Freaks and Geeks: Maybe Not The Best

Freaks. Geeks. High school sucks.

By R.J.F.

We sometimes praise things that may or may not have been worth it.

I recently binge rewatched Freaks and Geeks. I never watched this show when it was on the air, which is probably one of the reasons why it didn’t last more than one season. Shows need an audience to keep it alive, and most networks demand a large audience in order to renew a show. By the time I watched it, Freaks and Geeks had become somewhat of a cult classic show. At first watch, I thought it was excellent and was surprised that it had only been given a one season shot, but watching it again, I figured out why it probably didn’t get a second chance.

Let me start with what worked for the show. The teen characters are endearing because of how realistic they are. Main character Lindsay Weir, played by Linda Cardellini, is struggling to figure out where she wants to fit in. She no longer relates to the smart and innocent kids she has spent most of her life with, and she seems to want to live a little more recklessly as she is beginning to question what the point of life is. She does this by latching onto the school’s well-known bad boy Daniel Desario, who was played by James Franco.

This behavior of testing limits and getting in trouble is pretty typical for a lot of teens, and Lindsay fucks up many times in the series.

Not only that, but she gets into her first relationship, although short-lived, with Nick Andopolis, portrayed by Jason Segel. Lindsay isn’t really certain of her feelings for Nick, and it seems as if she gets involved with him out of circumstance rather than genuine emotion. There are so many teens that date someone who just happens to reside in their circle of friends even though they may not be ready or want a relationship, which is what happens with Lindsay and Nick. I’m sure tons of people can relate to this.

Here’s where things kind of go south. Now, I know that there are plenty of people who will call me a blasphemer for what I’m about to write, but the premise of the show and its characters were overplayed, and there just wasn’t anywhere for them to go in a second season. Yes, a lot of the plot points are realistic, but audiences have all seen them before. The bullies are too brazen and cruel, the parents are too over-the-top with their protectiveness, the geeky kids get into too many cringe-worthy and outlandish situations, and the freaks are too obviously rebellious.

Again, please don’t misconstrue what I’m saying about the show; I like the show, and it would’ve been amazing if it was given a second season to see where it could go, but it’s all been done before. Take, for example, literally every scene with the guidance counselor, Mr. Rosso, played by Dave Allen. He’s well-meaning, encouraging, lenient, and totally typical of what people see in TV shows of guidance counselors. He often doles out stereotypical advice to the teens, tries to relate to them by using popular catch phrases, and even busts out his guitar to get them to come around to his way of thinking; it’s just too much.

Alas, the show was canceled after one season. Where would the stories of the characters have gone if there had been a second season considering how limited their development was until the very last episodes?

The last the audience got to see of Daniel was him playing Dungeons and Dragons with the geek kids, but I doubt that he would’ve actually hung out with them on the regular. I don’t know if audiences would have appreciated him breaking away from his bad boy status and core group of friends to truly befriend the geeks. It was interesting to see the character try something new and start to question his own behavior, but it took too long for him to come to this crossroad.

Lindsay and her friend Kim, portrayed by Busy Philipps, seemingly embark on a journey with some random kids at their high school that follow the Grateful Dead around. It was out-of-the-blue that she even started listening to the Dead, which was suggested by Mr. Rosso, and even more strange that she was able to convince Kim to get into the music, too, considering Kim was a rock chick, not a hippie chick.

Not only that, but it felt like the writers were pushing these two female characters together when they spent a good portion of the season not really liking each other. For half of the season, Kim taunted and rolled her eyes at Lindsay, and Lindsay questioned why she even needed to be around Kim. To end up with them ditching town with two out-of-nowhere characters all happy go lucky seemed like a stretch.

The oddest development was Nick’s character, who discovered a new found love of disco dancing with his new girlfriend. There was speculation that he was doing it to make Lindsay jealous, but the writers could’ve just given Nick a new girlfriend that got him to focus and not smoke weed all the time, which was Lindsay’s main gripe in their relationship. Although seeing Segel hit the dance floor was entertaining, that plotline just didn’t make enough sense, especially because Nick spent a majority of the season being obsessed with rock bands and playing the drums.

The show was good, but I can see why it wasn’t renewed for a second season. The characters took too long to change, some of the episodes didn’t really make sense in the grand scheme of the season, and the awkwardness of these young actors and the situations they got themselves into was slightly uncomfortable to watch, to the point that it was a turn off.

I have seen many interviews with some of the cast members and creator, Judd Apatow, where they lament the fact that they only had one season. Luckily, though, most of the actors have fared well in their post Geeks careers, so I guess it doesn’t really matter in the long run that the show only lasted for a little while.

When it comes down to it, Freaks and Geeks was a decent show, not amazing, but not a car wreck.