This Year's Model

_****

Daria and Jane protest Principal Li's decision to allow a modeling agency to recruit a number of students to their ad campaign.

The review for "Malled" can be read here.

One of the more interesting aspects of this series is the dynamic between Daria (Tracy Grandstaff) and her sister Quinn (Wendy Hoopes) with a near constant focus on the difference between the two of them. What makes this contrast so fascinating is the fact that, superficially, their ideals are completely opposed, but morally they are very similar, and the two girls will often take extremely different paths to the same destination.

Near the top of the episode, Daria and Jane (Hoopes) comment to Jodie (Jessica Cydnee Jackson) about how she appears to have skipped a meal in order to attend the modeling class. The writers very clearly lay out the potential dangers facing teenage girls while maintaining enough subtlety to skirt the more serious tones the issue could take. Once Daria has voiced her concerns for Jodie's well-being, Jodie makes an equally valid argument, stating that the modeling class is completely voluntary, and Daria and Jane might be being contrary simply in order to be against something. Jodie's defense of the modeling class allows the episode to present the issue in both a positive and negative fashion without initially taking a position on the argument, offering the audience the chance to consider the options of the narrative without being lead along by the writers.

Quinn expresses a great desire to be a model, pushing her parents to allow her to attend the course, and pushing herself to do anything she can do please the agents. When she finds herself being put in a situation that makes her uncomfortable through it's sexualization of her and her peers, she immediately removes herself from the situation. In this moment Quinn shows how well she knows her limits, how much she values herself as a person, and even when the agents try to convince her to forgo her break from the routine, Quinn remains adamant that she won't go through with this activity, and leaves the stage. She proves herself not only a strong-willed young woman, but she makes a positive example of herself to the audience as well.

Daria does a lot of grandstanding in this story in an effort to raise awareness of the dangers the modeling industry poses on young women's self-esteem and overall health, making her glib comments regarding bulimia so glaring. Were Daria to speak on eating disorders in a respectful manner, framing her complaint with examples of how modeling impacts her point, her commenting might have come across as a valid concern, but as it is, she is grouping all models together under the assumption that they lead unhealthy lifestyles and is, in turn, promoting them. Daria's opinion on the matter is, indeed, negative, but the implication in her words is that the only way to become a model is to train your body to purge your meals, and it's absolutely opposed to the message the narrative is trying to send.

Ms. Li (Nora Laudani) continues to prove her self-righteousness in regards to school funding as she invites the modeling agency to the school, but also shows how strong-willed she can be when she realizes her students are being sexualized. Li puts a stop to the situation and breaks her contract with the Amazon Agency, having chosen her student's safety over the school's budgetary concerns, but whatever backbone she had had simply disappears when the men from Brutal Mercenary Magazine storm the stage. Li not only steps aside and allows these strange men to take the microphone to address the student body, but she makes no attempt to halt their recruitment attempt, even as the press takes pictures of her with them. The way that Principal Li is generally written is not how she appears in this scene, and it feels as though this out-of-character moment was simply to facilitate a form of public humiliation on the character herself.

Janie Mertz's Brittany proves somewhat grating in this story, but her screechiness is more than off-set by Julián Rebolledo's Jake, constantly treading water around his family as he never knows what to say or think, altering his opinion depending on where the conversation seems headed

The pacing in Karen Disher's story is very good, flowing through the half hour very quickly with various smaller details in the narrative's patchwork that beg for a second watch as they might be overlooked on a first viewing. Daria's explanation to Jane about her room's decor is a nice moment, as it adds a sense of realism to why Helen (Hoopes) would allow her daughter to live in a padded room, and their later discussion about forgoing reconstruction on the room halts any further questioning in that regard.

Writers Glenn Eichler and Laura Kightlinger do well to present the situations in this episode in both positive and negative lights, providing a fair number of valid arguments for both sides. As the story drags on, however, Eichler and Kightlinger seem to lose themselves in the negative connotations of their story, most glaringly in the close as the modeling agents berate Kevin (Marc Thompson) during his photo shoot; I imagine that, in order to get the results they're looking for, verbal seduction might get better results than constant insults.

Daria's sudden stillness in Trent's (Alvaro J. Gonzalez) presence carries over from earlier episodes where her crush on him is hinted, and her sexual awkwardness is mirrored in Quinn's behavior as she excuses herself from situations that easily could escalate beyond her comfort levels.

The review for "the Lab Brat" can be read here.