"Loud Night" is the sixth episode of the American fantasycomedyseriesTed. Written by Julius Sharpe and directed by series creator Seth MacFarlane, it premiered on the American streaming service Peacock, along with the rest of season one, on January 11, 2024. The series, set in 1993, focuses on John Bennett (Max Burkholder), the series' primary protagonist, an awkward high-school aged boy; along with Ted (Seth MacFarlane), the series' titular anthropomorphic teddy bear. The two live with John's family, Susan (Alanna Ubach), his mild mannered mother, and Matty (Scott Grimes), his conservative father. Also residing with the family is Blaire (Giorgia Whigham), his radically liberal cousin whom often clashes with Matty. In this Christmas special, the family discovers that Blaire is sexually fluid, and has been dating her friend, Sarah (Marissa Shankar). Meanwhile, Ted comes to believe he is the reincarnation of Jesus.
The series acts as a precursor to the Ted film franchise, showcasing the childhood lives of John and Ted. Like the rest of the season, "Loud Night" makes use of Viewscreen, a technology that allows the production crew to visualize what Ted's presence in each scene will look like in real time. Ubach listed the scene of her walking in on Blaire and Sarah as her "favorite". The episode featured a real choir, who pre-recorded in Studio City, Los Angeles, and filmed in Pasadena. Upon release, the episode received positive reception from critics; with one calling it the stand-out episode of the season.
Plot
As John and Ted frost cookies for Christmas, John's mother, Susan, reveals that their cousin Blaire's friend, Sarah, will be staying for the holiday. Matty, John's father, enters, asking John to help him shovel ice. When John declines, Matty makes a misogynistic comment. Offended, Blaire insults Matty for his homophobia, causing him to storm off in a rage. The family prepares for church, where Susan will sing with the choir, but Matty decides to stay home to rest, angering Blaire. Alone, Matty finds solace in his childhood toy, a red fire truck nicknamed Dennis, and confides his political views to it. After Susan angrily ignores Matty for missing her solo, he wishes on a shooting star for Dennis to come to life and befriend him. Shocked when his wish works, Matty shows Dennis to his family, who are largely unfazed. Dennis begins to make racist comments about immigration, offending Sarah, an immigrant herself.
Susan brings cookies to Blaire and Sarah to comfort them, only to find the two kissing on Blaire's bed. Susan dismisses it as a display of friendship, refusing to believe they are together. At dinner, Blaire can no longer tolerate Matty and Dennis's casual bigotry and announces she is dating Sarah. Matty, encouraged by Dennis, expresses his distaste for the relationship, prompting Blaire and Sarah to storm off. Susan shames Matty, refusing him dinner until he apologizes. John and Ted show their support for Blaire, who thanks them despite their poor wording. Blaire attempts to help Matty understand her sexuality; he almost apologizes, but Dennis interjects with more homophobic comments, sending Blaire into a rage. Matty confronts Dennis, who reveals he is secretly gay and acts misogynistic to hide it. He kicks Dennis out of the house, who shamefully leaves whilst saying sorry to the family. Matty fully apologizes to Blaire and Sarah, who accept. The family happily opens presents on Christmas morning, as Dennis head off in the snow to Massachusetts.
Subsequently, after arguing with a church patron about what constitutes a miracle from God, Ted assumes he is the reincarnation of Jesus. Ted offers his "wisdom" to the Bennett family, primarily whilst Matty and Blaire argue. Once Sarah informs him that Jesus was crucified, Ted abandons his charade and returns to his normal self.
In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Scott Grimes, who plays Matty, discussed the episode, stating it was "no different" from the rest of the series in terms of vulgarity. He asserted the episode wasn't meant to alienate the audience, as serious moments were always followed by a joke. To emphasize how the episode aligns with the series, Grimes quipped that he had to "call his mother" after reading every script because of their vulgarity, and that "Loud Night" was no different.[1]Alanna Ubach claims that the scene where Susan walks in on Blaire making out with Sarah was her favorite to film. She mentioned it required being done "over and over and over again" to be completed. The script didn't call for Susan to visibly enjoy watching them kiss, but Ubach improvised her reactions, which turned out to be "funny".[2]
The church singing scene featured a real choir. They, along with Ubach, prerecorded the scene in Studio City, Los Angeles, then filmed it at a real parish in Pasadena.[3] Like the rest of the series, "Loud Night" was shot using Viewscreen; MacFarlane was able to act live with the cast as Ted due to Viewscreen, a technology that allows the production crew to visualize what Ted will look like in each scene in real time.[4][5]
Release and reception
"Loud Night" was first released on January 11, 2024, on the American streaming service Peacock, along with the rest of the season.[6]
Critics noted that "Loud Night" stood out from the rest of the season.[7] Nick Schager of The Daily Beast noted the episode's blasphemous tones in his review of the entire season, describing them as "too good-natured to really offend".[8] Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter, also reviewing the whole season, described the sub-plot as one of Ted's "stupidest ideas", yet still called it one of the series' most memorable.[9] Anna Govert of Paste praised the episode's emotion, calling "Loud Night" the stand-out episode of the season. Govert called the episode "sincere and moving" in its portrayal of homosexuality. Govert highlighted Susan's unwillingness to accept Blaire's sexuality as "delightful", noting it as showing her naivety on the subject in a time period like the 1990s.[7]
In her analysis of the episode, Valerie Anne of Autostraddle commended "Loud Night" for its LGBTQ+ representation, noting the importance of having representation in series that aren't directly marketed towards those groups.[10] After its release, actor Scott Grimes would go on to praise Giorgia Whigham's acting in the episode, citing it as the reason it worked. He said that her reactions to Matty's "inequality that he treats everybody with" was representative of her as an actress. Grimes also gave praise towards Matty's dialogue in the episode, particularly the line of him discussing how he was raised, interpreting it as showing how much Matty's father can be seen in the character.[1]
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