May 25, 2001

Hail,

Okay, short update today. My e-mail problems are partially solved. The forwarding is finally working, so I seem to be getting new messages. However, I have over two megs of unread mail from the past several weeks, and I can't get to it yet. I have no idea when I will, so it'd probably just be best if you resent it.

Next Monday's episode is about Jane's new boyfriend, who has been described as "living 50 years in the past." Who knows, maybe the Fonze will show up.

Wraith

May 20, 2001

Hail,

I know; delays, delays, delays. This Rambling has been rather delayed, but I've had stuff to do, not to mention hosting and e-mail problems to contend with.

Before I get into the episode, I've got a little story to relate. This is something that happened to me the other day on my way to work, and is a great example of what (thanks to Robert Anton Wilson) I call the Bavarian Firedrill Effect. I was driving to work, on a three-lane highway, when I noticed a couple police cars with flashing lights ahead. Thinking they were at an accident or something, I got into the rightmost lane to go around them. Well, they didn't want that, so one of them pulled into the same lane. They were blocking off the entire freeway, so I had to stop, as did a guy on a motorcycle who was in the lane to my left. Well, it wasn't long before the feeder road was blocked off as well, and I could see lights in the distance that indicated the traffic going in the other direction was blocked off as well.
Now we get into the Bavarian Firedrill Effect. The cops did not have the road totally blocked off, and there was no obvious wreckage or anything in the blocked off area. And yet, everyone obediently stopped. We were stuck there for around fifteen minutes before anyone was able to move, and yet I was the only one who got out of their car and went to ask what was happening (a new communications cable was being hung across the highway). Most people contented themselves with sitting still, with the occasional horn-honk to settle their irritation. Okay, so far no big deal, right? Well, what was really amusing was that, on this wide, three-lane highway, every single car was lined up single file behind me.
Make of that what you will.

Might as well get the Fashion Club out of the way first. They all fall into their usual roles this episode. The caricaturist has either heard about them or inferred rather a lot from their little conversation in front of him.
Sandi is portrayed as a bit dumber than typical in this episode. Now, she's never been a blazing intellect, but she's usually a bit quicker on the draw.
Quinn was smart enough to realize that Helen wouldn't be excited about the opportunity, but caved to peer pressure anyway. Not much else to say about her this week.
Tiffany was rather more vindictive than we usually see her. She, as a character, has had so little screen time that it's hard to say whether or not this is normal for her.
Stacy has long been set up as the most sympathetic and/or pathetic regular on the show. This has been building up rather more this season, so it would not be surprising to see some Big Moment (tm) with her before the show ends. If so, I'd expect it to happen during the movie, probably tied in with a Quinn/Daria main plot line.

Mystic Spiral tries to make a music video but bring down the house. Gazebo. Whatever. I do have to wonder how you're supposed to look nihilistic. Blue-shaded eyeglasses, maybe? In any case, they aren't overused and they make their usual humorous appearance. Nice to see them working on their band some, even if they do take a couple weeks off at the drop of a roof.
Trent, on the other hand, was quite the goof this episode. Most of it he was fine; I can certainly see him empathizing with the guys who just want to laze around. But the 911 scene was something that's barely acceptable from a Homer Simpson, it should never have made the final edit.

Helen does another stressed-out-lawyer. Not surprising, since she is one. It's interesting to note that we never actually see her condescending to the girls, even after one of them has apparently asked her to get the artist grounded. Not to say that she didn't do so off-screen, but she's perfectly willing to explain legal terms in not-offensivly-dumbed-down language.
What can I say about Jake? He snores. He's also got to be used to Helen working late right beside him in bed (and keep your mind out of the gutters).

Gary the gallery owner. Lacking in naming imagination, but probably a good thing for Jane to have stumbled onto. Although I would suspect that reproduction galleries are on the low end of the art-status totem pole, Jane now has an in with a gallery owner, and one who likes her work and respects her ability. And, perhaps more importantly, has made a good amount of cash off her work in a short time. This could be a big help to her in a couple years.

Brittany gets a cameo. Mostly she's her usual vapid self, but she does get one interesting line. The bit about Daria and Jane not being her friends, just Daria and Jane pretty much sums things up for them at school, doesn't it?

Tom wasn't really in the episode much, not really any more than is necessary to show that he and Daria actually do things together. That tune he whistles sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't place it (and can't help but suspect that it's a commentary on the scene).

Wind is pretty out there, but he certainly seems typical of the family. I can just imagine why he wanted to change his name at some point (why Ronald is still a question; McDonalds fan, perhaps) and the reaction from Vincent and Amanda seems their style. Most interesting about those two is that they were both off to the same place at the same time, not something we have real confirmation of before.

Daria's pretty much herself this episode, but playing the supportive friend. Her relationship with Jane seems to have totally stabilized to pre-Tom levels, which is a good thing. The upcoming episode with Jane's new beau ought to be interesting, although I'm not sure double-dating would be a good idea for these people. Not much else to say about Daria this episode. Well, except "nice horse".

Jane learned something about herself this episode. She's never going to be happy in a job that doesn't allow her to do exactly what she wants to do. She may be able to paint enough reproductions to get by, but she's not going to be pleased about doing so. This makes me wonder more about what she's going to be doing after high-school, and I really do hope this is addressed (without a deus ex) before the series ends.
I think the most interesting part of this episode in regards to Jane and Trent was their reaction to Wind. $500 isn't chump change, especially for these two, and yet they're willing to rebuild the gazebo just for Wind's sake. Maybe this family is a little closer than we thought. Of course, Wind mistook Daria for Penny, so probably not.
She definitely cares a lot about her art. Even after denigrating her reproductions she's hurt when Steve Taylor makes a negative comment about one (even though he wants another from her). Overall a decent episode, with a great Stacy moment.

Wraith