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"Quinn the Brain" was written by [[Rachel Lipman]].
{{quote|A (very) brief burst of intellectual activity by Quinn gets her an instant reputation as a "brain."|MTV website summary}}
==Summary==
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Quinn eventually writes an essay entitled "[[Academic Imprisonment]]", comparing school to prison. It so impresses Mr. O'Neill — despite glaring mechanical flaws and a petulant tone — that not only he gives her an A as he reads the text aloud and later has is published in the school’s newspaper.
The grade has unintended consequences: at the Morgendorffer’s, Quinn manipulates her parents into giving her money for the grade, a system Daria is quick to point the faults of by noting ''she'' had consistently maintained high grades for long. (Jake throws his wallet at the girls in a panic, declaring to Helen "I told you I was no good as this parenting crap!") And, at school, the consequences are deeper: Quinn’s published essay makes her appear smart and intellectual.
[[Image:QtB_Dariahorror.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Daria realises who her tutor is]]
Daria, who had first been eager for Quinn’s to be known as smart (as she tough Quinn would become an outcast), soon despairs when she sees, during the following days, that Quinn has maintained her popularity and is assumed among classmates and teachers to be a good writer, despite her writings being awful. That perception causes Daria to suffer an identity crisis and she tries to talk with her father about it - admitting that she doesn't ''like'' the identity she's saddled with, but if it's 'stolen' then she's "got nothing". Unfortunately, Jake's response devolves into a panicked rant about his own failed life, ending with a plea to Daria that "You're still a young man! You don't have to live with your mistakes! ''Get out while you can!''" She retreats, dryly commenting that "talking to you has made me feel better about myself" (he doesn't get it).▼
To both their surprises, Quinn's cuteness means she transforms being smart into a fad. Soon, Quinn is being asked by Mr O'Neill to tutor [[Kevin]], gets to leave English class early, and finds everyone gushing over her half-assed poems. She even starts to think about becoming a writer because "it's not like it's real work". Daria goes from annoyed that both classmates and teachers assume Quinn to be smart when she's still being dumb, to despairing when O'Neill asks Quinn to tutor ''her'' in English.
Meanwhile, Quinn has her share of problems: with so many girls following Quinn’s example and wearing black (imitating Quinn’s intellectual poseur), a furious [[Sandi Griffin|Sandi]] suspends Quinn from the [[Fashion Club]]. The later confides in [[Jane Lane|Jane]] that she thinks everybody’s making a big deal of her essay.▼
▲
Daria continues to despair that nobody notices Quinn's writing is rubbish and that she's losing the "brain" role to Quinn - and since Quinn's "a brain with bouncy hair", "I can't compete". Unwilling to end up as an even ''less'' popular brain, when the [[Three Js]] approach her to get things back to normal, she works out a plan - one she knew would work all along but couldn't "bring myself" to do before. ▼
▲Meanwhile, Quinn has her share of problems: with so many girls following Quinn’s example and wearing black (imitating Quinn’s intellectual poseur), a furious [[Sandi Griffin|Sandi]] suspends Quinn from
Quinn confides in [[Jane Lane|Jane]] that while she loves how much her sister is being messed up by this, she thinks everybody’s making a big deal of her essay and doesn't understand why. ''She'' knows she's not as smart as everyone thinks. Jane explains how the girl has trained everyone to expect nothing from her and thus overreact to the slightest bit of effort, but it doesn't get through.
▲Daria continues to despair that nobody notices Quinn's writing is rubbish and that she's losing the "brain" role to Quinn - and since Quinn's "a brain with bouncy hair
That evening, at the Morgendorffer’s, Daria takes a photo of Quinn, marked with a detailed list of 'attributes', and procedes to make herself up to resemble Quinn. When the 3 J’s arrive, loudly stating they’re coming to take Daria out ("by the way, how's Quinn?"), Daria starts to show off her new look in full view of her sister. After a few seconds, Quinn panics and flees for the J's, conceding defeat.
The next day, everything is back to normal, as Quinn has reverted to her old self and clothes, has stopped pretending to be smart and quickly downplays her essay. A haughty Sandi accepts Quinn’s apology and lets her into the Fashion club again. Daria and Jane remark everything's back to normal - i.e. "Thinking: bad".
==Original soundtrack==
When Daria dresses up as Quinn, the original broadcast played ''What Do You Want From Me?'' by Monaco which had lyrics that fit Daria's plotline and actions - ''you've taken my life away/Ruining everything/Give me something I can rely on/Far away from the life that I once knew''. The DVD edits go with a generic wordless piece.
==Trivia==
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* When [[Jamie White]] talks in the first scene, he has a different voice actor to normal. The usual actor comes back later.
* Jake is disgruntled that Helen won't let him talk to the girls and tells him he's the "back-up singer" in parenting.
* Jake "woke up middle-aged and resenting the ''hell'' out of it", and has bitterness lurking under the surface.
* Near the end, Daria gives a brief lament of "isn't there ever a time when how you look doesn't affect how you're judged?", and trying to make herself up like Quinn is something she is loathe to do. This will come up again in "[[Through a Lens Darkly]]", where she again complains about being judged on appearance - and becomes upset with herself when she shows some vanity over her looks.
* The Three J's know Daria and Quinn are sisters, and Jeffy knows Daria's name.
* "Through a Lens Darkly" shows Daria can barely see without her glasses, so how the heck did she manage to Quinn up after she'd taken them off?!
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===Daria's Reading Material===
In a scene where Quinn attempts to bribe Daria into writing her essay, Daria is reading Joseph Heller's [
Daria's report for Language Arts is on ''Death of a Salesman'', and titled ''He Had It Coming''.
====Daria's essay====
You can make out the words on the DVD for ''He Had It Coming'':
''There are two ways to read Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman". The first is an American tragedy, the story of a "little man" whose spirit and life were crushed by the vicissitudes of everyday life. But a second (and in my view equally valid) way to interpret the work is as a morality play with a happy ending. Compromise your values, lose sight of your dreams, cheat on your spouse, and you're dead. Clean, quick, uncomplicated. It's almost a happy fantasy, really. In fact, when I'm feeling a little depressed, I like to open up "Death of a Salesman" and [turn to](?) the funeral scene for a quick pick-me-up.''
===O'Neill's letter to Helen===
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On the DVD, O'Neill's letter about Quinn's grades was legible, reading:
''Dear Mr. Morgendorffer, Mrs. Morgendorffer
''As your daughter/ward 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
''Sincerely yours,''
''Timothy O’Neill''
''(Quinn's Language Arts teacher)''
==“Quinn the Brain” and Fanfic==
This episode is a common rationale for the [[Tired Daria Fandom Tropes|trope]] that Daria, underneath her
[[YouthofOz]]'s "[http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47226 Life That Dare Not Speak Its Name]" takes place around this story, showing how irritated Sandi was and revealing it was her that gave Daria the idea of "show[ing] Quinn what it feels like to steal who you are".
A [[Novelization|novelization]] of [http://
The story [[A Tale of Two Brains]], by [[Richard Lobinske]], of the [[John Lane]] series, has a somewhat altered version of this episode.
▲A [[Novelization|novelization]] of [http://www.outpost-daria.com/fanfic/ep203_quinn_the_brain.html this episode] has been written by [[Martin J. Pollard]].
==External Links==
===On “Quinn the Brain” the Episode===
* [https://sites.google.com/site/dariatranscripts/203-quinn-the-brain Transcript] at [[Daria Transcripts]]
* [https://archiveofourown.org/works/17623430/chapters/41550449 Episode Analysis] by [[WellTemperedClavier]]
===Alternate Universe Versions of “Quinn the Brain”===
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