The Invitation
After Daria helps Brittany in art, Brittany does Daria a “favor” and invites her to a party she’s having to “celebrate her parents being out of town.” At almost the same time, Kevin invites Quinn and the Three J’s to go, as well.
At first, Daria doesn’t want to go to the party and even gives Jane permission to pose as her, but when she discovers that Quinn is going, she seizes the opportunity to embarrass her sister in public. Jane decides to come along, too.
When the big night arrives, Brittany begins obsessing over every single thing that could go wrong even though Kevin keeps making really bad puns to imply that she’ll do fine. As soon as Quinn and her fan club arrive, they all start competing for her attentions, as usual, and each says bad things about one of the other ones.
Trent (in his first appearance) drives Daria and Jane to the party, and they get Jane in by saying that she’s the artist hired to draw portraits of the people at the party. When the guard seems doubtful, they distract him with Jane’s sketchbook – she had taken a life drawing course, so it had some nudes in it. As soon as Jane and Daria walk in, Upchuck latches on to them and insists on giving them a tour of the house, pausing dramatically at the many ceramic tigers and the “make-out room” (actually it’s the laundry room).
When they finally get away from Upchuck, Jane hooks up with a guy, who she ends up going to the make-out room with, leaving Daria to fend for herself. She fends quite well, starting by scaring Quinn into the bathroom. Then, she proceeds to tell the Three J’s not only that she is Quinn’s brainy sister, but also about Quinn’s most embarrassing moments (maybe made up, maybe not).
Quinn finally comes out of the bathroom and is horrified, but her guys tell her that coming from a nerdy family makes her popularity even more exceptional.
When the washing machine in the make-out room overflows, Jane is forced out, and she and Daria take over the job of the guard (who has gone to find the sketchbook’s owner). They outfit themselves in some cop attire and allow people to get into the neighborhood only if they can answer various trivia questions.
Meanwhile, at the party, Quinn dumps the Three J’s, which results in a fight over which one caused it. The fight ends when all three guys get knocked out. So, when the police and an aggravated neighbor abruptly end the party, Quinn is stuck without a ride home. Daria and Jane have the same problem, and all three have to choose between walking home or getting a ride with Upchuck. They choose Upchuck, and I wonder whether they regretted it.
