Accidental Aesop: Although fans hated this episode due to the cruel treatment given to Lincoln by his family, it can be said that the episode, in the dark way it was conceived, has two valuable lessons. The first is that superstition is idiocy, and that taking this talk of luck and bad luck seriously can actually have devastating consequences (see the Salem witch burnings or the indiscriminate hunting of the aye-aye). The second is that lying is never healthy, and that the best weapon to solve problems is always (truthful) dialogue.
Was Lori sincere when she said that Lincoln's bad luck is foolishness and that all brothers should lean on each other? Or was she just thinking of herself since she wanted Lincoln to accompany her to the golf game?
Do Lincoln's parents really believe that he brings bad luck? Or are they just terrified of berating their own daughters, as seen in "Brawl In The Family"? Or, alternatively, are they trying to give Lincoln a lesson for lying?
There are people who believe Lisa is actually performing a social experiment and went along with it to see how far it would go, instead of grabbing the Idiot Ball in this episode.
Was Lincoln kicked out of the house at night by his sisters, or did he himself decide to sleep in the backyard, embarrassed? It is worth mentioning that the sisters locked his room, but you don't hear them saying that he is forbidden to sleep on the sofa in the living room, for example. Furthermore, Lincoln had no reason to sleep outside considering he has multiple friends with whom he could crash for the night, as well the garage and the Lisa's bunker. Even earlier draft revisions of the script do not make it clear why Lincoln tries to sleep outside except for the "comedy" of a rejection gag.
How involved was Lucy? Did she ever actually believe Lincoln was bad luck? Was she fully on board with her family abusing and disowning Lincoln? Did she not believe he was bad luck but did nothing to help him? Or was she actively trying to defend him and had been thwarted and outnumbered, all this having taken place off-screen? A 2023 video by Chris Savino greatly boosted the lattermost theory, though it remains officially inconclusive.
Were Lincoln's personal belongings really sold or was that Rita's sarcasm (or otherwise joking statement)? Would there be enough time between Lincoln's expulsion and the softball game for them to sell everything? And how could Lincoln not realize that? And if they thought Lincoln's bad luck was also in his possessions, does that mean they would be okay with letting the buyer have bad luck?
Angst? What Angst?: Lincoln being treated like an outcast by his own family, to the point of having to eat and sleep outside, would be incredibly traumatic to any person his age, yet he barely shows indignation or resentment towards this situation, acting with the same amount of outrage you would expect from a kid that was just grounded with no dessert or video games, maybe even less. By the end however, when he’s forced to keep the squirrel suit on for good luck, his exasperated but overall tranquil tone and face make it clear [{The Woobie how fed up he is]].
Bile Fascination: After hearing about the universal hatred for this episode, many people found themselves wondering just how awful it could be, and watched it for themselves.
Critical Backlash: The episode was very controversial in the fandom for a long time due to the Karmic Overkill that Lincoln receives, leading to it becoming a Fanfic Fuel that either takes apart the episode, calls out or gives comeuppance to the family, or just flat-out kills off all members from the family. For casual fans or for fans that aren't really invested into the show, this episode is just a "bad apple" that was already beaten to death and not the monstrosity that it's seen as such. The extreme backlash to the episode by the fandom has itself faced backlash among viewers and some fans, as even some detractors of the episode find the hate overblown.
Don't Shoot the Message: While the episode brings up a valid moral against lying and how it isn't a healthy way to solve a conflict, it isn't saved from how everyone (including the parents) picked up the Idiot Ball and Lincoln was overly punished for it, while ignoring the implications of the family's actions.
While Lincoln's punishment outweighed his crimes, he's often seen as the victim who did nothing wrong. Even if the viewers can ignore the times where Lincoln acted selfish in the other episodes, there's the fact that Lincoln went along that he's The Jinx by lying, as well as purposely breaking one of Lori's golf clubs (granted, it was because he just wanted some time for himself, which is a sympathetic motive, but still). It's one of the many reasons why some viewers grew weary and dislike the "No Such Luck" fics, to the point where Lincoln in these stories is derisively nicknamed "Saint Lincoln".
Due to Lily's age, she is rarely if ever seen as culpable for any of the insanity that went on in the episode. However, fanfic writers make her the sole good member of the family, claiming Lily had never betrayed Lincoln and was the only one who had ever cared for him as a family member while all the other Louds treated him as nothing more than a lightning rod for their abuse. As a result, she often joins Lincoln in his new life (usually through Lincoln taking her with him) and is treated with tender loving care by him while he emotionally disowns the rest of his family. This interpretation is unfortunately not supported by the episode itself, as Lily was fully on the side of her family in considering her brother bad luck and ostracizing him (in fact, she had more on-screen indication that she believed he was bad luck than even Lucy as referenced above). On the topic of her age making her less culpable, various episodes show her being pretty perceptive of everything going on in spite of her age, which lessens her innocence in the matter.
Some people will also have Lucy being the only one who believes Lincoln is not bad luck, even though we never see any evidence that she does.
Fanfic Fuel: Ever since it first aired, this episode currently takes the cake for the episode that had the most fanfics based on it, to the point that the No Such Luck-fic has pretty much become a genre itself. In fact it’s a common cliche that fans want Lincoln to reach his Rage Breaking Point with his family abandon the Louds and run away from home following the events of this episode, get revenge on them, or even outright disown them as family. Or simply just give them an intense tirade about how stupid and selfish they acted and how much they screwed up. before alienating himself from them until they stop being superstitious. Others simply rewrite the episode so that none of the Louds believe Lynn when she claims that Lincoln is a jinx.
Fanon Discontinuity: Despite its popularity as a source of fanfiction addressing its many issues, many fans nevertheless agree that they wish this episode had never happened.
Karmic Overkill: The main reason as to why this episode was so disliked in the fandom. While Lincoln shouldn't have pretended to be The Jinx so people would leave him alone, him being kicked out of the house (and his possessions apparently sold off) was still too far, especially considering Lincoln is a child.
Lincoln's entire family, barring Lily, will never fully live down their treatment of Lincoln in this episode, despite most other episodes making it clear that they all love and respect each other despite their flaws.
The Retcon that came in 2023 that absolved Lucy of wrongdoing is seen by some as too little, too late to mend the damage to her reputation among those still bitter about the episode seeing as it came years after most vindictive fanfiction had been written and most feelings had been codified, as well as due to primarily coming from those no longer working on the show itself (despite their prominence in its creation and production). Furthermore, some remain skeptical due to the retcon not being acknowledged by the official show or, more bitterly, because it simply came too late to matter since most fans have simply moved on, or because they felt singling out Lucy in particular wouldn't have made it any better.
Lincoln is seen by his most vindictive haters, especially the ones defending the sisters and sick of "Saint Lincoln" (the fandom's tendency to write fanfic where Lincoln does no wrong), as deserving what he endured through this episode, despite how clear it was too far.
Lynn Loud Jr is portrayed on the most vengeful fanfics, even in the fanfics where the rest of the family is shown sympathetically, as a remorseless Big Sister Bully wanting to get rid of Lincoln.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Most fans will disagree that Lincoln's punishment was appropriate for his actions, unlike what Chris Savino reportedly said about it. While it's true Lincoln made the rumor worse and broke one of Lori's golf clubs just to convince her and Lisa, the family went way too far in the end and ended up kicking him out of the house. Including Mr. and Mrs. Loud! He might've not helped matters, but with everything his family did you can't help but feel sorry for him. Some people also sympathize with his desire to have a little time for himself, as the episode shows that he has to go to a lot of his sisters' events, but none of them go with him to do something he likes.
Lynn, who blames losing a softball game on Lincoln's presence and thinks he's "bad luck" - after forcing him to come against his will, no less - which eventually leads to the rest of the family treating him as such;note Though it should be noted Lincoln did nothing to try and convince her otherwise at first and even intentionally spread the rumor to the rest of his family for his own benefit (including breaking one of Lori's golf clubs to sell it); only stopping when he realized he went too far. she reinforces her conviction when he stops playing along with the accusation.
Mr. and Mrs. Loud for buying into the rumor and even locking Lincoln out of the house and not even doing anything to make up for it or promising Lincoln never to do it again.
