Quinn starts to consider having a steady boyfriend after seeing Tom and Daria's dynamic. Helen wants to have Tom over for dinner, much to Daria's worry.
Tropes present in this episode:
- All Take and No Give: Quinn's idea of a steady boyfriend is having just one guy devoting all his time and attention to her exclusively while she... appreciates it.
- Assurance Backfire: Jane suggests Jake going on one of his rants should bring the dreaded dinner to a premature end. Daria says the thought of her father losing his dignity in front of Tom is exactly why she's worried.
- Brick Joke: Helen tells Quinn there's more to a relationship than looks, and Daria suggests the ability to fix household appliances. Later, Quinn asks about this when interviewing applicants to be her steady.
- Comically Missing the Point: Daria, probably on purpose.Daria: Dad, Tom and Jeffy are out trying to catch a squirrel, and Quinn's up in her room, crying.
Helen: Why?! What happened?
Daria: Male bonding, I guess. - Dinner and a Show: Daria invokes this as the reason she hasn't invited Tom to dinner with her family. Unusually for this trope, she voices more concern about her father's dignity than her own.
- Everyone Has Standards: For all her snarking about Jake's Manchild behavior, Daria cares enough about her dad that she doesn't want to invite Tom over out of fear Tom might find amusement in Jake humiliating himself.
- In Love with Love: Quinn only wants to get a steady boyfriend after seeing how well Daria and Tom are together. Helen tells her that whatever she does with her love life is fine as long as she is happy.
- Pet the Dog: Downplayed in this one. Daria considers and dismisses consoling Quinn, but does let Helen know what's bothering her.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: By the end of the episode, Jake manages to get Tom and Jeffy help him catch a squirrel and release it in the forest. Immediately after, they go driving karts.
- Also counts as It Runs in the Family; Daria and Quinn each contemplate the failure of the evening, only to have their moods lifted by food:
Daria: I finally get up the nerve to invite Tom for a family dinner and everyone leaves me, confirming my deepest fears about abandonment and isolation. Oh look, shoestring potatoes.Quinn: Do you ever think that maybe guys and girls aren't meant to understand each other? Like it's all part of some big unfunny joke on us that we'll be struggling with for the rest of our lives? (spots the vegetable tray) Oh look, celery stalks. - Troll: Daria goads Quinn throughout the episode with ridiculous ideas of how she should act as a girlfriend, like making her think she needs to discuss matching cemetery plots with the guy she's dating.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Helen's disgusted when she learns Daria was screwing with Quinn's head by giving her a false idea of what committed relationships are like. Daria's surprised that Helen's surprised she'd do something like that.
