Previously on Freaks and Geeks: Pilot, Beers and Weirs, Tricks and Treats, Kim Kelly is My Friend, Tests and Breasts, I'm with the Band, Carded and Discarded, Girlfriends and Boyfriends, We've Got Spirit, The Diary.

This episode was directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Paul Feig.

Plot Summary: A car accident results in Lindsay deciding to stop hanging out with her "freak" friends. She decides to rejoin the mathletes and start hanging out with Millie again. Sam adopts a new modern hair style in the hopes of impressing Cindy. When this fails, he seeks out a new wardrobe.

I think this episode best captures the heart of how hard it is to be a teenager in regards to the groups they assimilate with.  Lindsay has been trying so hard to be accepted into the "freak" clique and then in one fail swoop she leaves her new-found friends behind.  Then she goes back to her first friends and they are so welcoming.  Then Lindsay competes with the mathletes and realizes who her true friends are because she failed at being someone she's not.

I related to the Sam storyline.  He wanted to impress Cindy but he didn't think his hair or wardrobe was cool enough.  He tries to be someone he's not.  How often has that happened to you?  I know it has for me.  I do love Sam's Parisian night suit.  And I felt so bad that the teacher had to intervene.  "Now, Sam wearing something different to wear his individuality makes him a 'homo,' then I guess we should all be proud to be 'homos'!"

Sam also has a strange encounter with Mr. Rosso, who relates a tale of visiting a honkytonk bar in the South and being humiliated by a group of rednecks.  It is implied that something else happened such as Rosso being beaten or even worse but I'll let you watch and be the judge.  Despite being so creepy Rosso does impart some great wisdom to Sam: "If I say I'm the coolest guy in the world, and I believe I'm the coolest guy in the world, then suddenly, I become the coolest guy in the world."  So by that logic, I am the greatest blogger on Xanga.

This show was so damn good.  I wish more people could see it because it is so brilliant and there is always something in each episode with which you can relate.

Things to Watch For: Remember the episode "We've Got Spirit"?  The freaks were cheering against Lincoln in that episode and Lindsay's competition is against Lincoln.  I have often felt that they weren't just cheering for Lindsay but for their hatred of Lincoln.

This episode makes mention that Ken has a lot of money and that his plan is to wait until his dad dies so he can inherit the money.  In a way, Ken is slumming just like Lindsay.  Also in the same scene Nick says what his life goals are and they are quite a laugh.

There is a lot of Harris in this episode.  I love his character.  He counsels Daniel and reassures Sam about his hair and he also tells Gordon that he shouldn't be worried about being big because: "Besides, the world loves jolly fat guys. Burl Ives, Jackie Gleason, Raymond Burr..."

Joel Hodgson makes another guest appearance as the salesman at the clothing store.  I totally miss MST3K.

Music: "I'm the Man" and "Look Sharp" by Joe Jackson; "Slip Kid" by The Who; "Stomp!" by the Brothers Johnson; "Flamethrower" by the J.Geils Band; "Take the Long Way Home" by Supertramp

Trivia: The year in the show is 1980, the first graphing calculator was made in 1985 by Casio. Yet some of the mathlete students are heard commenting about Texas Instruments and passing around a graphing calculator. Texas Instruments didn't start mass-producing graphing calculators until 1990.

Lindsay seems to get all the blame for the car accident, but it wasn't actually her fault. Vehicles backing out of a driveway are required to yield to all traffic driving by. Therefore the car backing up was actually at fault but I think Michigan has no fault insurance.

Quotes:
Neal: Oh my god! I guess Elvis hasn't left the building.

Bill: It's a Parisian night suit in case you didn't know.
Gordon: A Parisian! Ooh la la!
Neal: It's not a Parisian. It's a jumpsuit. My grandfather in Florida wears them all the time because he's too lazy to put on pants.

Kowchevski: Ladies, this is just for tomorrow's scrimmage. This isn't the last chopper out of Saigon. Can we please just crank down the drama a notch?

Here's the episode.  Enjoy!