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'''“This Year's Model”''' was the sixth episode of the first season of <i>Daria</i>.
In this episode, Daria deals with a modeling agency coming to her school to recruit the next generation of models from among the student body.
==Plot Summary==
At [[Lawndale High]], principal [[Angela Li]] interrupts English class to enthusiastically announce the visit of representatives from the [[Amazon Modeling Agency]], who are searching for potential models among the students. BothAs modeling is a shallow profession based on youth and looks, both [[Daria Morgendorffer|Daria]] and [[Jane Lane|Jane]] protest and object to their presence, stating the disadvantages of a shallow profession with a limited future,- and at the same time hintinghint of the possible money the school is being offered for the visit. Later, [[Jodie Landon|Jodie]] argues with Daria and Jane, saying that theythe two don't ''have'' to be against everything.
TheAs next day,[[Diane orBennett|Mrs. possiblyBennett]] laterexplains thatthe day,marketing theaspects twoof the fashion representativesindustry, Amazon representatives [[Claude]] and [[Romonica DeGregory]], appear during Economics class and shamelesslygive laugh at [[Diane Bennett|Mrs. Bennett]], who had been explaining the marketing strategy of the fashion industry (though they later give her unsolicited fashion advice). They thenTheir goal tryis to convince students to sign up for a complementary modeling class. [[Brittany Taylor|Brittany]] agrees right away, but they are less successful with Daria and Jane.
Later that day, duringDuring dinner at the Morgendorffer’s,Morgendorffers a very upset Daria relates the day's events to her parents, stressing the dishonesty of the whole situation,. with bothBoth [[Helen Morgendorffer|Helen]] and [[Jake Morgendorffer|Jake]] agreeingagree with her. When [[Quinn Morgendorffer|Quinn]] enthusiastically announces that she has been chosen tofor the moddelingmodeling class, both parents try to dissuade her, stating that modeling is not a good choice for a profession, and only a timely call from Romonica convinces Helen to let Quinn attend the free modeling class. As Quinn leaves the kitchen, Helen asks (and eventually bribes) Daria to keep an eye on her sister.
The modeling class is held at the school auditorium and includes the four Fashion Club members and a red-haired, slightly plump girl (whom Romonica calls a "decoy"). Romonica and Claude first coach the female students on how they must walk and what sentimentsattitudes they should project. They then invite [[Kevin Thompson|Kevin]] and the [[3Three J'sJs]] to help out, asking them to remove their shirts and have the girls rub their chests. Quinn backs down,is clearly notill at ease, and excuses herself (claiming that she needs to visit the bathroom) but the other girls oblige. Brittany, watching from the audience with Jane, Daria and [[Trent Lane|Trent]], has a crying fit watching Kevin on stage (and alsois miserable for not having been chosen to attend the class). However, when MrsMs. Li enters and seesviews the salacious scene, taking place she immediately stops it and ends the class.
Later that night, the Morgendorffers discuss the day's events, with Quinn enthusiastically thinking she’ll be chosen for the modeling contract, despite her parent’sparents' warnings that they hadn't agreed on further participation and that she might not win (- a thought inconceivable to Quinn).
TheAt nextan day,auditorium again at the auditorium,assembly as Mrs. Li is goingpreparing to announce the winner for the modeling contract (after warning the students that modeling has nothing to do with sex, to the amusement of some of those present),. sheShe is unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of [[Buck Conroy|General Buck Conroy]], mercenary and editor of [[Brutal Mercenary|Brutal Mercenary Magazine]], - Conroy is also looking for potential recruits. He answers a surprised Mrs. Li that it had been ''her'' idea to contact him, showing her an invitation with her name,. and heA endstelevision news crew shows up onand televisionstates asthat although Li denied inviting Conroy to the school, she allowed a resultmodeling school to solicit students on school property.
That night, at the Morgendorffers, while Jake laments the lack of ethics on school, the family learns that Kevin, of all people, hadhas gottenreceived the modeling contract. Later, Daria is shown in her room readingretrieving the issue of Brutal Mercenary Magazine from her backpack (implying that she was the one to have mailed Conroy) before tearing it up. In the final scene, Kevin is shown during a photo session in the modeling agency, clearly having no idea what to do.
===Daria's Reading Material=== ▼Daria is reading Henry David Thoreau's [ http[wikipedia: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden ''|Walden '']] in the kitchen in the scene immediately following the class in the auditorium. This is for a school assignment: the opening scene has Mr. O'Neill trying (unsuccessfully) to engage [[Brittany Taylor]] in a discussion of whether Thoreau's retreat "to live deliberately" is a withdrawal from life or an attempt to understand its essentials. ''Walden'' is also referred to obliquely at the end of the episode, when her father exclaims in shock at the news of a scandal on the local news, "Does no one have any ethics anymore?" Daria replies, "Only you and Thoreau, Dad." After agreeing with his daughter, [[Jake Morgendorffer|Jake]] goes off because he remember he has to "call that baby formula guy," presumably a reference to the ongoing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott Nestlé baby formula scandal.]▼
==Trivia==
[[Image:106 TrentInSchool.JPG|thumb|300px|"YOU! Don't think we can't see you in the corner, Trent Lane!"]]
The title of the episode is a play on the 1978 Elvis Costello and The Attractions album, ''[[wikipedia:This_Year's_Model|This Year's Model]]''.
Trent shows up to see the modeling and then is later in the ''school assembly audience''. How did he get in the second time?!
Among the ''Daria'' fan community, the ending of this episode may be one of the most controversial non-supernatural endings of the series history. It is often especially contrasted with the more "realistic" ending of the similarly themed [[Fizz Ed]].
After agreeing with his daughter about ethics, [[Jake Morgendorffer|Jake]] goes off because he remember he has to "call that baby formula guy": a reference to the ongoing [[wikipedia:Nestlé boycott|Nestlé baby formula scandal.]]
▲===Daria's Reading Material===
▲Daria is reading Henry David Thoreau's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden ''Walden''] in the kitchen in the scene immediately following the class in the auditorium. This is for a school assignment: the opening scene has Mr. O'Neill trying (unsuccessfully) to engage [[Brittany Taylor]] in a discussion of whether Thoreau's retreat "to live deliberately" is a withdrawal from life or an attempt to understand its essentials. ''Walden'' is also referred to obliquely at the end of the episode, when her father exclaims in shock at the news of a scandal on the local news, "Does no one have any ethics anymore?" Daria replies, "Only you and Thoreau, Dad." After agreeing with his daughter, [[Jake Morgendorffer|Jake]] goes off because he remember he has to "call that baby formula guy," presumably a reference to the ongoing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott Nestlé baby formula scandal.]
Jane refers to her and Trent's parents as being at home, and that they "moved" there (which will later be contradicted by [[Art Burn]]).
==“This Year's Model” and Fanfic==
In response to one of [[John Lane (character)|John Lane's]] remarks, Romonica DeGregory invites Daria, along with Quinn, to participate in the onstage class in the story, "[[New Model Year]]" by [[Richard Lobinske]]
*Several [[alternate universe]] fics will find a way to put Daria into the onstage class: this happens in [[John Lane]] story "[[New Model Year]]" by [[Richard Lobinske]]; "[http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32229 Mad Dog's Legacy 6: Model Misbehaviour]" by [[Hyrin]].
* Buck Conroy has turned up as an antagonist in several fics. [[Nemo Blank]]'s "[[Ring Toss]]" is an exception, where he's the amoral boyfriend of Ms Li.
* The frizzy-haired girl ("Girl Teen 35" according to "[[Oh, the Obscurity!]]") rubbing Kevin down was named Diana in [[smk]]'s "[[Ships in the Night]]" and after a long absence, showed up in [[Lawndale Fighting Championship]] by [[The Excellent S]] as a wrestler called Diana Brayshaw.
==Transcript==
[[This Year's Model/transcript|Transcript]], originally from [[Outpost Daria]].
==External Links==
* [https://sites.google.com/site/dariatranscripts/106-this-year-s-model Episode Transcript] at [[Daria Transcripts]]
* [http://dariaphans.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html The Daria Fandom Blog, March 2007 archive]. The [[Daria Fandom Blog|DFG]] was maintained by [[CINCGREEN]] and [[Greybird]]. The entry for Saturday, April 7, 2007, is “Barbizon and Banality: A Look at ‘This Year’s Model’”
* [https://archiveofourown.org/works/17623430/chapters/41550326 Episode Analysis] for [[Malled]] and '''"This Year's Model"''' by [[WellTemperedClavier]]
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{{succession box | title=[[List of Daria Episodes|Daria Episodes]]<br/>"This Year's Model," Season 1, Episode 6 | before=[[Malled]] (105) | after=[[The Lab Brat]] | year=(106)}}
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