The Development of Clarissa's Character

Introduction

While the episodes of Clarissa Explains It All were presented in a way that makes it difficult for viewers to tell when most of the seasons begin and end, the seasons have certain characteristics that have brought the series through different stages of development. I will mention some of the characteristics here; in later messages I will discuss various matters that have progressed through the episodes. I invite other members of this list to bring up features they think have gone through changes over the years.

Season 1: 13 episodes, 101-113

The first season defines Clarissa as a teenager who is young not only in age but in her outlook on life, while having desires and ambitions that reach into the future and demand today the privileges generally held by adults. In the early episodes, Clarissa often acts in ways that reflect her immaturity, and has a tendency towards selfishness (often mitigated by events that lead her to show concern for the other people in her life).

In episode 110, Clarissa's behavior shows immaturity when she decides to stuff the cake she is making with an excessive quantity of marshmallows. If you watch the earlier episodes, you will see many instances of immature behavior that are more obvious than this. These instances become less frequent and less purely immature in later episodes.

In episode 111, Clarissa presents an immature view of maturity when she thinks that dressing more formally, wearing glasses and pretending to be superior to anyone with childish concerns will make her appear mature. She still disregards her parents' desire not to be badgered with demands to be allowed to get a job at the carnival and gets into petty squabbles with her brother. (A more mature approach would be to patiently discuss her parents' concerns and to reassure them about her ability to take responsibility.)

You may not think of Clarissa as a selfish person, but she definitely started out that way. In the first episode (101), aside from plotting to get rid of her brother, she wants Sam to help her despite his own problems and treats his needs as secondary. She ends up coming up with a plan to help Sam so that he will stay and serve her needs. And in episode 103, she makes Sam endanger himself by climbing on the roof to help her with her television reception.

In general, over most of the episodes I have had the impression that Sam helps Clarissa more than Clarissa helps Sam. I don't know whether this is merely a result of the focus of the plot on Clarissa's activities. A closer look might reveal more ways Clarissa helps Sam.

Season 2: 17 episodes, 114-130

The second season (which appears to use a completely new set that attempts to maintain many aspects of the old one's appearance), contains material that explores Clarissa's relationships with the other characters. Beginning with Clarissa falling in love with a human for the first time (episode 114), the episodes go on to deal with Clarissa's relationship with Ferguson (115), with Sam (116), with her mother (120) and with Clifford Spleenhurfer, whom she formerly saw only as an antagonist (125). In episode 123, Clarissa is made to reconsider her lifestyle, and in doing so gains more of an appreciation for her own ways, and in episode 130 she faces the prospect of losing her best friend, Sam.

Season 3: 24 episodes, 131-154

The third season is a big one, and a lot of things happen in it. In this season (for which some decorative changes were made to the set) Clarissa grows into the person she is in the fourth season. It starts with episode 131, in which Clarissa enters the job market head-on. In episode 140, Clarissa takes responsibility for the entire household under emergency conditions (I plan to write more on this in another message). Episode 142 brings her deeper into her relationship with Clifford Spleenhurfer, while episode 147 finds her going out with Sam. The season ends with episode 154, in which Clarissa thinks about how close she is to leaving her home but decides that she still has a fairly long way to go before she'd be ready to do so.

Season 4: 11 episodes, 155-165

Season four is a short season involving some serious and purposeful events plus whatever special plots they wanted to include before the end of the series. This season establishes Clarissa's career path (which I discuss in another document) and sets the environment for her future. In its first episode (155), she becomes the editor of her school's newspaper. Next, in episode 156 she deals with the serious problems of the daughter of her mother's friend from New York. Episode 161 is a special episode exploring Ferguson's place in her life. In episode 162, as an advice columnist, she confronts other people's serious problems. In episodes 158 and 163, she interns for and joins the staff of a full-scale newspaper. And in episode 164, she engages in some serious activism, starting from her position on the school paper, and gets into a serious situation.


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Written by Adam Lieberman <afl@ingress.com>
HTML conversion by B.King@ee.surrey.ac.uk
24th July 1995