[7.6/10] What I like about Lindsay’s story in this one is that it’s messy and complicated as all hell. I enjoy this show, but sometimes it offers parables. A character wants something; they stumble when trying to get it, and learn a lesson. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s the backbone of a lot of great T.V. writing (not the least of which Dan Harmon’s shows like Community and Rick and Morty which use his vaunted “story circle”) but in its barest form, it doesn’t always reflect real life.
What does reflect real life is when “the right thing” to do isn’t clear, and you realize that various authority figures and people you look up to are as complicated and compromised as you are, not bastions of light and dark. Lindsay’s decisions in this episode -- whether to help Daniel cheat, and whether to help him cover it up -- are hard ones that exist in that gray area between right and wrong. Figuring out what to do, and learning more about the people caught in the orbit of those incidents is part and parcel with the show’s themes of the Weir kids growing up and growing in their understanding of the world.
What I enjoy is that there’s so many interesting ingredients in the mix. You have Lindsay’s crush on Daniel. You have her ethical mores about cheating. You have the math teacher’s disdain for Daniel as a loser. You have Lindsay’s anger at her desire to help Daniel being blamed on her hormones. You have her discomfort at lying to teacher or especially to her parents. You have her frustration at her parents not even asking for her side of the story before getting mad at her. You have her wanting to vindicate the trust that folks like her parents and guidance counselor (eventually) show in her.
You also have her edging toward the idea that some broad moral principles give way to individual actions that serve the greater good. You have her feeling sympathetic toward Daniel when he shows vulnerability and insecurity about being told he’s stupid, and then you have her realizing that it’s just an act, a sob story, something that’s probably true but also just a way for Daniel to avoid having to face his responsibilities.
That’s a lot! Freaks and Geeks takes a fairly straightforward story about someone helping their friend cheat on a test, and turns it into this multifaceted, society-implicating ethical conundrum and moment of personal growth. That’s not easy, and the way this episode keeps piling on the complexity without ever losing the plot is commendable.
I’m less on board with the ending, where Linday’s extended laughter feels like too much and too big when something smaller would do, but I do like the idea of her recognizing the absurdity of the situation, of where these twists and turns have led her, even if the execution left ind of a sour taste in my mouth.
Speaking of laughter, I didn’t get as much of Sam’s story (which involves teenage boys tittering in the midst of sex ed), but it ended nicely which made up for some of it. The gist is that Sam once again feels like too much of a kid and lacks confidence thanks to feeling lost and ignorant about sex. Then when Daniel gives him a porno, he (and to a lesser extent Bill and Neal) end up disgusted, having received too much too fast, in a way that makes him uncomfortable around girls and feel kind of sick generally.
It’s a weird story. I appreciate the show keeping things fuzzy in clever ways, whether it’s keeping the images of the stag film out of focus, or having the sex ed teacher’s explanations seen and not heard, but the notion is a little strange and even cartoony. Even at fourteen, it’s hard to imagine what Sam saw on that tape that was so scarring, but maybe the point is that he’s still a little kid, not ready for that adult stuff, and so it kind of overwhelms him.
Either way, I like the arc where the coach-turned-teacher who embarasses Sam at the beginning of the episode ends up being the one who explains the birds and the bees to him in a way that makes him cringe, but also laugh, and puts his mind at ease, at least enough for him to once again volunteer to help Cindy.
Overall, it’s a quite good episode that tells a well-done, complex story of Lindsay’s ethical choices, and stumbles a little with Sam’s first steps into adult sexuality, but finds its footing at the end.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-01-30T19:52:07Z
[7.6/10] What I like about Lindsay’s story in this one is that it’s messy and complicated as all hell. I enjoy this show, but sometimes it offers parables. A character wants something; they stumble when trying to get it, and learn a lesson. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s the backbone of a lot of great T.V. writing (not the least of which Dan Harmon’s shows like Community and Rick and Morty which use his vaunted “story circle”) but in its barest form, it doesn’t always reflect real life.
What does reflect real life is when “the right thing” to do isn’t clear, and you realize that various authority figures and people you look up to are as complicated and compromised as you are, not bastions of light and dark. Lindsay’s decisions in this episode -- whether to help Daniel cheat, and whether to help him cover it up -- are hard ones that exist in that gray area between right and wrong. Figuring out what to do, and learning more about the people caught in the orbit of those incidents is part and parcel with the show’s themes of the Weir kids growing up and growing in their understanding of the world.
What I enjoy is that there’s so many interesting ingredients in the mix. You have Lindsay’s crush on Daniel. You have her ethical mores about cheating. You have the math teacher’s disdain for Daniel as a loser. You have Lindsay’s anger at her desire to help Daniel being blamed on her hormones. You have her discomfort at lying to teacher or especially to her parents. You have her frustration at her parents not even asking for her side of the story before getting mad at her. You have her wanting to vindicate the trust that folks like her parents and guidance counselor (eventually) show in her.
You also have her edging toward the idea that some broad moral principles give way to individual actions that serve the greater good. You have her feeling sympathetic toward Daniel when he shows vulnerability and insecurity about being told he’s stupid, and then you have her realizing that it’s just an act, a sob story, something that’s probably true but also just a way for Daniel to avoid having to face his responsibilities.
That’s a lot! Freaks and Geeks takes a fairly straightforward story about someone helping their friend cheat on a test, and turns it into this multifaceted, society-implicating ethical conundrum and moment of personal growth. That’s not easy, and the way this episode keeps piling on the complexity without ever losing the plot is commendable.
I’m less on board with the ending, where Linday’s extended laughter feels like too much and too big when something smaller would do, but I do like the idea of her recognizing the absurdity of the situation, of where these twists and turns have led her, even if the execution left ind of a sour taste in my mouth.
Speaking of laughter, I didn’t get as much of Sam’s story (which involves teenage boys tittering in the midst of sex ed), but it ended nicely which made up for some of it. The gist is that Sam once again feels like too much of a kid and lacks confidence thanks to feeling lost and ignorant about sex. Then when Daniel gives him a porno, he (and to a lesser extent Bill and Neal) end up disgusted, having received too much too fast, in a way that makes him uncomfortable around girls and feel kind of sick generally.
It’s a weird story. I appreciate the show keeping things fuzzy in clever ways, whether it’s keeping the images of the stag film out of focus, or having the sex ed teacher’s explanations seen and not heard, but the notion is a little strange and even cartoony. Even at fourteen, it’s hard to imagine what Sam saw on that tape that was so scarring, but maybe the point is that he’s still a little kid, not ready for that adult stuff, and so it kind of overwhelms him.
Either way, I like the arc where the coach-turned-teacher who embarasses Sam at the beginning of the episode ends up being the one who explains the birds and the bees to him in a way that makes him cringe, but also laugh, and puts his mind at ease, at least enough for him to once again volunteer to help Cindy.
Overall, it’s a quite good episode that tells a well-done, complex story of Lindsay’s ethical choices, and stumbles a little with Sam’s first steps into adult sexuality, but finds its footing at the end.