The Teachings of Don Jake

“The Teachings of Don Jake” was the twelfth episode of the first season of Daria. It first aired on MTV on July 14, 1997.

"The Teachings of Don Jake" was written by Glenn Eichler.

Summary
This episode consists of the Morgendorfer family seeking to take a long weekend to go camping together in the woods. In the meanwhile, the Lane family is having a family reunion. Trent and Jane's parents, being too smart to attend this occasion themselves, instead send Jane and Trent.

On both fronts, wacky hijinks ensue.

“The Teachings of Don Jake” and Fanfic
This episode is notable because for a short time the lives of the Morgendorffers hang by the barest of threads. The deus ex machina that saves everyone's life lies in Daria's discovery of her mother's cell phone while the rest of her family, hallucinating wildly from eating psychotropic berries, runs off through an uninhabited woodland. Daria's refusal to eat the berries is also a key element. The potential for alternate-universe stories is great, and indeed several AU versions of this tale exist with outcomes ranging from comedy to tragedy.

Events from the episodes "Road Worrier" and "The Teachings of Don Jake" were used in the John Lane story, Lessons of Spring by Richard Lobinske. The same author also used this story as the starting point of his story, Misery's End.