Freaks and Geeks/Looks and Books

Looks and Books
Season 1, Episode 11
Airdate	February 7, 2000
Production Number	109
Written by	Paul Feig
Directed by	Ken Kwapis
← 1x10 The Diary	1x12 → The Garage Door
Freaks and Geeks — Season One

Looks and Books is the eleventh episode of the first season of Freaks and Geeks. Lindsay gets into big trouble after crashing her parents car, and attempts to reconnect with her old life. Sam tries to become cool at school by upgrading his look. Some of the Freaks evaluate their lives.

Guest Stars: Dave (Gruber) Allen (Jeff Rosso), Steve Bannos (Mr. Kowchevski), Joel Hodgson (Salesman), Chauncey Leopardi (Alan White), Susan Krebs (Housewife), Natasha Melnick (Cindy Sanders), Sarah Hagan (Millie Kentner), Stephen Lea Sheppard (Harris), Jerry Messing (Gordon Crisp), Alex Breckenridge (Shelly), Molly Maguire (Carey), Olivia Hack (Erin), Riley Smith (Todd Schellinger), Jason Lansing (Bully #1), Brandy Warren (Mathlete #1), Percy Daggs III (Mathlete #2), Stephanie Erb (Ms. Yeats), Judith Drake (Dolores), Ben Ziff (Jock #1), Ron Lester (Seidleman), Scott McAfee (Jock #2), Michael Clayton McCarthy (Judge)

Plot Overview

The Freaks convince Lindsay to secretly borrow her parents' car in order to ferry some equipment for their band. Lindsay ends up crashing the car because of their rowdy behaviour. A furious Mr. Weir grounds her and forbids her from hanging out with the Freaks, which Lindsay agrees to without hesitation, being angry at them for getting her into trouble. Millie comes over and cheers her up by talking about the mathletes. When Sam witnesses Cindy and Todd together, the Geeks tell him that it's Todd's hairstyle that attracts girls, so Sam resolves to change his.

The next day, the Weir kids both come to school looking different - Lindsay abandons her usual army jacket outfit for something more demure, while Sam tries out a new hairstyle. Unfortunately for Sam, his hairstyle fails to make an impression with Cindy, and the Geeks tell him it's because of his poor dress sense, so he resolves to update his wardrobe. Lindsay has a brief tussle with the Freaks, where she informs them that they are selfish and have no future, but that she still does and she doesn't want them to ruin it. Lindsay meets up with the mathletes for lunch and decides to rejoin the team. She develops an immediate rivalry with the team's new star, Shelly.

Lindasy convinces Mr. Kowchevski to let her back on the team, which he does by dropping Millie in spite of Shelly's protests. Lindsay begins to study hard in order to demolish Shelly at the upcoming mathlete competition. Kim and Daniel both dwell on what Lindsay said to them, and come to the realization that they really don't think enough about their futures. Sam goes to the mall to shop for a new outfit and ends up being hoodwinked by a salesman into buying a ridiculous getup that resembles a track suit.

Sam comes to school in his new outfit, and it isn't long before all the snickering drives him to the realization that it's far from cool. He desperately attempts to get out of school and end his humiliation, but Alan attempts to continue tormenting him. Fortunately for Sam, Counselor Jeff Rosso intervenes, and ends up giving Sam some invaluable advice about being cool. Daniel has an illuminating conversation with Harris about what kind of guy he (Daniel) is. Linday gives a flawless performance at the math contest and leaves Shelley shell-shocked; to her surprise, the Freaks show up to cheer her on. Later that evening while sleeping over at Millie's, Lindsay comes to a realization, and winds up rejoining the Freaks.

Notes

Featured Music

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

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Car Crash: Lindsay crashes her parents' car, destroying their trust in her and resulting in her being grounded and forbidden from associating with the Freaks.

• Mathletes: Lindsay returns to her former life as a studious mathlete, pleasing her parents and teachers.

• Becoming Cool: Sam attempts to reinvent himself to become cool and ends up being humiliated, but thanks to Jeff Rosso he and the Geeks end up with a little more self confidence.

Characters

• Lindsay: Reasses her life as one of the Freaks. She shuns them and returns to her old life, but comes to the realization that she's not that person anymore.

• Sam: Attempts to grow up and become cool; despite the bad experience that results, he ends up being happy with who he is.

• Daniel & Kim: They examine their own lives and decide that they should try to make more of themselves.

• Nick: He's moved on from being mad at Lindsay, and has now convinced himself that Lindsay was more upset by the breakup than he was.

Referbacks

• Breakup: Nick mentions that Lindsay might be having trouble getting over his breaking up with her, an event that occurred in the episode We've Got Spirit.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Hardy Boys: Mrs. Weir tells Sam he looks like one of the Hardy Boys after he changes his hairstyle, referring to the famous fictional detective brothers Frank and Joe Hardy from the popular detective / adventure books 'The Hardy Boys', which were written under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon.

• Texas Instruments Calculator: The mathletes discuss a new calculator manufactured by the electronics company Texas Instruments, based in Dallas, Texas.

• Raymond Burr: Gordon cites Raymond Burr, an actor know for playing stern and unbending characters, as an example of a jolly fat man - an assertion that Neal rightly disagrees with.

• Carl Sagan: Lindsay makes a joke with reference to Carl Sagan, the famed American astronomer who popularized science via his TV series 'Cosmos' and his novel 'Contact'.

• Evil Knievel: Neal tells Sam "I didn't say you should dress like Evil Knievel" when refererring to Sam's getup, which bears some resemblance to the type of outfit worn by Evil Knievel, the stuntman famed for his daring motorcycle jumping.

• Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual: Harris is seen reading a manual from the popular fantasy tabletop role-playing game 'Dungeons and Dragons'.

• Dance Fever: Alan tells Sam "Aren't you Danny Terrio from Dance Fever?" when making fun of his getup, a reference to the musical game-show hosted by Danny Terrio, whose attire bore some resemblance to Sam's.

• Three's Company: One of Alan's friends says "No, it's Chrissy from Three's Company" when making fun of Sam's getup, a reference to the character Chrissy from Three's Company, whose attire bore some resemblance to Sam's.

Memorable Moments

• Sam's confident strut along the school hallway turns to embarrassment.

• Daniel has an illuminating conversation with Harris.

• Lindsay completes a perfect performance during the mathletes' contest.