Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#110 (1-10), "The Big House"

Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#110 (1-10), "The Big House"

MDRR #110 (1-10)

Dazed and Confused - Jake isn't up to his usual level of sharpness in this episode. He falls for Quinn's stupid explanations of the 'misunderstanding' of the words 'love' and 'date.' Also he was having trouble with the whole rules thing. He also went too far with his role as judge (what is an accouterment?). He proclaimed 'don't you know how many rules you've broken?' but couldn't tell how many or which ones. Who else said that? Maybe it was Jefferson.

Hockey Hell - Mr. DeMartino was at least very determined to come ahead against Rock and Roll Randy and his cohorts. I wouldn't be surprised if the heart attack we learned about was his only one (I'm kind of surprised that he was allowed to play, but he probably didn't tell his doctor). I thought it was a bit odd that he took a drag on a cigarette after working out. He did exit the game early but it wasn't his heart, bummer.

Family Court - The family court thing was 'geeky' (or looked that way) at best. I agree with Quinn here, they were getting punished anyway. Why did Jake and Helen even bother? The 'trial,' if you can call it that, was a formality at best (plus bureaucratic) and Quinn and Daria had no chance of winning. By the way, what exactly were the 'charges?' Daria didn't get busted for anything.

Silver Lining - The family court thing did have one positive outcome for Daria, there is virtually no chance of her ever getting grounded again. So it wasn't a total loss. Daria got Helen and Jake to realize that grounding her would take too much effort on their part. She is 'dull' sometimes, but imaginative enough to make Kevin think he was attracted by a magnetic implant in her skull.

This is the episode that got me hooked on Daria and is definitely my favorite of the first season. It was cleverly done and very amusing. The hockey subplot fit well enough in the main plot for me. The Big House showed how the Morgendorffers relate to one another at home and how Daria tries to get away from the rest of them. Plus that escape plan was devious and well thought out.

Grade: A