Mike's Delayed Reaction Review

Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#305 (3-32), "The Lost Girls"

MDRR #305 (3-32)

Secrecy? Yeah Right - Wasn’t the whole point of Val coming to visit the contest winner to see things from their point of view? If everyone knows that she’s there, the purpose of her visit is defeated. Miss Li and Mr. O’Niell seemed to be responsible for some of the leaks. Miss Li is more interested in recognition for the school and herself and made some changes that day that said, at the very least, that something was happening. Val isn’t blameless, either, since her office confirmed to the local news that Val was there (she wasn’t too upset that they didn’t listen to her). She also seemed like the type who likes living in the spotlight. Her visit was one of the worst kept secrets in Lawndale history.

The Poseur, Outside of Its Natural Habitat - Val seems to be one of those people to avoid at all costs. Excuse me for sounding similar, but she doesn’t quite get it, whatever it is. Despite talking about how cool Daria is, she is oblivious to almost everything that Daria does. She didn’t realize that Daria was trying to poke holes through everything she stands for, Daria tells her that she "sucks the energy out of youth culture" and she compliments her on how smart a thing that was to say. She seems a bit too self absorbed to be running a major magazine.

Taking Advantage of a Bad Situation - I admire Jane’s approach to dealing with Val, even if she wasn’t going to benefit directly from it. Her mission was to make Val’s trip to Lawndale part of a bigger project by having Daria do a return visit to see Val’s point of view in New York. She succeeded in subliminally planting the idea and then proceeded to plug away until Val relented, without even knowing what was happening. Unfortunately, Daria missed this opportunity (and the possibility of a sequel) by sabotaging all of Jane’s hard work.

Respect My Authority! - Sandi doesn’t take too kindly to popular strangers infringing on her turf, which was how she interpreted Val’s presence. She was quick to criticize Val, to make herself feel big. Sandi was easily threatened, since Val didn’t care one way or the other about anyone at Lawndale. Almost by extension, Sandi was taking a shot at Quinn, since we all know that she resents Quinn’s presence.

Buzzwords of the Week - Jiggy? Whack? Edgy? This episode is chock-full of funny buzzwords that have no real meaning. Even when Val describes ‘edgy’, it didn’t make any sense (which was the joke, I know). These are all words that some tragically un-hip people use to make themselves feel hip, and therefore more important.

Poisoning the Pie - It took a lot of effort on Daria’s part to get the attention of Val. In reality, Daria just kept pushing buttons until she got a reaction. Val is insecure about her age but she also doesn’t seem to be able to handle any real problems. Daria’s advice was the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camel’s back,’ Val is too concerned with trying to be young that she is ignoring the ‘30-something without (looked more like 40-something to me)’ and living in a fantasy world.

Part of the Problem - I just realized that I’ve used Val fifteen times so far. Geez, it’s contagious. I guess I should take my Valium.

This episode raised a red flag in my mind almost immediately: it seemed to be turning into another fashion club-esque episode. Fortunately, that didn’t happen and instead we got a look at the shallow nature of an individual whom can’t let go of the past or can’t cope with growing older. Val was completely over the top and I don’t see how anyone like that could exist (there are people who have some of her traits, but that’s different). However, I think I can also see another trend that was pushed into the background by Val. That would be Daria’s general bitterness toward anything that could be remotely perceived as popular. She seems to be in the business of sabotaging anything that falls into that category. I’m not defending Val or her cronies (and I think Daria was right about them, by the way), but Daria should at least lighten up a little and realize that everyone’s not going to think her way all of the time. It’s not wrong for her to be critical and cynical, but she shouldn’t have to go overboard to dispense her criticism, which is the impression that I got here. Daria didn’t have to throw away a trip to New York and could have went without changing the way she thinks of Val (she even could have gotten in some more of those subtle barbs she’s fond of). If I were to offer Daria some advice, I would say "stop sucking all the fun out of life and live a little."

The Bottom Line - I’m still not sure if I liked this one or not, but without Val, this episode would be just another unedgy cog of this jiggy series (whatever that means).

Grade: B-

Final Val Count: 22

Next Week - Strap yourself in for repeats of season three and be on the lookout for the ‘Delayed Reaction Halftime ReportÔ .’ New episodes in at least six weeks! Woo-hoo!