How can I describe Daria's love life? As an anti-social person, one might think that Daria is the type to never give guys a second thought. Well, this was obviously defied the moment she saw Trent. However, though some say that Daria is just being a high-schooler with a crush, think about it. Daria's EQ is actually pretty high. She's not your typical high-school girl. Trent comments to her in 'Road Worrier' that "it's hard to believe that you're in in high school". So what is it exactly that makes Daria so weak-kneed and tongue-tied around Trent in the first three seasons? This is where Daria's anti-social side pops in. She's really the type of girl who, once she's got a crush, avoids that crush as much as possible. I don't think it's intentional; it's just that she doesn't want to make a mistake and make a fool out of herself. However, it's difficult for Daria to avoid Trent when her best friend happens to be his sister. This is probably why Daria really likes Tom. He's almost the complete opposite of her. He's confident in his ability to communicate, plus, he's straight-out honest. Sharing a similar streak of sarcasm with her (although Daria tends to be more ... negative), Tom is able to draw out of Daria more than any other guy can. Because the way Daria met Tom was pretty blatant and... uh, 'unusual', Daria wasn't able to build up her thoughts and feelings on him the way she could for Trent. When Tom is going out with Jane, Daria obviously couldn't allow herself to fantasise about him. But when he kisses her in the car, she realises that not only is she liking the kiss, she actually likes Tom. Oh, and it's not *her* kissing *him*, *he's* kissing her. It isn't just a fantasy. That realisation probably let her go for the second kiss. This is where Tom is blaringly different from Trent. When Daria has a really big crush on Trent - and taking her fantasy from 'Pierce Me' - she really likes him because he's cool. Well, he's hot, he's in a rock-band (despite how bad it can get...) and isn't just a 'grunter' - he actually seems to have a mouth. She's obviously taken first by his appearance, what with his 6 ear piercings and his tall and lanky build, and builds her feelings on that image. At first it's really one-sided. She's insecure on how he feels about her, and has a constant feeling that she's a dork in comparison to his 'coolness'. Later on, the more she and Trent talk to each other, the closer they get. Trent starts to actually take her as herself, not just 'Janey's friend'. Daria, on the other hand, is a pretty realistic girl. She isn't the type to dismiss all his errors. In fact, she takes them into stride, (and these all pile up to one pretty icky fantasy in 'Lane Miserables') and when his irresponsibilty completely conflicts with her ideas of responsibility and committment, she ends her crush... or does she? We never know whether her crush ends or not. However, we *do* know that Daria has turned her feelings down quite a notch, and opens herself up for other guys - like Tom. Tom is rich and spoilt, but that doesn't stop him from being charming and incredibly patient and sweet. When Tom first meets Jane, he's simply staring at her. So it's Jane's charisma and looks that hooks and reels him in, right? But with Daria, Tom likes her from her attitude and personality. He's not materialistic with girls - he's a pretty good guy for that. Yet, despite all his good points, Tom never really struck me as the type of guy Daria would go for. But since his wit matches hers and it appears that Daria is quite attracted to his confidence as he is to her opinions on life, I guess they make quite a couple. Tom is the ideal boyfriend, isn't he? He's extremely patient, he gives Daria calls, he's romantic, he's sweet and he genuinely likes Daria as she is. His faults, which make him human, include being completely blunt and assuming things are going his 'standard' all the time. Unfortunately, none of these things qualify for a long-term relationship with Daria, but they work perfectly for being Daria's first boyfriend. Why? Well, it's a matter of opinion, but I'll try to explain. Daria has never dated in her life before. Can you imagine her, around the 3rd season, going on a date with Trent, smiling and blushing and saying all her witty remarks? The answer is something like 'can you imagine Jane having a crush on Mr. DeMartino?' or anything similar. In fact, if she had had any date before Tom, Daria'd be pretty speechless and 350% awkward during it. (Especially if she liked the guy.) Tom, being the confident and easy-going guy, however, is just the guy to help give her the nudges and pushes required to make a relationship work. He even understands her predicament with sex and helps her go through it without making a really big deal out of it. Daria really appreciates Tom for his patience and his romance, I'm sure, but if there's anything Daria would not like to feel, it's guilt. I'll explain that later. Daria has her negative points. She's very withdrawn and holds up a defense to anyone that doesn't want to accept her the exact way she is. So when Tom, with one of his bad points, assumes she really wants go to Bromwell in 'Is it College yet?', it needles her. He's assuming that just because Bromwell's a really good college, and also just because he's going, that she desperately wants to, too. Even though she tells him (twice) she's going to RAFT and she's fine with it. Thus, they clash. Unfortunately, that's not the only area they clash. Tom's too nice to her in many times; such as in, 'My Night at Daria's', Daria thought that Tom would want to dump her after she'd stood him up. Instead, he was incredibly nice and patient about it and turned the blame to her (not in a nasty way, but he just did). But really, Daria must feel quite guilty from Tom's 'niceness'. He's really too nice to be real, sometimes. He didn't even seem mad; he was just confused. And Daria isn't used to guilt. So basically, Tom is the perfect candidate for Daria's first boyfriend. He helps her go through the first levels of intimacy and puts up with her occasional twitches of nervousness. But where their interests clash affects Daria's core; her self-esteem (with Tom's assumptions of her needing to 'reach his standard' i.e. Bromwell) and her conscience (Daria never seemed to have one until halfway through the show - and Tom nettles it with guilt just by being too nice). So as a result, in 'Is it College yet?' Daria feels inclined to break up with him. He's a great guy and all, but really, they're getting bored of each other, and they're really from two different worlds. Thanks for showing the gal about, but Tom can go now. So where does this leave Trent, who incidentally was never really resolved with in the first place? Well, I noticed that the first three seasons primarily focused on Daria's crush on Trent. I thought it was pretty sad on how they just ended it with that really weird conversation in 'Jane's Addition' (it sounded like a real breakup, haha, obviously intended though...). Both depressingly and pathetically-wise. It was as if Daria was made to end her feelings for Trent just so Tom could walk in. It wasn't that easy for her in 'Lane Miserables'. However, the more I think more about it, I think -- now this is purely speculation -- that the show always wanted Daria and Trent to get together. They had to build up their friendship first, though. But as the show neared the end of the third season, it probably struck the staff how weird it would be. "Hey Daria. Let's go on a date." "Okay." "Yeah. Whatever." Can you imagine it? Honestly - there can't be anything more awkward. In season three, Daria's just not used to guys enough for dates, let alone Trent. So what we see at the end of season three, in 'Jane's Addition', is not an abrupt ending, but rather - yes, this is SERIOUSLY going to sound corny - a beginning. Still there? Well, if you are, listen to my reasoning before you go off to bang your head against the wall. In 'Jane's Addition', Daria hones down her feelings to a point where she feels Trent is a good friend. His lack of committment is definitely something Daria would not be able to cope with if they ever got together, and realising this, her crush on Trent falls several notches. Trent, on the other hand, has been building up his opinion on Daria ever since he met her. So in 'Jane's Addition', we see what the result of it is. From 'Janey's friend', Daria shifts up her status to 'the coolest high-schooler I know', to finally 'one of Trent's closest friends'. How do I know this? Well, notice carefully in the episode how he pays careful attention to Daria rather than Jane for the 'project'. He takes her home in his car, talks to her in the kitchen, and most importantly, finds her at home to take her to a pizza place so he can apologise to her. Trent expects Daria to understand his idea of music, but she gets annoyed because he totally dismisses the whole point of a deadline. He says he's disappointed as he thought she'd understand, but basically, she does. It's just that he doesn't get what a deadline is for. Her idea of a deadline is a time in which you should prepare for and complete something to give in. His idea of a deadline is a limit to creativity. When these two ideas clash, Daria understands that Trent isn't the type to commit his time to make a relationship work. However, it appears that Trent understands what Daria means, because when he gets up, he kisses her on the cheek before he leaves. Daria smiles, and doesn't blush, so we know her crush is done and over with. But would Trent kiss her on the cheek any other time? The peck on the cheek signifies two things. First thing is that he definitely considers her close enough a friend to kiss on the cheek. The second is that it appears he has developing feelings for the girl. So Daria has her feelings for him down to close friend, and Trent has his feelings on Daria up to close friend. So, by the end of 'Jane's Addition', I'd say that it's a beginning for Trent and Daria rather than the end. Or at least, they're on level ground, so they both have a good chance. In the fourth season, Trent and Daria are *not* experimenting with the 'good chance', however. Because that's where Tom comes in. Blah, blah, blah. I will not bore you with the details with The Triangle, which I trust you already know. In the movie 'Is it Fall yet?' we know that Daria is feeling pretty crap about the whole thing, and she and Trent have a talk about it. Labelling it 'the Tom thing', Trent assures Daria that Jane's fine with it, and promptly goes into a rendition of "Betrayal". Either he was trying to make her feel guilty (since she did kinda hurt his younger sister?) or it was really 'inspiration'. Daria tells Trent she broke up with Tom due to difference in family, and to many D/T 'shippers disappointment, he doesn't jump on her but in the contrary comments that 'But you weren't dating *them*.' He encourages her, in a way, to go out with Tom again. Trent is pretty much the fuel to the whole Triangle - he talks the messes out with Jane and Daria to force them to face reality - and makes the whole thing go a lot quicker. In the fifth season, Trent and Daria are still close friends, and she's still testing out the 'dating relationship' waters with Tom. By the movie 'Is it College yet?', she's pretty much got the whole worry of dating done and over with, and breaks up with Tom. So Daria's open and free, things are generally over as she's pretty good friends with both Tom and Trent, right? Right. Just one thing. I still feel this certain 'lean' towards Daria and Trent. They did spend an awful lot of the Daria series developing their relationship, only to cut it off and insert Tom in. To bluntly put my reasons as for why this is the case, I feel that Daria needed Tom so she could perhaps get with Trent some time. It's going to be difficult for Daria to get with Tom again, and she never really had any deeper relationship with Trent in the first place. In the last few minutes of 'Is it College yet?', Daria makes her speech. Notice whose reactions the show cares to display. It truly could have done with simply her family's and Jane's reactions, but notice they put in Trent's reaction, too. It could be because he's one of her close friends, but really, Jane is enough to represent that for the show. MTV purposefully put in Trent smiling as Daria makes her speech. And it's actually the last we ever see of Trent. The smallest things have the biggest meanings. So what is the significance of Trent's reaction of Daria's speech? What does it mean? What is MTV trying to convey? I'll leave that for you to think about.