Pop Culture Meanderings, 5/12/10

Just when I am short on funds, the completed series of MTV's Daria is released on DVD. Daria, like The X-Files and Star Trek: The Next Generation, was one of the few geeky bright spots during my high school years. (Jezebel has a wonderful write-up on it here, along with a requisite, poorly recorded YouTube clip.) I was never as sarcastic as Daria, and I couldn't master her almost emotionless facade, but I was so happy to find a kindred spirit on the airwaves that I didn't care. Her high school was filled with stereotypes that I encountered on a fairly regular basis in my own school experience (particularly the brainless cheerleaders and jocks, who would try to get me to do their work during science labs) and her running commentary on the situations she was faced with were nothing short of brilliant. Given that my own mental running commentary could never be spoken aloud (to speak aloud in a bad situation was to be noticed, something I desperately wanted to avoid), watching Daria do it was a thing of beauty. I was lucky that like Daria, I had several great friends who made it bearable. My Jane Lane's were just as geeky as I was, and there was great comfort in being able to talk to them about anything and everything. But Daria was like the friend I didn't have, and seeing her on TV was just as comforting as my real life friends. Somewhere out there, I thought, there is someone who writes and thinks like me, too, and I will meet them one day. High school may be receding in the rear-view mirror of "Thank God that's over" but my fondness for this series will not.

Speaking of geeky goodness, last night's "Lost" was... odd. A hugely mythological origin story, but riddled with confusing non-answers and strange associations. I wanted to like it, because there were a lot of interesting details and a ton of Biblical references. But, mostly, I kept thinking of the writers' insistence at Comic Con several years ago that there was a scientific explanation for everything involved with/happening on the Island. Last night's episode was not scientific in the slightest, and proves that this comment was made before they knew how the series would end. I don't begrudge them not knowing their end game, but this sort of thing sets up weird expectations for me. Anyway, we're down to just two episodes (is it two or one?) before the finale, so I sincerely hope that as many loose ends as possible get tied up before the end.

Finally, in more geeky goodness, and thanks to some friends with cable and some friends who know all the best places on the internet, I've caught up on the new season of Doctor Who! ( Spoilers through Episode 5, Flesh and Stone )