The 25 best episodes of 'Daria,' ranked

The first season of Daria is a little rough in terms of animation and pacing. Only two episodes from that season made our list, and they are both in the bottom five of the top 25. In this episode, everybody from Lawndale seems to be heading to Alternapalooza, making for quite the road trip.

On occasion, Daria would do episodes where non-canonical stories are told, which is not uncommon for comedies. “Legends of the Mall” features the Fashion Club telling one another urban legends, but in their Fashion Club way. You know, kind of vapid, maybe knowing half the information from the story they are telling.

Jane and Daria are best friends, but Jane has a bit more of a life outside Daria. In this episode, she even joins the track team, something Daria would never do. This leaves Daria basically alone in her life. It’s an interesting turn for Jane and an insight into Daria.

The first-season finale is the one episode from that season that really seems to nail Daria. A local celebrity dies, and Daria suddenly finds herself being approached by all the kids in her school, looking for advice. They see Daria as “The Misery Chick” and want advice on being sad. This is frustrating to Daria, and it features her dealing with how other people see her.

We’re back in a car for another road trip. Daria gets her driver’s license, and her first big driving adventure involves…heading out into the middle of nowhere to bail out Jane, her brother Trent, and his band Mystik Spiral. Then, Quinn decides to tag along with Daria, putting those two quarreling sisters together in a car for quite some time.

Daria often doesn’t feel like she fits in with her family, so imagine her having to be a bridesmaid at her cousin Erin’s wedding. While there, Daria hangs out with her aunt Amy, her mom’s younger sister. They bond only to a degree, and the rest of the family also has to deal with their family stuff.

Eventually, Daria gets a boyfriend, Tom. In this episode, they both “forget” their six-month anniversary. Only Quinn, who cares more about that stuff, realizes this. Daria then has to reconcile whether she cares, if it is OK for her to care, or if that goes against her whole worldview.

By the way, Tom? He was Jane’s boyfriend first. Yeah, that makes for some complicated events. Those complications start from the beginning. When Tom and Jane start dating, Daria is relegated to third-wheel status. It adds some real drama to the series, and it worked.

Another Jane, Daria, and Tom episode. Hey, it was a big storyline on the show! The fourth season ends with Daria botching a hair-dye job on Jane, but that’s not the only issue between them. This is the episode where Daria and Tom act upon feelings for each other, which basically means Daria takes Jane’s boyfriend from her.

Getting a job as a teenager can suck because there aren’t a lot of jobs that are any good for a teen. Now, imagine being smart like Daria, and then your parents force you to get a job. That job happens to be at a store that sells nuts, and Daria’s only co-worker is the blockheaded high school quarterback Kevin.

Daria did a musical episode. The cast couldn’t necessarily sing. Daria’s singing voice is far from great but perfect for her. This episode is a lot of fun, and the fact it’s musical is a big part of that. It’s not necessarily a well-crafted musical, but that doesn’t really matter.

Daria stretches its reality with our old friend the dream episode. Somebody has cheated in Mr. DeMartino’s class. This infuses Daria’s dreams, which become nightmares, mostly involving her being accused of murder. As the episode goes on, the dream gets crazier and crazier but also funnier and funnier.

This is a fun episode for Jake and Helen, Daria and Quinn’s parents. They are both having midlife crises, and when Jake is having a crisis, he’s funny. For Daria, it’s a little more serious. She has to write a short story for school in the season-two finale, but she’s having trouble with it, perhaps because she’s having trouble being truthful to herself and her life.

Daria and Jane are coerced into attending a casino fundraiser event for Lawndale High on a cruise ship. A very cheap cruise ship. It turns into a disaster for just about everybody. Mr. DeMartino goes on a gambling bender, for example. And poor Daria and Jane just wanted to sleep after being up all night the day before.

“I Loathe a Parade” is pretty much a perfect title for a Daria episode. Daria needs to run to the store for her family. It should be a simple errand. However, the school parade is carving through town, adding a ton of complications.

In the penultimate episode, Tom accidentally falls asleep at Daria’s. They did not do anything too forward, but rumors began to swirl. This leads Daria to consider whether she wants to have sex with Tom. Since this was MTV, Daria could be frank about it and reflect what much of the teenage audience was thinking in their own lives.

Principal Li is always out to make a buck, and in “Fizz Ed,” she perhaps goes too far. She makes a sponsorship deal with a soda company, which quickly takes over the school. Everything is out of hand, and that’s the chaos Daria and Jane thrive in.

Daria and a school dance. They don’t exactly go hand in hand; indeed, she has no interest in it. On the other hand, Quinn wants to be in charge of the whole thing. However, things get complicated when she pawns the design off to the artist Jane.

A paranoid thriller within the halls of Lawndale High? OK, maybe more of a paranoia parody. Is there an alien in town? A foreign spy? It’s Daria and Jane’s favorite show “Sick, Sad World,” but now it’s in their own hometown.

Daria getting her belly button pierced doesn’t sound like the biggest storyline fodder. And yet, this is a down-to-earth, well-done episode of the show. Daria’s decision spirals out to have all sorts of consequences, but that is all realistic and reasonable.

Quinn wants a steady boyfriend. Daria’s parents want her to bring Tom over for dinner. Jake wants to catch a squirrel. In the end, this episode features Jake, Tom, and Jeffy triumphantly singing “Whoomp! There it Is” after capturing a squirrel. That’s all that matters.

Camping in the woods goes awry, exactly what Daria and Jane figure. This is a great episode for their deadpan quips and one-liners. And also a great episode for Mr. DeMartino.

The teachers go on strike, which leaves Lawndale High in trouble. Daria actually ends up teaching Quinn’s English class, much to Quinn’s horror. In the end, the sisters find common ground, and for the first time in the show’s history, Quinn says aloud in front of the Fashion Club that Daria is her sister.

Jake is high-strung and always on the verge of a freakout. That makes him a hilarious character. This time, his stress gets the best of him, as he has a heart attack. It’s a great episode for Jake, who may not be Daria or Jane but is a great character who deserves love.

The last regular episode of the show (before the series-finale film “Is it College Yet?) is also the best. Weirdly, it revolves around a refrigerator box. That box conjures up memories from Daria’s childhood. It creates conflict within her and conflict within the family. This is maybe the most substantive episode Daria ever did, and it’s one of the sweetest. Not that it isn’t still funny, of course.