User Reviews

After an incident with some chilli Jake is stuck in the lavatory without any paper; Daria agrees to go to the shop to buy some... if she is quick she will get a twenty dollar bonus. It shouldn't be a problem but it is the day of a parade and the shop is on the wrong side of the street. Having made her purchase Daria bumps into Jane who is waiting for Tom, she then continues on her way and finds a lost child who she once babysat for and Tom. Even Daria can't leave a lost child so, with Tom's help, they try to get the boy back to his parents. As they attempt to get the boy to his parents we see many regular characters who are taking part in the parade; a parade that inevitably goes wrong.

This episode was consistently funny throughout and it was nice to see that Daria's relationship with Tom has changed; she clearly didn't like him when Jane starting dating him but now she is actually able to have an enjoyably time with him. Any school parade in a comedy is inevitably going to be compared to that in 'Animal House'; thankfully this didn't feel like it was trying to copy that; when things went wrong here it was down to chance not deliberate action.

This has to be probably the only animation episode that refers to Pol Pot, which arose in a discussion (and a rather wry and dry one at that) between Daria and Tom as they happened (as if by fate!) to bump into each other during the city parade which Daria didn't want to be part of.

Talking of which, one omen of their impending season 5 long romance is when a school photographer gets a shot of them as a "couple". Oh dear, how would Jane feel? Jane and Tom are a couple (for now) but you can sense there's some sort of longing that Tom has for Daria. Anyway, the get together via a phone call in episode 13 of season 5.

Daria also catches up with one of the kids she and Jane babysat last season, so sort of a reunion of sorts.

The episode begins with Daria being sent on a mission to buy toilet paper for Jake--who is stuck in the bathroom without any. He tells her to hurry. However, two things distract Daria--a lost kid who needs his parents (from the episode where Daria babysat the boy and his sister) and Tom. Tom is looking for Jane but spends most of the time with Daria--looking through the crowd at the homecoming parade for her. Oddly, despite Daria disliking Tom, she does have a nice time and Tom actually catches her smiling!! This is a hint at things to come--as later in the show Tom (Jane's boyfriend) and Daria start to feel mutual attraction! Talk about awkward! But when Jane finds them she is happy to see the two had gotten along so well...if only she knew! While this is not that funny an episode, it clearly is very important to the development of the ongoing saga involving Tom, Jane and Daria. As a result it's an important episode but certainly not one to see if you are simply looking for comedy.

Poor Jake....