Meanwhile, Jake starts to worry that Daria might be on drugs.
This episode provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: Averted with the doctors at the hospital, especially Dr. Phillips, who gets the Morgendorffers out of Daria's room so they won't stress her out and can recognize Jane is a friend by noticing Daria's happy to see her.
- Allergic to Love: Daria's rash turns out to be from stress. Mainly induced when she's around Trent.
- Body Horror: Subverted. The rash covering Daria's skin does look nasty, but she doesn't seem to be in any pain.
- Brain Fever: Daria doesn't want anyone to know about her rash, so Jane invents this as an excuse for her hospitalization.Jane: It's a thing that brains get.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Brittany ended up blurting to Jodie, Kevin and Mack everything about Daria being at the hospital, cheating on Kevin with "Terry, Jerry or whatever" and doing pacts with both Daria and Jane to keep this a secret.
- Jane wastes no time in letting slip to Brittany that Daria is in the hospital.
- Comically Missing the Point: Jake becomes worried that Daria is using drugs, so he gets a pamphlet with a questionnaire for a parent to answer about their kid...that he promptly hands to her to answer on her own.
- Brittany ended up confessing to Kevin, Mack and Jodie that she cheated on Kevin and made a chain of deals with Daria and Jane, all that wrapped in a long ramble about deals within deals. Kevin only could understand that Daria was in the hospital.
- Control Freak: The first thing Helen does is yell at Jake for just leaving for a minute to grab a soda and boss the nurses around. Dr. Phillips wonders what's her deal.
- Crazy-Prepared: Quinn apparently has multiple bottles on her of different types of skin care lotions, creams, and zit removal products in case of an emergency.Daria: Hey, what do you need that stuff for? Your skin's perfect.Quinn: And it's gonna stay that way.
- Didn't Think This Through: The first thing Jake does to find out if Daria is taking drugs is to give her a pamphlet with all the symptoms for Daria herself to answer. Daria points out to Jake that she isn't supposed to read this if that was the plan.
- Drugs Are Bad: Jake gets scared by an anti-drug news story into thinking Daria's disposition is because she's on drugs. Helen's not concerned since the reporter explicitly mentioned teens who were upbeat BEFORE they became addicts.Jake: Oh my gosh, Helen you don't think Daria-!Helen: Jake she was never happy, vibrant, OR involved. Besides she's a straight "A" student.Jake: That could be her cover! Her pupils, we should check her pupils!Helen: Jake. Please.Jake: For all we know she's dealing Mary Jo out of the rec room!Helen: That's Mary JANE, and we don't have a rec room.
- Everyone Has Standards: Turns out the Fashion Club has it written into their bylaws to ignore popularity standings if they encounter someone who needs help with a legitimate skincare issue.
- Here We Go Again!: The episode ends with the rash returning in seconds the moment Daria sees Trent taking her and Jane out.
- Hospital Hottie: The doctor who treats Daria at the hospital. Also worth noting is that the guy is competent at his job and empathizes with Daria to the extent that he asks to speak with her privately to give her a break from her family. He even recognizes Jane as a friend because he could tell Daria was happy to see her. Quinn kept asking for the doctor a few more times.
- Instant Illness: This episode's the first and only time where Daria's anxiety over Trent has had any physical side effects.
- Nightmare Sequence: Daria has a dream where the ghost of Mrs. Sullivan escorts her to heaven, only to be told brainy people aren't welcome and she gets sucked into hell.
- Noodle Implements: When the fabled Mrs. Sullivan appears for real, she only asks Daria if she left an enema bag in the room.
- Noodle Incident: Whatever happened to Mrs. Sullivan, a woman who once occupied Daria's room at the hospital? She later shows up asking if she left any enema bags behind.
- Papa Wolf: As soon as Jake learns that Daria is at the hospital, he rushes through the traffic angrily, yelling at other cars that "his kid is at the hospital with a rash."
- Pet the Dog: A lot of people show concern for what's happening to Daria. Quinn offers to help because skincare situations go beyond social standing per the Fashion Club bylaws, and later, Brittany, Jodie, Mack, and Kevin show up to see how Daria is once they found out she was in the hospital.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Dr. Phillips is a chill and down-to-earth doctor who immediately can tell that Daria only wants to be left alone, so he tells her family that he needs to ask Daria some private questions to make them leave and doesn't pry on her business. Although he just asks her what's the deal with her mother.
- Running Gag: The mention of Mrs. Sullivan and what happened to Brittany's hair.Brittany: Never mind that now!
