fight getting worse, all of the sisters fail to notice the fact that them messing with Lincoln's life, inability to figure out the obvious and the protocol's many flaws are what's also worsening the fight. Even at the end, they still refuse to see the fact that leaving Lincoln out of it all and being so petty and selfish is what was truly the cause.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Lincoln attempts to make peace between Lori and Leni by telling them how they really feel about each other. However, it turns out they had already made peace on their own, and Lincoln just reignited the fight. It happens again at the end of the episode.
- Not-So-Innocent Whistle: The Loud sisters when slowly backing away from the arguing Lori and Leni.
- Oh, Crap!: Lincoln's reaction when his intervention only worsened the fight. It gets progressively bigger the more sisters join the argument.
- Only Sane Man: Clyde is the only character with his head on straight, doing anything he can to help Lincoln cope with the feud while not butting in.
- Saying Too Much: How Lincoln accidentally causes the fight.
- "Leni, why don't you just return the dress? Lori once said blue makes you look washed out anyway."
- "Lori, why don't you return the dress? Leni says taffeta makes you look like Aunt Ruth. And who wants that? Am I right?"
- Also at the end: "Next time when Lynn says she needs a windshield wiper when Lisa talks, or Lana says Lola snores like Pop-Pop, I am staying out of it."
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- When Lincoln realizes his attempt to intervene with Lori and Leni only reignited their argument, his only response is to quietly exit their room in fear.
- The instant the fight protocol reaches its highest level, Lincoln realizes there's nothing he can do and is forced to bail the house to spend the night with Clyde.
- Series Continuity Error:
- Lincoln made Lori and Leni's fight worse, but in "Project Loud House," "Space Invader," and "Baby Steps," he was shown to solve the sister's problems before.
- The parent's faces are hidden again, despite them being revealed in "11 Louds A Leapin'." It’s mostly due to this episode being produced before the latter episode, in addition to being aired before.
- It is revealed that there's a sister fight protocol when two sisters get into a fight. However, no such protocol is featured in previous episodes when a similar incident occurs, most notably when Lucy and Lynn fight each other during the events of "Space Invader". Likewise, it never gets brought up again in later episodes, save for the threat chart appearing in Season 3.
- Likewise, the sisters talk to Lincoln about the SFP as if it's the first time he's heard of it, and he also reacts that way. Is he adopted?
- Shout-Out: In one scene, Lynn is reading a sports almanac "by Biff".
- Smart Ball: Clyde is unusually more wise and down-to-earth unlike anyone else, as he gives helpful advice to Lincoln without butting in, allows Lincoln to spend the night when the fight worsens, and is the reason why the fight ends.
- Smug Snake: Lincoln shows signs of this twice, whenever he attempts to stop the fighting.
- The sisters at the end, believing the protocol and the solution they had works, until Lincoln spills more secrets and turns all the angry girls on each other, thus ruining the protocol and putting all the girls’ hard work to waste.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Even Bobby respects the sister fight protocol. Despite not even being part of the family. This, in spite of Lucy’s claim of the whole situation being a ‘sister thing’.
- The Unapologetic: The sisters all just seem to care about using the Sister Fight Protocol without even considering the whole ordeal they put everyone, especially Lincoln, through. They don’t even apologise in the end when it seems all has been resolved.
- Toilet Humor: Since Leni keeps the bathroom occupied while she’s mad at Lori, the rest of the Loud family has to use a bucket if they have to go. At the end of the episode, Mr. Loud expresses his relief at being able to use the toilet again.
- It's quite possible that this bucket is "Old Sloshie".
- Toilet Paper Trail: Happens to Lana after apparently unclogging the toilet.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Lynn toward Lincoln for just making the fight worse thanks to his Loose Lips.Lynn: Ugh, nice job Lincoln! We told you to stay out of it!
- Lincoln himself gives one to the sisters as he takes back his bedsheets, declaring that he's done with the whole ordeal and ordering the girls to make up.
- Lynn toward Lincoln for just making the fight worse thanks to his Loose Lips.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Lincoln's exact word when he learns what Lori and Leni are mad about.
