Episode Guide

Daria!
Episode #307 - February 17, 1999
Written by Glenn Eichler and Peter Elwell

Song List Entries For This Episode
Oops! List Entries For This Episode
Transcript For This Episode
Previous
"It Happened One Nut" (#306)
Next
"Lane Miserables" (#308)

Cast
Regular: Daria, Quinn, Helen, Jake, Jane, Trent, Brittany, Kevin, Jodie, Mack, Upchuck, Sandi, Stacy, Tiffany, Jamie, Ms. Barch, Mrs. Bennett, Mr. DeMartino, Ms. Li, Mr. O'Neill

Guest: Marianne, Eric Schrecter, Theresa

Non-Speaking: Joey, Jeffy, Ms. Defoe, Coach Gibson, Mrs. Manson, Ms. Morris, Evan
Plot

Summary: In this parody of Broadway and film musicals, the residents of Lawndale break out into song and dance as a hurricane threatens the town.

Full Synopsis:

Note: As this episode is a parody/homage to Broadway and film musicals, virtually all of the events mentioned below are enacted with the characters singing and dancing.

The residents of Lawndale awaken to the news that a hurricane is approaching, a warning that -- at first -- no one seems to take very seriously. At school, Daria and Jane head to the roof to escape a pep rally being held in the gymnasium, a rally that Ms. Li cancels (along with the big football game) due to the approaching storm. Kevin and Brittany, convinced that the cancellation is some kind of secret plot spun straight from The X-Files, head to the roof to make out, but get trapped there along with Daria and Jane (thanks to Kevin's clumsiness) and all four have to ride out the storm in a utility shed. Meanwhile, Trent goes to the Morgendorffer house to wait for Jane and Daria to return, but Jake -- frantic over the fact that Daria is "out there in that maelstrom" -- decides to do the "manly" thing, and drags Trent out into the storm to find the girls... and promptly crashes his car into a tree. The storm finally subsides, and Daria and Jane return home to their relieved families.

Interesting Tidbits
Continuity:
  • Theresa, the Cashman's saleslady, is the same "Theresa in Junior 5" mentioned in "Monster" (#206), and seen in several previous and subsequent episodes.
Historical & Cultural References:
  • During Kevin's "conspiracy rant" in the school gym, a portion of Mark Snow's theme from the TV series The X-Files can be heard. (Appropriate, as Kevin mentions The X-Files in his rant.)
  • The milk sign blowing past the school at the end of the second act is probably a homage to the "flying cow" scene in the 1996 film Twister, which stars Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as almost-divorced "tornado chasers."
  • The weatherman on the television in the kitchen appears to be a parody of Al Roker, the weatherman from NBC's Today morning show.
  • "We are the champions, my friends" is a line from the chorus of the classic Queen song, "We Are the Champions."
Miscellaneous:
  • Going by its production number, this episode was supposed to air as the last episode of the first half of the season (or the first episode of the second half). However, MTV decided to air it as the season premiere, bumping all subsequent episodes down one slot on the schedule.
  • The on-screen title of the episode is "Daria!" Going by the "what's on screen is what counts" rule, it is considered by this website to be the official title of the episode. MTV, in its infinite wisdom (*cough*), constantly used the title "Daria! The Musical" in various commercials and promotional materials, proving conclusively that marketing is out of touch with everyone else.
  • The aforementioned flying milk sign ends up on the street in front of the Morgendorffer house in the finale.
  • In this episode, we find out that the car Jake drives is a Lexus sedan.
  • This episode is the first time we see the exterior of Jodie's house, which was first seen in the Landon family portrait in The Daria Database.
  • As with "Depth Takes a Holiday" (#303), portions of this episode were censored in Great Britain. Specifically, the entire "Gah! Gah! Dammit!" sequence was cut right at the point where Jake throws his cellphone out the window.
Memorable Quotes
Brittany - Oh, my gosh! Look at the Jell-O!
Daria - It's jiggling.
Jane - Worried about the competition?

Jamie - Are we all going to die?
Ms. Li - Not on school property!

Jane - You know, being a post-apocalyptic town is going to be cool. Other towns will be scared of us.
Daria - I'm sure they already are.

Kevin - I thought Ms. Li was just covering up!
Brittany - Yeah, she was messing with our minds.
Jane - Why doesn't that add up for me?

Sandi - Let's get out of here while there's still time to walk. Running for your life is so geeky.
Tiffany - Oh, no. Wind... hair.

Quinn - (checks beeper) Okay, Mom, I'm coming home. I'll be the one in the Hefty bag.

Quinn - I saw this TV movie about this really cute family of teens who got stranded during a hurricane. When they got nervous, they'd drink cocoa.
Helen - Now, sweetie, there's nothing to worry about. (door slams) Looters!

Helen - Hello? Trent? You haven't seen the girls? Are your parents there? Are they in town at all? Have you done anything to prepare for this hurricane? Yes, hurricane! Trent, I want you to come over and wait for the girls here. You'll be safer. Then put some on! And get over here now, young man! (hangs up) Doesn't anybody in this town wear pants anymore?

Daria - Um, Brittany, would you mind pointing those things in another direction?
Brittany - Sorry.

Jake - Gah! I can't take it anymore!
Trent - Whoa. No more cocoa for you, man.

Jake - C'mon, Trent! Your daughter and my sister are out there.
Trent - That doesn't sound right.

Daria - I guess we're going to have to take our chances out there.
Kevin - Okay, ready? I'm going to open the door.
Jane - Like before?
(Kevin repeatedly pulls on door)
Daria - Just like before.

(Kevin crashes through door head-first)
Brittany - Did he hurt himself?
Daria - Not anywhere either of you would notice.
Mike Quinn's
Delayed Reaction Review

Character Voices: Overall, the singing voices were well done. They were inconsistent at times, but that was expected since it is probably hard enough to maintain the regular speaking voices of some of the characters. Special recognition goes to Wendy Hoopes who did a great job maintaining speaking and singing voices for Jane, Helen and Quinn without any major difficulties. I can only imagine how difficult it may have been for one person to sing parts for two characters singing in chorus.

Memories: Despite what you may think about this episode, it did produce a lot of memorable lines and lyrics. Some of my favorites include Kevin's X-Files rant (which did grind the episode to a brief screeching halt, unfortunately), Jane's comment about living in a post apocalyptic town, Helen's "doesn't anyone in this town wear pants," and Jake's confusion of the words daughter and sister. I'm sure there are many more, I just don't want to make this too long.

Sticking It to the Theme: The change of theme music during the opening credits and commercial bumpers was a nice touch. It'll be hard to tell whether this change will be constant for season three until next week, but it would be a vast improvement over some of the butchered versions of the Daria theme heard during season two.

Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery: A couple of not so subtle references were thrown into this episode. The first is a parody of the opening sequence of The Brady Bunch at the end of the first song, which didn't really fit at all. The second was a reference to Speed Racer during Jake's mad rush to get home, which was more appropriate but probably unnecessary. The references should be used sparingly (but not never used), or Daria could run the risk of becoming another cheap rip-off of The Simpsons.

Song List: Due to the odd nature of this episode, I decided to throw all of my loyal readers for a bit of a loop by going down each song and giving some more specific comments.

  1. "In The Burbs": Not a bad intro, but the hurricane (which supposedly was why everyone was singing) was barely even mentioned.

  2. "Blew Away": Some veiled reference to our present presidential scandal, probably not. But this song wasn't too interesting.

  3. "Obsession": Good showcase of the talents of Wendy Hoopes for singing as Helen and Quinn. This song dragged on a little bit too long.

  4. "God God Damnit": The highlight of all of the songs, IMO. Jake was CHARACTERIZED (didn't think I'd use that word, did you?) perfectly: "flying off the handle."

  5. "They Must Be Worried": Somber, but still managed to be irreverent (Quinn probably is thinking about shoes right now).

  6. "Manly": What was with that funny dancing during this song? The song itself made a lot of sense -- Jake probably is fed up. BTW, I would have thought that Trent would be a better singer.

  7. "Wet Rain Storm": Wasn't bad, wasn't really good, either. I am glad that they didn't resort to the hurricane cliche of "wow, it's eerily calm, the storm is over -- oh no, it's only the eye."

I would have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this episode (I put my big red "F" stamp away about five minutes into the show). To be brutally honest, I was expecting a complete suckfest. I have to give credit to the writers of this episode for being extremely original and for doing pretty much what they damned well pleased even if it ends up not working 100% (does anyone really think that this episode gets made if Daria was a major network program? I really doubt it). It is easier to be comfortable with Daria if its creators and writers are willing and able to have some fun with the show once in a while. The episode did drag a bit at times and some of the songs were either boring or didn't make a whole lot of sense. However, "Daria!" was enjoyable. Another major problem with this episode is that, unless you really love one of the songs (and I mean REALLY love it), "Daria!" has little if any re-watch potential. I only say this because when I went back and viewed the tape of this episode, I got really bored, really fast.

The Bottom Line: Not too bad, better than expected, but will probably be painful to watch after the second or third viewing.

Grade: B

Daria as a Whole, Gratuitous Cussing: Someone really enjoys saying the word "damnit," since it was over used in this episode and has been used before on a couple occasions (especially "The Teachings of Don Jake"). I don't really have a problem with it, but it just seems it was hard to maintain that TV-PG rating with all of the violent swearing.

Copyright © 1999 Mike Quinn [All Rights Reserved]. Used with permission. The views presented here are those of the author, and may or may not necessarily be those of Outpost Daria Reborn.