My Night at Daria's

"My Night at Daria's" was the twelfth episode of the fifth season of Daria (episode number 512). It first aired on MTV on June 18, 2001.

"My Night at Daria's" was written by Peggy Nicoll.

Summary
While Jake and Helen have dinner with a prospective client (Tokyo Toby's sushi restaurant), Daria and Tom use the quiet time to study. To avoid Quinn and her non-stop prattling, they retire to Daria's bedroom, where they both manage to doze off on the bed. When they wake up, they're shocked to see it's 4:00 in the morning. Tom tries to sneak out, but is caught by a midnight-snack-seeking Jake. Fortunately for Tom, Jake had too much sake at dinner, and is too drunk to realize what's going on; unfortunately for Daria, he's too drunk to be able to keep his mouth shut around Helen.

After an all-night lecture, Daria is able to convince Helen that nothing happened between her and Tom, but Quinn overhears part of their conversation, misunderstands, and immediately phones Stacy with the news. That evening, Daria and Tom start getting strange looks at the pizza place; the mystery deepens when they receive congratulations from Upchuck, Kevin and Brittany. At home, Jake is both paranoid about the possibility of having gotten a parasite from the raw fish, and too confused and upset to look Daria in the eye. Daria then gives Jane a call to try to figure out what's going on, and after engaging in some good-natured ribbing, Jane realizes that Daria really doesn't know what's happening. Apparently, a rumor is going around school that Daria and Tom slept together, and, as rumors tend to do, it keeps getting wilder (Daria wearing black high heels, Jake walking in on them "doing the deed," and so on). She knows exactly who to confront: Quinn, who avoids talking to Daria because she doesn't want to know any of the sordid details. Daria tries to convince people that the rumor is false, to no avail, so Daria starts a little rumor of her own regarding Quinn and "Malaysian toenail fungus".

At Tom's, Daria tells him about the rumor, and after discussing it, Daria decides -- reluctantly -- that she's ready to "take their relationship to the next level". After a bit of waffling, they decide to "um, you know" the following Saturday while Tom's parents are out of town.

At home, Jake crows to Helen about being right -- he did get a parasite from that sushi -- but Helen is trying to resume her mother/daughter talk from before (which Daria deftly avoids). Saturday arrives, and while Tom prepares his room with flowers and candles, Daria does the predictable thing: she chickens out. The following morning, Tom finds a note atop the newspaper on the front step; it's from Daria, apologizing for standing him up and saying she understands about the inevitable breakup it caused. However, Tom doesn't break up with her; he goes to her house, and they both walk to the park and talk. Daria tells him that she thought she was ready, but she was afraid that going through with it would hurt their relationship. Tom reassures her that he understands where she's coming from, and will be content to wait until she feels it's the right time. After that, they both come to the realization that their relationship has progressed to the next level... and they didn't need to have sex to get there.

Back at home, Daria reassures Helen once again that she and Tom are not having sex, Jake drops Toby and his parasite-ridden restaurant as a client, and Quinn is baffled by the sudden stream of foot-related medical product brochures she's receiving in the mail.

Music
In the original airing, "Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden was played when Tom & Daria reacted to Quinn's radio; this is a generic song with faint lyrics the DVD copy. Unfortunately, Tom and Daria are clearly responding to a song with loud, high pitched lyrics (Daria questions if Garden are "a traveling band of eunuchs").

The replacement music uses "Oolala" by Extreme Music, a recurring Quinn track in the DVDs, for Daria confronting Quinn instead of the original "Survivor" by Destiny's Child.

Trivia
It is in this episode that we learn more-or-less definitively, or perhaps more accurately we are given a too-undeniable reminder, that Brittany Taylor and Kevin Thompson are sexually active. (Upon "learning" about Daria and Tom, Brittany tells Daria, "Now we can have womanly talks!")

It is also in this episode that it is implied that Jodie Landon and Mack Mackenzie are also having sex ("I promise: soon as my parents are dead, I'll tell you all about it" she tells Daria).

One of Tom's classes at Fielding is covering Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, requiring him to study it. (This seems a remarkably difficult assignment for a high-school student.)

The episode title is a play on the film My Night at Maud's.

"My Night at Daria's" and Fanfic
In Wouter Jaegers' Dariarotica comic Big Sister's Great Adventure Jodie remarks that she once gave Daria hints about her and Mack being sexually active, recalling the scene in "My night at Daria's"

On “My Night at Daria's” the Episode

 * Transcript
 * Episode Analysis by WellTemperedClavier