AllMovie

A class assignment convinces Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) to hang it up as a writer until she receives strong advice from an unexpected source in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. The student's writer's block is her own fault; she shoots her mouth off to Mr. O'Neill (voice of Marc Thompson) about already having read all the books on his reading list of moral fiction. His solution? Assign her to write, rather than read, a story with moral dimensions. Riffing on pop culture and literary classics proves amusing but not too creatively rewarding, so Daria heads back to the drawing board in search of fresh inspiration. Helen (voice of Wendy Hoopes) provides no help whatsoever when she compares the budding author to her fashion-plate sister, Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes). Mr. O'Neill, too, gives poor advice, leading the frustrated Daria to pen yet another tacky piece of hackwork. Finally, though, Mom comes through: Helen advises Daria to write something meaningful rather than moral, wisdom that prompts the teen to compose a hopeful fairy tale in which all of her family's dysfunctions and infighting have been been banished once and for all. Daria still isn't completely happy with her work, but Helen sure is, providing a rare moment of unadulterated mother/daughter bonding.