Freaks and Geeks Episode 2
"Beers & Weirs"
Original Airdate: Oct. 2, 1999
Writer: J. Elvis Weintstein, Judd Apatow
Director: Jake Kasdan
Cast: Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco, Samm Levine, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, Martin Starr, Busy Philipps, Becky Ann Baker, Joe Flaherty
If the main theme of Freaks and Geeks' pilot episode was general unfairness, both societal and existential, the main theme of "Beers and Weirs" is coercion. Through most of this episode's duration, Lindsay Weir's decisions are not her own — and even more crucially, the other options presented are arguably not hers either. When she reluctantly says yes to the idea of hosting a keg party while her parents are out of town, driven by both her crush on Daniel and her desire to not seem lame to her new friends, this isn't her choice — that is to say, not the choice she would make without external pressures. But would saying no be her choice? Or would the voices of Harold, Jean, Sam, Millie, Mr. Rosso, the Mathletes, the Sober Students Improv Players, and countless others be flooding her head, egging on the idea of not giving into peer pressure? Is discouraging peer pressure just another form of peer pressure? How do you know if the decisions you're making are truly yours?
This idea is spelled out near the end of the episode when Lindsay, distraught and sobbing as the situation gets further and further from her control, expresses: "All my new friends think I'm some goody two-shoes and all my old friends think I'm throwing my life away. What the hell am I supposed to do?" At a critical point in her life, nearing adulthood and realizing that she's not quite the person she's been encouraged to be, she changes; she leaves the Mathletes, begins dressing different, and finds a new group of people to hang out with. And suddenly, new people are telling her who she should be (in addition to the old voices that are only getting louder as they helplessly watch her metamorphize). How do you figure out who you are when, no matter what you do, someone's trying to decide that for you?
Most Freaks and Geeks episodes have the Weir siblings doing their own thing, dealing with their own stories which occasionally cross paths. Here, their storylines are intermingled, because the central conflict involves their living space. Lindsay is throwing a party and Sam is trapped, not wanting to be a narc while also fearing all the things that can go wrong with a high school party, anxieties that aren't helped by an unfortunately timed school assembly from the Sober Students Improv Players (featuring Millie, Cindy, and Harris). He brainstorms with Bill and Neal ways to break up the party while minimizing fallout, and when Bill suggests secretly switching the keg with non-alcoholic beer, they have their plan. And just to further sell the theme of coercion, Neal is pressured into giving up his bar mitzvah money to buy the keg, and Bill into helping with the swap (screwing up his Friday night Dallas plans).
The geeks successfully switch the kegs, and the party begins. Things are okay at first. People are mingling, drinking, playing Quarters. Some people comment on how bad the beer tastes, but assume that the hosts just bought cheap beer and pocketed most of the cash. The night begins going off the rails as the amount of guests continues to grow, and it completely derails when Daniel invites a group of rowdy, violent older men. Even here, Lindsay tries to pretend like this situation is what she wants, answering Millie's asking who the men are with "They're... my guests." But when she walks in on Daniel and Kim — who she'd believed to be broken up — making out on her bed, all feelings of agency deteriorate. In one of the best shots in the entire show, we follow her as she exits her room and wanders back to the party, isolated and empty. Parties highlight our collective nature, but they can also show us our utter insignificance. Here, Lindsay is hurting, scared, uncomfortable, and lost. She's also in a house full of people, each having their own time, and no one can see what she's going through.
At this point, everyone is getting wasted off of the placebo effect. But do they actually believe that they're drunk, or are they using the non-alcoholic beer they're drinking as an excuse to do things they normally wouldn't? In the most infuriating example, as he's comforting Lindsay, Nick tries to unhook her bra without consent, using his drunkenness as an excuse. Does he actually feel intoxicated? Is he using the idea of intoxication as an excuse to make the moves on the girl he's into in the most tactless way possible? Either way, this is a low point for the character; it speaks to Freaks and Geeks' brilliant writing that I'm able to feel real empathy for Nick after this moment.
Funnily enough, the Sober Students Improv Players are three partygoers who seem less susceptible to peer pressure. Harris is defying his role in the SSIP, getting his drink on and declaring that his involvement with the club is just for his transcript. Cindy Sanders is embracing her role as the designated driver with her usual chipper demeanor. And Millie is bringing her Millie-ness to the party, defiantly declaring that she's going to have more fun sober than any drunk person at the party, before sitting at the Weirs' piano to bang out her enthusiastic take on "Jesus is Just Alright."
No offense to Millie, but Bill is having the most fun at this party, clearly. Alone in the other room, tasked with guarding the original keg, he watches his beloved Dallas and helps himself to the only alcoholic beer in the house, getting absolutely smashed. No one had to pressure him into drinking, and Neal could never in a million years convince him that Dallas doesn't rule; he's his own person, and unlike Millie, the fun he's having is for himself. The only drunk person in the house is also the only person with no eyes on him, and therefore no external influence. And he's ultimately fine, less damaged by the end of the night than the sober Lindsay is.
Ideas about what constitutes peer pressure are usually based on specific behaviors people don't like; if a teenager drinks beer, it's peer pressure, and if that same teenager goes to church, it's not. This episode pokes a hole in that flawed conception, which itself is based around forcing behavior, making judgment about what should and shouldn't be done. Peer pressure is when you are placing yourself in situations you don't want to be in, or which are actively harmful, because of what others desire or expect from you. Lindsay doesn't know if her decisions are hers or those of the people around her. But when Neal calls the police for her, pretending to be a neighbor in order to end the party early, the instant weight off her shoulders tells her what she wants.
Minutes earlier, Neal had confessed his love for her (leading to the greatest reaction in television history from Linda Cardellini). Coming shortly after her violation at the hands of Nick, this is like gasoline on the fire. Is she only seen as valuable if she's desired romantically or sexually, or if she has an empty house to throw a kegger in? But where Nick's feelings for Lindsay are selfish, devoid of care for what she wants or needs, Neal's feelings for her defuse the situation. She even gives him a kiss on the cheek, seeming to appreciate the fact that, if everyone around her wants something from her, at least Neal was able to listen to what she needed and deliver on it. And from there, Lindsay returns to a state of comfort and safety. It won't last long; things will get worse before they get better. But in the moment, the exhale means the world.
Grade: A-
