The Misery Chick

“The Misery Chick” was the thirteenth and last episode of the first season of Daria.

Plot
Lawndale High is being honored by a visit from alumnus Tommy Sherman, who's being honored for his football prowess by the dedication of a new goalpost in his name. Kevin, naturally, is deep in the throes of hero worship, but Daria and Jane are less than impressed, particularly when Jane explains why they're naming a goalpost after him (seems that he insisted on running the touchdowns himself, but he got so wrapped up in waving to the crowd that he'd hit the goalpost). When Tommy arrives, he actually manages to lower Daria's opinion of him by proving himself to be an egotistical and misogynistic jerk. After hitting on Brittany and insulting Kevin and Mack, Daria can stand it no longer and tells the guy off, and in turn, Tommy accuses Daria of being one of those "misery chicks" that's always depressed about everything. Daria blows his comments off, but is still angry that the jerk is going to be treated like a hero for the rest of his life. Jane jokes that maybe he won't actually live that long... words that become prophetic when the new goalpost falls on him and kills him. Not unexpectedly, this event sends the whole school into mourning, but what Daria doesn't expect is the attention she's suddenly receiving, as first Kevin, then Brittany, then Mr. O'Neill, and finally Quinn comes to her for advice on dealing with this tragedy, because after all, she's "the misery chick." What's even stranger, though, is that Jane is doing everything she can to avoid talking to Daria, thereby depriving her of an outlet for her frustrations about the reputation she's been given. Daria finally goes over to Jane's house to ask her what's going on, and after a somewhat reassuring talk with Trent, she corners Jane in her bedroom and demands an explanation. Jane admits that she was disturbed about how her little joke came true, which is making her feel somehow responsible for his death. Daria then vents about how people assume that she's miserable all the time, when the truth is that she's just not like them. She "makes people think," Jane tells her, which is why Jane didn't want to talk to her: she didn't want to think about it. After talking things out, they're able to agree on three things: Jane wasn't responsible, Daria isn't a "misery chick," and Tommy Sherman was a major-league jerk (but he still shouldn't have died). Unfortunately, Daria can't shake her reputation that easily, as she finds out when Sandi asks her for advice on dealing with her depression over her cat eating her makeup and getting sick. Daria decides that if she can't shake her reputation, she should profit from it, and charges Sandi $10 for some useless advice. Afterwards, Daria feels bad about making $10 off of Sandi's suffering... because she should have charged her $20.