The Misery Chick: Difference between revisions

'''“The Misery Chick”''' was the thirteenth and lastfinal episode of the first season of <i>Daria</i>. It first aired on MTV on July 21, 1997.

However, Tommy Sherman is shown to be a very unpleasant and rude person, strutting through the school halls,. He bluntly propositioningpropositions [[Brittany Taylor|Brittany]], andleading her to (rightfully) slap Tommy across the face. Tommy also insultinginsults [[Kevin Thompson|Kevin]] and [[Mack Mackenzie|Mack]] shortly after arriving in Lawndale High.

Daria, who witnesses this behavior, is fed up andwith verballyhow Tommy is treating her classmates. Later, Daria belittlesasks Tommy to move when thehe begins leaning on her locker. Tommy laterthen makes some nasty remarks to her and Jane, asin which Daria wasresponds justwith askinga himverbal to move (he was leaning on her locker)onslaught. Tommy, however, doesn’t get mad at the verbal barb and makes one of his own, pointing out he's a winner who’s going to be honored, whereas Daria is just a depressed whiner girl, nicknaming her ‘misery chick’. After the exchanged insults, he sets out to the football field for the ceremony. As Daria expresses her disdain about a jerk like him being seen as a hero for the rest of his life, Jane casually remarks that "Maybe he won't live that long". Just after she says that, Tommy is killed when the goalpost falls on him.

The next days are filled with reactions to his death. Mrs. Li address a student’s assembly, praising Sherman, as with an inconsolable Kevin cries all throughout the ceremony. Daria, on the other hand, Daria finds herself the object of much unwanted attention from other students and even a teacher. They feel either sad or anxious by the situation and consider Daria to be a candidate to understand death related subjects, since she is aoften thinkingseen personas being gloomy and depressed. Despite her unease with her role and label of misery chick, Daria consoles Kevin, Brittany, [[Timothy O'Neill|O’Neill]] and even [[Quinn Morgendorffer|Quinn]]. At the same time, Daria finds herselfthat beingthe avoidedone byperson she is interested in talking to, Jane, seems to be avoiding her.

Finally fed up with her friend’s absences, she goes meet herJane at the [[Casa Lane|Lanes]]. After a brief conversation with [[Trent Lane|Trent]], where he reveals Tommy and he had been classmates but hadn’t had much contact, Daria confronts Jane in her room. After an awkward beginning, Daria expresses her frustration: that people keep assuming she's miserable and therefore knows what to do, when she ''isn't'' miserable, just not like the others. Jane explains the reason the others were coming to her was that they were searching for ways to deal with Sherman and to stop thinking about life and death, thinking Daria would be the best to approach; when they say she's miserable, they mean "you think" and they want to know how to cope with having to think things they don't want to.

Soon everything is back to normal in Lawndale highHigh, though Daria gets to lay things down when asked a question about Tennyson's "better to have loved and lost" quote, as she says realisingrealizing that life is both good ''and'' painful is being realistic, not miserable, and recognisesrecognizes pain is better than feeling nothing. Despite all this, Daria is still approached a few days later. This time by [[Sandi Griffin|Sandi]], whose cat [[Fluffy]] is ill. However, Daria is now ready, demanding a cash payment in advance of delivering blunt, though effective, advice.