Esteemsters

"Esteemsters" was the first episode of the first season of the Daria TV series (episode number 101). It first aired on MTV on March 3, 1997.

"Esteemsters" was written by Glenn Eichler.

Summary
Daria Morgendorffer and her family arrive in Lawndale from Highland, and Daria starts classes at Lawndale High, where she meets Jane Lane. Daria's flippant responses on a psychological test lead to her being diagnosed with low self esteem, and being forced to take a class with Timothy O'Neill. In that class, she meets Jane, and is accidentally provided with an opportunity to avenge herself upon her sister Quinn, who has been dealing with her early days at a new school by referring to herself as an "only child."

The events of "Esteemsters" are supplemented by entries from Daria’s notes, as given in The Daria Diaries, which detail the move to Lawndale and the barricading of Jane’s home to prevent its repossession.

"Esteemsters" and Fanfic
"Esteemsters" has a curious place in the hearts and minds of Daria fanfic writers. The events within that episode have been recast many times in alternate-universe stories, most of them centering around the pivotal first meeting (or lack thereof) of Daria Morgendorffer and her only friend, Jane Lane (or their AU selves). Many examples of such tales are listed below. Retellings of "Esteemsters" sometimes cover events within that time period, the first few days of Daria's sophomore year, but outside the actual events shown in the episode (e.g., "Darius" and "If You Only Walk Long Enough," by The Angst Guy).

The most important event in “Esteemsters” occurs when Daria meets Jane in Timothy O'Neill’s self-esteem class at Lawndale High. So critical is this meeting to Daria’s well-being that Daria herself says of it: “I moved to this town and I knew immediately I'd be a total outcast. And in the one moment of good luck I've had in my entire life, I met another outcast who I could really be friends with and not have to feel completely alone” (“Dye! Dye! My Darling”). A failure for the two to connect is often a harbinger for disaster in AU-dom (e.g., Brother Grimace's nightmarish "Victory Lane"), though on occasion an acceptable series of outcomes can be achieved ("Jane on the Side," by The Alchemist). Richard Lobinske's "Saving Hope" sidesteps much of "Esteemsters" entirely for an unexpected outcome to Daria's first day in school in Lawndale.

Interestingly, AU stories in which the sex of either Daria or Jane is reversed always (as of this writing) lead to a swift and lasting romantic connection between the two.

It is rare for a writer to recast the events of “Esteemsters” in canon, however. A notable example is Jon Kilner’s highly regarded view from Jane Lane’s perspective, “The Last Days of Solitude.” A novelization of Daria's pilot episode, "Sealed with a Kick," was written by CF and made to fit within the time period of "Esteemsters." Rey Fox wrote an amusing in-canon story of the Morgendorffers’ drive from Highland to Lawndale called “Drive” (not to be confused with the science-fiction post-canon tale of the same name by The Angst Guy), and Richard Lobinske covered the events after the Morgendorffers make it to their new home in his scriptfic, "Lawndale Arrival."