Camp Fear

"Camp Fear" was the fourth episode of the fifth season of the television series Daria (episode number 504). It first aired on MTV on March 12, 2001.

"Camp Fear" was written by Jonathan Greenberg.

Summary
Daria and Quinn attend a reunion at Camp Grizzly, a summer camp they attended as pre-teens. Once there, Daria cannot escape the worshipful attentions of Amelia, a fellow former camper who drastically mis-remembers several painful events Daria endured at the camp:

 Amelia: This reminds me of the time you boycotted the End-of-Summer campfire by the lake. That was so cool.

Daria: Actually, I wasn't invited.

Amelia: Oh. (pauses, then laughs) Remember the time you took off on your horse and left us all behind.

Daria: You mean the time the time the horse ran off with me on it and tossed me in the river, and I had to have nine stitches?

Meanwhile, Quinn falls in with her old clique, Tracy, Cindy, and Tatiana, precursors of Sandi, Stacy, and Tiffany respectively.

Daria's Reading Material
In a flashback to her time as a young camper at Camp Grizzly, Daria is shown with a copy of George Orwell's Animal Farm. At the camp reunion, she reads Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.

Daria Fans as Characters
Two fans of Daria won a contest to become characters on this show: Michelle Klein-Hass and Erin Mills.

"Camp Fear" and Fanfic
The Angst Guy wrote a continuation of Amelia's experiences on the camp reunion day in "Prisoner of Hope." He also used a future Amelia as a major supporting character in his novel, "Darkness."

Trivia
The title appears to be a play on Cape Fear, a film first made in 1962 starring Geogory Peck and Robert Mitchum and then remade in 1991 by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte. The 1962 original has Robert Mitchum's character, Max Cady, terrorizing the family of Geogory Peck's character, Sam Bowden, for Bowden's testimony against him years ago that sent Cady to prison. Scorsese's 1991 remake has Cady, played by Robert De Niro, terrorizing Bowden (Nick Nolte) for having mishandled his defense. Scorsese gives Mitchum and Peck supporting roles in his remake, but reverses their alligences: Mitchum plays a local police officer sympathetic to the Bowden's situation, while Peck plays Cady's capable and malicious lawyer, determined to keep his client free to terrorize the Bowdens.

There is also a 1991 soft-core porn film having the very same name as the episode.