Daria Dance Party

"Daria Dance Party" was the fourth episode of the third season of the Daria TV series (episode number 304). It first aired on MTV on March 17, 1999.

"Daria Dance Party" was written by Peggy Nicoll.

Summary
Lawndale High's school dance is approaching, and there is still no student in charge of the dance committee. Sandi, motivated by a bad experience as a past volunteer organizer of a dance and present antipathy towards Quinn, suggests that Quinn take the post, and hints&mdash;but does not guarantee&mdash;that the Fashion Club will assist her. Once Quinn takes the post and calls the Fashion Club together to help her, Sandi takes umbrage at Quinn's comments with a combativeness reminiscent of Tommy DeVito's "I'm a clown, I amuse you?" dialogue with Henry Hill in Goodfellas:



Quinn: Gee, Sandi, since you don't like any of my ideas, maybe there's something you'd like to do.

Sandi: I think we should decorate the gym like the inside of the Concorde.

Quinn: Um, it's a cute idea and everything, but I'm not sure there would be much room to dance, and...

Sandi: Gee, Quinn, if you're not going to listen to ideas from your own dance committee, maybe you should just plan the dance alone.

Quinn: Don't be silly...

Sandi: So now I'm silly?

Quinn: I meant, it would be silly for me to plan the dance alone when I have such a talented committee. I know the four of us can come up with something really fun!

Sandi: But I already did come up with something really fun.

Quinn: But it's just... well, not practical.

Sandi: Maybe I should just have my own party, since you obviously think I'm postal.

Quinn: I don't think you're postal!

Sandi: (To the other members of the Fashion Club) Come on. I know a really nice insane asylum.

Meanwhile, Brittany and Kevin have split up for good (for the time being, at least), and to show their loyalty to their respective leaders, no member of the cheerleading squad will accompany Kevin to the dance, and no member of the football team will accompany Brittany to the dance—except, as Jodie points out to Brittany, Robert, who has been on vacation with his family while this crisis developed.

While one teen social crisis has been averted (or has it?) another brews: Sandi, not content with abandoning Quinn to organize the dance herself, schedules a party at her house the same night as the dance. This leaves Quinn overwhelmed and sans clue as to how to organize the dance, but help comes to her from an unexpected source: Jane Lane, who at the beginning of the episode was lamenting the lack of a "medium grand enough to do justice to my inner torment," takes over the logistics and (more important) decorations from Quinn, and turns the gymnasium into a gigantic pastiche of Jackson Pollock-like drip paintings&mdash;and a representational (and gory) depiction of the car crash that killed him.

Trivia


During art class, Jane paints a reproduction of Francisco Goya's The Third of May 1808.

Sandi's flashback shows her old school was called "Gle_field Middle School" (possibly Glenfield).

Brad and Brett, Upchuck's cousins, make their only appearance in the series in this episode.

The Three Js are hanging out with three unnamed "backgrounders", a rare moment of them with other friends who aren't in the Lawndale Lions.

"Daria Dance Party" and Fanfic

 * "It's Like the Beginning of an Era" by Kristen Bealer, which can be found here, expands on the flashback and details Sandi's attempts to organize a middle school dance.
 * In the Dariarotica comic "Brushed off" by Wouter, when Jane is working on her "Tools of the trade" exhibition she likens the amount of work she's putting into to the work she put in decorating the Gym in "Daria Dance Party"

On “Daria Dance Party” the Episode

 * “Daria Dance Party” summary at Outpost Daria
 * “Daria Dance Party” transcript

Alternate-Universe Versions of “Daria Dance Party”
x

Alternate Canon Versions of “Daria Dance Party”
x