Too Cute is the ninth episode of Season 1 of Daria and the ninth episode of the series overall. It originally aired on MTV on June 16, 1997.
Synopsis[]
Quinn attempts to get plastic surgery, but the surgeon is much more interested in working with Daria.
Plot[]
Kevin is giving out compliments to random people on the street with his face beaten up as part of a class assignment.
Later that day, Quinn meets up with Sandy and they soon catch glimpse of Brooke who has just gotten a nose job with the intention of it being cute but not too cute. When Quinn calls it cute, Sandy manages to turn it around and make it seem like an insult. To test out the nose on a regular person, Sandy asks Daria for her opinion, which leads Daria to make it worse by saying "Don't worry, it'll grow out."
That night, Quinn brings up the topic at the dinner table which leads Helen to reprimand the two girls for considering cosmetic surgery at their age. Quinn remarks that she feels her nose has imperfections, and Jake's attempts to cheer her up backfire.
The next day during science class, it turns out that Kevin's appearance was just part of a snooty assignment by Ms. Barch, as part of her ongoing attempt to humiliate any man she can.
Daria is suddenly called out of class by the principal to help Quinn with something. Quinn fakes being sick to go to the mall and use Daria as an alibi as they go to the mall for something important. In the mall, Quinn leads them to Dr. Shar's Swan Shoppe, the same place that did Brooke's nose job revealing Quinn wishes to have a similar procedure done.
Quinn and Daria meet up with Dr. Shar who tells Quinn she doesn't need a nose job but recommends several other procedures such as enhanced cheekbones, lips, dimples, and moles as well as a hair transplant by using a computer to show the results. Quinn is delighted at the results, but can't afford the $6000 needed for the procedures. Dr. Shar takes a much greater interest in Daria and recommends a series of procedures that would make her look identical to Quinn for $20,000, much to Daria's dismay. Dr. Shar eventually sends Daria home with a box telling her to reconsider.
Quinn becomes depressed on the bus ride home at not being able to afford the surgery while Daria opens the box and finds a set of breast enhancers. Daria later calls Jane and complains about the entire experience.
The next day, Quinn finds the other members of the fashion club have had nose jobs and gets a glimpse of the new Brooke remarking that she is beautiful. She has gotten liposuction and collagen injections using fat removed from the liposuction. Sandy begins to consider firing Quinn and replacing her with Brooke as she is considered to be much cuter now, much to Quinn's dismay.
Daria and Jane encounter Kevin who has now been forced by Ms. Barch to dress up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He asks for advice on how to deal with being unpopular, and Daria just repeats what Dr. Shar said about money being able to make anyone beautiful and he leaves much happier. Jane asks to see the breast enhancers, only for Upchuck to pick one up and get visibly horrified and run off when they reveal what it is.
Quinn asks Daria for the $6000, telling her to make up a lie about needing a growth hormone, but Daria refuses, sarcastically suggesting Quinn set up a collection to raise the money. Quinn however doesn't understand the sarcasm and actually starts asking several students and teachers for the money but is rebuked at every turn by people who think she's crazy.
After Quinn spills out her heart, Daria decides to admit to Quinn that she doesn't need surgery saying she's perfect just the way she is. At that moment though, Stacy and Tiffany rush over and tell them that Brooke's nose caved in and that the fat in her lips slipped down into her chin, making her look atrocious.
Quinn relays this to her family later and admits that she loves how much of a support group she feels the family is, this whole incident apparently making her decide not to consider the surgery.
Some time later, Kevin finally manages to draw a crowd by handing out free money to people who take it despite his hideous appearance.
Characters[]
- Daria Morgendorffer
- Quinn Morgendorffer
- Jake Morgendorffer
- Helen Morgendorffer
- Jane Lane
- Kevin Thompson
- Sandi Griffin
- Joey
- Jeffy
- Jamie White
- Stacy Rowe
- Tiffany Blum-Deckler
- Kia
- Popular Girl
- Brooke
- Jenna
- Bob
- Hot Shades
- Pie Cap
- Janet Barch
- Mack Mackenzie
- Andrea
- Upchuck
- Brittany Taylor
- Tanada
- Dawn
- Rob
- Burnout Girl
- Angela Li
- Dr. Shar
- Jackass
- Shane
- Bib Overalls
- Burnout Girl
- Scarlett
Trivia[]
General[]
- Tiffany speaks at a normal speed as opposed to her trademark slow speech in later episodes.
- Sandi breaks the fourth wall by mentioning that Quinn wears 'that same outfit', referring to the pink shirt and jeans that she wears most of the time. Ironically she has no right to judge as she also wears her own 'same outfit' most of the time.
- Despite his lousy academic performance throughout the series, Kevin was shown to have perfectly counted various complex reactions that occurred during his assignment for Janet Barch.
- Quinn is shown to have excellent manipulation skills as she was able to fake cramps to get out of class and then get Daria out of class by convincing the nurse to have Daria walk Quinn home.
- Quinn's low self esteem is first shown in this episode as she is shown to be ashamed of her nose despite how pretty she is.
- Despite Dr. Shar's questionable business practices, she still tells Quinn that her nose is fine showing that she isn't all bad. Although, this is partially due to a possible ethics violation that she does not want to get involved in.
- Upchuck is shown to be freaked out by the concept of the breast enhancers that Dr. Shar gave Daria, a rare exception to his usual perverted attitude.
Errors[]
- Daria and Quinn pass by several stores in one shot, and then in the next shot they pass by the same stores despite their conversation continuing.
- Daria claims to have low self esteem at one point despite denying having it in the pilot episode Esteemsters (although it could be an ironic comment).
- Quinn said that Tiffany Duke was the one who saw Brooke's nose falling down. However, this seems to be a mistake because Tiffany Duke was a made-up name according to the guard at Brittany's in "The Invitation" and the Tiffany that told Quinn about Brook's nose was the member of the Fashion Club who is actually named Tiffany Blum-Deckler. By the way, her name was in the actual list of the same guard in "The Invitation" episode.