Daria S01E01 - Esteemsters

So, Daria was on TV when I was attending University. The issues of shared campus TV and school schedules prevented me from ever seeing all of the seasons or episodes, but I loved the show. Enough to get interested in the fan-fiction, the episode transcriptions, and the status of the series coming eventually to DVD. There used to be a very large and very dedicated community around Daria, but it faded away as the memories of the show passed further and further into history. But, before it had faded too far, the community around Daria had managed to encourage MTV to produce the entire series as a single set of DVDs. And I bought and watched the whole thing in a very long marathon of episodes. Every year or so, I break out the discs and watch it all again. This year, I'm also going to write up a quick review of the episode, as practice in writing. With that all said, let's start with the first episode of the first season: Esteemsters. This episode introduces the title character, Daria Morgandorffer, her family (sister Quinn, mother Helen and father Jake), as well as nearly all of the other primary characters in the show. The other main character (and only non-Morgandorffer) to be introduced is Jane Lane, Daria's closest, and best friend. Almost every episode will have these five characters on-screen - though sometimes as little more than set dressing. The episode also show the key locations and settings for the first time. These are: The Morgandorffer home, Lawndale High, and Jane Lane's bedroom. These three settings make up the majority of the locales for the series as a whole, much like the main characters, these settings appear in nearly every episode. The show's secondary characters are shown very briefly, and several of the most recurrent characters appear only as background characters. Only a few are given names and lines. The rest are either silent, or aren't yet introduced with names. The lowest point of the show is probably during Daria's speech at assembly. This is because I honestly cannot stand Quinn's original paramours. I much prefer the Joey-Jeffy-Jamie trio. The assembly scene isn't a total loss, however. The part with Jane's speech is pretty good, and shows Daria has found a friend with the same off-side humour as herself. The plot is very thin, consisting entirely of the vehicle to get Daria and Jane to meet and be friends. Everything else is exposition, or showing the kind of person these characters are. It only gets a pass on the grounds that it is the intro episode - there has to be a fair amount of exposition happening between the characters to provide the setting, background and motivations for the characters and the series. So, the script isn't as robust as later episodes, but it isn't so loaded down with explanation that it loses entertainment value for me. One of the things I love about Daria is her acerbic wit, coupled with her astute observations of the absurdity that surrounds her. This leads to a number of one-liners that have stuck with me. I still quote Daria from time to time, but the reference is almost never caught. Overall, the episode rates a B. Favourite quote: "Well tell you, over and over that you're wonderful, and you just don't get it. What's wrong with you?" -- Helen Morgandorffer.