There's something equally frustrating and gratifying about Daria having typical teenager relationship issues. The most revealing scene, as is often the case on this show, is the conversation between Daria and Jane, where Daria tells her best friend that she's frustrated with the fact that Tom hasn't done anything for their anniversary and that he doesn't take her on traditional dates, but that she doesn't want to feel like that, and kind of hates herself for being upset about it. It's a neat little encapsulation of the show's title character, a strong young woman who looks down on most teenage conventions, but finds herself occasionally yearning for them which just adds to her frustration.
What's frustrating about it as a viewer is that Daria is not apt to be the type of person to hide how she feels or play games. While other shows might have dragged out the Daria-Jane-Tom love triangle issue for an entire season, Daria spills that she kissed Tom to Jane the first time she sees her afterwards. That makes her behavior with Tom a little upsetting.
On the other hand, it's perfectly understandable. It's what teenagers, especially those unaccustomed to being in a relationship, do. Even if the feelings are a bit unfair, it's completely natural that Daria would worry she's been taken for granted. It's a very human, flawed side of Daria, which is nice to see. The way she looks around at the other various romantic gestures at Lawndale High in disgust (replete with Jane's brilliantly funny Pinocchio retort) is a nice reminder for her as to how and why she should address these feelings on her own, usual terms. I can't say I love how Tom was once again kind of condescending about the whole thing once they finally talked about it, but I liked the explanation and the resolution.
The thing dragging the episode down was Jake's story at the dot com startup. While I liked Helen's part of it, especially the resolution and the subtle touches that show however much they may needle each other from time to time, Jake and Helen really do love each other, Jake's adventures at the office were a misfire. The whole dotcom bubble idea feels very dated (even if start up jokes have worked well as recently as Entertainment 720), and while I generally really enjoy Jake at his most flustered, the satire of internet companies was pretty toothless and the whole thing felt like a TGIF sitcom type of storyline.
Still a good episode, with an interesting look at an issue for the main character and a weak B-story that at least had a nice capper to it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2016-01-12T19:21:55Z
There's something equally frustrating and gratifying about Daria having typical teenager relationship issues. The most revealing scene, as is often the case on this show, is the conversation between Daria and Jane, where Daria tells her best friend that she's frustrated with the fact that Tom hasn't done anything for their anniversary and that he doesn't take her on traditional dates, but that she doesn't want to feel like that, and kind of hates herself for being upset about it. It's a neat little encapsulation of the show's title character, a strong young woman who looks down on most teenage conventions, but finds herself occasionally yearning for them which just adds to her frustration.
What's frustrating about it as a viewer is that Daria is not apt to be the type of person to hide how she feels or play games. While other shows might have dragged out the Daria-Jane-Tom love triangle issue for an entire season, Daria spills that she kissed Tom to Jane the first time she sees her afterwards. That makes her behavior with Tom a little upsetting.
On the other hand, it's perfectly understandable. It's what teenagers, especially those unaccustomed to being in a relationship, do. Even if the feelings are a bit unfair, it's completely natural that Daria would worry she's been taken for granted. It's a very human, flawed side of Daria, which is nice to see. The way she looks around at the other various romantic gestures at Lawndale High in disgust (replete with Jane's brilliantly funny Pinocchio retort) is a nice reminder for her as to how and why she should address these feelings on her own, usual terms. I can't say I love how Tom was once again kind of condescending about the whole thing once they finally talked about it, but I liked the explanation and the resolution.
The thing dragging the episode down was Jake's story at the dot com startup. While I liked Helen's part of it, especially the resolution and the subtle touches that show however much they may needle each other from time to time, Jake and Helen really do love each other, Jake's adventures at the office were a misfire. The whole dotcom bubble idea feels very dated (even if start up jokes have worked well as recently as Entertainment 720), and while I generally really enjoy Jake at his most flustered, the satire of internet companies was pretty toothless and the whole thing felt like a TGIF sitcom type of storyline.
Still a good episode, with an interesting look at an issue for the main character and a weak B-story that at least had a nice capper to it.