Jake has a heart attack and his mother comes by to nurse him. Meanwhile, two Dumbass DJs are contracted by Ms. Li to broadcast at Lawndale High all week.
This episode provides examples of:
- Break Them by Talking: What Daria essentially does to Bing and the Spatula Man by revealing, on air, that her anxiety from dealing with the ramifications of Jake's heart attack has been compounded from their continuous harassment during the week. The two then quickly pack up their van and get out of Lawndale High without even a word.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Jake rips into his mother for still acting like Mad Dog Morgendorffer was a good man despite both of them knowing he was scum. Daria later does her own version when she points out how Ruth's harping on Quinn and Helen to follow her example even after she admitted her unhappiness as a housewife.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Bing and the Spatula Man try to get someone to go out with Upchuck. The response is... less than stellar, especially since the prize for going out with him is a bumper sticker.Jane: A date for a bumper sticker?Jodie: Even Upchuck doesn't deserve this kind of humiliation.Daria: Think how the bumper sticker must feel.
- Dumbass DJ: The guys from Z93.
- Dumbass Has a Point: As neurotic and oblivious as he can be, Jake's absolutely correct in telling Ruth that her husband was not a "decent, caring man."
- Everyone Has Standards: The teens in the crowd outside the school all look visibly horrified when Daria spells out just how much she's been dealing with from Jake's brush with death to her constant harassment from Bing and the Spatula Man. The two are so ashamed they immediately pack up and leave the school.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: Jake's ranting about his father finally gets Ruth to confess how unhappy she was throughout her marriage.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Averted. Jake's heart attack starts with Jake getting flustered, followed by losing feeling in his arm, labored breathing, and finally passing out.
- Hypocrite: Ruth Morgendorffer, who still feels the need to harp on Helen and Quinn even after admitting to Jake how unfulfilled and unhappy she was while married to Jake's dad.
- I Want My Mommy!: What kick-starts the main plot.
- Mood-Swinger: Jake's angry rant after Helen chides him about using too much cheese suddenly cuts off by him cheerfully mentioning his arm's gone numb.
- Noodle Incident:
- Helen's boss Eric apparently has an issue with cheese his doctor warned him about.
- Jake's father somehow twisted around Jake considering going to tennis camp to Jake wanting to attend military school.
- Because Mad Dog had a razor phobia, Jake says he learned how to shave "behind the munitions hut from Corporal Ellenbogen."Ruth: That man with one thumb?!
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Traditional Homemaker Ruth to the Feminist Career Mom Helen.
- Oh, Crap!: Daria, Quinn, and Helen's reactions to Jake's heart attack. Daria immediately realizes something's wrong as he complains about numbness in his arm, Quinn gets scared, and Helen freaks out.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: As Grandma Ruth is laying into Helen and Quinn, Daria shuts her down by reminding her she's not so perfect and was complaining about all her mistakes with raising Jake.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Grandma Ruth warns Quinn she'll get wrinkles if she keeps reading so much. Quinn has already thought of this, and made appropriate enquiries at the makeup counter.
