No one involved with Freaks and Geeks was dumb. They knew two things: 1) their show was great, and 2) they were going to get canceled sooner or later. (More likely sooner.) Therefore, creator Paul Feig was determined that his series would not end on an unsatisfying note. Of the 18 episodes of Freaks and Geeks that were produced, the series finale “Discos and Dragons” was the 14th one filmed. This was a masterstroke, as the legacy of any short-lived television show is highly dependent on how it goes out. We may still look back fondly on a series that never had a proper finale, but so long as there is a distinct “last” episode your series’ longevity is far more likely. As a contrast to Freaks and Geeks, there is Judd Apatow’s college sitcom Undeclared. It never had a real finale—ending instead with a stealth pilot for seemingly another series altogether—and as a result few will place it alongside Freaks and Geeks as one of the better shows of the last couple decades. This was a series that told a story of a few outsiders in a single high school, and “Discos and Dragons” gives us a peek at where they’re all going.
Throughout our 18-episode journey, the epicenter of all the Freaks and Geeks action has always been Linda Cardellini’s Lindsay Weir. Her story—like many of the characters’—has been one of self-discovery. She had lived a long, sin-free geek lifestyle up until the pilot episode began, but the show’s run has seen her experiment with a new group of “deadbeat” friends. She’s still quite intelligent, but perhaps she has had enough of being normal and boring. “Discos and Dragons” brings her search for identity to a crossroads: she has been offered a spot at an academic summit of sorts in Ann Arbor. However, given her newfound distaste for academia—and the fact that it’s Ann Arbor, ka-CHING—she is hesitant about returning to a land which encourages geekdom. Despite all the trouble she may be getting in, she prefers her newfound spontaneity to whatever she was doing before.
Meanwhile, two of the freak friends she made this year spend the episode trying out new identities themselves. It has been heavily suggested that Nick has not been able to move past his break-up with Lindsay, but it has damaged him so much that he has sought refuse in the land of disco. He has a new girlfriend (a young Lizzy Caplan), and he’s trying to distance himself from Lindsay by placing his affections in a new place. Unfortunately, it’s obvious he doesn’t really care about disco that much. Either he’s trying to fool himself into thinking he’s happy, or he’s trying to make Lindsay jealous. No matter what, this isn’t something he’s really all that passionate about. In his climactic dance—which is in the midst of one of the series’ best montages—he balances physical comedy and genuine emotion perfectly. With Lindsay officially choosing to turn Nick down, he is now completely removed from the freak group that was once his own.
Equally bored with the freak lifestyle is Daniel, and this mentality has been hinted at in past episodes such as “Noshing and Moshing.” Perhaps beneath his tough guy exterior there is more sensitive geek to be found. That doesn’t mean he’s all that intelligent, but there’s enough evidence to suggest that he’s been hanging with the wrong crowd. When he’s caught trying to pull the school’s fire alarm, the great Mr. Rosso sentences him to a stint in the A.V. club. And who populates this organization? None other than the geeky likes of Sam, Neal, Bill, the chunky Gordon and the über-nerd Harris. At this point in the series, many of the geeks’ storylines have been resolved. They’ve accepted their place in the land of role-playing games and audiovisual equipment, but Daniel isn’t too keen on becoming one of them. However, once he realizes he’s stuck, he accepts an invitation to play Dungeons and Dragons. He isn’t happy in his current situation, so why not? Might as well experiment with the new lifestyle that’s been thrust upon him.
And, wouldn’t you know, it turns out Daniel is actually quite good at Dungeons and Dragons. Even more importantly, he likes it! Daniel is not a character who normally smiles, but throughout “Discos and Dragons” you see him beaming more times than in the rest of the series combined. Everyone in the Freaks and Geeks universe is searching for their own identity, as most of them have been pushed into a group of people they don’t really identify with. Daniel—despite how he’s normally hung out in the background—has been particularly lost, and his time with the geeks hints that maybe he’s found a new high school clique to call his own. It’s not explicitly stated (few things in the show are) but, again, the mere smile is enough for now.
This is just one aspect of what “Discos and Dragons” does so well: it acknowledges the adventures of the various characters throughout the season, yet promises that each of them still have room to grow. The universe of Freaks and Geeks did not exist merely over the course of 18 episodes of television. Each of the characters have stories that began many years before and won’t end until the day they die. The show would have been equally compelling if it was set a few years earlier, or even later. That is how fully-realized Paul Feig and company made the universe. While we focus on this select group of characters, there is a feeling that everyone around the edges had their own story as well. This was the basic premise of Freaks and Geeks from the beginning: it was a high school show about the kids who normally aren’t discussed in high school shows. The world of Freaks and Geeks could have expanded and expanded for seasons on end.
That said, the 18 episodes of Freaks and Geeks that we have are essentially perfect, and if later seasons were weaker it may have hurt the show’s legacy. However, given the direction most of the characters’ lives were going, later seasons of Freaks and Geeks may have turned the show into a high school version of The Wire. (Side note: I am currently watching The Wire, and I’m planning on posting thoughts here as I move along. Expect the first post in the next couple days.) The show had the potential to slowly pull back and give the audience a look at various cliques within McKinley High School, thus giving us a portrait of the school as a whole. Heck, maybe the show would follow its older characters to college. What new friends would they make? Who would they become? It’s fun to think about what future seasons of Freaks and Geeks would have been like, but it’s hard to complain when what we have is so darn amazing.
Just think about the character development we’ve witnessed here over the course of just 18 hours of television. (Network television, no less.) When Lindsay chooses to join the Deadheads and Kim Kelly at the end of “Discos and Dragons,” is this something that would have happened at the end of the pilot? I say no. This was only a decision she would have made after everything she has gone through in this first season. She would only have boarded that van after crashing her father’s car. She would have only boarded that van after trying—and disliking—drugs for the first time. She would have only boarded that van after a failed relationship with Nick. Over the course of one season, she has gone from a girl that hates getting in trouble to one that finds in thrilling.
Freaks and Geeks is a television show that did everything a great show should do, but—more remarkably—it accomplished it all in a single season. Speaking purely from a romantic level, there were more crushes, hook-ups and break-ups in this single season than most shows accomplish in five. Yet none of it felt rushed for the sake of rushing. This was a show that took the stance that high school isn’t all that glamorous a place, and most relationships are likely to end quickly rather than several months down the line. It was honest while still following the network standards, and expansive without going off the rails. There’s a reason I decided to write all of these posts, and that is because each episode of Freaks and Geeks has enough substance to warrant a 1,000-1,500 word blog post. Heck, probably even more, but I’m not that insane. Frankly, I’m amazed that Freaks and Geeks even existed. But thank God it did.
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