Groped by an Angel

Without giving away any spoilers.... eeeugch. Played out like a fanfic borrowing from tons of past episodes, incredibly unfunny. Definitely the worst so far of season four.... C/C-

Adam

LOL. I put the same exact emotion into my review, spent 15 minutes trying to spell it, and finally settled on "bleaah."

On 20 Jul 2000 23:27:26 GMT, [email] (WdstkSCAH8) wrote:

Since I'm spoiling...
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(if that isn't enough, oh well)

Funny. I'd consider it B->A material - some (admittedly minor) development of Quinn and Daria's relationship...Daria actually swallowing her pride and consoling Quinn...plus Daria's views are pretty much my own so of *course* I'm going to like it ;)

All in all a solid ep - funny and with some minor character development. Plus a gig that Trent is embarrased to be at and evidence he has at least half a brain...

Damon Orca on #Stars! and #Daria+

On Fri, 21 Jul 2000 00:02:37 GMT, Damon Domjan wrote:

Amen. It was a good, solid ep. It dealt with a sticky subject maturely, and didn't side one side or another. Quinn was being Quinn as usual -- rather fickle and easily led. (C'mon.. It only took a bit of bad luck for her to completely forego her previous belief. That's fickle as heck).

Daria wasn't really upset that Quinn believed in angels. She was upset that Quinn would be so damn gullible and blind into believing something so readily. This is the kind of attitude that gets people into religious cults, and Daria recognizes that. And when you think about it.. the FC itself is sort of a cult -- a cult of popularity that Quinn very readily conforms to.

In the end, Quinn was disillusioned.. Then Daria came over, and actually felt a little bit of sympathy towards Quinn. She swallowed her pride, and sat to talk with her. Quinn asked her if she believed in anyone watching over them. Daria basically said there's no proof of that. Quinn started tearing up, saying that that's so sad.. then Daria admitted that there was no proof otherwise either. The important thing is to do unto others as you would others do unto you.. and to believe in whatever makes you feel best (which reflects my personal belief as well). Quinn cleared up, and made some rationalization that perhaps angels only look after the really big stuff, and don't really look over the small stuff. She was happy enough with that, and thanked Daria.

This was the moment that made the entire show for me. It showed a kind of sisterly bond.. even if Daria was visibly reluctant to do so. She made quite a few caustic comments for sure, but I wouldn't expect anything less from the Misery Chick. All in all, Daria grew in her understanding, Quinn developed a spiritual self, and Mystik Spiral got a gig for once. I'd say B+.

Cheers, Nicole Lee

http://www.neekole.com

"I'm the master of the zing zang zoom!" -- Conan O'Brien

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny..." -- Isaac Asimov

"No, no, no, Lisa. If adults don't like their jobs, they don't go on strike. They just go in every day and do it really half-assed." -- Homer Simpson

Daria Code v1.1: A D T3 Ws Q+ FN^Fr O- OH+Oo+Od m- c+++ MV C5X F:111,213,313,406 BB- FCD DT q fN

Nicole Lee said:

Daria is also a _rationalist_ ... and even a religious rationalist would not easily credit a guardian angel acting as a shopping assistant :)

Very true ... and very good observation.

Which makes Daria an agnostic moralist, which fits her combination of cynicism and strong ethics quite believably.

Which makes _sense_, and represents growth in her character that she was able to decide this. That one must rely on oneself much of the time, rather than count on others. Given Quinn's attitudes, this is a major realization.

The fact that Quinn trusted Daria enough to ask her this also showed that, despite their sibling rivalry, Quinn _knows that Daria loves her_, and Quinn also _truly respects Daria_.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

Okay, won't give out any spoilers here either...or wait...maybe I ought to just bring out the spoiler space just in case...

it always seems like the spoiler spaces aren't being jazzed up enough... maybe we could figure out how to give them a special touch... hey... "let's do it like they do on the discovery channel!" *LOVE* that song.

Okay, that should be enough.

It wasn't half bad. No wait. It was. It was painful to watch. And this is the first time *EVER* I've felt disappointment in Daria. Normally even at her most caustic I feel those comments would've been deserved, but during this episode, while she does bring up good points, she is overbearing on Quinn even though Quinn is being unnaturally nice with her. Maybe what Jane said was right, that Daria's comments were less out of a need to spotlight the truth and more out of fear. But...dammit...Daria's supposed to be a stronger character than that.

I would give it a B-.

LI (who'll have more comments about this later on)

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fanfic

the worst

I don't think Daria was bugged by the fact that Quinn was showing spirituality as much as because it was *trendy* spirituality. This whole thing hit Quinn pretty quickly, apparently as a result of a TV show, and we all know how Quinn is, so Daria was well within her rights in thinking that Quinn had just found another fad to obsess over until it passed out of popularity. Even if Daria's not spiritual herself, it might bug her when people who aren't pretend to be (notice her reaction when Helen said she was, too.) She softened up a bit, I guess, when she saw how upset Quinn got at and after the party, and realized that maybe there she genuinely did feel those beliefs.

Someone else brought up the fact that they shouldn't have reused the Daria-goes-to-a-party-to-embarass-Quinn theme. I did notice the similarity to "The Invitation", but they took this in a different direction. When Jane suggested Daria go to the party for a chance to embarass Quinn, Daria sounded really weary of *that* whole deal, but gave in probably for a combination of supporting Mystic Spiral, to get Jane to quit bugging her about it, and lastly, to possibly bug Quinn.

At any rate, any attempt Daria makes in front of Helen to give the impression she hates Quinn will be pointless now.

I really thought Trent was being a little too literal over the whole "sub-zero" thing, although the band guy truly didn't seem to get it. Trent should have just let it pass as "artistic liscense". If you look at it figuratively, though, below sub-zero would just mean really really *really* cold, and a way to make that line have enough syllables in it.

That wasn't a big deal, though. The only thing that bugged me was the series of coincidences that made Quinn believe she had an angel. Falling chandeliers? I realize "Daria" is a cartoon and it's fine that they take liberties that a regular show can't, but the whole "character narrowly avoids injury, which causes him to See the Light" is another thing that has been done on way too many sitcoms. I remember it being done on both "All in the Family" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", both of which I consider to be good shows, but they're both almost 30 years old, and the idea was fresher then.

Still, I'd give this episode a B+. Even the Taylors were kind of interesting. That kid brother of Brittany's must have had one hell of a childhood to turn out so...*evil*. Reminds me of a 4-year-old cousin of mine who, after being told "I love you" by his mom, let out the most vicious sounding laugh I ever heard. And, silly though it was,a got a big laugh out of Brittany trying to wear the crystal megaphone as a hat. Saw its sound board mishap coming a mile away, though.

Good enough episode, though. B+.

Lady Interference wrote:

(borrowing spoiler space)

I'll agree with the grade. I don't know about "painful to watch." I found it a little disappointing. Reasons:

1.) Style. I thought the writing wasn't as tight as usual, the dialogue seemed forced, and the "Brittany's party" story line failed to advance either theme or plot.

2.) Content. I posted a while back that I think the reason that the topics of faith and spirituality have been avoided is that the writers either lack this dimension themselves, or that their views conflict. I think this episode bears that out. The writers take no sides. However, faith is all about taking sides. Spirituality requires depth. This episode dealt with it superficially.

<snip> Maybe what Jane said was right, that

Is she? I thought that exchange was one of the better ones of the episode, maybe the series. OK, maybe not the series. Anyway, it's Daria's best friend telling her, in effect, to open her mind to one of the areas where it may be closed.

I may have more on this later.

Peace Kevin

Adam said:

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It had some good moments, but I got as annoyed by Quinn's "angel as personal shopper" theology as Daria was getting, and the whole party subplot could have been _much_ more interesting. Quinn's obsession got WAY too much airtime.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

wrote:

It reminded me of Too Cute and Quinn the Brain: Quinn gets some delusion or obsession, mocked on the sidelines by Sandi, and brought back to Earth by Daria. I was expecting more from this, tho, maybe something a tad deeper. Brittany getting an award from her Dad for flunking was just annoying and criminal. Guess O'Neill was smarting from his attempts to help Kevin in Mart of Darkness 'cause here he said nothing.

The only thing I liked was seeing Daria's look of confusion after Helen told her she was "sweet" for helping Quinn and didn't let it go. Daria puts such barriers on her true emotions that it can be troubling for her when they do come out-see ILAP. It made up for the rest of the episode IMHO.

Jeff M.

JMorris said:

Yes ... it demonstrated that Daria really loves Quinn, that Helen really _does_ understand Daria, and that Daria is embarassed by her own love for her sister.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

Spoilers:

Well I thought it was an EXCELLENT episode--deep and meaningful. It ties into the currency of the angels fad which seems to be making the rounds these days without being denigrating to those with spiritual beliefs. If you happen to have a guardian angel just keep it for the serious problems. I once read an article about auto insurance that noted that insurers were reluctant to insure clergymen because they, "Drive as if the Lord will provide." What happens to you when you start thinking that everything good that happens to you is because of your guardian angel and everything bad that happens to you is because you were abandoned? What can an intelligent woman like Daria think of someone who is willing to relinquish control of one's life to an unseen spiritual force, ignoring the importance of personal action? Yet she isn't completely unwilling to accept the possibility that there's more than what can be seen and felt. Yes, I think a very meaningful episode. I'm sure that if guardian angels exist they expect you to get off your ass and help out once in a while and not leave everything to divine intervention.

Great gag: "The Ides of March aren't people, Kevin. They're a time of the month." Kevin must have had some interesting experiences with Brittany.

In article ,

and

I assume you mean not flunking . . . a C- isn't a good grade, but it does pass.

Actually, what I found most interesting about this episode wasn't Quinn's obsession (which was a valid and needed char development, and not a bad storyline in theory, but got on my nerves pretty quickly) . . . it had to do with Trent. A few days ago someone mentioned in a thread that Trent bore some similarities to Daria's father, and that this may be the subconscious reason that she was attracted to him. I found the similiarites very noticeable in this episode. Trent uses two of Jake's "catch-phrases" -- "Dammit!" and "Ewwwww!" -- in this episode, and both times he sounded very much like Daria's father. Of course, maybe I'm reading too much into it ('cause that's never happened before, hur hur hur) . . . but it's been more obvious in the lastest episodes to me.

Oh I know. Every time Quinn started talking to the Fashion Club about her angel, Daria and Jane just "happened" to be standing within earshot, right?

Actually, I thought this episode was very good. It revealed the typical nature of Quinns conformist shallow psychology. And daria's commitment to reason.

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Teak said:

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It was rather pathetic, actually: Quinn wanted to believe that she had a "guardian angel" because she wanted to have Someone Out There specially looking out for her; being Quinn, this degenerated into offering shopping advice via premonition, but it means that Quinn must feel rather lonely and unloved. I think that Quinn wasn't totally faking her belief; if she had been, the conversation at the end never would have happened.

Though, in the end, she went out of her way to make Quinn feel better. Which shows that she's also committed to her sister.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

Jordan wrote:

In my opinion, that whole subplot downright sucked. Who in Brittany's family would hire Mystik Spiral in the first place? I think that maybe the writers felt we needed some of the band in this season, but this? come on. This was more contrived than anything in "Mart of Darkness."

And onto other things... Why is Sandi super-bitch in one episode and decent in the next? I think she was probably a little too mean in this episode. She's a jealous airhead, not a sadistic fashion-Hitler.

Haven't Daria and Jane gone to a party to annoy Quinn before? Very unoriginal reason to go, and although it is realistic, it's not something I'd want to see twice. We *know* Daria likes to annoy Quinn. We don't have to have her say it over and over.

And isn't it funny how Helen comes down the stairs at just the right times? I could swallow it in "Partner's Complaint", but not here.

And lastly, just why was Jake hanging a large chandelier (sp?) meant for a dining room in the kitchen?

Unsatisfactory episode... and by a new writer, which relieves me greatly. I'm anticipating next week with hope for a good episode.

--Adam

Adam Spradlin said:

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Actually, I think that one thing this shows is that Mystik Spiral is improving, and getting more exposure (in the career sense). Brittany's father probably hired them because they had advertised; or perhaps because Brittany knows that Trent is Jane's brother.

By the way, MS was sounding better this time. Did you notice?

Sandi can have different moods, can't she? I'm sure that occasionally she can be almost sweet ... and occasionally even _more_ of a bitch than usual.

see

It would have been more fun if more stuff _unrelated to Quinn_ had happened at the party. This was, after all, Brittany's party, not Quinn's.

Helen pays attention to her daughters, when she can.

Jake _frequently_ has weird ideas, haven't you noticed?

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

Jordan S. Bassior said:

Still, isn't it coincidental that Helen comes down the stairs at just the right times? Any mother would probably stop if she saw something out of the ordinary happen (as has been the case); I'm just trying to say how Helen conveniently walks into the scene almost as if on cue.

I still am sticking to my C/C- grade. I guess this is one of those episodes that can't be deemed gtreat or horrible. I'm curious to know as to what you would grade it. Ciao (did I just type that?)

--Adam

at just the right

of the ordinary

conveniently

Of course it's convenient and not in the least coincidental that helen walked down the stairs at that moment. This is a TV show we're talking about, writen by somebody, nothing happens by accident in it, everything is contrived in one form or another, deal with it. :) Remember Helen walks in on cue because, well she was cued to walk in then :) Unless of course you were being sarcastic there and do grasp this concept and i didn't catch the tenor of your post and just went and made an ass of myself, it's been known to happen. -sam says, "Why does a tv show look scripted?" ;)

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What party subplot? <G> Indeed, it looks like Quinn's becoming the "homer" of the show....if you seen the last couple of seasons of the simpsons, they basically play out like this: homer does stupid things. That's what I got from this ep....it could have been handles more evenly and with more balance to the plot. But yeah, the party was cool ;-)

Johanna "I'm so ugly but that's okay cuz so are you"~Kurt Cobain "Fred Durst can surf a piece of plywood up my a$"~Trent Reznor

In article ,

Just started a new job and am extremely tired(I actually nodded off while typing this), will try to respond to all I can in one shot.

Overall it looks as if I'm in a minority here, but I liked nearly everything in this ep.

Quinn's trevails were very similar to those in "Quinn the Brain", a great ep. itself, just different items propelled her to her actions. I believe she did believe in the angels, but she also used them in her popularity game. Everyone wanted to know about what the angel told her, or did for her, heck even Sandi tried to copy her, (whoever said she was being bitchy one show and so-so the next, I don't remember a show with her where she wasn't "bitchy" since MSS) she had the entire school attenion and loved it. It never got all that annoying about her going on and on about the angel, as some of you think, (at least to me it wasn't all that annoying, and yes Quinn can be very annoying sometimes) if you'll notice, Quinn will do that a lot, once something works with her she'll continue it until she drives it into the ground, and then find something else to latch on to.

Not surprised by Daria's beliefs in the least. You know she'd find the whole idea of guardian angels to be ludicrous, she thinks(and somewhat rightfully so) that the only ones watching out for you is yourself, you are the only one who has any control over your life, her talk w/Jane on the wy to the party showed this, though I doubt Daria's that petty, people make their own live and no one else.

Very glad we have some sisterly bonding going on here, some good character development for Quinn here, something missing throughout the season. She took a major step(for her) in realizing that someone won't always be there to help you out, you have to learn to do things on your own and not rely on everyone all the time. Daria's compassion to her surprised me a bit but I'm glad she did what she did. She has grown a great deal this year. Before she'd have cut away at her sister without so much as the blink o an eye. It shows she likes(she'd hesitate to say loves but it's there) Quinn much more than she lets on, very reminiscent of "Monster", though that didn't end up changing Quinn all that much, we'll see what this does to her now.

As far as the subplot, not overly good, ok but not great. It was great to see the Taylor's a bit more in depth, we now have an inch of depth instead of 1/4 of an inch, though most of Ashley-Amber's scenes with the exception of her talk w?Daria + Jane, could've been cut and more time devoted to the other happenings at the party besides Quinn's. Mystik Spirals appearance was ok as well, the whole sub-zero thing was a decent joke but was ran into the ground, however their song was the best they've done yet. To me, a very solid ep. Not the best by far, yet still very well done, I enjoyed it, B+.

He who must now go to sleep for as long as Trent usually does,

A.J.

Cheese said:

The idea of guardian angels guiding one's shopping decisions is rather ludicrous, regardless of one's beliefs on the actuality of angels in general.

Yep.

Very true.

I think the point was to highlight Trent's intelligence relative to his friends.

I agree.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

In article , Jordan S. Bassior wrote:

Maybe technically, but the lines of theirs that always runs through my head are "ouch! my nose! ouch! my face!"