A subplot involves Jane and Trent being forced to attend the Lane Family Reunion. Compared to their household, everyone else is quite normal, a bit critical, and way too perky for their tastes. They wind up stealing their aunt's rental car to drive to the airport and fly home a day early.
This episode provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: Subtly invoked. The minute Helen passes out after babbling nonsense, the only person Quinn screams for is Daria. Which naturally turned out to be the appropriate course of action to take.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Most of the Lane Family either passive-aggressively patronize Jane and Trent, or just flat out act hostile and rude to them. Jane's grandma specifically gets her up close for the sake of screaming at her.
- Black Sheep: Jane's immediate family is considered the black sheep branch of the Lanes, and the only reason they get invited to reunions is so their relatives can gawk at and mock them for being screw-ups.
- Book Ends: Jake bursting a blood vessel in his eye with one in the beginning and both in the end.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: Two scenes back-to-back use this:
- Daria and Quinn sharing a tent in the dark and recalling how they had to share a room when they were little... and how much they hated it.
- Trent and Jane sharing a room at the family reunion, along with the rest of the family, and based on how many eyes are seen in the dark, they appear to be packed in like sardines.
- Chekhov's Gag: The siblings that Jane describes (Pennynote , Windnote , and Summernote ) show up in a later episode.
- Comically Missing the Point: Jake was getting really stressed due to various expenses around the house. Helen tries to remind him what the doctor told him last time, but he could only remember that the doctor charged him $200.
- Everybody Must Get Stoned: The Morgendorffers, bar Daria, after they eat the berries.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After Helen and Jake lose their marbles, Daria tries to allay Quinn's fears by calmly laying out their situation, only to impress upon herself how much crap they are in.
- Eye Scream: Jake's burst blood vessels cause his sclera to turn pink and small veins are visibly bulging out as he's screaming in agony.
- Fractured Fairy Tale: During the campfire stories, Daria tells a version of "Hansel and Gretel." The witch wins.Daria: So the witch tore Hansel's arm off, popped it in her mouth, said, "Hey, pretty good," and within minutes had devoured the rest of his body, leaving only the lower intestine for fear of bacteria. Gretel, she decided she wanted to hold onto for a while, so she crammed her into the freezer the best she could.
- Quinn's story was a pretty straightforward version of "Cinderella," except that her outfit was so tacky!
- Here We Go Again!: After returning home, Jake ends up bursting yet another blood vessel after seeing his $15,000 bill to cover the helicopter ride out of the woods. This time, it's in both of his eyes.Daria: Mom! Get the painkillers! Quinn... get the camera!
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: This episode establishes that Jake had one (his father, who was a war veteran, tried to make Jake a man, but ended up traumatizing him), which will become a running theme.
- His horror story was basically the time he saw his father getting drunk on a camping trip.
- Hypocrite: Fortunately for the family, Helen brought a hidden cellphone with her. Daria used it to call the paramedics. Lampshaded by Daria.Daria: Okay, calm down. Family has gone mad. Must get them back to civilization, but no way to contact civilization because mother made big deal about cutting off all comunication. What to do? (celphone rings) Rely on mother's hypocrisy to see us throughout this crisis.
- Horrible Camping Trip: The trip ended with all the family (except for Daria) intoxicated with psychotropic berries.
- Limited Wardrobe: Subtly Lampshaded; Jane can be seen packing multiple versions of her trademark outfit. Also Daria is the only one using her usual outfit during their camping trip.
- Mundane Ghost Story: The "scary stories" of Jake (the story of how a boy kept hearing water noises from inside his tent and how his father was missing, only to find that his dad was sitting alone at the campfire and drinking beer) and Quinn (tacky clothes).
- Not So Above It All: Back when they were both hippies during their last camping trip, a much younger Helen blanched at the thought of not having access to "chemically softened toilet paper."
- Oh, Crap!: Quinn and Daria both silently freak out when they realize their parents have gone insane.
- Only Sane Woman: After most of the family goes insane after eating psychotropic berries, Daria becomes the only member of the family sane enough to find a solution and call the paramedics.
- Properly Paranoid: Daria didn't trust Jake's foraging skills so she didn't eat the berries he picked, which made her the only member of the family who didn't descend into psychotropic hysterics.
- Right Behind Me: On the plane, Trent and Jane start making fun of their extended family, only to realize that one of their aunts is sitting right next to them.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Jane's grandmother.Grandma (to Jane): WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The final straw for Trent and Jane stuck at the family reunion is being woken up at 7am on a Saturday to participate in a croquet game. They quickly realize they have to leave, so they steal their aunt's rental car, and head to the airport to catch the next flight back home.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Helen's scary story was clearly going in this direction before Jake reminded her whom she was telling it to.
- Wham Line: When Daria and Quinn try to figure out why their parents have gone nuts, Daria suspects it was due to the berries Jake found except for the fact Quinn ate them and she's fine. Quinn agrees with her... because as she puts it, those weren't "the glitterberries."
