Beers and Weirs (Freaks and Geeks)

In the first episode of Freaks and Geeks, Lindsay Weir didn’t seem to have many friends. If she did, she wanted to get away from them as fast as possible. She’s clearly the nicest person in the world, but she attempts to move over to the crowd of slackers and class-skippers. The second episode, “Beers and Weirs”, asks her to take the next step into freakdom. Her parents are going out of town, and to her new friends this means only one thing: par-tay.

She isn’t thrilled about the idea, clearly, but she relents so that she may further be accepted into their group of outsiders. Little does she know she’s about to throw a huge party where many other classmates show up. Daniel even invites his significantly older cousin and his friends to the party, spelling disaster. On top of that, the guidance counselor has just put on a too conveniently-timed assembly about the dangers of drinking. This assembly absolutely nails the awkwardness of the whole ordeal, from the improv skits to the counselor’s casual transition from the humorous to the horrifying, showing the students pictures of kids who died in drunk driving accidents.

Meanwhile, the geeks Sam, Neal and Bill hatch a scheme to keep the party from growing too out of control. They will buy a keg of non-alcoholic beer using Neal’s bar mitzvah money (which he was saving up to go backpacking in Europe, of course) and use it to replace the real beer at the party. They hope that this fake beer will simply make people have to pee and go home, but the night has other plans.

To Sam, this party represents nothing less than an invasion of his home, a place he had deemed sacred for years. He spends most of the party policing the guests and taking any fragile items to the back so that any damage can be minimized. Neal goes around making conversation with party guests, his topic of choice being his own Judaism. Another one of his goals: hit on Lindsay, who has been his crush for as long as he can remember. Sadly, the ultimate pick-up line (“Friday night! Always a good night for some Sabbath!”) fails to do the trick.

Worse yet, the non-alcoholic beer is unable to make the party dissipate, as nearly all the guests carry on with the assumption that they’re drunk. (Lindsay is particularly affected, screaming “I gotta pee!” louder than any female should.)  The party starts to get out of hand quickly, as fake beer spills and fights nearly break out. Daniel and Kim, who had just broken up, end up making out on her bed. Her new friends are constantly judging her based on all the kiddy/geeky stuff in her house. When she goes outside and tries to talk to Nick, he goes a step too far. It’s all too much of an invasion of privacy.

Most of “Beers and Weirs” consists of short scenes showing us how these characters behave in a party-like environment. Very few plots, if any, are moved significantly forward except for a couple of emotional arcs. The party merely gives us shot after shot of these kids just hanging out, but their interactions are at once funny and fascinating. Most amusingly, Jason Segel’s Nick spends the entirety of the episode upset at the death of John Bonham. He mourns, at times looking for a deeper meaning, but in the end he can’t be comforted except for a brief moment where he sings “Jesus is Just Alright” with Millie.

In a way, “Beers and Weirs” represents Lindsay’s initiation into her new lifestyle, and it is not a pleasant one. She has opened up her life to her new “friends”, and despite a few rough spots at the end of the episode they seem more accepting of her. She threw the party in an attempt to seem like less of a prude, even putting up lame decorations to create the desired atmosphere. Throughout the night she goes through many unpleasant trials and tribulations, but at the end of the episode it’s clear. Despite not having a very “freak” past, she is now one of them.

Also fun: Sam’s crush Cindy shows up at the party much to his dismay. Despite being agonizingly uncomfortable, Sam is able to make Cindy laugh with a lame joke about there not being any cute guys at the party. Immediately you can tell his night gets infinitely better. Small victories, Sam. Small victories.