Freaks and Geeks: 'Discos and Dragons' (1x18)

It's always an odd feeling watching the end of a longform series. In a great show, particularly one cut down before its time, it's difficult to watch knowing that the end of the series world is approaching. I would have loved to seen a second season, but as a finale, this episode is essentially perfect, capturing everything that's great about the series and providing a nice feeling of closure. This is easily the best episode of the series and one of the best series finales ever made.

The episode is all about confronting the characters with their potential futures. Sam, coming off his breakup with Cindy, feels he has the social capital to transcend geek status, he's just about ready to abandon his friends. The episode revisits the strong sense of discontent with high school life present in the first few episodes. The geek storylines frequently drift into comedy and it's nice to see a more serious undercurrent return here.

The real triumph of the episode is in the way the different storylines weave together, with events in one story setting the direction of the others. Daniel's feeling of intellectual inferiority has been a running theme of the series, most notably in "Tests and Breasts," where he gives a speech about the three sections. Lindsay comes to believe that this is just a stock excuse, but the events of later episodes show that Daniel really does have this insecurity, even if he's not quite motivated enough to do anything about it. Now, having failed at everything he tried, he decides to commit himself to actually doing something. One of the best moments in the episode is Sam looking at Daniel learning how to work the projector.

Daniel's interest in AV stuff and Dungeons and Dragons makes Sam reconsider his move away from them. In some respects it's a bit shallow that Sam would change his opinion just because a cool guy showed interest in D&D, but it makes sense. Coming off the experience with Cindy Sanders, he saw that it's no fun moving from the geek world to the popular world, so Daniel moving into the geek world is the ideal for him. It provides him with the social validation he needs to pursue what he really wants.

And it's a great moment when Daniel wins the D&D game. This is the first time we've seen him actually succeed at something and it's also notably the first time that he drops the cool facade he's had throughout the series. Through the role playing game, he's opened up and found his real self. The last time we see Daniel he's going off to get chips and soda, leaving the geeks to ponder if they've become cool or he's become a geek. I wouldn't say they're quite to cool, but what has happened is they've for the first time found someone in another social circle who they actually like hanging out with and he's accepted them for who they are. That's ultimately what they were seeking the whole series, social validation, and now they have it, so it's a bit easier going forward.

This episode is so good that a storyline that great is actually the weakest of the three stories. The Nick disco storyline finds an incredible mix of hilarity and total sadness. Joel Hodgson goes way over the top as the disco manager, but it works, his facial expression in the first shot of the episode is totally unreal, going so far you just have to laugh. This story looks a low rent Boogie Nights and made me want to see a film starring Jason Segal and John C. Reilly as 70s disco dancers.

And like Boogie Nights, the 70s clothes and music is surface fun on top of a heavy, sad core. Nick is clearly still in love with Lindsay, but has chosen to fully embrace a relationship with Sara, taking up disco dancing to make her happy. With her, he's making all the changes he should have done for Lindsay, stop smoking pot, do what she's interested in. I love the scene where they're dancing in Nick's basement and his not quite convincing claim that he's over Lindsay, and Sara always calling Ken "Kenny" is great.

However, the genius of this story lies in the final conversation between Nick and Lindsay. On the commentary for this episode, Paul Feig talks about the fact that the best writing is all about characters not saying what they mean. Nick and Lindsay have a lot of issues between them, but they don't actually talk about any of it. But, because we know what's between them, we're aware of everything that's going on and when Lindsay walks away, it's clear the Nick may still want her, but he'll never have her. The best shot in the entire series is the tracking shot following Nick into the dance contest. It's a perfect blend of image, music and emotion. The way the light turns blue on him, the slight slow motion and Sara out of focus behind him tells us everything we need to know. Brilliant.

Nick's anger in the dance contest is what makes the scene so effective. It's certainly hilarious, but it also shows us just how mad this guy is. And the subsequent bit with Eugene is one of the funniest things they've ever done. For Nick, the series ends with him looking out, overwhelmed. He's with Sara, but he's also aware that the person he really loved just walked out on him. Of all the characters, he's got the bleakest ending.

The other storyline in the episode forces Lindsay to finally confront her identity. The whole series has dealt with the idea that she's just posing as a freak when in reality, she's still just like Millie. She may claim to be the same as Daniel or Kim, but everyone still holds her to the standards of an A student. The Academic Summit forces her to confront this, the event is something that she "should" be going to, it's an event for smart people to put on their resume to help get into college, and the idea that she wouldn't want to go is alien to a culture that's wholly built around getting into college and excelling academically.

Her parents feel it's ridiculous for her to even consider not going to the summit, but they're ignorant of the fact that Lindsay's discontent with the system is more than adolescent posturing. She is forced to choose between two weeks of academic competition or a week and a half of seeing shows, and she chooses to embrace her freak side, doing what she wants rather than what others expect of her.

The scene with Lindsay at the bus stop is powerful, primarily because we know that we're leaving these characters forever. Lindsay might be back in two weeks, but we never will and that's what lingers. As she leaves on the bus, so do we. And the final scene is a great moment because for the first time we see Lindsay totally happy. She takes off the nice jacket, puts on the army jacket and fully embraces the identity she has chosen.

To some degree, the last episode of Six Feet Under has made every other series finale a bit unsatisfying. That episode gave you everything you want to know allowing for a smooth break from the universe. While not so sweeping, this episode does give you a similar smooth journey out of the universe. I'd have loved to seen more, but I don't really need it. Part of that is because the show isn't concerned with huge plot and character arcs, we've just taken a look in on these people at this moment in their lives, and they will continue after the show is over. There's no loose ends, it's just a world that will continue, but going out on the series' best episode makes it a lot easier to move on.

The show has some flaws, but on the whole, it's one of the most uniquely realistic series ever made. It's easy to see yourself in the characters, and more than any other piece of fiction, this captures a lot of the reality of high school life. And, though it was cut down early, these eighteen episodes are a perfect snapshot of this world. They told the story they set out to tell and it resulted in one of the great TV series of all time.

Related Posts
Freaks and Geeks: 'Pilot' (1x01) (6/26/2006)
Freaks and Geeks: 'Smooching and Mooching' (1x16) (7/15/2006)