Outpost Daria - Episode #111: "Road Worrier"

Episode Guide

"Road Worrier"
Episode #111 - July 7, 1997
Written by Anne D. Bernstein

Cast
*Regular:* Daria, Quinn, Helen, Jake, Jane, Trent, Brittany, Kevin, Jodie, Mack, Sandi, Stacy, Tiffany, Joey, Jeffy, Jamie, Jesse *Guest:* Sue the Waitress *Non-Speaking:* None
Plot Summary
At the Lane house, Daria is watching television while Jane creates a sculpture out of a mannequin and various bits and pieces of scrap. When a loud guitar chord resonates through the house and causes the sculpture to shatter, Jane drags Daria downstairs to investigate. There, they find Trent and Jesse in mid-rehearsal, and as Jane complains about the noise, Daria finds herself uncharacteristically flustered around Trent. In an attempt to fix her brother up with her best friend, Jane volunteers gas money if Trent and Jesse will take them to the upcoming Alternapalooza concert. Daria reluctantly agrees to come along (after silently vowing revenge on Jane), and is amused to find that she's not the only Morgendorffer that will be in attendance: Quinn and the rest of the Fashion Club are going, too. Daria assures Quinn that they'll easily be able to avoid each other in a crowd of 10,000 people before she and Jane are picked up by Trent and Jesse in their drummer's van, "the Tank," and Quinn is picked up by her friends. During the trip, Daria is increasingly humiliated when she bumps her head, gets stung by a bee, sits on an ancient peanut butter sandwich, breaks her glasses, and becomes an unwanted focus of attention when she has to take a woodside bathroom break during a traffic jam... and all in front of Trent. On the flip side, however, she starts to loosen up a little when Trent and Jesse actually laugh at her sarcastic comments. The van ends up breaking down about halfway to the concert, and while Jane and Jesse go look for help (a barely hidden ploy to get Trent and Daria alone), Daria sits with the object of her crush and gets to know him a little better, and even helps him overcome a "crisis of faith" of sorts by encouraging him to follow his musical dream. Jane and Jesse return empty-handed from their little sojourn, leading Jane to resort to fixing the van with her glue gun... just as the Alternapalooza concert comes to an end. They aren't the only ones who never made it to the concert, however, as Quinn and her friends got sidetracked by an outlet shopping mall. Returning home, Daria and Quinn find Helen and Jake in a very relaxed mood, having taken full advantage of the girls' absence.
Interesting Tidbits
Continuity: Mom's Diner would later be seen in "Boxing Daria" (#513). "Our drummer," the owner of the Tank, is Max Tyler, whom we will not see until "Ill" (#209) and won't hear from until "Speedtrapped" (#310). Historical & Cultural References: "Just say no!" -- This is the now-clichéd anti-drug phrase popularized in the 1980s by former First Lady Nancy Reagan. "I'm ready for my abuse, Mr. DeMille." -- A play on Gloria Swanson's line from the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. (The actual line is: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.") "The cryogenically frozen head of Walt Disney." -- A popular urban legend claims that Walt Disney had arranged to have himself cryogenically frozen upon his death. The title is a play on the 1981 film The Road Warrior, starring Mel Gibson as a former police officer who wanders the wastelands of post-apocalyptic Australia. It is the middle film in a trilogy, with 1979's Mad Max and 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (the latter co-starring singer Tina Turner). The "terrible tragedy" at the ill-fated concert at California's Altamont Speedway occurred in December 1969. There were four deaths there, the most notable being that of 18-year-old Meredith Hunter. Hunter had pulled out a gun near the stage while the Rolling Stones were performing, and was subsequently kicked and stabbed to death by a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang (which had been hired as security personnel). The incident was documented in the 1970 film Gimme Shelter. "Alternapalooza" is a play on the now-defunct Lollapalooza rock music tour, which was an annual event during the 1990s.
Memorable Quotes
Jane - Come on, Daria. Let's go complain about the noise, hmm? Daria - I don't find it a problem. Um, I have unusually sturdy eardrums? Jane - I think Trent's band might have an opening for a fly girl. (grabs Daria by the arm as she leaves the room) Daria - I think I might have an opening for a new friend. Daria - "Mystik Spiral"? Jane - Trent's band. Daria - Sounds like one of those Doors cover bands that play brew pubs. Trent - Hey, Daria. Daria - (VO) Can't speak... must speak... (spoken) Hey. Trent - Whadda ya think of the song? Daria - (VO) It has a beat and you can dance to it, if you have no shame. (spoken) Cool. Trent - Would it help if we spelled mystik with two Y's? Daria - (VO) And I'll spell my name D-A-R-Y-A and be crowned Miss America. (spoken) It might. Helen - Quinn, what is that thing on your arm? (points at tattoo on Quinn's arm) Quinn - Don't worry, Mom. It's fake. Daria - Aww, you got a tattoo to match your personality. Helen - Your father went to one of the most famous festivals of the decade. Quinn - Woodstock? Jake - Altamont! Terrible tragedy, but I demanded my money back and I got it. Daria - Wasn't Altamont free? Jake - (laughs) That's the same line they tried to use on me. Jane - ("tough girl" accent) - Yo, hi. I'm Dolores. I'm doing ten to fifteen for armed robbery. What are you in for? Daria - My head hurts. Jane - (still with the accent) The cops did that to you, didn't they? Bastards. Jesse - You'd never catch me in a job like that. Daria (VO) - Because it falls under the category of employment. Trent - Hey man, we're artists. Who knows where we'll be in five years. Daria (VO) - Still living over your parent's garage? Jane (loud whisper) - Say it, Daria. Whatever you're thinking, say it. If you don't, they'll go on like this for hours. Jesse - We've got a vision. Trent - Eyes on the prize, man. Eyes on the prize. Jesse - Yeah, and this guy's not about selling out. Trent - No way. Jane - 'Cause for that to happen, you'd need someone interested in buying. (pause) Well, someone had to pick up the slack! Jane - Well, you're not your usually sunny self. Daria - (scowling) I've got a bump on my head, a bug bite on my arm, a sandwich on my ass... Jane - And all in front of Trent. Daria - Now turn the knife counterclockwise. Daria - (loudly) I shouldn't have had that tea. Jane - (loudly) You have to go? There's some trees over there! Trent - (loudly) What the matter, Daria? You gotta whiz? Jesse - (loudly) What's wrong? Trent - (loudly) It's Daria. She has to pee. Jesse - (loudly) You have to pee, Daria? You can pee behind those trees. See those trees? You can pee behind there! (Daria gets out of van and walks toward trees) Daria - If I'm not back in ten minutes, don't send help. Daria - They're not going to make fun of me? Jane - For peeing in the woods? They're in a band, Daria. Those boys puke on each other on a regular basis. Jesse - (to Trent) That reminds me: you owe me a shirt. Tiffany - Ugh, stretch pants. Everywhere, stretch pants. Stacy - Hey, these are stretch pants! I'm wearing stretch pants! (Stacy panics and starts to hyperventilate; Sandi rushes over, grabs her arms, and shakes) Sandi - They're leggings! They're leggings! (Stacy lets out a high-pitched squeak of relief) Daria - Umm, nice tattoo. Tribal? Trent - Maori. I copied it out of Tattoo World's international issue. Daria - Very graphic, and meaningful. Trent - Yeah, it makes a statement. You know what it is? Daria (VO) - I got a tattoo out of a magazine? Trent - I got a tattoo out of a magazine. (both laugh) Trent - Daria, do you ever feel like maybe you're wasting your life? Daria - Only when I'm awake. Trent - You know, Daria, sometimes it's hard to believe you're in high school. Daria - I find the situation unbelievable myself.
Mike Quinn's Delayed Reaction Review
*Speechless:* Daria has a lot of witty comebacks to things that Trent and Jesse were doing but she was afraid to say any of them out loud. How often is she afraid to say anything? Not often. Jane trying to "pick up the slack" was admirable but should have come sooner. When Daria finally does let out a zinger, she is met with an unexpected response: laughter. *Needy Lovebirds:* Jake and Helen were very eager to spend some quality private time together. They seem to be getting some of that "spice" back already. They did get sappy (with the pancakes) but that is their nature. And Daria thinks nothing ever happens at home. *Glue Gun:* I get the impression that, if she could, Jane would use her glue gun to glue Trent and Daria together. Daria almost was aware of this when she said "don't point that thing at me." She wants to hook up with Trent but doesn't want Jane in the middle of it. The actual glue gun did turn out to be useful in fixing "The Tank." *Van Ride from Hell (or is that Heaven?):* A four hour trip with Trent wasn't very appealing to Daria. It didn't start out too well for Daria at first, either; with bumping her head, sitting on the antique sandwich, getting stung by a bee and breaking her glasses. She started to open up a little when told that peeing in the woods is almost heroic to the members of Mystik Spiral. Then she got to spend some "quality time" with Trent and had a nice conversation with him and became more comfortable with him. *Listen to Your Sister:* Daria actually took some fashion advice from Quinn. It happened when Quinn asked her something like "you're not going to leave that tucked in, are you?" about her black shirt. The next time we saw Daria, her shirt was not tucked in. I'm surprised that Daria took the advice, but I guess she knows what her sister is good for. This episode was another good one. I loved the way that Daria was thrust into yet another situation she wanted nothing to do with (but went along with anyway). She coped with everything that happened in her typical manner. Did you really think that she wanted to go to Alternapalooza, anyway? *Grade:* A- Copyright © 1998 Mike Quinn [All Rights Reserved]. Used with permission. The views presented here are those of the author, and may or may not necessarily be those of Outpost Daria.