Mike's Initial Reaction Review-"Fair Enough"

Before I begin, I would like to apoligize for not putting some spoiler space in the review the last few weeks, from now on I will try to remember.

Spoiler Space

MIRR-"Fair Enough"

Heart Attack Watch- Jake is really coming into his own as a useful comedic character in the series. While most of his scenes aren't exactly plot advancing, he does add a comedic kick-start, despite being almost transparent(even Quinn is starting to realize not to go to him for advice, or at least to go at your own risk). He almost knows that he is inadequete, since he equates helping Quinn with just giving her money, instead of actually trying to help her.

Blasts from the Past- Andrea had a line!!! She didn't appear on screen, but she had a line!!! Upchuck was devilishly in character for his limited role. Does anyone else think it was fitting that he was dressed as the jester at the fair? Daria and Jane went into major "Pinch Sitter" mode at the information booth, which really shows their talents for tricking little kids(and is good for a gag or two).

Continuity of the Week- We get to see Sandi's brothers and mom again, which i honestly didn't expect. Helen is still trying to keep up with Linda and she always feels that she falls short. Mrs. Li still acts as if she wore either one of Hitler's underlings or the warden of a maximum security prison. It's is good to see that the writers haven't completely forgotten what has been established.

Fashion Club Blues- Tiffany is up to her old tactics- sucking up to Sandi or Quinn(whichever one she is talking to). But the real blues are with Staci, she seems to be falling out of favor with the fashion club gods and the worst part for her is that they don't even care.

I must admit that I didn't react favorably when I realized that the premise of this episode was a medieval fair, but it wasn't beaten to death and wasn't the the most detrimental part of this episode. My main gripe about this episode was that it was too disjointed, storywise. To me, "Fair Enough" seemed to be just a couple of completely different events that happened to take place over a short period of time with no real beginning, middle or end. It kind of reminds me of the end of one episode of "The Simpson's" where Marge asks homer what the moral of the episode was and he says, "I dunno, it was just a bunch of stuff that happened," but I digress. There really wasn't much of conclusion, but there wasn't much of a plot either. All of the characters seemed to be in the same problem they were in during the episode at the end. One more aside before I close: I know that Daria is the title character but why does everyone have to ask her opinion(not just in this episode, this happens as recently as "Gifted")? I guess it would be just to set up her witty one-liners:)

"Fair Enough" has its moments but really isn't that strong of an episode, my grade for this episode is B- (saved from a C by the food fight scenes)

Mike

In article , [email] wrote:

Not only that, but Mrs. Bennett made her first appearance since "This Year's Model". Not that she's a very interesting character...

Not only that, but it seems to me that most of the jokes were just rehashing situations we knew were going to happen anyway. I'm worried the characters are getting too repetetive. We know by now that if we see Sandi she's going to act jealous of Quinn and try to destroy whatever she's doing (if her mother is going to become a character, it'll be completely pointless). Tiffany will side with whoever she happens to be talking to.Mrs. Barch is going to bitch about her ex-husband and equate him to all men (except Mr. O'Neill), etc., etc. "Gifted" and "Ill" weren't nearly as bad about that. "Gifted" used the Fashion Club in a different way, on an individual basis, so that they weren't doing the same old thing. "Ill" didn't try to use all the characters like "Fair Enough".

Also, I felt that they just ran out of time before the episode was over. I kept expecting some aftermath of the food fight, Quinn's humiliation, and Daria and Jane's "information" for the kids. The final moment of the eipsode did not even end the Kevin and Brittany subplot...for all we know, she'll drive him down the road indefinitely until next week's episode...

In article , [email] wrote:

Yeah, this whole episode was one big "running gag," evrything that happened was a repeat of something that had happened in a previous episode.

That was too abrupt, IMO. There was definately too many things going on in the backgroud(there was really no 'A-story' at all here) and they were tenuously linked by the medieval fair. When you try to fit three episodes(with three virtually separte stories) worth of show into one, bad things are bound to happen. There was enough material for more than one episode as this one seemed like it was about to burst from being overfilled.

Mike

wrote: > While most of his scenes aren't exactly plot

plop....bottle on the table "damn!"

No one else coulda been jester next to upchuck...I just wish he had a chance to audition with brittany.....give that girl somethin real to "eek" about!

Not like she noticed really.."I'm so glad i have friends like u"...oh, yea the "so he's single line"...I may take it back:)

And what about the terrible ride jane and quin took with staci...they coulda given her all sorta of good, yet false advise........a whole setup left ignored:(

Hating when mindgames go unplayed.... Jewlya

"Don't worry, I don't have low self esteem. It's a mistake. I have low esteem for everyone else."---Daria ("Esteemsters") " I don't care if they eat me alive, cause I've got better things to do than survive" ani difranco

In article , [email] wrote:

What was this? I missed it.

Actually, the joke was that they *weren't* tricking the little kids. A lot of what they said I recognised as true (Anne Boylen having six fingers for example) so I suspect it was all well-researched.

I agree with another poster in this thread ... given the way Sandi acts, Linda's antics are just redundant. I also feel that Helen has always been presented as the sane, smart member of the family (aside from her difficulties as a parent) and I don't see the advantage of having her humilated ... the Morgendorffers aren't the Bundies.

Mike should quit hiding behind a deja-news address before anyone even begins to give his reviews any credence............

In article , [email] (L Lassen) wrote:

begins to

I do believe I'm going to have to save this post, because it is truly one of the funniest ones I've ever seen in a newsgroup.

Thanks for the laughs, LL.

Now, weren't you on your way out?

• TDH

On 16 Jul 1998 20:50:49 GMT, [email] (L Lassen) wrote:

A snot-nosed, trash-talking punk is passing judgment on someone else's credibility? Now *THAT* is funny.

Martin ---- Quinn: Daria, you can't leave me here with those, those yuppies! Daria: Yuppies are from the 80s. Quinn: So, what do you call people with funny outfits who talk about peace and love and stuff? Daria: Trekkies. ---- To send E-mail, remove the "nospam" from my E-mail address.

Actually I think Mike's reviews are some of the best thought out that I've read anywhere.

Jeff

In article , [email] (L Lassen) wrote:

begins to

Says an AOLer...

(Other AOLers - it's a *joke*. I've had an AOL account since before it supported WIndows!)

In article , "Lee Ann Rucker" wrote:

Yes, back when AOL was a Mac-only service...ah, those were the days...;-)

--.\\<-H-- Who noticed your email address first time I got on this NG...

In article ,

to

All right, here is my pesonal e-mail address, if you must know:

*[email]*

The reason I use dejanews would be because our server doesn't carry this newsgroup, that is hardly my fault.

Mike