User Reviews

Daria hears about an essay contest for a scholarship and Helen nags her to apply. Daria is uncertain about this and tells Jodie about her feelings about any such contest. Eventually, Daria does apply--only to learn that so has Jodie! And, it turns out, so did Upchuck--and all are finalists. This is a problem for Daria, as she's not exactly the contest sort of person...plus she really is too much of a thorn in the butt to be a viable candidate as she, unfortunately, tells the truth too much. However, at the last minute, she bows to pressure and agrees to use a coach--but promptly forgets everything she is taught when she learn that the company has a terrible record on women and minorities. So, will Daria ultimately choke down her righteous indignation or will be go on pitbull mode? And what about Jodie--will Jodie sit back and say nothing about this? Will any of them claim this prize? Overall a pretty good episode but with little humor--so if you're looking for a laugh, try another episode. Worth seeing, though, as it is still well written and engaging.

As the series and Daria's school life approaches an end Helen starts to pressure her about applying for a college scholarship. Daria isn't that keen but eventually applies for one from a company offering $10,000. She doesn't take it too seriously as her application essay is very negative to put it mildly! She soon learns that she isn't the only Lawndale student to apply, Jodie and Upchuck have also entered and all three of them are successful enough to get an interview. Helen suggests Daria sees a coach to help her with the interview, at first she considers that cheating but when Jodie says she is seeing the same coach she goes ahead and gets coached; not that he manages to change her at all. Before the interview she also learns some disturbing facts about the companies record on hiring women and minorities; she still goes ahead with the interview but is a little too honest when it comes to answering the questions. In a secondary story Jake has decided to save money by bulk buying steak; unfortunately a mistake when he filled in the order means he is left with a crate full of unwanted hot dogs.

I rather enjoyed this episode; it was nice that it showed that time is indeed passing and Daria's school days won't last forever. Her attempts to gain a scholarship were more serious than comical but there were still some laughs to be had there; I loved her essay and her deadpan honesty during the interview. Jake's story was of course a bit silly but he is always funny when he is ranting about something. Over all I'd say this was a pretty good episode; it is just a shame that its subject matter reminded me that the series is approaching its conclusion.

Jane to Daria "I'm looking for your umbilical chord, to see if you were born yesterday". That was a fantastic line in response to Daria's naivety about her scholarship application.

Daria is shortlisted for an interview with the scholarship foundation, and she's somewhat unsettled that her classmate Jodie also applied and got an interview. The writers could have explored the racial aspects, given Jodie is African-American (this was seven years before the election of Obama in 2008), and whether Daria had untapped musings about the inner city, affirmative action, political correctness, and busing if you know what I mean. Upchuck also got an interview, but strangely Daria doesn't direct much tension towards him. Maybe Daria accepts the established order of white males?