Too Cute

“Too Cute” was the ninth episode of the first season of Daria.

Plot
While Ms. Barch uses Kevin in an "experiment" to determine how a person's looks affects the behavior of others, Quinn is faced with this challenge in a different way, as Fashion Club hopeful Brooke shows up at school with a brand-new nose job. Everyone else "oohs" and "ahhs" about it, but Quinn's reaction, while positive, is not quite as enthusiastic. Sandi, ever ready to jump on a moment of weakness, accuses Quinn of being shallow, and manages to psych Quinn out and convince her that she's "less than perfect." Helen and Jake flat-out refuse to let Quinn get plastic surgery to correct her perceived flaws, forcing her to take matters into her own hands. She fakes being sick in order to cut school for a clandestine visit to Dr. Shar, the ethically questionable plastic surgeon that treated Brooke, but she's too nervous to go by herself. Enter Daria, who will be "taking Quinn home" -- or so Quinn tells Ms. Li, anyway. In reality, Quinn wants Daria along because she's honest and she probably knows Quinn better than anyone else. When they arrive at Dr. Shar's office, Quinn's insecurities are played like a violin by the doctor, who tells her that a mere $6,000 will allow her to achieve the perfection she craves. She also tries to win Daria over, but Daria remains stubbornly skeptical of Dr. Shar's "Frankenstein approach" to beauty. Quinn, however, becomes even more convinced when she sees Brooke, who now sports supermodel lips and hips, and starts taking up a collection to raise the money (an idea she got from the ever-sarcastic Jane). Predictably, the fundraising doesn't work, but Quinn is still determined to find a way, even after Daria swallows her pride and tells Quinn that she's perfect just the way she is. What finally convinces her to drop the whole idea is, ironically, Brooke, who suffers a "nasal relapse" and is now even less cute than she was before all this started. And Kevin finishes his experiment by employing a time-honored method of getting people to talk to him while he's wearing his "ugly face": he gives them money.