"Gifted"

Finally, a return to the Daria I used to know! I haven't checked the credits on this one, but I would think that the team that brought us the first season finally figured out what the hell they were doing. This episode was good because 1) Daria was NOT trying to impress everyone 2) The Fashion Club had no redeeming qualities 3) there was no Daria Is A Boy Magnet bullshit 4) many very good one-liners from Daria 5) that bit about the SAT scores (it's true, you know, people do judge you on how you do) 6) Jane's comment about straight Cs in math 7) Nothing for the Daria-Trentheads to capitulate on...and so on and so forth. This one has to go up there with "I Don't" as one of my favorites.

Complaints: 1) Helen seemed real divorce-happy in this one. This is just my ranting, but it would be rather nice if Daria's parents STAYED TOGETHER, as it is rare nowadays to have two parents who love each other. 2) Not enough Jane! She ought not be just Daria's sidekick. We need an episode where we delve into Jane's psyche. 3) This is a tiny one, but it seemed rather preachy when Jodie was going off about being ethnic- but being an Upper Class White Female Of Mixed Descent I guess I can't really symathize all that much.

A nicely done episode that really focused on the side of Daria that I watch the show for. Let's hope the next episodes keep this up.

-Superfan Katherine