Pilot Episode (Freaks and Geeks episode)
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| “Pilot Episode” | |
|---|---|
| Freaks and Geeks episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Written by | Paul Feig |
| Directed by | Jake Kasdan |
| Production no. | 100 |
| Original airdate | September 25, 1999 |
| Season 1 episodes | |
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Freaks and Geeks Season 1 |
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| List of Freaks and Geeks episodes... | |
"Pilot Episode" is the first episode of Freaks and Geeks. It was written by Paul Feig and directed by Jake Kasdan. It first aired on September 25, 1999.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Lindsay Weir, seemingly losing interest in her more academically minded-friends, begins hanging out with a crowd of burnouts, courtesy of an invitation from Daniel Desario. Her affiliation with this gang of freaks worries her family and her once best-friend Millie. Meanwhile, Sam Weir struggles to find the courage not only to confront his bully Alan, but to ask cheerleader Cindy Sanders to the homecoming dance.
[edit] Expanded Overview
Sam, Neil and Bill are being taunted by Alan and crew until Lindsay interferes to stop her little brother from being accosted. After being called a freak and Sam not showing appreciation for her intervention, she states her distaste for high school.
As the Weirs have dinner together, Sam mentions his intentions to skip the homecoming dance in order to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail with his friends; Lindsay also expresses her intention to not go, believing it is an activity for the "popular kids". Their parents, believing it important to participate in social events, command the two of them to go.
The next day in the school cafeteria, Alan again tries to antagonize the geeks. Sam calls for mister Kowchevski to intervene, who after dealing with the situation, tells Sam "to be a man". Meanwhile, Lindsay tries to flirt with Daniel Desario, hangs out with his group and asks if any of them would like to go to the dance. Lindsay's friend Millie comes by amazed by the fact that Lindsay was hanging out with the freaks, not joining the Mathletes in the Academic Decathlon and choosing not to help sell drinks at the dance to raise money for a school computer.
While Neil suggests methods of preventing Alan's antagonism, Sam's love interest Cindy comes by to return a jacket he had left behind in class. This sparks a conversation between Bill, Neil and Sam about her chances of her having a date to homecoming, and Sam's chances of going with her.
Daniel, Lindsay, and Nick discuss cheating in the upcoming test using material stolen by Ken. Kim is offended by Lindsay's presence, believing her to be a poser trying to anger her parents. Kim pours out the contents of Lindsay's purse and goes to cut school. Daniel is the only one to stay to help her pick up her belongings.
Sam mentions in the locker room that Lindsay had been acting strangely ever since her grandmother's death. He is interrupted by Alan, who continues to antagonize them after Bill asks what was the point of his actions. Due to Alan deciding to pick on Bill as well, Neil is unsure about getting involved.
Some of the jocks are being mean to Eli, a mentally retarded student. He tries to find a date to the dance, but is constantly being laughed at the girls he asks. After some taunting from a jock, Lindsay tries to be nice and asks Eli to be her date to the dance. He happily accepts.
In celebration of the homecoming dance, Coach Federicks lets the class play dodge ball, resulting in two sets of imbalanced teams and causing the geeks to ponder on different painless methods of getting out. Sam is the last one left on his team and manages to catch Alan's ball which causes Alan to be out. Alan, angry at being called out, threatens Sam even more and the rest of the people on the opposing team pelt Sam with dodge balls.
Eli is being teased by two bullies who are pretending to have a political conversation with him, but are really just laughing at Eli's inability to understand. Lindsay tries to intervene and explain that the boys are actually laughing at Eli and not with him. Eli doesn't understand and Lindsay says that they were making fun of him for being retarded, which causes him to lose his temper, break off his date with her and run away, in the process of which he trips and breaks his arm. In the guidance councilor's office, Mr Rosso wonders why Lindsay didn't participate in the academic decathlon, and tries to relate to her even allowing her to call him "Jeff". However, she insists that nothing is wrong.
Sam and company consult Harris and Collin, slightly older geeks, on how to deal with their bully situation. Harris suggests fighting Alan once, as it would result in him tending to leave them alone, having once used that technique on his own freshmen bully with successful results. Neil suggests just avoiding Alan for the next four years and walks away from the discussion, only to bump into an angry Alan.
Meanwhile, Lindsay is bored in class and accepts Nick's invitation to cut class the next period, as he wants to show her something that she might like to see.
In the hallway, Sam and Cindy smile and exchange glances only to realize that Kim is between their gazes. Kim thinks he was staring at her, and at the urging of her friends decides to torment him, thinking maybe he had a crush on her.
Lindsay goes with Nick to his garage, where he shows her his 29 piece drum set, telling her that it was his passion and reason for living. Nick says that everyone needs their reason for living, and that she needs to find her "own gigantic drum kit", to which she jokingly replies that she might buy a clarinet. As they walked down the street, Rosso drives by and tells her she won't be in trouble for cutting if she joins the Academic Decathlon in his efforts to keep her from becoming a "burnout". She refuses and he forces her serve drinks at the dance.
Lindsay weeps while looking at a picture of her grandmother. Sam enters and asks if she thinks he and his friends would be able to beat up Alan in a fight. At Millie's behest Sam asks why she is throwing away her life, and it is revealed that she was alone in the room as their grandma died, fearing the afterlife because she saw no bright light, only nothingness. As Sam leaves, Lindsay says that he would probably win in a fight along with his friends.
Neil and Bill wait to ambush Alan, discussing with Collin, who is there to watch, the numerous yet unlikely ways to die in a fight. Sam is held up by Cindy, and before Neil can bail, Alan arrives. Pushing Collin and Neil, Bill takes off his glasses and dives into the fray. Sam asks out Cindy to the dance, who as it turns out is taken but is willing to save him a dance. As Sam rushes to the fight, Alan has already been defeated, quitting because he is tired and his shirt has been ripped. The geeks are impressed by their victory, and Sam tells them that he was going to the dance.
Sam has his dance with Cindy, while Lindsay serves drinks with Millie. Glad that Sam is dancing, she tells Millie and Jeff, who tells her to call him Mr. Rosso again, that she was going to dance with Eli who was all alone.
[edit] Music
The following songs are featured in this episode.
| Song title | Artist | Album | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Runnin' With the Devil" | Van Halen | Van Halen | 1978 |
| "I'm Alright" | Kenny Loggins | Kenny Loggins Alive | 1980 |
| "Renegade" | Styx | Pieces of Eight | 1978 |
| "Come Sail Away" | Styx | The Grand Illusion | 1977 |
[edit] Deleted scenes
The following scenes were edited out from the final cut of the episode, but can still be found on the series DVD.
- Alan brings Sam another twinkie at Mr. Kowchevski's request.
- Neal and Bill have a discussion in Mr. Kowchevski's biology class. (The series would later establish Mr. Kowchevski as an algebra teacher.)
- Millie asks Sam why his sister Lindsay is throwing her life away during class. The teacher hears them talking and asks Millie if she has anything to "share with the class". Millie is shocked that she has gotten in trouble.
- Lindsay sees Eli outside of school after he has broken his arm. She asks him if she can sign his cast. He replies "no" and walks away anxiously.
- Guidance counselor Jeff Rosso stands at the dance, smiling and speaks the line: "Some days, I've got the best job in the world!" (This was the original ending to the episode. The crew wisely decided that keeping this scene would detract from the subtle and honest atmosphere the dance sequence created and cut it from the episode.)
