"Nursing Home" Episode

I can't quite remember the title... Here's some spoiler space anyway -

OK.

I was surprised nobody has said anything about it; in my opinion _that_ was the worst episode this season - mostly because of what they did to Daria's character. I realize part of the series' subtext is that Jane is a little better adjusted than Daria, but still, the way in which Daria complained about reading to the old folks, and then went on to read "Howl" to one of them, made her look like an insensitive jerk. At least Jane made the best of it in her own warped way.

She usually comes off as being more mature than her peers. But her underlying attitude appeared to be "I don't want to do this, therefore I will intentionally sabotage it by reading something I know very few people will like, and then get all morose because nobody liked it." It was even stranger when in the end she ends up reading Byron to the old lady who was hard of hearing, with no mention of why she didn't start with something like that to begin with. Again, perhaps the writers were concerned that Daria was looking too much like an adult wearing high school clothes, and decided to make her a little petty. But I think the writing was out of character. I would have found it more believable if she had started by reading Byron and it was too highbrow for the old people.

Anyway, what do you think?

Alvaro Fernandez Rice University

Hmmm. I didn't get the impression Daria was trying to be cruel, because she looked genuinely annoyed when she realized the old people found her ill-favored. I think she just made a bad judgement call in picking her material. "Howl" may just have been what she happened to be reading at the time.

She finished off the episode by reading her own Bondesque writings. But, Daria knows that the woman can't hear it, and she's really just there to provide company for the woman. This was a very nice gesture on Daria's part.

Alvaro Fernandez

In some ways. Jane is more sociable, on the other hand she is also more vulnerable to peer pressure. She tends to be impulsive, a trait which could easily get her into all sorts of trouble. This enabled her to amuse the kiddies, but also caused the hospital staff to kick her out in the end.

Daria is more cautious, more honest, and more independent. But she pays for this by being more detached. People have to make a considerable effort to win and keep her friendship. On the other hand, some people definitely want to, as the series shows.

Daria can be, at times. She means well, but she is brutally honest and tends to plow right though people's feelings. She's also basically naive and inexperienced at dealing with people in situations outside of home and high school.

I think she really hoped that the old people would like her stuff. She didn't realize that the morbidity of her selections would appeal to the elderly even less than it would to high school students.

Daria is smart, but she's only 17, and a rather isolated 17 at that. There's a lot she doesn't know about the world.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

She's 17? And a sophmore?

-John

On 14 Mar 1999 01:35:21 GMT, [email] (TMBeJ) wrote:

Nope, she's 17 and a junior. Two years of "real time" equals one year of "Lawndale time," according to producers Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis. Therefore, she was 16 and a sophomore in seasons one and two, 17 and a junior in seasons three and four, and if we see more after the fourth season, she'll be 18 and a senior in seasons five and six. Unless the series comes to an end before then, of course, which means they might just speed things up. We won't know until then, as the series only has a firm commitment through season four.

This also means that the other characters are a year older as well. Consequently, Quinn is now 15-1/2 and a sophomore, for example, and Trent is now 22 but still unemployed. :-) Jane is the lone exception; she is still 17 -- she turned 17 towards the end of last season, in "Pierce Me" -- but would be 18 near the end of the fourth season.

Helen, of course, is still forty s... three. :-)

Martin (to send E-mail, remove the "nospam" from my E-mail address) ---- Quinn: "When they got nervous, they'd drink cocoa." Helen: "Now, sweetie, there's nothing to worry about." (door slams) "Looters!" ---- Outpost Daria: Your Online Database for All Things Daria! http://systech.simplenet.com/daria/

And by the way...she looks FIFTY! :)

Maybe I'm too prone to rationalization, but I think this episode can be seen as being in character. We've seen Daria behave in a particular way in the past, and interpreted this as maturity. Lately, she's still been acting more or less the same way, but now she looks immature. Obviously, Daria wants to appear mature. The fact that she tried unsuccesfully to change her behavior in this episode suggests that her behavior is partly innate, partly a pose.

To some degree, she's putting on a cynical attitude to look cool and mature. Lately, this hasn't been working so well, and Daria has some real problems dealing with it because it isn't all an act. Her personality and abilities don't allow her to be successful in all situations. She still tries to cope, though, and maybe her skills will improve. After all, she is a teenager, and she's still got some growing up to do. The portrayal of this hasn't been too smooth, but in a way this works. The teenage years are usually awkward, perhaps a show about them should be awkward too.

In article ,

I don't think it was teribly out of character since most of what happened in this episode was a rehash of past plots/ideas. As for this being the worst episode so far, well let's not get into that here...

I didn't really see it as complaining, more like frustration. Just to make a parallel, in "Quinn the Brain" Daria seemed to go through a similar type of pressure when Quinn usurped her identity. She was frustrated that her sister was being liked for some of the exact things that made her an outcast. In "The Old and the Beautiful," Daria experiences a similar frustration in that she can't seem to 'fit in' with any of the home's residents. Some of it's her fault (she doesn't want to be there in the first place, she picks unfortunately morbid material, etc.) and some of it is because they like Brittany more. She was frustrated because it seemed, at first, that there was nothing she could do to fit in.

I would chalk that up to poor judgment. I can't assume that everyone will like everything that I like. Daria seemed to make this assumption.

That would have been easier but then there wouldn't have been a point to the episode- Daria wouldn't have had any struggle. As for going back and reading to Mrs. Blaine, she finally found someone who is like her, or at least likes her. She got that connection with another person that she find hard to come by.

Perhaps, but I still don't think anything she did was too far out of character (no one can be absolutely 'in character' all of the time anyway).

That's a dangerous thing to ask here, we are very opinionated ;)

Mike Quinn [email] "...the race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself..."