Feb 17, 1998

Hail,

Of course I'm going to talk about last night's episode, but I have a couple other things to cover first.

I taped the whole marathon yesterday, since I wasn't able to watch as it ran. I wanted to get all the conversations between Daria and Jane and their answers to fan e-mails. However, I saw some of them during the "prime time" shows, and I got a bit worried. Later, I saw that Rowena had them all up, so I went to read them. Very sad. I decided they're just plain not worth the space, so you won't find them here.

On to the episode (okay, that was one thing, not a couple).
I only had a few problems with it, and since there's only a few things I might as well start here.
First, and worst, that new cut-to-commercial music. It's horrible. It's hideous. It makes me flinch every time I hear it. Who's bright idea was this? Get rid of it quick, please.
Next is a sort of ongoing thing. When the show goes after a point, as it did tonight with the First Amendment, it loses subtlety. Not to say that it isn't funny, it's just a bit different. I can understand it some; I mean, if you're really out to make your point, you want to make sure people get it. I just hope the "big point" shows smooth in a bit more.
The last thing is minor, but Helen dumping the pasta on Jake's head was a bit extreme, even for her, even with the excuses. Unless Glenn (who wrote the episode) was really trying to show how childish Helen is.

The Good:
I think this shows great promise for second season. The characters (overall) act like they're real. It looks like the writers have gotten the hang of them. The character interactions seem to have been stepped up a bit, another promising development. Jake finally got a good one-liner ("'Want you to be honest,' he said. What the hell made me believe him?"). I absolutely loved all the phone scenes. Helen's reaction to being called by the school ("Tell them I'll make sure Quinn turns in her assignment on Monday, and try to find out what the assignment is" "Your other daughter" "Tell them I'll talk to Daria about her attitude, and try to find out who she insulted and what she said") was perfect. And when her kid was threatened with inane punishment, she did a perfect 'stressed out lawyer not about to take any crap'. Mr. O'Neill seems himself, and practicing saying names (and still getting them wrong) was great for him. Trent even got a decent role - although I must admit that when I first saw them streak out of the parking lot I thought Trent had ignored Jane's advice and had fallen asleep.

The new alter-egos were interesting, although I'm not sure about the Baywatch Daria one...

All in all, a great night. I should have quotes up later today, and probably would have done them yesterday if I hadn't stopped by IRC to mess around :)

Wraith