Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#102 (1-02), "The Invitation"

Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#102 (1-02), "The Invitation"

MDRR #102 (1-02)

Food for Thought - Was there some kind of subliminal advertising deal going on here? A couple of lines of dialogue provide (probably) unpaid for advertisements for Hostess Cupcakes and Frosted Flakes. Despite the blatant-ness of them, they were both funny and sort of added to the episode. However, I just hope that the scenes that contained these jokes weren't added just for these jokes.

'I Hate You' - Both Daria and Jane say this line after the other diffuses a possible 'romantic' (or the closest to romantic as Daria and Jane can get) situation. The first was after Daria and Jane got dropped off and Jane tried to keep Daria away from her older brother (or maybe she was pushing Trent onto Daria, hard to tell). The second time was when Jane tried to hook up with "Bobby-big head." The both of them seem almost afraid to lose the friendship of the other.

Brittany - Her line "perspective is hard" can be taken at way more than face value. She only wants unattractive girls at her party. She worries about being changed into a righty (she already is one). She has major trouble understanding a simple explanation and she thinks that she is on Cops. Earth to Brittany, Earth to Brittany...

Popularity Contests

First for the undercard, Popular vs. Unpopular - This is the major theme or this episode. The party goers (especially the fashion clubbers) are checking out the popularity of the others. The only people who would talk to Daria and Jane were Upchuck (who was on the same boat) and those two guys that they met(who probably needed to "hook up with a girl who is more popular").

Now for the Main Event, Daria vs. Quinn - Daria is trying to undermine Quinn and "ruin her life." Quinn doesn't even want to be around Daria ('out of place everywhere on Earth'). Daria revels in doing this, the story she told Joey, Jeffy and Jamie about having to go was funny and did its job.

This episode is a great example of Daria. It shows how Daria is different from the mainstream popular people. She is more of an iconoclast and goes to the beat of her own drummer but she does revel in the comedic aspects of the popular people who completely ignore her. This one is classic.

Grade: A-