Daria: Season 5

Hello darkness my old friend, it's been too long since I've seen you again.

Existential crisis, here I come. My question is, why do people feel that bittersweet emptiness when they finish a show? It's not like you can't ever watch it again like Unus Annus, or be happy that you saw it through to the end. Because you can, yet it still remains. Season 5 is a wonderful send off, in terms of last seasons it's genuinely one of the best. It's a last hurrah of romance, personal hurdles, satire, and character development, before Daria and Jane go on the hunt for college. And I really have to commend the last two episodes, not only is the finale an hour long special but the episode before that I felt touched on a very deep and emotional place for Daria as she remembers a repressed memory of childhood and it's handled incredibly well. I simply could never say Daria was just another one of those 90s shows like say, Courage The Cowardly Dog or X-Files, it became so much more and trailblazed it's own path creating an amazing show. There just isn't another show like Daria, and all this spinned off of a Beavis & Butthead character, I mean that's pretty remarkable. It still taps into a lot of problems and fears of teenagers especially those that are exiting high school, it was barely that long ago for me and I felt the same way. I'm incredibly happy with how the show ended, Christ I don't even think I've seen a show this solid since like Adventure Time. Consistent excellent quality with wonderful fun characters. I've heard tale of a reboot but I fail to see the point entirely when it had such a marvellous run, and whose to say you can't make a new show that satires today's world with new funny characters. I have a lot of love for this show and I was a die hard fan before even the first season ended, and have a lot of admiration too. It's always sad when it's over, but my lifelong crush on Jane Lane will never wither. She even got the last line. 4 stars, 10/10. The future can be uncertain and scary, but I think we'll be just fine.

Daria: Season 4

You jerkface.

I did it again. I did it again, I got emotionally involved. Motherf***er I hate when that happens, but it just goes to show how good this series is. It's the best season yet, and the final season's got some stiff competition in terms of quality. It did the thing, it started off same as usual, normal sarcastic and pessimistic Daria and Jane in various situations, and some of them are really good, a murder mystery fever dream, Daria and the family go to a psych ward, an anthology storytelling episode, it's great stuff but the relationship between Daria and Jane gets strained because Jane got a boyfriend named Tom. Ask me if I'm happy about that. I'm not! You know I adore Jane, so when she got a boyfriend I wasn't ecstatic, and that romance makes Daria more depressed and angry than we've ever seen and the two start fighting. And there was a pivotal element for them that was done so expertly and so wonderfully it took a meat tenderizer to my heart. The uncertainty. This has stopped being animation, this is real life. Even some of the best movies that deal with friends, and the relationships that friends have, never ever get this right. They don't know what to do or say, yes they still want to be friends but so much shit has happened they can't even logically think through it. It's the first season that outright has cliffhangers. Cliffhangers on Daria, such a phrase sounds impossible but it's true. It has a two part finale that ends pretty open ended, and I applaud the show for doing such a phenomenal job with it but my heart requires copious amounts of ice cream and chocolate. I had to get up and walk after the season ended I was that caught up in it all. That's...never happened before. I may have screamed a little too at one point. The drama has started dear ones, and it might kill me. Excellent season, 4 stars, 9/10 easily. Next time we bookend the final season with not one but two specials. God help me.

Daria: Season 3

Well that was an interesting opening.

Yet another good season and now that we hit the halfway point you can tell the creators were having a bit more fun writing this season. I mean the damn thing opens with a full blown musical, and Daria encounters personifications of holidays at one point. I'm all for it, this is animation so you can do more outlandish things and it's a comedy so you can stretch jokes out to totally different areas. I must admit this will be a difficult series to rank in terms of favorites, usually with television shows you have your home runs and you have your massive strikes but with Daria it's been a constant great series. Pessimistic people would say that the substance and status quo never changes leading to stagnation, while optimists would say you keep getting the same really good stuff with no major dips in quality, but I'm a realist deep down so I just take it on face value but nevertheless have a great time. And we do get a bit of character dynamic changes and further material to satirize, so it's by no means getting dull or even predictable. This is a difficult show to talk about but it's incredibly easy to watch. I really have grown an appreciation and love for this show because of the writing and characterization of Daria and Jane, constants that don't get tiring or old hat. When the writing can still catch me off guard and make me laugh, clearly they are doing fine work and the voice cast just grows on you more and more, like a parasitic fungus. One aspect that starkly stood out is we actually spend time with Jane's extended family, I never honestly thought we would see her parents or other siblings and despite my intense crush on Jane Lane the fact that her family is just as maddening as any other is a sobering but entirely realistic fact to face.  Families are alike all over even if one member is of the extraordinary category. Humans, what a caravan of familiar comforts and banality. Fun times found here. And I would dare say this is the best and most interesting finale yet, so my interest is peaked for season 4. 4 stars, 8.5/10, once more unto the breach!

Daria: Season 2

Made my decision on favorite character.

I would firmly say the second season of Daria is an improvement over the first which was already mighty good. Yet strangely nothing major happens in the plot, it's all about the further character interactions that makes it so good. And I for one greatly appreciate a show with a loose plot, it just jumps from scenario to scenario so there's no doubt the intention of the creators is to focus on the characters they are writing for more than long overarcing stories. Daria is a gem, plain and simple. I simply cannot fully express my enjoyment and adoration for this character. However we get more interesting stuff this season with her, going to a wedding, getting a piercing, her relationship with Jane hits a hurdle, you get more of the family dynamic, all are welcome additions. But Jane just sweeped the leg and made me fall hard, I aspire at this point in my life to get me a friend like Jane. So cool, friggin' hilarious, never forces pressure on anybody, just a real joy to be around. Of course we get more than just extra character for our mains, the supporting cast get a lot of time and personality that they did lack in the first season. Which is really cool and is only natural that as the show proceeds we will get more good character moments. Now that's not to say the characters pull a 180°, Quinn is still her vacuous vain filled self, Kevin and Brittany are still dopey, but they have brief moments of variety that keeps them from getting stale. The one true vast improvement is for Jodie who while having good bits here and there gets an excellent moment where she does fully acknowledge her standing in the school and has issues with how people would take advantage of it, it's a very heart of the matter talk and objectively is the best part of the entire season. I also noticed a lot more contemporary music of the time was used and full disclosure, I'm not against listening to most of it. I've never had a stigma towards 90s music but I do feel I'm coming to appreciate the music that was very popular when I was a wee babe. Animation quality is just as good, the cast gets to have more fun, and the situations are varied and entertaining. Excellent second season, 4 stars, 8.5/10! Two down, three to go.

Daria: Season 1

This show brought me back in so many ways.

I knew one day I was going to watch Daria, and I didn't fully know what the show was about. But I've picked up on bits and pieces and quickly decided it was the kind of show for me. Dear God, is that an understatement. I love Daria to an absurd degree, this really and truly would have been one of my favorite TV shows ever when I was a teenager so instead it's one of my favorite shows now. And I can pinpoint it on the writing alone, it really and effortlessly captures that dry and usually apathetic humor found in teens at that time and really has only grown since. This is a very funny show, it doesn't make your gut bust but it catches you off guard with how funny it is. The story centers around Daria and her family who just moved to a new town as she and her popular sister Quinn contend with high school life, and Daria keeps being awesome. Now I will say the humor and situations will not work with everyone but to an individual like me who is very cynical, a realist, and appreciates good satire of society, while somehow still identifying with high school students in the late 90s it's difficult not to enjoy it. I was kinda curious how obvious the time period of the show is but truthfully the show could run on TV today and not seem that out of place. The animation style is very basic and no frills but still conveys expression with good color use. I honestly, genuinely, cannot decide who I love more between Daria or Jane. We're talking Oswald and Edward levels here folks, it is that close of a race! Another point I wanted to make is it brought that teen sensibility back to me, because I've had friends like Daria and Jane and got their sense of humor so it was a true joy to watch. But not only that, it kinda got me back to the 90s more than any film has ever achieved, yet it isn't dated despite the Nirvana references and choice of soundtrack which by the by is friggin' rad, it inexplicably made me think of my early childhood years in a different light with the culture, music, and situations that were nothing short of oblivious to me at that moment in time. Good shows, good movies, whatever, can really set you in a specific period of history even if you maybe weren't grown yet. The real shame is I haven't been able to find Daria on any platform throughout the interwebs, having to resort to various websites just to watch full episodes and it's only 13 episodes per season. But that led to even more nostalgic throwbacks cause some of the episodes were taped off TV, so you see MTV and The N logos and I even saw an announcement on MTV about showing a new Garbage music video. Holy shit. Is this what being ancient feels like? I know, I'm a relic from a bygone age and too old for the world right now but dang it, you should track this show down. It is nothing short of a blast and I proudly consider myself a fan as I make my way through the rest of the series. 4 stars, 8/10! I will revel in my melancholy nostalgia until I die young and content.