Recap / Daria S 4 E 08

"At the count of ten, I will snap my fingers and hopefully remember none of this."

Helen's boss informs her she's being considered for a promotion at the law firm, so it's her turn to attend a weekend at a mental health resort and has to bring the family with her. What follows is a weekend of psychiatric analysis on the Morgendorffers, and someone ends up getting hurt.

Meanwhile, Jane sets up a live web cam in her room, which leads to Tom accidentally shaking his butt in front of the camera and humiliating himself over the internet.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Tom was almost ready to forgive Jane for the live web cam incident, until he got fan mail...from inmates.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Though she knows she shouldn’t, Helen bursts out laughing when Daria echoes her comment about what’s wrong with Quinn: “And as for Quinn, well I can’t even think about what happened there.”
• Berate and Switch: After the retreat, Helen meets with Eric and he reads from the retreat results that say she “suffers from overarching competitive aggression, unhealthy self-involvement, a gross insensitivity to others’ needs, and an overriding conviction that she’s always right”. Helen thinks that he's about to chew her out at best or fire her at worst, but instead he puts her on the fast track to become a partner.
• Bland-Name Product: Helen admonishes Daria for eating a “Sugar Tart” for breakfast.
• The Bore: Quinn spends so much time rambling on about nothing, that the doctor who was with her passes out in her chair during their session.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Jake and Helen's portrayal of one another weren't exactly wrong. Jake does use his Daddy Issues as an excuse to avoid responsibility and Helen is a Workaholic who constantly consistently craves praise for the things she does while trying to make it seem like she doesn't.
• Brick Joke: When the family first learns they’ll be going to a “Psychotherapy Spa”, Quinn mistakes it for a real spa and Daria has to correct her that there will not be any facials or massages taking place. Later, while at the retreat, Helen and Jake have a huge argument. When the therapist asks Quinn what she thinks of it all, she simply quips: "You'd probably get more business if you just offered facials."
• Bungled Hypnotism: While trying to hypnotize Daria, her doctor accidentally hypnotizes Quinn who was sitting in the room watching. This leads her to start having Past-Life Memories as if she’s Cleopatra reincarnated.
  Quinn: Help! Someone help me! Some king wants to kill me for loving some soldier or something before I’ve had time to pass on my secret formula for eyeliner! Oh Caesar, ya big idiot, do something!
• Cringe Comedy: The segment where Tom humiliates himself on the internet.
• Deadpan Snarker: Daria as usual gives particularly this bit.
  Doctor: Do you often talk to the computer?
  Daria: Only when the refrigerator is mad at me.
• Drunk on Milk: In a more literal example than you'd expect, Jake starts copiously drinking milk after Daria tells him it contains tryptophan and can cause relaxation. He briefly acts like a stoner, and seems to be going through withdrawal after going a few hours without more milk. The doctor who speaks with him even asks "How long have you had this chemical dependency?"
• Flanderization: In-universe, when the Morgendorffers are asked to act like each other. Quinn's impersonation of Daria makes her sound suicidal, which Daria vehemently explains she is not. Jake and Helen's impersonations of each other, however, are more accurate than you'd think.
• Freudian Couch: Of course, Jake, the most neurotic of the group, has his therapy session take place on one of these.
• It's All About Me: Jake portrays Helen as a self-obsessed workaholic who wants everyone to thank her for everything she does when she doesn't actually have the time, energy, or desire to do anything for anyone else. Helen, unfortunately, thinks Jake's absolutely right and unintentionally implies he is right when her immediate response is "Everybody hates me."
  Jake: Oh Jakey, let me be the one to pick up the pizza tonight so everyone can tell me what a big superwoman I am. I'm very very important and very very stressed and I don't have time to actually do anything for anyone, but I can pretend I care, can't I?
• Mistaken for Insane: Due to her sarcastic and strange answers on the questionnaire provided by the resort, the doctors think Daria’s insane at first. However, they soon come to learn that she’s the most sane out of all of them.
  Doctor: We analyzed your daughter’s questionnaire and, well, we’re a little concerned.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Helen believes she's destroyed her family's well being and everyone hates her after Jake does an impersonation of how work-obsessed and self-centered she can be.
  • Jake has this, when he thinks he really hurt the woman he has loved for over 20 years.
• Never My Fault: Helen accuses Jake of this during her impression of him because of his tendency to blame his dad for everything wrong in his life.
  Helen: Damn it I lost another client, damn it! I just can't think of the reason why, damn it! Nobody likes poor old Jake! Should I think about the reason? Oh, must be my father's fault. Where's the newspaper, damn it?!
• Oh, Crap!: Tom's reaction when he turns around and realizes he just shook his ass in front of a live camera.
• Only Sane Man: Daria gets confirmation from professional experts that she is indeed the only well-adjusted person in her family. And this is after her therapist spent less than a minute with Quinn.
  Jean-Michel: Daria, I was afraid you had some deep-seated problems. But I must say you're remarkably well-adjusted... considering.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Helen turns into a completely different person when Eric is around. She’s nicer, more accommodating, and laughs at all of his lame jokes.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A variant. Helen and Jake's impersonations of each other turn into these. Jake's impersonation of Helen ultimately hits too close to home.
  • Another variant has Daria calmly sum up exactly what's wrong with each of her family members, though she doesn't say it to their faces.
    Daria: Mom's resentful that she has to work so hard, which obscures her guilt about actually wanting to work so hard. Dad's guilty about being less driven than Mom, but thinks it's wrong to feel that way, so he hides behind a smokescreen of cluelessness. Quinn wears superficiality like a suit of armor, 'cause she's afraid of looking inside and finding absolutely nothing. And I'm so defensive that I actively work to make people dislike me so I won't feel bad when they do. (stands up) Can I go now?
• Shout-Out: When the Morgendorffers pull up to the mental health resort surrounded by doctors, Daria quips “Uh oh, four flew into the cuckoo’s nest.”
• Troll: Daria and Jane decide to mess with the personality test questions, like adding as Favorite Animal a Bat, because [Daria] likes to sleep upside down and spread rabies.
  Helen: Our daughter has an eccentric sense of humour but she's basically normal.
  Daria: Don't listen to her! She's one of the Gamma people!
• Word Association Test: Helen’s Workaholic tendencies are on full display in this episode. During a word association exercise with one of the doctors, her response to the word “relaxation” is “waste of freaking time”.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Helen's not exactly happy when Eric says the evaluation about her workaholic tendencies and likeliness to put her job ahead of her family makes her perfect partner material.

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