Too Cute

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Daria wonders if she should enjoy the humiliation Quinn faces in trying to raise money for plastic surgery or try to reason with her and convince her it's a bad idea for someone her age.

The review for "Pinch Sitter" can be read here.

Quinn (Wendy Hoopes) has always differed from her sister Daria (Tracy Grandstaff) in the fact that she very much prides herself on her appearance, sometimes giving too much power to how she is perceived by others. In this story, Quinn allows her need to be desired by others to take over, and while she does reach out to her sister for help, she remains steadfast in her determination to change who she is on the outside in an effort to place value on herself as a person.

In discussing the issue over dinner, Helen (Hoopes) puts her own spin on the topic, relating it back to women's issues in the workplace and the impact that might have on her daughters' futures. At no point does Helen take a side in the argument, which is interesting, but she does state her opinion that it's an unfortunate, but sometimes necessary, step to consider in getting ahead. Helen has a very firm belief in the power of women in the workplace, having risen in the ranks herself, but acknowledges the double standard in business wherein women are judged based on their looks, and while she says that breast implants should never enter into the equation, other alterations should remain an option for those who lack a certain confidence. What makes Helen's position interesting is that she doesn't support the idea of surgery, nor does she endorse it in any way, but she also doesn't oppose it, and while she would never want her own children to go through with it, she won't discourage them from thinking on it. Quinn, too, has considered herself a beauty for some time, and thinks, like her mother, the only reason to go through with surgery is to keep up with the advances that other women make in their own appearance. She has a theory on the circle of surgery, wherein she would get surgery to compete with how pretty her friends are, who then would get more surgery to outdo her, at which point she would need another alteration, and the cycle would continue ad nauseam.

Daria and her sister are often at separate ends of an issue, opposing each other for nothing more than to oppose each other, but here Quinn reaches out to Daria for help, and it's nice to see that there remains some form of sisterly bond between the two of them. While Quinn declares that she merely needs Daria "to be [her] alibi," it's clear that she really wants Daria around for moral support in her endeavor, and she later admits that Daria is the only person that might offer her an honest opinion. Daria goes along with Quinn for the most part, but when she sees her younger sister's distress, her worry that she may not be as attractive as she has always thought, Daria finally connects with her, stating that "there's nothing wrong with [Quinn]...physically. [She's] got the kind of looks that make other girls mentally ill," adding "[she doesn't] need plastic surgery, [she's] perfect." Despite the number of times that Daria will go out of her way to ruin Quinn's plans, this is one of the few where she has shown a genuine concern for her sister's well-being, and it goes a long way to creating a sense of family between the two characters as well as humanizing Daria quite a bit in the eyes of the audience.

This episode also chooses to show the negative effects of having an ugly visage, sending Kevin (Marc Thompson) out in a disguise to see how people react to him. In his mask, Kevin is bruised and battered, progressively getting more hideous every time he returns to the streets, and people go out of their way to avoid running into him. While this is a very poignant commentary on a society that places too much focus on how someone looks, it's distressing that, at no point, does Kevin think to take his makeup off. Instead, the episode ends with Kevin paying people to come speak to him, despite the fact that his looks are still perfectly fine underneath his mask. Were Kevin to reveal to the people that he wasn't as hideous as he first appears, thus teaching them a lesson, there might be something positive to say about his story, but instead he has learned nothing from his experience, and it creates a sense of stagnation for both the town of Lawndale and for Kevin as a character.

During Quinn's appointment with Dr. Shar (Tracy Lee Bell,) the Morgendorffer sisters are shown a computer simulation of everything that could be surgically done to their faces in order to gauge their reactions to potential change. There are a great number of alterations that Dr. Shar claims can be done to Quinn, including a change of hair color, which, certainly, would more easily be done through a bottle than plastic surgery. As for Daria, Dr. Shar makes a series of adjustments that result in her looking exactly as Quinn does, though why she thinks Daria would want to look like Quinn's before picture rather than her after picture is beyond me. Dr. Shar is so disconnected from her patients here that it's difficult to imagine her selling these surgeries to anyone, and she really should be a more charismatic individual if this is truly her calling.

Grandstaff and Hoopes have really connected with their characters at this point, providing voices that truly suit who they are and lending themselves very well to the narrative at hand. Janie Mertz, as Quinn's Fashion Club rival Sandi, is really starting to hit her mark here, creating a good chemistry with Hoopes wherein to abuse one another passive aggressively, and Thompson, too, is making good distinction between both Kevin and Chuck.

Eric Fogel's direction on this episode was largely uninspired, which isn't to say that it was bad, but there was nothing that stood out as particularly notable. Kevin's story needn't have been continued beyond the initial scene, and the pacing would have benefited greatly from his camera time having been given to a moment between Daria and Quinn or more involvement from Jane (Hoopes.)

Written by Larry Doyle, this story certainly has some balanced views, as well as extreme opinions, on plastic surgery, and takes time to consider most sides of the issue. What's curious is the fact that Brooke (Sarah Fader,) who initially started the school's nose job craze, is made a victim of when her surgery doesn't take correctly and her nose caves in. Brooke had been a relatively pleasant character, reaching out for support from her peers and making an effort to fit in with those around her, whereas Sandi has remained largely unlikeable and, at least in this episode, was the villain. Had it been Sandi's surgery that was botched, it would have seemed fitting, as Sandi has been so antagonistic to everyone around her, including her supposed friend Quinn, but instead she ends the episode with a new nose and no repercussions for her attitude.

While the dangers of surgery seem to have quelled Quinn's desire to "improve herself," at least for the moment, it seems as though her insecurities will come into play again in the future, likely in tandem with her growing rivalry with Sandy.

The review for "the Big House" can be read here.