A
Jerk Jock dies during his visit back to Lawndale High and everyone comes to Daria for advice on how to deal with sadness, while Jane actively avoids her.
This episode provides examples of:
- Arc Words: "It really makes you think".
- Asshole Victim: Discussed. The crux of the episode focuses on Daria and Jane grappling with the death of a Jerk Jock, who did a very good job of showing what a morally repugnant asshole he was moments before he died in a freak accident. As Daria puts it, him dying was sad and it shouldn't have happened, but it doesn't change what an asshole he was.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Daria and Jane discuss Tommy dying young seconds before his accident:
Daria: What bothers me is that that jerk is going to be treated like a hero for the rest of his life.
Jane: Well, maybe he won't live that long.
Daria: Come on, you know wishes don't come true.
CRASH
- Beware the Nice Ones: Brittany may be a ditzy cheerleader but she wastes no time slapping Tommy across the face when he asks if she wants to have sex with him (and have Kevin watch them do it) before huffing off in anger.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Played straight in Brittany's case, who was awestruck when meeting Tommy Sherman until he propositioned her and thought she was implying Kevin wants to watch them have sex. At which point she smacked him.
- Averted in Kevin's case, who's simply too stupid to recognize Tommy Sherman is such a douche even when he blatantly insults Kevin to his face.
- Comically Missing the Point: Subverted. Kevin's denseness is usually Played for Laughs, but his inability to recognize that Tommy Sherman is mocking him is treated as pitiable.
- Death by Irony: Tommy dies when the new goalpost - specifically designed to prevent injuries like the ones he suffered - falls over and kills him. And on the day it was being dedicated to him.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Mack's full name is revealed to be Michael Jordan MacKenzie. His middle name was James, until his father went to a Chicago Bulls game when he was twelve and changed it.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted. Tommy Sherman is rather repulsed when he learns how Mack's father changed his middle name from James to Jordan, but then jokes Mack should hope his dad "Doesn't go to any Whoopi Goldberg movies".
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Daria has a rather low opinion of most of her classmates, but she's visibly disgusted by what a horrible person Tommy Sherman is and doesn't hesitate to call him out on how he's offended every single person around him.
- Even though Tommy Sherman disgusted her, Daria's not going to go around badmouthing him to everyone while others are legitimately trying to mourn him. She may not condone how he's being painted as a hero after his death, but she's not going to tell people they shouldn't mourn him at all.
- Jane seems disgusted when she believes Daria is mocking Tommy Sherman's death, but as Daria explains she's not making fun of how he died and does feel bad it happened. She's simply not going to pretend he was some sort of American hero because he died.
- Feet-First Introduction: Tommy, to Brittany as well as the viewer (excluding flashbacks).
Tommy: Keep goin', it gets better.
- Hate Sink: Every second Tommy Sherman is on screen is devoted to making him the worst type of person imaginable to make it even more shocking when he dies.
- Hidden Depths: Brittney, of all people, is the only person besides Daria, Jane, and Mack who recognizes that Tommy was a jerk. She also expresses guilt over not being as sad about his death as she feels she "should" be — a fairly common reaction to death and one of the few moments that show Brittney having more nuanced emotions than she normally displays.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Daria demonstrates her compassion as best to her ability when she doesn't argue against people mourning Tommy Sherman at all, even if she doesn't agree with the whitewashing of his behavior because of his death. She refrains from openly insulting him to everyone, and only discusses his unsavory character with the people who were aware of it (Jane and Brittany) while still recognizing they have a right to feel bad that he died. She consoles Brittany by assuring her if she were a genuinely bad person, she wouldn't be feeling bad about Tommy's death at all. Daria even shows remarkable patience when dealing with Kevin, who is clearly projecting onto Tommy's death, and doesn't try to convince him Tommy was an asshole.
- I'm Your Biggest Fan: Kevin says this verbatim to Tommy Sherman, who responds "I doubt that, unless the rest of 'em are pygmies".
- I Wished You Were Dead: Daria and Jane both joked about Tommy Sherman dying seconds before it really happened. Jane feels guilty, and misconstrues Daria's lack of guilt as Lack of Empathy. Daria has to explain to her it's weird how it happened just before Tommy died for real and it sucks that he died, but all she's doing is being honest about what a jerk he was.
- Jerk Jock: Tommy Sherman in every way possible. He doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities.
- Karma Houdini: It's greatly implied Tommy Sherman died because the janitors left the crate containing the goalpost leaning against the bleachers, but even though we get a shot of the two looking very worried when Ms. Li subtly calls them out on what a stupid move that was we have no clue if they were fired or arrested for the accident.
- Lack of Empathy: Jane accuses Daria of this, treating Tommy Sherman's death as no big deal by continuing to joke about him even after he died. Daria has to clarify she's not joking about his death and does regret it happened, but is unwilling to pretend the fact that he died erased what a horrible person he was. Jane later explains she felt Daria was being cruel because she regrets that they joked about Tommy dying and it actually happened, which is not something she'd ever want to really happen to anyone.
- Loophole Abuse: Jane asked Trent to tell anyone who came by (by which she meant Daria) that Jane was out running as she didn't want to deal with anyone. Trent initially follows Jane's wishes, but realizing she needs to clear the air with Daria, he suggests it's possible Jane came back without him knowing.
- Mistaken for Brooding: Once tragedy hits the school, Daria's usual cynical behavior is taken as this by everyone around her, so they come to her for advice on how to cope with it.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Jane feels awful about Tommy Sherman's death because of how she and Daria joked about it moments before it happened, thinking she was in some way responsible.
- Brittany freaks out for calling Tommy Sherman a jerk after he died and thinks it makes her a horrible person, alongside the fact she thinks she doesn't feel bad enough about his death.
- Never Speak Ill of the Dead:
- The student body struggles with this after Tommy's awful interaction with them followed by his sudden death. Daria discusses how disquieting it is to hear Ms. Li talk of him as if he were an American hero after experiencing firsthand what an obnoxious blowhard he was, which Jane misconstrues as Daria still joking about him dying.
- Daria shows enough consideration towards the situation that she doesn't outright denounce Tommy Sherman as an asshole to the public following his death nor complain to everyone that he doesn't deserve to be mourned as he is. The only people whom she discusses this with are Jane and Brittany, who were both aware of how horrible he was.
- Oh, Crap!: Daria and Jane's reaction is one of shared horror when Tommy Sherman gets crushed to death literal seconds after they joked about him dying.
- Only Sane Man: Trent is the only person Daria encounters who doesn't overthink Tommy Sherman's death.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A dueling version. Daria and Tommy trade blows:
Tommy: Do you know who I am? Tommy Sherman?
Daria: I know the whole school is turning itself inside out because of some egotistical football player. And I've seen you insult or proposition just about everyone you've come across. So my guess is that you're the football player guy. Congratulations, you must have worked very hard to become such a colossal jerk so quickly.
Tommy: You know what Tommy Sherman's gonna do now? He's gonna go out onto the football field and check out his new goalpost. He's gonna read the plaque and think about all the people who admire him. But you wouldn't know anything about that. You're one of those "misery chicks," always moping about what a cruel world it is, making a big deal about it so people won't notice you're a loser.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Tommy Sherman literally struts around the school with his chest puffed out as if he were God's gift to Lawndale. Granted he is getting a goalpost named after him, but the way he carries himself around implies he's milking the attention for all it's worth. He seems just a bit too eager to remind everyone of who he is.
- Tempting Fate: Daria and Jane note that maybe Tommy won't live so long. Cue the crash and someone exclaiming that Tommy is dead.
- Title Drop: The title comes from the nickname Tommy calls Daria.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- Daria assures a distraught Brittany that she's a good person, because a bad person wouldn't mourn Tommy Sherman at all even after the way he acted towards her. She later convinces Jane that she wasn't responsible for Tommy dying; it was a freak accident no one could've predicted.
- Jane tells Daria the reason people are coming to her isn't because she's "the misery chick," it's because they recognize how she's capable of deeply thinking about things and are looking to her for help because they can't comprehend why Tommy died.
