Quinn the Brain

“Quinn the Brain” was the third episode of the second season of Daria (episode number 203). It first aired on MTV on March 2, 1998.

"Quinn the Brain" was written by Rachel Lipman.

Summary
After a warning about her performance in "Language Arts" (aka English Class) from Mr. O'Neill and a letter to her parents warning them of the same, Quinn writes an essay entitled "Academic Imprisonment" that so impresses Mr. O'Neill&mdash;despite glaring mechanical flaws and a petulant tone&mdash;that he reads it aloud to the class. Although she is at first repulsed by her new status as a brain, Quinn comes to embrace her new persona as a black-clad adolescent intellectual poseur, causing Daria to suffer a minor identity crisis.

Daria's Reading Material

 * In a scene where Quinn attempts to bribe Daria into writing her essay, Daria is reading Joseph Heller's Catch-22.


 * Daria's report for Language Arts is on Death of a Salesman, and titled "He Had It Coming".

O'Neill's letter to Helen
On the DVD, it was discovered that O'Neill's later about Quinn's grade was legible, reading:

Dear Mr Morgendorffer, Mrs Morgendorffer, and/or caretaker,

As your daughter Quinn’s Language Arts teacher, it is my sad duty to inform you that Quinn is not working up to her potential and is in danger of failing Language Arts, which I teach.

Now, I use the term “working up to her potential” deliberately, for it is my belief that all students have the potential to soar like eagles (educationally) when their imagination and interest are engaged, and in fact Quinn’s imagination and interest are engaged, just not by school or anything to do with learning in any shape or form. Ironically, I myself have learned quite a bit about current skort styles and materials by listening to Quinn and her friends, but unfortunately this does not help her grade. Would that it could!

In any case, I thought you should know about Quinn’s poor performance so that together we can help bring her grades up. When teachers and parents work together as partners, Look [sic] out world, nothing can stop us now!

Sincerely yours,

Timothy O’Neill

“Quinn the Brain” and Fanfic
This episode is a common rationale for the trope that Daria, underneath her unflattering clothing and behind her "Manstopper glasses", is incredibly physically attractive (although some would argue she already is). Quinn's reaction to Daria's appearance at the end of the episode lends some creedence to this viewpoint (although her reaction may simply be due to the perception of Daria trying to be like her, without regard for the level of success). A number of alternate endings to this episode have been written as a means of allowing the "cute" Daria to last longer than the trip from her room to Quinn's door.

A novelization of this episode has been written by Martin J. Pollard.

On “Quinn the Brain” the Episode

 * Episode Guide at Outpost Daria
 * Transcript at Outpost Daria