Boxing Daria

"Boxing Daria" was the thirteenth and final TV episode of the fifth season of the Daria TV series. Only the movie Is It College Yet? was aired after this one.

Summary
In this episode, an empty refrigerator box and an unexpected trip by Jake trigger some very unhappy childhood memories for Daria. Her anger and pain cause her to put herself in a dangerous situation.

Trivia

 * The episode actually begins in the middle. We see a black screen at first, then hear a crash, then a man's voice asking a woman if she is all right. The story then moves back in time to show what went on before. This is one of the more serious Daria stories in canon.


 * The title of the episode is a play on Boxing Helena,. However, the film and the episode bear no resemblence whatsoever other than borrowing the title.


 * The inkblot test given to Daria as a child is the precursor to Daria's comments on the test in "Esteemsters."


 * Daria says she wrote violent revenge fantasies at age 15 to "get a reaction", and her parents were called into school. We don't see this happening at Lawndale, so she must be talking about Highland High. We did see one such fantasy, the first Melody Powers, early in to her arrival at Lawndale ("Cafe Disaffecto") to get a reaction from O'Neill and her classmates, but her parents don't seem aware of that one. "U. S. History", where she reports on the Kennedy assassination as a history project and focuses on the conspiracy, may have been a failed attempt at getting another such reaction.

"Boxing Daria" and Fanfic
Interesting stories have appeared over the years connected with this episode. An in-canon retelling of the events alluded to in Highland, "Outside the Box," was written by Mike Xeno.

Smileyfax created a highly amusing fantasy tale of time travel involving this episode ("Box to the Future") and a bit of Dariarotica as well ("Daria's Box").

MMan wrote the story Boxing Quinn, a retelling of this episode as seen by Quinn's eyes.

Commentary and Reviews

 * Transcript on Outpost Daria
 * Episode Guide on Outpost Daria
 * Episode Guide on Sick, Sad World
 * Wraith's Ramblings (6/30/01) on Sick, Sad World
 * Novelization by Adam Spradlin
 * "Daria in a Box," on the Daria Fandom Blog II

Fanfiction Based on This Episode

 * "Outside the Box," by Mike Xeno
 * "Daria's Box," by Smileyfax
 * "Box to the Future," by Smileyfax