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Red episode names indicate favorites.

101 - Esteemsters	Oddly enough, the first Daria episode I ever saw, when it was still on the 10 Spot in first run. Then, I moved out of my Dad's place post return from France and missed three years. If'n I'da had cable, I'da kept watching. But, looking back...pacing problems, still feeling out the characters and voicing, and so on...it doesn't hold up well compared to S4. Which isn't fair, but hey.
102 - The Invitation	/me approves. A.J.:> Many great lines from this one: Don't forget the show's first breast reference: Daria - You're really bursting out of the picture plane here. Jane - Oh, yeah. That particular model was quite bursty. I think she had her bursts done. >Jane: Alright, he thought my head was a lollipop. It sure does look like one. And this was the birth of the "Loose Jane" theory that makes the rounds from time to time.... >Plus Jane's scene with the rent-a-cop was superb No one's ever noticed that the prevert was horning in on a high-school party after drooling all over nude studies in Jane's book. He needs to be on a sherrif's Web site somewhere.
103 - College Bored	Strong S1 episode, with lotsa laughs. This episode marked the beginnings of Jake and Helen having any kind of deeply defined characters of all, so it's important from that standpoint. Also marked some of the first evidence of Daria's superhuman intelligence. Interestingly, Quinn's ability at drinking games adds credence to certain IICY rumors that have flown about.... It's also interesting that, at what -- 14? -- Quinn's vision of a perfect life is to be the coolest sorority sister at the kegger. Eeeww. It's funny that they haven't done more to exploit the "Quinn is a bad girl" angle throughout the series. Was it discretion? Edicts from Standards and Practices? Or just the difficulty in balancing her being a wild kid against the nearly puritanical sexual morals of The Fashion Club?
104 - Cafe Disaffecto	Classic monologue rocks.
105 - Malled	Has that classic feel...the vomiting is a biiiig plus -- back in those, dare I say, punkrock days of throwing anything against the wall to see what sticks...we're lucky it didn't turn into The Tiffany Show.
106 - This Year's Model	After-school special meets Beavis and Butthead hyperbole and doesn't work. The only thing good about this episode is that they stole the title from an excellent Elvis Costello album. Next.
107 - The Lab Brat	Okay...what didn't Kevin see in Quinn? Every other guy is gaga over her. I found it funny that Kevin would bond with Jake, er, Jake's cable, at least. I can't imagine why they haven't thought up a real Pigskin Channel, yet. Am I mistaken, or is this the first and last time we see Brittany with enough brains to do something malicious, even if it is stealing Daria's mouse? And why didn't Kevin kill Upchuck for peeping on Brittany, even if she was fooling around with another QB? Ever hear of defending a lady's honor, even if it is suspect? Another Season One experience.
108 - Pinch Sitter	Pinch Sitter it is to increase my S1 quotient, and as a nod to the Pure Vision. Might be the perfect classic Daria episode? No romance. Much wisecracks. Much Daria and Jane. Quinn is unredeemed at the end of a self-improvement project. No Jake spazzing out, in fact, not much action at all. I was brought up like a Gupty kid, and got my ass kicked constantly. But Daria is the Jedi Knight/Lamont Cranston of Lawndale, that much is certain.
109 - Too Cute	An early "message" episode, and why not. Just don't expect me to choose it as a favorite. Loved the fake boob gags, and the dream sequences are among my favorite things about Daria. Another vote here for the Andrea/Quinn exchange -- Quinn scares the goth chick.
110 - The Big House	Daria and Quinn found getting grounded boring, as did I. And I just don't have patience for Jake and Helen's parenting, and the "family court" debacle. Yeah, it's just a TV show, but enough rang wrong for me to dismiss this one as watchable. Not the episode about which one spends hours wrangling over minutiae.
111 - Road Worrier	Daria in jeans. Daria with shirt tucked in, with shirt pulled out. Daria with a hint of lipstick. Daria with a bee-sting and a peanut butter sandwich on her ass. Daria and Trent...this episode is the Rosetta Stone of an international WWW phenomenon and at least a handful of young women's fantasy lives (though discretion forbids naming names). Always worth watching. One of the best of S1, and by this point, that "S1 groove" had been perfected. You don't have to be a Daria/Trent 'shipper to approve, either...there's a lot to sink one's teeth into, here. I mean, who hasn't had an unrequited crush?
112 - The Teachings of Don Jake	This is the "Drugs" episode in the Daria Episode Big Topic List -- see also "God", "Sex" and "Integrity". And they got as close to dealing with people being wigged out on substances as the show should go, I wager (unless, of course, Quinn is going on a 28-day vacation). And that's what this episode is all about, really, seeing the results of the Glitter Berry poisoning, and that's enough. Big fun, and I'll say that it's in the top three of season one, but not the apex. But let's not miss this line, as it is more foreshadowing of the "Quinn the Drunk" storyline we expect in IICY: Quinn - What's Dad so worked about anyway? Helen - Oh, Quinn. It's not easy being an adult. Quinn - He can drive, he never has to take a pop quiz, he can order a mamosa anytime he wants. What's the problem? Special to Helen: Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
113 - The Misery Chick	A.J. states that this is the episode that explains Early Daria. It's also the episode where, through introspection, Early Daria starts to transmogrify -- in fits and starts, over the subsequent 4 seasons and movie -- into the Daria of Boxing Daria. I mean, being the Misery Chick must get really old after a while. Why is this last in the group? Too much Kevin. I can be petty, too.
201 - Arts 'N Crass"	Didn't light my fire, but it didn't suck. There was lots of talking in there... everyone suddenly remembering that Helen is a lawyer was a good kicker. But I wouldn't pick it over others.
202 - The Daria Hunter	AJ:>202 - "The Daria Hunter" Panned by most as an incoherent piece of garbage that made little sense. It did make ittle sense, but I liked it. Just one of those shut your brain off and enjoy the pretty colors type of episodes. I need more special effects to do that. /me does not approve.
203 - Quinn the Brain	Another episode important to the exploration of Quinn and Daria's characters. We see that Daria could be Quinn, and even Quinn, Daria. The ladies are really, at base, not that different, which make sense, them being sisters and all. The difference is their reaction to the madness of family, school, being a teenager -- embracing the way things are and warping circumstances to your benefit, or rejecting the way things are and warping circumstances to your benefit. Daria's existentialist moments in the face of Quinn adopting significant portions of her persona indicate that she sees herself as the underdog, even a loser -- which flies in the face of the S1 fan's concept of Daria Triumphant, the Joan of Arc of teenaged life. In her honest moments, we see that she feels that she has nothing but her shield of intellectual cynicism, and the worst thing that could happen is her sister co-opting that pose. Later, we see Quinn's moment of self-doubt in IIFY, as she stares into the abyss of what her superficial lifestyle is all about. Interestingly, Quinn is about the same age then as Daria is in this episode. No one could have seen Daria's transformation coming, which is what makes this episode so great. Undermining the audience's expectations of what Daria would do was a masterstroke. The moment when she announces to Jane that she knows how to solve her problem had all the grim determination of Teller and Oppenheimer watching the first A-Bomb experiment: She knew that what would happen next would be effective, but she didn't know whether or not it would cause the oxygen in the atmosphere to combust. As Frank Zappa said, "You Are What You Is." Quinn could front, but it couldn't last even if she wanted it to. "Wanna buy me a soda? Oh, God..."
204 - I Don't	Definately had moments.
205 - That was Then, This is Dumb	This one gets bonus "Mock the Boomers" points...makes the old hippy in me cringe. Excellent effect! A low-key episode...watching this, one can't imagine "Whomp! There it is!" or Ms. Li's Dance of the Fireaxe happening in Daria...and then there's DTAH.
206 - Monster	Pore Refiner...this one hits all the bells. Believeable assignment. Teen angst over beauty. Treating your sister like crap. Feeling bad about it later and causing sister to behave entertainingly at her own expense. Nice.
207 - The New Kid	Sure, pick on the homeschoolers. Trust me, folks, they aren't all like Ted. Sure, enough of them are to create a stereotype, but really, many of them do chew gum and even leave the house unsupervised on occasion. Minus many points for the cheap shot. Watching Daria flounder in her first attempt at dating was painfully familiar, but makes perfect sense. It's like Quinn's first attempt at reading a book without pictures -- it isn't going to go smoothly the first time. Clearly, this isn't a lady obsessed about what people think about her, if her first attempt is with dorky Ted. In the end, Daria learned a lesson: Romance is the bunk. Notice that she followed the same pattern with Tom...EVERYONE knew she was carrying a Statue-of-Liberty-sized torch for him, even Trent...except her. And in the end, Daria WAS shallow. A.J.> Ted, one of the evil twosome that was to breal up Daria-Trent, the other Monique. Anyone ever try a Ted-Monique shpper story? Ren: You sick little monkey! In all, a nice Season Two "what if" story, as in, what if Daria noticed boys her age existed. I'd have liked it more without Ted and what he stands for.
208 - Gifted	I shared this handicap with OH, and it wasn't fun. I ended up going to my special school, but it had nothing to do with being intelligent. I often think Daria could have benefitted from some kind of alternative education -- in fact, in one episode, Lawndale High silliness drives her to wonder if homeschooling might have merits. Wonderful FC/Quinn moments...Ever wonder if this is the group of girls so self-absorbed and skittish that they can't even form one-on-on relationships with another girl friend? That's sad. Great moment where Jane pushes babbling Quinn at the end of an outstretched arm.
209 - Ill	Nice use of the interplay/powerplay between Jake, Helen and the doctor. It kinda got weird, having half the school in the "unpopular girl's" room. I half expected her to lean over, grab the phone, press zero and say, "Hello, room service? Send up a larger room." Clever device to hang a plot on...like those classic Star Trek episodes (double geek alert!) where Spock breaks down and his emotions become apparent...what if Daria couldn't hide her feelings?
210 - Fair Enough	I dunno...maybe I'm jaded, or maybe I've written too many reviews, or maybe I only watched this one once. But it sorta seemed like a "and then more stuff happened" episode. I'm sure Daria and Jane were witty...didn't pull my chain, what can I say?
211 - See Jane Run	It's all about integrity, man...and co-dependence? That girl needs a boyfriend. (Anyone's will do.) Boy, I hated gym class, and the coaches were pretty much like that. Daria must have at least attemped to participate, if only to avoid screwing up her GPA...but maybe she wrote papers, like I did. Here we see the introduction of "Bitchy Daria," which certainly reared its head in in the latter quarter of season four and was season five, pretty much. Makes S1-ers froth at the mouth. But I don't have that problem, and A.J. accurately calls this as the best Janecentric ep. Also gets character-point points for the "Bitchy Daria" transformation. Our little girl's growing up...bratty.
212 - Pierce Me	Jane - (teasing) Oh, dear, our little girl's becoming a woman. Daria - Shut up. Jane - Don't you get it, Daria? You did something stupid for a guy. Gee, you may join the human race after all. And, like Groucho Marx, Daria would rather not join any club that would have her as a member. But she does dig that attention Trent absentmindedly bestows upon her. Or...is it absentminded? He did want to see her in that little black-and-white checked number, hanging in the window...just like a man, out shopping for presents for himself. Now that we've got the 'shippers all hot and bothered...this episode works well because it takes apart the assumed-Daria -- the ice princess, Spock in combat boots -- and shows up her human failings. And it does a fine job of that.
213 - Write Where It Hurts	If I believed in tying, this would be tied with Boxing Daria, and there is of course a direct, thematic line tying the two together. Now, was Daria's final story wishful thinking, or simply a cold, calculated way to fit in all of O'Neill's ridiculous story elements? You know the truth. Still too defended to admit it, her subconscious said it for her, which is the place from where the _real_ writing comes. Why second? The fantasies were okay, but a little too jokey. Of course, others will complain that it wasn't funny enough. There's also the contrivances of idiot O'Neill. But none of this is enough to kill a great episode. Daria, the series, couldn't have been like this all the time...despite their crappiness, "Just Add Water" and "Murder, She Snored" have their place -- hot air and yeast, leavening the loaf. But the series is best, and worth all this bother, when something like "Write Where it Hurts" arrives.
301 - Through A Lens Darkly	One of the episodes that Made Me Love Daria. (Figuratively, of course.) I've already waxed lyrical about What Glasses Mean to Me, so if you missed it, tough. The difference between BAD Daria writing (The F Word, Of Human Bonding, Fizz Ed) and GOOD is a moment like having the dumb blonde come in and say just the right, real, human thing at the right moment. One of the top five reasons why this series is worth all the effort.
302 - The Old And The Beautiful	Saw this twice, and nearly nothing sticks. Next.
303 - Depth Takes A Holiday	Why is this episode important? 1. This was the Daria staff tweaking the fans, especially those who hang on every bit of data and blow them up into fanfiction epics, then argue about them. "Oh, so you've developed a canon, you sad lot? Well, EAT THIS!" I'm sure they had quite a laugh. And under the rules of the game, this IS canon. They could set IICY on Holiday Island, if they felt like it. It's only too bad that the fan reaction probably did in any future exploration of this alternative universe. Remember when Ritchie Cunningham met Mork from Ork? When Fred and Barney met Kazoo? When J.R.'s murder turned out to be part of a year-long dream? Jeezly pete, friend and neighbors...IT'S ONLY A TELEVISION SHOW!!!! 2. Daria is forced to say, out loud, what everyone else who cares knows -- she's got a crush on Trent. Thank God Jane wasn't around. The only place to go from here, of course, was Lane Miserables, and Daria's further self-admission that Trent was never gonna happen for her. One can't dismiss the episode out of hand when such an important character point occurs. Is it the best episode? Not by far. Is it the worst? Only if you let yourself get your panties in a twist over having an orderly Daria universe. Life's too short.
304 - Daria Dance Party	Good Pollack jokes.
305 - The Lost Girls	Well, if you have an audience of 14-year-old girls...heh. A.J.>Val's personality, however, make this episode hard to watch, and her voice makes me turn down the sound, it's so annoying. So any message sent through this episode was lost to me by the most annoying voice of all time. Too canny a parody. Thank jah this breed is nearly extinct, what with ad page sales falling.
306 - It Happened One Nut	Wacky! Well, that was nice.
307 - Daria!	"I got a Big Wheel rollin' in my heart..." "I really don't know what that's supposed to mean..." This is no ordinary musical, certainly. First of all, I'm impressed that they wrote that many songs, even if some of them stink. But the whole exercise is redeemed by "Can't Leave Yet" and the interplay between Helen and Quinn. I almost teared up, I'm not kidding. Another of those moments that sets Daria apart. The dance sequence in "Manly", where Helen and Quinn hop over Jake and Trent...priceless. What did we learn from "Daria!"? 1. That the writers are happy to screw with your little head. And do it well. 2. That Tracy Grandstaff cannot sing. I hope they gave her danger pay. 3. That making cartoon characters dance is not as easy as it seems. I bet the inbetweeners developed real respect for Walt Disney Studios and the guys at Warner Brothers. Beaucoup extra points for balls. They didn't do it first, but they did it, dammit, and it didn't suck.
308 - Lane Miserables	What most of us think of when we think of the Trent Thing. The confirmation of the end. Who didn't feel for Daria? Who hadn't been there? One of the best handlings of the subject of crushes I've ever seen. And the Jane/Parents stuff was killer -- Jane at her deadpan best. How many fanfics did that last fantasy Trent sequence launch? She just couldn't let it go that easy.
309 - Jake of Hearts	Jake becomes less of a cypher, and I'm okay with it. I wanted to kick grandma down the stairs. How did the Morgendorffers survive with Helen in the kitchen? How much pizza did these girls eat, growing up? Quinn trying on being smart again...but what really makes this eq hard to watch are Bing and the Spatula Man. I don't listen to commercial radio anymore thanks to guys like that.
310 - Speedtrapped	I love this episode. My favorite thing is Jane drawing Goya's "The Shootings of May 3, 1808" in green pen on the jailhouse wall. See it at: http://history.hanover.edu/courses/art/goyamy3.html. I'm sure that caused some plain-drunk miscreants to scratch their heads. About the painting: "The horrors of warfare were of great concern to Goya, who observed firsthand the battles between French soldiers and Spanish citizens during the bloody years of the Napoleonic occupation of Spain. In 1814 he completed Second of May, 1808 and Third of May, 1808 (both Prado). These paintings depict horrifying and dramatically brutal massacres of groups of unarmed Spanish street fighters by French soldiers." Site: http://www.island-of-freedom.com/GOYA.HTM But enough about painting... Quinn and Daria in an enclosed space -- why hadn't anyone thought of this before! Quinn screws up, Quinn saves the day, Daria fails to save the day, Daria gets all butch on a suitcase...shadows and light, no black-and-white solutions in these 22 minutes. Yeah! And least we forget the Playing with Form Meta-Prize -- the fake interstitial, when Quinn comes clean about giving the money to the singing cowboy. I really, REALLY liked that. But I'm a sucker for gimmicks. Even the Mystic Sprial bit -- especially the song at the end -- was entertaining. A very fine episode of Daria, go watch it.
311 - The Lawndale File	Fantasy can be fun...and an example of the show's fascination with paranoia, aliens and communism. [Glenn Eichler==Child of the Cold War.] I guess that, if one is a huge "X-Files" fan (/me waves at sam), then this episode is a contender. But I'm not. Still, very watchable.
312 - Just Add Water	Imagine if one only saw "Just Add Water,"Murder, She Snored" and "The 'F' Word." One would say, "Daria sucks."
313 - Jane's Addition	Gotta go with the Bratty Daria excuse for not liking this one as much as others in this group. It makes sense, but it's hard to take. I also didn't like Jane going off with some strange boy...makes sense, but its a crummy message. It's an awkward episode -- not bad in any sense, but jarring. As it must be, since we're killing the Daria/Trent crush and starting the Age of Tom in the same 22 minutes. Sometimes, you wonder how they made plot/story-arc decisions. It probably had something to do with not knowing if the series would be renewed. If true, then they did a better job than one might expect.
401 - Partner's Complaint	Extra points for a) remembering how the last episode of the previous season ended (See Fizz Ed for a negative example) and b) coming up with a good, original "school stuff" angle from the writers. But I like that relationship crap. Compare and contrast with The Lab Brat.
402 - Antisocial Climbers	Question for the masses: Has there ever been a great "ensemble cast" episode of Daria? Y'know, where everyone's brought together under some kind of wacky premise to interact? The problems with these eps: a. Choking down the wacky premise. b. Stretching that wacky premise so that Jake and Helen show up. Disbelief is firmly anchored next to me on the couch, eating the last of the chips and wiping its fingers on the cushions. c. Putting up with loooong stretches of O'Neill. d. Daria disappears in her own damn show. e. Too much stuff going on in 22 minutes. Possible exception: Mart of Darkness and, as AJ says, Daria Dance Party But this does earn this ep special mention, as it is the first time I can recall that Daria and Jane are really real with one another. Foreshadowing of the IICY quasi-reconciliation and, of course, "The Hug.(TM)"
403 - A Tree Grows In Lawndale	A.J.>[...] The whole town is a loser because the Lions are losers subplot was unrealistic. DING DING DING DING! That's why this episode stinks. But the very fact that its a (the?) Kevin episode makes it stink even harder. I'd have been happier if Kevin's hard luck had meant a real character change for him, but of course, it didn't. We need that bonehead jock charicature. So why bother? You can always tell it's going to be a bad ep when you don't care how it ends.
404 - Murder, She Snored	Sucks, sucks, sucks.
405 - The 'F' Word	The episode that solidified my hatred of O'Neill. Rated U for useless. And they panned past all of the crazy crap in O'Neill's apartment to fast.
406 - I Loathe A Parade	Coming across this one after watching IIFY was one of those tumblers-clicking moments...oh, yeah...one of the 10 best.
407 - Of Human Bonding	Chuck this on the "missed opportunities" pile. It probably was too much to expect Daria and Jake to get real, but I would have liked to see that more than a balloon accident. This smells like someone's good idea that got destroyed in the story meeting. Okay, so I guess there was a message in there about integrity, and not letting people get you to do stupid things for their own ends. And? Even the kicker joke stinks. Imaging blowing off the series because of this stinker, only to miss Fire! and Dye, Dye, my Darling?
408 - Psycho Therapy	The most cited episode when one states that Daria is a little, um, high strung. No, she's fine. Well, I think that was comparison to her family...and not enough time was spent to look into how Daria would feel about (as the MTV Web site puts it) having to touch another human being. But that's all right...the premise gives me pause -- if this kind of corporate mind-control exists, where they psychoanalyze one's entire family before getting a promotion -- then there ought to be a law.
409 - Mart Of Darkness	Of all the "experimental" episodes, in construction and tone, I like this one the best. It really does have a flow, despite the weird premise. Quinn stealing the boot lace is burned into my mind...sibling larceny, it's almost like they're real people. Of course it's required 'shipper viewing, as we watch the thin edge of the wedge between Jane and Tom go in.
410 - Legends Of The Mall	Another dopey ensemble episode with a preposterous premise. Several things save this from being drek: The Fashion Club deciding that they can't ask for directions at that house because they have a carport. I dunno...watching the girls deal with a real tract-home neighborhood did me a lot of good. Daria in the 50s...that was inspired. Too bad they just didn't make that the whole episode. "G-D idiot." Muy bueno. Okay...it wasn't just a dopey ensemble episode...it was cutting parody. Certainly worth another spin, with the understanding that it ain't perfect.
411 - Groped By An Angel	Okay, fine, whatever. One of those episodes where you really get tired of Quinn. No wonder Daria beat on her at the end of "The New Kid." But I guess there's been "growth" in the intervening two seasons, as Daria is convinced at the end of this to let Quinn wallow in the opiated haze of delusion over heavenly intercession. Maybe OH did so not out of kindness toward Quinn, but because she was as bored with this episode's premise as I was. I guess this is an acceptable stab at contemplating life, the universe and everything, including belief and God. Another I'd watch, but not go out of my way to find.
412 - Fire!	Hey, all you computer geeks.... Quinn's crazy, she should have gone for the hAx0r -- get free stuff that way, and he'll never want to touch you because he's got to rush home to learn how to steal credit card numbers and download Windows XP activation numbers on Kazaa. Well, Daria's not bad, she's just written that way. To carry the Spock ref from 312 further, she's entering her own Ponn Far, when not only would she beat up her best friend (figuratively), but answer certain urges.... I'll be honest -- I REALLY got into Daria, as a series, with the F!, D,D,MD, IIFY trilogy. My name is Um, and I'm a Daria/Tom shipper. Well, I was, until about 504 or so.... Is the ep good? Not the best of the three, but it all comes together and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That said, it's eminently watchable.
413 - Dye! Dye! My Darling	That this episode screws with your little head, expectations about the characters, and the core of the lead character's psyche -- personal integrity -- so well, and STILL comes in third in this grouping speaks to the power of the writing in this series. I think there ought to be special mention for the entire ILAP, F!, D!D!MD and IIFY tetralogy. When they decide to do a story arc, the Daria crew don't screw around. Sure, a love triangle isn't original, and smacks of Dawson's Creek -- but the difference is, Dawson's Creek sucks. Shakespeare stole every plot he used in his plays from somebody, and what of it? If you can suspend your distaste and accept Daria's involuntary actions and the existance of real romance in Our Heroine's life, you'll really enjoy this. Or, you want everything to remain the same in the series, including Daria. If so, you may want to check out the collected works of Hanna-Barbera. I hear Scooby-Doo is nice.
MOVIE - Is it Fall Yet?	12345678912xxxxxxxxxxxx
501 - Fizz Ed	S-s-s-s-s-s-sucks! Sorry if that makes Glenn cry, but one clinker out of how many he wrote, we can forgive.
502 - Sappy Anniversary	Her first mistake, of course, is taking relationship advice from Quinn. One can only suppose a stray flying can of soda konked her on the head after what we saw in Fizz Ed. A.J.:>Daria is feeling her way around her first "Relation-dateship" thing and it shows here, a common theme of season 5. Her and Tom have a spat, Daria realizes in most cases, she's the one who's being stubborn, apologizes, and everything's okay. It was ok here, No, it wasn't, IMHO. >but got old as the season wore on. I learned how the S1'er felt...where the hell was Daria from 501 to 513? I kept looking around for the pod from which this imposter crawled. But the first laugh-out-loud moment of S5 was this classic Quinn rap: Quinn - Well, I remember that your first date was the same day I started my split-end refusing regimen, unless you don't count from the first date but instead from the time you kissed him behind your best friend's back while she was still going out with him, which I believe was the night of the Fashion Club Blushathon finals. [...] Let's say we ignore the instance of sleazy backstabbing, so that means... Quinn -- mistress of the deadpan remark. The "eye director" (that's a real credit, no foolin') also gets an Emmy for The Red Head's facial expressions during Tom's front-door grilling. >The subplot here was just as interesting. Jake taking a job with a dot-com company .... I'm sure he never got paid...too bad the time-delay got them on the social commentary. I wonder what 1,000 shares of Buzzdome common is worth today? Probably cheaper than toilet paper. If only Daria had had the facilities South Park enjoys, being able to drop last-minute topical stuff in a the click of a mouse. Don't fail to remember the hot-tub scenes, and Jake's reaction to the 18-year-old plus wizard candle.
503 - Fat Like Me	"Quinn is a Human, Part Two. " Stacy's scene in the bathroom chewing Tiffany a new one (down, boys) was very entertaining. >Daria and Jane's bidding war over the outcome of the FC's struggles would be. Not a bad running gag, all the euphamisms for money. Jane - "Wait. Clams?" >Even Jake's rants about his cohice of meat being cooked in his hamburgers was funny. "Jake - Sometimes a man just wants a hunk of bloody red steak!" Of course, every right-thinking male thought Sandi looked better with the extra chunkage.
504 - Camp Fear	Sadly missed opportunity.
505 - The Story of D	The first of the too-long series of "Gurlz v. Bo�s" episodes. I could hear this without the TV on, WTF? Remember when she pushed the door in his face...oh, don't get me started. Thank GOD for Fat like Me, Lucky Strike and Boxing Daria, or else Season 5 would be tough to watch.
506 - Lucky Strike	This is how you make an implausible event -- Daria teaching her own sister -- work. The problem with many Daria episodes that try to pass off a real suspension-of-disbelief-killer concept is a lack of whimsy. This one has that. Combine that with Quinn's declaration of sisterhood -- and Sandi's closeby humiliation -- and you've got a damn fine bit of TV.
507 - Art Burn	The whole point of this episode is, "Don't hack out the same tired crap just to get paid." And then they ended the series. Coincidence?
508 - One J at a Time	What Daria, the series, became. More visual gags, more action, more dumb behavior. It was okay, but Quinn's love life doesn't interest me much, and Daria's thinking on what Tom is to her wasn't given a hard enough look.
509 - Life in the Past Lane	>Jane meets a new boyfriend who is into the whole "retro" thing. Dresses like the 40's, 50's and 60's including zoot suits, fedoras and the like. Daria and Tom aren't too crazy about him as they see Nathan as a jerk, Me, too. Boy, Jane can't get a break. But it was enormously selfish of Daria and Tom to not even try to mingle at the open-air nostalgia fest, and that bugs me. Not unwatchable, but I wouldn't make an effort to find the tape.
510 - Aunt Nauseam	Erin and Brian are getting a divorce and Helen is roped into handling the legal proceedings by her mother, which ends up with Rita staying over while Helen does all of the paperwork. What married man can't identify with Jake? AMG, you with me on this, bro? All my married homeys say "YO!" and drink a pitcher of martinis. One of those episodes that, for me, transcends being a kids cartoon about a smart girl and enters the realm of character study, examination of family dynamics over generations, and the kids being all right. Funny, here we have Daria and Quinn grudgingly on the same team, again, and it's very cool. And I'm not bugged by the dress subplot...transparently another take on conflict resolution, but it did show at least two of the Fashion Club members have hearts, and value each other over stuff like dresses, which warmed my cockles. I dunno...it just feels like a good episode.
511 - Prize Fighters	I think we all agreed that this one sucked. What could have saved it? A better gag than Jake's hot dogs. More incisive parody of corporate America and corpo-think than we got. A better kicker than Daria discovering that corporate types dismiss her venom as just cute satire. A better interpersonal problem than Jane feeling inadequate about her grades. This was another attempt to get the characters to do stuff they don't do, and not for good enough reasons. Feh.
512 - My Night at Daria's	Tom and Daria enjoy a date reading together, but both fall asleep while doing so, This is the "Sex" episode in the Daria Episode Big Topic List -- see also "God", "Drugs" and "Cheese Fries". I've actually been where these two were, waking up very, very late for home and in some girl's room. Owie. The idea of OH getting a rep as a sex kitten is a very nice touch, in fact, a nicer one than Tom got. Never announce the condom, dude.... You all knew Daria wasn't coming across, right? But Tom must dig psycho moves in his women, because Daria pulls several in this one. And if that sounds unkind, well, sorry, but in my humble opinion, Season Five Daria needs to go in for regrooving.
513 - Boxing Daria	Others think that reaching back across the seasons to reference events from "Esteemsters" and other episodes is a gimmick. I find the closing of the circle, and explanation of "How Daria got that way" to be masterful. Smarter, better writers than me have made it clear that we are, in the end, nothing but memory, little but the result of events shaping our past. Glenn Eichler's genius lies in creating what seems to be a cardboard-cutout character, then pumping her full of so full of life that one can't help but empathise. There's more...what is the line between preserving personal integrity and participating in family, society? Is rigidity a virtue? There are no simple answers, especially if one is sensitive and has suffered from being different. Is Daria strong, or weak? Is there more to life than outwitting annoying people and avoiding contact? Is that true strength? If I let "them" in, will they destroy me? Is it okay to hug? Tom wasn't there to attempt to fix it. Jane wasn't there to run interference -- but she was there when it counted. Helen and Jake turned out to be part of the solution, instead of the problem. IN fact, everyone in MTV's supposed target audience -- and everyone else -- needs to hear this truth: With extreme exceptions, parents who seem like brutal, uncaring, clueless dolts during one's adolesence will inevitably turn out to be flawed but loving schmucks who are doing their best. And Quinn, with a caring gesture, cemented what will be a beautiful friendship. Daria's going to be okay, and that makes me happy. Watch it again. wyvern>no simple answers? s'far's I can see, all those questions're strictly rhetorical (like,watch most other later _Daria_ episodes), most of them represent false dichotomies, and ohnevermindigiveup...... Then explain the cult of Daria Triumphant. wyvern>reactionary resistance to change. overreaction to the "Daria Morgendorffer: what's to like, anyway?"-vibe some later eps seemed to veer towards @ times (& which I've been heard complaining about myself, to be sure...). etc., undoubtedly. Sure, I'm belaboring the obvious...but I'm also heralding what makes Daria, at its best, a great series of stories. And it's handled just about the best in 513. And it has the greatest impact on our protagonist.
MOVIE - Is it College Yet?	12345678912xxxxxxxxxxxx

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