Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#413 (4-52), "Dye! Dye! My Darling"

S04E13 Dye! Dye! My DarlingliveAug 7, 20005 days later28 posts by 14 posters
28 posts
Mike Quinn

Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#413 (4-52), "Dye! Dye! My Darling"

Spoilers Space for #413 (If you don�t want to know, then don�t scroll!)

La La La La La This is Mike's post Got to review Or he'll go nuts

Reacting Re-ACT-ing

It's got to be delayed La La La Too soon and it will fade La La La He's standing by his grade La La La He's standing by his grade La La La He's standing by his grade

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Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-"Dye! Dye! My Darling"

MDRR #413 (4-52)

Tiger Lady - The show opens up with Jane staring down a tiger at the zoo (Lawndale has a zoo?). She was looking for a way to reinvent herself as the �tiger lady.� As part of this new image, she wanted to dye her hair with blond stripes. So far, so good, but here comes the problem - she forces Daria to do the job, even over Daria�s very vocal objections. To compound the problem, she makes Daria listen to a series of fearful accusations while doing it and then tries to drop the subject with a �don�t worry about it� after Daria got upset (quite justifiably upset and maybe a tad bit nasty). Then, to cap off all the fun, after telling Daria that she imagined the whole thing, Jane went nuts after the striping process, as everyone probably expected, went horribly wrong. Jane, herself, even knew it was a big mistake to give Daria the job - Daria told her multiple times that she didn�t want to help because she was very likely to mess it up and was afraid that she would - but, on some level, she wanted to cause a commotion that would lead to getting to what was the real problem that was bothering her (she admitted as much later on in the episode). Daria just had the misfortune of being there when Jane decided to start confronting the problems. Daria was only part of what was upsetting Jane, not the whole thing. In essence, Daria was the dog, and Jane was kicking her.

Voice of Reason - If you want to take all that �guardian angel� jazz from a few episodes back a step further (I know Groped by an Angel must seem like ancient history at this point), Trent is kind of almost acting as a patrolman over the whole situation with Daria, Jane and Tom. His most active role, obviously, is with Jane since it seems that he has always been her protector by default, anyway. After all, he did do a good job of cheering Jane up after all the unpleasantness. He�s also had a knack lately for very precise insight on the situation, mainly with things that others realized didn�t want to admit. In Fire!, he made sure Daria acknowledged Tom�s attention to her and in this episode, he called Jane on her unjustified anger at Daria for messing up her hair.

Wrong Moves, Kids! - After the smoke started to settle from all the bad vibes created by the hair dye, and, after Jane had avoided pretty much everyone for a while, the fire seemed to get a new spark. When Daria finally caught up with Jane, it didn�t take long before Jane went right back to hinting around about a possible thing between Daria and Tom (which led to one of the most memorable lines Daria has ever uttered, which I�ll get to later). Then after Daria spent some energy diffusing that bomb, she walked right into a minefield when she got home and Tom was there, waiting for her. Why exactly was he there? He wanted to talk? I guess we�ll never know exactly what he was thinking, but it�s not hard to guess. Though he did seem to be curious as to why �everyone� was mad at him. Daria pretty much spelled it out for him. He was causing her to fight with the best friend she�s ever had. Then when Tom added that he was getting bored Jane and that it was no one�s fault, Daria rightly pointed out that she couldn�t stab her friend in the back, despite any feelings she might have, and then, well, let�s just say I�m glad I wasn�t drinking anything when I saw that because I would have spit it out all over the place. The first kiss was all Tom, but the second one was more than mutual - she must have liked it a little bit.

Non Sequitur of the Week - Remember when Daria called Helen�s office and didn�t actually talk to her because she was busy. Helen was yelling at someone about his or her eighty year old mother�s wedding. If you think that�s crazy (and I do), and to give you a little insight as to how screwed up my family is, my own grandmother got married not much before her eightieth birthday. Let�s just say it�s a real long story.

Tell It to the Judge - Daria did the right thing by telling Jane about the �kiss.� She might not have picked the best time for it, but it�s not like there would ever really be a �good� time for that news. Of course, this makes Jane go directly to Tom for an explanation. He took the blame for the whole thing nobly, but he also didn�t seem like he was going to come forward with any of this information on his own (though, in his defense, Daria might have told Jane before he had a chance to). Tom and Jane realized that they were going down this road a while ago, but just didn�t say it out loud. Jane, especially, seemed torn and confused by everything that happened. She doesn�t want Tom to date Daria, but then she tells him to �give her a chance.� She�s not quite sure she knows what she wants and she is a little insecure about what the immediate future holds.

Help Me - Helen was preoccupied with her big case a lot more than she usually is, she was talking to no one for a while there. However, I think this over-over enthusiasm for her work was used to showcase just how important her family is to her when Daria finally got up the courage to go see her. Daria wanted Helen�s advice and guidance and support from the very beginning, but wasn�t sure if it was a good idea. Good thing Helen showed that it was. Behind her cool cynical demeanor, Daria realizes that her mother is looking out for her best interests, even if it doesn�t always seem that way, and that Helen will be there to help. As for the little talk they had, Helen gave her honest advice and perspective - we are never truly in control over most situations, we just tell ourselves that we are to make it through the day without going insane. She also noted that it was a lousy situation that wasn�t Daria�s fault (which was already well established).

Didja Notice? - A couple of things I noticed the second time watching this episode that kind of felt like subtle foreshadowing. Actually, I found a bunch of them, but I�ll only mention two that had to do with the big kiss scene. The first one, when Daria walked in on Tom and Jane smooching, Jane said �you had to learn about kissing sometime,� and she sure did. The second one I�ll mention, after Daria caught up with Jane after the bad dye job, their conversation got a little ugly and Daria said, �can you picture me making out with anyone?� It seems that we all did, about a minute later.

First, Whew! Boy that was a lot of ground to cover (and I still left out some minor stuff). Second, Whoa! I�m still not really sure I believe I saw what I did. When I started watching Daria, I never thought I would see anything like this. Now that I have, is it a good or bad thing? I can�t really answer that for anyone, but I can say this, the ride has been and will be a wild (and probably interesting) one. Also, I don�t really buy that Daria is being turned into a soap opera by this story arc, but I can see how it would ruffle some feathers of fans of the show, whom have been fans since the beginning. Daria (the show, not the character) had seemed to stand against a lot of this stuff, look at any time Daria and Jane had made fun of the fashion Club for proof of that. While I can understand why this would turn people off, a simple love triangle isn�t even slightly racy enough for the tamest soap out there. That being said, let�s get a little bit back to some of the things of this episode. I get the sense that Daria is in denial about something, or at least she doesn�t want to acknowledge what was happening. Her feelings about it have been the least pronounced of anyone involved and she doesn�t really want to talk about it with Jane or Tom. What she is hiding, if anything, isn�t really clear yet, but it centers around two things. She doesn�t want to hurt Jane - who has been her best friend - and she isn�t sure how much she likes Tom back (the thought of liking him at all seems to be scary to her). Also, she has been more noticeably nervous in these last two episodes than all of the others put together (she was repeating herself and talking fast at some key moments). As for Jane, she has gotten stressed out by the whole thing to the point where she is hardly any where near �unflappable� anymore. This is a side of her that we�ve hardly, if ever, seen of her before, and is out of character for her, but then again she�s never been in a situation quite like this one before, either. And for Daria and Jane�s friendship to survive they need to be away from each other for a while, even if only to calm down, because they aren�t sure what they should feel (as evidenced by their last conversation). But just like Fire!, we had another �dual� ending, with the huge question mark being what will result from Tom�s phone call to Daria at the end. In that sense, this was the perfect set up for what might happen in the upcoming movie.

Grade: A little less conditional A-

Daria as a Whole #1, Alter-Ego of the Week - I�ll go with Jesse in a bottle, because most of them sucked and there were less to begin with because of the movie promo.

Daria as a Whole #2, The Grades Are In - Taking a quick look at my grades for season four, they end up with an �Episode Point Average� for the entire season of about 3.4, which blows away the composite grades of both season two (3.07) and season three (3.19) and even rivals my biased grades for season one (3.43). Season four (so far) was definitely better, in my opinion, than seasons two or three, and even though it may have not had as many episodes that jump out as classics, its bad episodes were far better. Consistency does mean a lot.

Daria as a Whole #3, Not Over Yet - This episode confirms to me that Is It Fall Yet? Is supposed to be part of season four. So it seems we�re getting sixteen of seventeen episodes this year.

Daria as a Whole #4, Thanks, Thanks and Thanks Again - I�d like to thank you all again for making these reviews worth doing. I look forward to the movie and season five. Also, be on the look out for the �Season Four Wrap Up,� sometime after the movie.

Copyright � 2000 Mike Quinn [All Rights Reserved]. "Daria" and all related characters are � 1997-2000 MTV Networks, Inc.

Got a question about a review? Drop me an email at: [email]

Missed a review? Check The Delayed Reaction Review Archive http://homestead.deja.com/user.mikequinn/mdrr_archive.html

Mike Quinn [email]

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So....what was the line? I'm sorry if I'm dense and I missed it.

Mike QuinnKrimren

to

The "can you imagine me making out with anyone?" line

Mike Quinn [email]

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Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com
c.Mike Quinn

"Michael J. Quinn" wrote:

another one that felt like foreshadowing (once you've seen the whole episode): daria's "or is it a cry for help?" line upon seeing jane's painting sorta held true....jane's whole hair-dyeing scheme was at least in some ways a last-ditch effort to save a relationship riding a slow boat to hell..

jane was also fishing for reasons to hate daria, hence forcing daria into something she was gonna screw up (and anyone in their right mind would have known she was gonna screw it up). if it wasn't an attempt to "bring something to a head" (get it?), her anger wouldn't have been so immediate and violent. that was a pretty wicked rage session, there.

that "i feel sorta awkward" dialog on the doorstep, by the way, was just flat-out excellent writing. it's almost like these writers took the same creative writing classes i did last year....

c. http://www.kiva.net/~raindog/roadrage/roadrage.htm road rage: bringing nothing to your head.

"Michael J. Quinn" wrote in message news:[email]...

Anyone who complains that "Daria" is turning into a soap opera is way off base. This is so much *unlike* a soap opera. In soap operas they throw seemingly mismatched couples together willy-nilly, right from the first episode, causing all kinds of ridiculous hysterics. Then they break them up and match them up with someone else. Repeat ad infinitum.

In this case, we have Daria and Jane, who have become great friends over the course of the series. While they had a couple of bits of tension (such as in "See Jane Run"), their friendship has remained strong. Finally, in the 39th episode, Tom is introduced as Jane's new boyfriend. This throws something of a monkeywrench into things. Daria seems to fit less into the equation, until the events of "I Loathe A Parade," which hinted at and eventually leads into the surprising turnaround of the last two episodes.

There's nothing in this episode that I can cite as a blemish. This is an A+ all the way for me.

I don't have any ratings, but I have to agree.

I think I can speak for everyone in saying thanks for your insightful and en tertaining reviews.

And I'm not just sucking up because you're using my theme song. :-)

Joe Lisa (reading the Comic Book Guy's T-shirt): "'C:/DOS. C:/DOS/RUN. RUN/DOS/RUN.' <laughs> Oh, only one person in a million would find that funny."
Violator's ToadJeg7777

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Don't forget that they'd have to have really *bad* actors and everyone would have to wear evening gowns and tuxes to every party they're invited to (at least one a day). Also, they'd have to bring Tommy Sherman back from the dead, and the entire cast would have to be stranded on an island for at least one three episode sequence. Plus, in a soap opera, Daria would not only be kissing Tom, but she'd also be sleeping with him along with several other guys (perhaps a girl too) not including her ex-husband that she thought lives in Texas but really lives just down the street and is about to kill her in a jealous fit of rage!!!

Don't you just love soaps? :P

-----> Violator's Toad <-----

"Please be careful, I exist in someone else's head." - from "Annie" by Our Lady Peace

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Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com

Partial Spoiler

Don't forget: she'd also be the victim of some sort of demonic possession, after which she would develop either 1) amnesia, 2) multiple personalities, or 3) both. And her baby (which no one ever knew she had) would be switched at birth, and be unknowingly adopted by Daria's long-lost sister (whom DARIA doesn't know about). The kid would appear as a toddler for about three weeks, and then suddenly reappear on the show as a nubile teenager on the cusp of womanhood, searching for love and answers to her past. Then, the actress playing her will get into a contract dispute over more money and her character will be written off (I mean, disappear mysteriously after falling off the Princess Fairy cruise ship during Upchuck and Andrea's wedding reception).

About 2 years later, after all the viewers who watch these shows but still have actual lives have forgotten all about this, a mysterious stranger will appear in Lawndale. He will be tall, dark, handsome, and wealthy as all getout ('cuz you just can't be t-d-h AND flat broke on these shows), but will have a deep dark secret. While he's keeping this secret from the good citizens of Lawndale, he manages to marry/have affairs with half the women in Lawndale, including Stacy, Tiffany, Ms. Defoe, Ms. Manson (the school psychologist), and the fat blond girl with the headphones whose name we don't know. Meanwhile, Sandi is involved in an on-again, off-again affair with Max, which jeopardizes the future of Mystik Spiral on the eve of their big comeback tour with Spinal Tap (mainly because Sandi has been awarded custody of The Tank & they face the likelihood of going on tour in a Ford Fiesta). On a lighter note, the parents Morgendorffer are eagerly awaiting their soon-to-be born grandchildren -- the triplets that will be born to Wind and Quinn Lane. Seems Wind finally got it right (marriage, I mean) on his eleventh try. Meanwhile, the Stranger is embarking on another affair, this time with Penny Lane, who is back from selling gold-plated macaroni-and-glue jewelry somewhere in the Andes. While she's at home at Casa Lane, she comes across a clue to the Stranger's dark secret -- pictures revealing his true identity -- pictures that were taken by her father, Vincent Lane! Penny decides to use the pictures to blackmail the Stranger for mucho dinero, which she will use to launch a chain of exclusive boutiques which will sell only the finest of hand-crafted tin picture frames. (And oh yeah, maybe open up a Starbucks in the mall.) The Stranger, wanting to thwart Penny's evil scheme to open up yet another overpriced, overrated coffee klatch, poisons her double latte with silver nitrate. Then, in a stroke of genius (by soap standards, anyway) first tries to make it look like an accident by framing Penny's parrot, Chiquito. However, once the Lawndale Police realize that even a bird that size coulnd't lift a bottle of silver nitrate, much less unscrew the cap, without some help, Chiquito is cleared as a suspect by Detective Kevin Thompson. Suspicion is then cast on Penny's sister, Summer because. . . because -- well I can't think of a reason, & besides, it IS Kevin handling the investigation.

On the other side of town, at the Better Days Nursing Home, Ms. Li is going on and on about the lack of surveillance cameras in the rec room -- she is certain that Mr. DeMartino has been cheating at Bingo and that Mrs. Johansen is surrepticiously eating all the tapioca pudding.

Daria, meanwhile, has returned from her stay at the Quiet Ivy Soul Spa, after being in the care of Dr. Jean-Michel and his trusty pocket watch. After going through more past-life regressions than Shirley MacLaine, Daria (after discovering that in a past life she was named Velma & she solved mysteries while riding around in a van with a stoner, a couple of horny teenagers and a talking dog), is refreshed and ready to get back to the business at hand in Lawndale. Except that she finds that her longsuffering Tom has somehow lost all his his family's money and the mansion in a theme-restaurant chain scam involving Terry Berry Barlow (who got 25 years for racketeering and now shares a cell with Bruno, Rita Barksdale's ex-boyfriend). Tom is now living in a 1971 Chevy Mailibu (a big step up from that Pinto, in any case). Jane, having had her heart broken by Jesse and then Tom, has taken a vow of celibacy and teaches art and grows peaches on a commune in Chilton County, Alabama. Meanwhile, Helen is preparing to defend Summer on murder charges, the three Js are assisting Kevin in cementing the prosecution's case (which is about as cemented as cottage cheese), and Mack and Jodie are the first husband-and-wife team to be elected President and Vice-President of the United States. Daria, while visiting Amanda Lane, come across one of Vincent's negatives (which Amanda was about to use in one of her ceramic pieces). She takes the negative to the one-hour photo at SuperWalMart (which is run by Ted DeWitt-Clinton, duh!) and together they discover the Stranger's deep dark secret -- the Stranger is none other than Daria's long lost adopted niece/biological daughter, after her gender-reassignment surgery! However, the pictures, which were taken by Mr. Lane as a freelance assignment for the New England Journal of Medicine, show that the surgery was not a complete success, and that Stranger, while no longer technically female, isn't tecnically male, either. Seems there wasn't enough . . .um,. . .stuff . . .to make the necessary parts, and the Stranger is as anatomically correct as a Ken doll. The stranger's wealth comes from a mondo settlement from John Hopkins -- not the hospital, but a guy who's a part time mechanic for Happy Herb's Used Cars who also does cut-rate (no pun intended) surgeries on the side for people who got screwed by their greedy, stingy, non-paying HMO's.

Seeing a possible link between Daria's daughter (or is it her son?) and Penny Lane's murder, Daria (who still doesn't have her own car yet, after all these seasons), calls up Jake for a ride to the courthouse so get she can get this crucial piece of evidence to Helen, before the case goes to the jury. Jake, in his usual state of road rage, is trying to pass a slow-driving Mr. O'Neill and swerves into a car driven by Daria's new fiance, Tad Gupty (who was distracted while trying to satisfy his junk-food-junkie habit by tearing open a giant bag of plain M&Ms -- make that MILK CHOCOLATE M&Ms -- with his teeth. Meanwhile, Daria, stranded at WalMart, is almost run down by a crazed Janet Barch-O'Neill, who, having gone through yet another divorce, mistakes the now short-haired Daria (who got her hair cut during a hiatus from the show & made the MTV execs apoplectic) for a man and aims her car at her, but instead runs over and kills Daria's stalking ex-husband from Texas. Traumatized by these events, Daria reverts to one of her many personalities, Marilyn Hanson, and starts singing "The Beautiful People" to the tune of "MmmBop" at the top of her lungs.

Will Daria recover from her trauma and get the photo Helen in time to save Summer from Death row? Will Jake or Tal survive the car crash? Can Tom save up enough money to move into a nice mini-van? Will this crazy writer with her sprained hand ever get her ass to bed b/c it's after 1 am & she still has to get to work in 7 hours?

Tune in tomorrow for more of "As the Sick, Sad World Turns"

Sponsored by Fugg Soap. If you want a tough stain out, Fugg on. If you don't have a tough stain, Fugg off. (Thank you, Redd Foxx).

I'm going to bed.

Chirping through the night (I canNOT believe i actually used the word "cusp"),

Cricket

CricketCricket

And, oh yeah, will Ms. Li EVER catch Mrs. Johansen eating all that Tapioca pudding? ? ?

NOW I'm going to bed.

Cricket

Jeg7777Cricket

"Cricket" wrote in message news:[email]...

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You'd make a great soap opera writer! Buuuuuuuuut.......where's Lerman?

Joe Lisa (reading the Comic Book Guy's T-shirt): "'C:/DOS. C:/DOS/RUN. RUN/DOS/RUN.' <laughs> Oh, only one person in a million would find that funny."
CricketJeg7777

Lerman could be one of the men who might be the father of Daria's long-lost daughter - -er, son. Whatever.

Or could it be Mike, the driver's license examiner. (Looks like Daria learned more than one way to "parallel park"!)

And what about that randy reverend who performed Cousin Erin's wedding? (Could he and Daria have had a "religious experience"?)

But then again -- wait -- those eyes, that hair, that high-pitched crack in the Stranger's voice -- could his/her father possibly be . . . COREY?!

It's a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, cradled in a conundrum, stuffed in a Hefty bag.

The answer, tomorrow, on "As the Sick, Sad World Turns."

Off to put more ice on my hand.

Chirping yadda yadda yadda, Cricket

Cricket said:

<monotone>

Thank you for the honor of allowing me to be the father of your child.

<end monotone>

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

"Let us go out then, and claim our inheritance. We belong to a tradition in which the concept of defeat has no meaning. Today the stars and tomorrow the galaxies. No force exists in the universe that can stop us." (Hogan)

Dear Cricket,

ROFL many times over!

I saved your post to my hard drive as "Cricket's Daria Soap".

Oh, to see it in production ... ;-)

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

"Let us go out then, and claim our inheritance. We belong to a tradition in which the concept of defeat has no meaning. Today the stars and tomorrow the galaxies. No force exists in the universe that can stop us." (Hogan)

Thank you, but don't forget to give credit to Violator's Toad as well, whose post sparked my little (!!) rant in the first place.

BTW, I consider this to be my First Anniversary rant (I delurked a year ago August 1.)

Back to lurking until my hand is better,

Cricket

Violator's ToadCricket

as well, whose

*blushes* Aww shucks... Your post was way better than mine anyway. :)

-----> Violator's Toad <-----

"Please be careful, I exist in someone else's head." - from "Annie" by Our Lady Peace

-----------------------------------------------------------
Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com
Lady InterferenceCricket

Bwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwah!

(tearing up)

Bwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwah!

(*gasp*)

Bwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwah!

(dabs at eyes with tissue)

Bwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwah!

Cricket, you've done it. You've written my favorite post ever. This absolutely takes the cake (and the dice...heh). I think you should try and expand this and create this mega fanfic around this obscenely ridiculous soap opera scenario. Um...please?

Remembering why she never ever ever watches soap operas,

LI (who does go for a Mexican novela or two, but those end after a few months)

Lady Interference (http://www.ladyinterference.com/) * member, Nick Rhodes Worshippers Unlimited * "reinvent the human race, you just got the invitation"

Dear Lady Interference wrote:

*sniff* I'm so happy & so very moved by your approval! Thanks! :-)

At this time, I don't know if I'll develop this into a full-scale fanfic. This was just a reaction to Mike & Toad's postings -- somhow, the Muse took over & before I knew it I was on a roll.

Unfortunately, sometimes pain comes with pleasure -- I've been typing with an injured right hand since Monday, & I'm paying the price for that ranting. Perhaps, once my wrist is fully healed, I'll expand on "As the Sick, Sad World Turns." Also, my Muse seems to have gone the way of Quinn's guardian angel, but maybe, sometime soon . . . .

Chirping the night away (& dying to get back to San Antonio sometime),

Cricket

Jeg said:

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Right. Which if you watch the whole series destroys the credibility of _any_ of these romantic relationships; if they form and break them so lightly, they obviously don't really mean all that much to the participants, so why is everyone getting so upset about them?

By contrast, the events in _Daria_ have been developing over almost a year, show universe time, and Tom's attraction to Daria (and the breakup with Jane) have both been extensively foreshadowed.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

"Let us go out then, and claim our inheritance. We belong to a tradition in which the concept of defeat has no meaning. Today the stars and tomorrow the galaxies. No force exists in the universe that can stop us." (Hogan)

Michael J. Quinn said:

SPOILERS
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It was a cool idea. Part of the reason, I think, was that she was trying to be more exciting for Tom.

Getting an inexperienced person upset while she's trying to do your hair was a _bad_ idea. Jane may have been _trying_ to pick a fight with Daria.

She was really mad at Daria in particular; she'd realized since "Fire!" that Tom was attracted to Daria.

Yes. Trent's been a peacemaker, trying to keep things from exploding. He knows in particular that Daria has no malevolent intent towards Jane, and he wants to prevent Jane from permanently alienating Daria.

I know that he wanted to tell her he liked her. I do not know how if he was intending things to go as far as they did ... or farther. It's difficult to tell, since the situation seemed to get out of control for both of them.

Oh yes. That was an incredibly romantic, and even erotic scene.

I think it was kind of unusual for an eighty-year-old woman to get married, and outright crazy for Helen to be attacking someone over it. Doing things like that could make Helen permanent enemies; I think the point of that scene was to show just how stressed out she was, and then by contrast how much she loved Daria (because she was willing to make time for Daria anyway).

Yes.

Right in the halls of the high school, in front of the students, was probably NOT a good idea.

But yes, it was right that she told her.

Tom might have tried first to find out if Daria wanted to be his girlfriend.

I really don't think Jane wanted to break up. Or realized that Tom really wanted to, until he outright told her that he did. I think that Jane was hoping that this would be "forever."

Daria realized also that Helen would understand her situation.

That was a pretty nasty thing for Jane to say: she was flaunting the fact that she had a boyfriend and Daria didn't.

Daria was really sad when she said that; it was tantamount to "can you picture anyone ever loving me?"

Yep.

I honestly don't see the problem with a continuing, romantic story arc. It's not being handled in a manner that trivializes the characters or their situation.

Daria's own passion, in that love scene, scared herself. She might not have realized that she was capable of behaving like that. Not that she did anything all that wrong, but it was simply not something that she'd ever done before.

Losing Jane's friendship horrifies her. Being in a romantic relationship scares her. The two together are seriously upsetting. Any other girl would have been in tears or hysterics by now.

Jane's almost as inexperienced as Daria in this sort of thing, and she's the one who's losing _both_ her best friend AND the guy.

Absolutely.

Yep. A major cliff-hanger.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

"Let us go out then, and claim our inheritance. We belong to a tradition in which the concept of defeat has no meaning. Today the stars and tomorrow the galaxies. No force exists in the universe that can stop us." (Hogan)

In article ,

trying to be

It's also a symbol - the Lady or the Tiger - the symbol of having to choose between two alternatives with significant downsides.

the

hair was a

since "Fire!" that

He knows

he wants to

he was

difficult to

them.

As I've said elsewhere on this ng (the "Threesomes" thread) the first kiss was definitively mutual too.

She liked the second "a little bit"? It this a deliberate understatement?

married, and

things like

scene was to

loved

probably

I don't think Tom likes confrontations and procrastinates when faced with them.

girlfriend.

As I've said elsewhere (again the Threesomes thread) I think it's clear that Daria confesses her feeling for Tom in the course of ineffectively denying she's attracted to him while in his car. Her voice sounds uncharacteristically pleading in this scene.

really

was hoping

fact that

you picture

arc. It's

not have

anything

before.

Absolutely. Someone said elsewhere on this ng that Daria was "upset" and ran after the second kiss because it would upset Jane. Listen to her voice ("I gotta go") - confused and scared. She can't believe her own passion - probably she's becoming sexually aroused and can't handle it.

By the way, Tracy Grandstaff's voice characterizations of Daria in the car scene deserve a standing ovation or something. The tone of voice in Daria's denials to Tom that she is attracted to him indicate that she's not buying her own denials, she know Tom is buying it, and she knows Tom knows she knows it.

And "I gotta go" sounds exactly like a teenage girl surprised and scared at the depth of her passion.

I'll bet Tracy was emotionally wrung out after this recording session. She probably had to immerse herself in some of her own memories to get the voice inflections right.

More of the same by Tracy.

relationship scares

have been

As Jane once said, Daria is NOT hysterical. Ever.

she's the

tradition in

tomorrow the

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Invid FanM Man

In article , M Man wrote:

Not in public, no. But she's human. I'm sure that in her room at night she's broken down before. For sanity's sake you need some emotional outlet.

Chris Mack "Never let two artists marry! Always push the 'Invid Fan' painter down the well! GRR! I CAN'T FORGET!" -Quinton, 'Thieves & Kings' [email]

Invid said:

SPOILERS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I think we _saw_ her _almost_ breaking down in 413. The stuttering, the desperate attempts to contact Jane, then Helen, and the bit at the end where she's lying on her bed, fully dressed, staring at the ceiling.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

"Let us go out then, and claim our inheritance. We belong to a tradition in which the concept of defeat has no meaning. Today the stars and tomorrow the galaxies. No force exists in the universe that can stop us." (Hogan)
Mikel MidnightInvid Fan

In article , Invid Fan wrote:

We *did* once see her pouring half a cup of coke onto a pizza ... which actually struck me as much of a tantrum as we've ever seen from her.

"She always had a terrific sense of humor" Mikel Midnight (Valerie Solonas, as described by her mother) [email] __________________________________________________http://www.best.com/~blaklion

In article ,

night

which

Her emotional outlet has always been sarcasm.

Have you noticed that she's never really been able to be sarcastic with Tom. In Jane's Addition, she TRIES to be sarcastic and comes off as just plain nasty.

M Man

______________________________________________________________

Mikel Midnight

__________________________________________________http://www.best.com/~b
laklion
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KTrick45M Man
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M Man wrote:

My thoughts exactly. And include Wendy Hoopes in that, too. Her voicing of Jane on the swingset with Tom was absolutely dead on target.

<Stacy> You really get the feeling (they've) been there...</Stacy>

Peace Kevin

M ManKTrick45

In article ,

the

session.

get

voicing of Jane

Yes, I should have mentioned that. The crack in her voice in the line "What do you mean, we should have just broken up" sounded more than real.

I supposed they have been, like so many of us.

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Jeg7777M Man

"M Man" wrote in message news:8n1rbh$8j1$[email]...

Also, near the end when she got in the car with Trent and he asked where they were going, just the way she said "Daria's" -- a combination of exasperation, resignation and a bit of dread.

Joe "I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman!" - Homer Simpson

In article ,

Very well said.

Boy does it!

It's as Jordan has said before, Trent is a fairly observant person when he wants to be, he just usually lacks the motivation, until these most recent events.

If Tom was so bored with Jane, why did all of this happen after the events of ILAP when we first got an inkling that something may spark between the two of them(Daria/Tom)? As for the kiss however, emotion temporarily overcame intelligence for Daria producing a moment of passion, eventually her intelligence regained itself because of what it would do to Jane if she ever found out about it.

Exactly, if she didn't tell her, and it leaked out eventually, then there would be no chance of the two of them getting back together, at least by being honest, there's still a chance to salvage their friendship. After all the discussion I've read about this I'm still unsure where I stand on Tom. He seems like a great guy, but he shouldn't have done anything with Daria at all until he and Jane were offically broken up, yet I don't think he meant to hurt anyone, things just happened.

Helen has been there during all the rough times and that makes up for all the absences thus far. She was right, too. We only control a very small part of our lives, and Daria was right, too. Life sucks most of the time, but there are those moments that make it worthwhile, Helen's biggest role in this is yet to be shown, which we'll see in the movie.

Another one When Daria asks why they don't mix up the dye beforehand, and Jane answers " Because it will build up inside and explode" or something like that, and boy did things explode!

Excellent points, all the way through, they'll have a lot to show us come August 27th.

I'd say A, but that's just me.

There were only 2 new ones, the other was Mack, dressed ala Evel Kenevel(sp?), near the end which I though was great and better that Jesse. Still odd, the only ones we disagreed on were the first and last eps of the season.

Really? 4 eps jump out as classics to me, anyways, ILAP, PT, Fire!, and DDMD. I agree Season 4 was the best myself as well, with 3 the worst so far.

Thank you for taking the time to do them, they're well appreciated from this fan and many others.

A.J.
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