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Daria

The Story of D

Season 5, Episode 5, Aired Mar 19, 2001

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Daria writes a story that she plans to submit to publication, but is reluctant to let anyone read it. She gives it to Jane and Tom to read--Jane thinks it needs a little work, but Tom likes it and encourages her to submit it. She submits it to a magazine, but it gets rejected. This discourages her, but she decides to give it another go after learning Jake went through a similar situation with a song he wrote when he was her age. The Fashion Club seeks to win a humanitarian award by donating a mirror for the school bathroom, but they first have to get the money to buy the mirror. They decide to start a newsletter and sell it, but get discouraged when all of the fashion predictions they publish turn out wrong. Meanwhile, after learning of the reasons behind her niece Erin's failed marriage, Helen starts to keep a close eye on Daria, making sure she isn't rushing into sex with Tom.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Tracy Grandstaff

Daria Morgendorffer
Wendy Hoopes

Jane Lane, Helen Morgendorffer, Quinn Morgendorffer
Julian Rebolledo

Jake Morgendorffer
Marc Thompson

Kevin Thompson, Anthony DeMartino, Timothy O'Neill, Jamie White
Janie Mertz

Sandi Griffin, Brittany Taylor
Jessica Cydnee Jackson

Jodie Landon

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They're obsessed!

9.4

"Superb"

By HunkyMandrake, May 07, 2011

While I write this, my hands start to shake and I start to cry. I miss Daria Morgendorffer so much!

Inspired by the FashionVision Awards, Quinn and her colleagues decide to buy and dedicate a new girls' bathroom mirror to something. Of course, they realized that they needed to raise some money in order to reach that goal, and they did that in the best way they knew how: writing a "Fashion Forecast Newsletter." Surprisingly enough, they took this very seriously and seemed to try to do their best with it. Ultimately, all of their efforts were wasted.

Meanwhile, in the realm of the not quite as vacuous, Daria forgot about her "date" at the movies with Jane. That was odd for her, but her reasons made sense -- she was working on a short story that she was thinking about possibly "submitting somewhere". At first, Daria wouldn't let Jane read the story, and Jane was underwhelmed when she did. Now, that wasn't a good sign.

From Jane's comments, Daria started to doubt her ability as a writer. Her "mistake" was letting Jake know about it. His attempt to reassure and console her turned (fairly quickly, I might add) into a rant about how one of his instructors at military school didn't let him perform a show tune he wrote. He obsessed about it, even trying to perform his song for Daria. For the most part, he was no help.

And speaking of temporary obsessions, Helen was having a hard time (no pun intended) trusting Tom and Daria alone. I don't know what she thinks is going on up there. Daria and Tom are both smart enough that if they were going to do the things that Helen was worried about, they sure as heck wouldn't be doing them anywhere near her. Anyway, it was cute to see Helen nearly have a heart attack when she saw the "tell-tale smooch."

And speaking of Tom, Jane thought it would be a good idea for him to read Daria's story. He apparently enjoyed it, to the point where he convinced Daria to submit it to a magazine. Of course, he also told her no one would have to know about it. Well, that didn't last very long once Mr. O'Neill saw Daria at the post office. He can't be trusted with any secrets.

The Fashion Club's efforts to raise money took a bunch of major hits. The first was, when Waif's "What's Hot, What's Rot" issue came out, they found out that everything they forecast was directly contradicted ("wrong" is probably too strong a word here). That was compounded by the fact that no one even bothered to read the newsletter in the first place. They ended up giving back all the money they made and while they weren't able to get that mirror to "reflect well on [them]" (a clever pun for Sandi), they did get a plaque to show that they "really care."

Musings rejected Daria's story. That wasn't totally unexpected, nor was the fact that it upset her. However, she took it out on Tom because he encouraged her to try. She, as she has been prone to do, picked a fight with Tom because something else was wrong. Somehow she got the impression that he wants her to fail miserably (which just isn't the case). But the rejection she did get wasn't even the worst kind -- her story just "wasn't right for us right now."

While Jake didn't directly do anything to help Daria, his actions did end up helping her. The fact that he never entirely gave up his song inspired her, even when he said that it sucked. That his "reach exceeded his grasp" was good for Daria to see. That's better than not realizing that it sucked. She saw that "one bad song (or, in her case, 'bad' story) written when you're a teenager" doesn't make him (or her) a failure. It's all the other stuff that does (kidding).

The main theme of "The Story of D" to me was how the Morgendorffer family dealt with their obsessions: Quinn with her fashion forecast, Jake with his early attempt at songwriting, Helen with Daria's sex life, and Daria with her story. Oh, and that little fear of rejection. Anyway, every one of them dealt with it in a different way, and that made this episode very intriguing. Other than that, the amount of funny one-line zingers made it even more enjoyable.moreless
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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (13)
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- Quinn: Muh-om! I'm not J. Edgar Winter!
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- Jane: You're willing to have [your story] published and read by strangers, but you don't want your best friend to see it?
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- Jodie: You know, my mother gets Musings and their fiction is awful. I bet you'll have no trouble getting in. Daria: Gee, thanks.
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- Jake: If it weren't for Ellenbogen I might be a Broadway lyricist. I could write songs for Cats. I could write songs for dogs!
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- Jake: I'd like to thank my family, my friends, and not that damn Corporal Ellenbogen, or Gilbert, or Sullivan!
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- Stacy: What do you think this stuff is that looks like vomit?
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- Jane: He meant well. For a teacher who does nothing well. Daria: I'm reminded of my father. Jane: What? Why? Daria: Because I can't get the phrase "damn idiot teachers with their damn idiot brains" out of my head.
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- Quinn: I know! How about a new mirror to replace that awful one in the girls bathroom that adds at least two pounds. Stacy: I hate that mirror. Tiffany: It haunts me.
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- Daria: I couldn't show it to [Tom]. It's too intimate. Jane: Daria, it's about a flesh eating virus. How is that intimate?
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- Jane: Was I being enthusiastic again? I'm sorry. Daria: You didn't mean anything by it.
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- Daria: Ever have one of those moments that no shower, no matter the duration nor the temperature, can ever erase? Jane: I'm leaning towards trauma-induced amnesia myself. Punch my head, would ya?
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- Daria: Well, we both know why I asked you here. Tom: Not me, no idea. None whatsoever. Daria: Fine. I deserve that. Look, um, sorry, you were being supportive, I was the one acting like, you know... Tom: You can do it. Rhymes with "clerk"? Daria: Shut up.
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- Quinn: Why don't we do what we do best? Sandi: Quinn, no one is going to pay us to eat carrot sticks.
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NOTES (1)
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- Music -Save Ferris - "Everything I Want to Be" (closing credits) -Big Pun - "It's Alright" (second Fashion Club meeting) -Pharaohe Monche - "The Light" (Jane avoiding commenting on Daria's story) -Coldplay - "Yellow" (Daria reading her rejection letter) -At The Drive-In - "Invalid Litter Department" (2nd commercial bumper) -Catherine Wheel - "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" (Jake's new showtune) -Gomez - "Bring It On" (Tom at the front door)
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ALLUSIONS (3)
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- Daria's reference to the loss of the plays by Greek playwright Aeschylus refers to the destruction of the Library of Alexandria in ancient Egypt during the 5th Century. It's generally accepted that this event set back human knowledge and progress for centuries, and helped usher in the Dark Ages.
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- "The tell-tale smooch" : a pun on Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.
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- Title Pun: The Story of D The title of the episode is a pun on the Pauline Reage novel The Story of O.
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