Original Airdate: September 5, 2000
Kim and Karen, a friend of Kim's, bully and humiliate Sam, afterwards writing the word "Geek" on his locker in lipstick. Being bullied by girls makes Sam question his masculinity. Later in the day, Karen catches Sam washing off the lipstick, and marks up the locker again, this time writing "Pygmy Geek" instead. When Sam finds it, he's accused of doing it himself by a teacher, and is given the assignment to write an essay about why school property should be respected.
Lindsay, meanwhile, is fed up with Kim's antics toward her, and leaves their lunch table angry. Nick follows, and tries to convince her to come back to the table, going as far as to offer to talk to Kim, which Lindsay vehemently protests against. Nick, though he feels bad about how Kim treats Lindsay, promises that he won't talk to her.
Later, Lindsay overhears a call between Kim and her mother, which results in shouting from both sides. Daniel states that while Kim has a hardened surface, she's cool if you get to know her. Surprisingly, after Daniel leaves for a biology test, Kim starts acting nice toward Lindsay, indicating she wants to hang out with her. After school, Kim invites Lindsay for dinner at her house, which she hesitatingly accepts.
At home, Sam tries to load up on carbs, telling his mother that he no longer wants to be a "midget." Lindsay asks if she can skip out on dinner, and upon saying she'll be eating at Kim's house, Sam angrily calls Kim both a "psycho" and "evil." Perturbed by this, their mother asks Lindsay why she'd want to be friends with a girl like that, and Lindsay defends Kim, saying, basically, that she's just misunderstood. Reluctantly, she allows Lindsay to have dinner with Kim's family. Before being picked up, Lindsay and Sam get into an argument about Kim, with Lindsay defending her and Sam admitting that she and Karen bully him. Lindsay states that maybe he is a geek, which naturally causes Sam again to become angry. Kim pulls up, and Lindsay, before getting in, asks her to stop picking on Sam. Kim doesn't really agree, but Lindsay doesn't push the issue.
On the way to Kim's house, Lindsay learns that the car Kim's driving was given to her by an aunt, but Kim's parents believe it to be theirs, and have been considering selling the car, causing Kim to be much more on edge recently. Kim then informs Lindsay, before they go into her house, that her parents really like what they've heard of Lindsay, the fact she has good grades, and some falsehoods, like she has a vacation home in Michigan.
Kim's house is dilapidated, and her mother and father, much like Kim suggested, are quite dysfunctional. The dinner starts out moderately well, but when Lindsay fails to lie properly about coming from a wealthier family, the thing falls apart, and Lindsay and Kim drive off before Kim's parents can stop them.
Sam, meanwhile, is trying to write his essay, which is difficult as Neil and Bill are messing around with a chemistry set. Sam decries the whole thing as unfair, believing that should he have to write an essay, Karen should also. Neil and Sam get into an argument over what Neil would have done differently, and they end up physically attacking one another. Sam ejects both Bill and Neil from his house.
Kim's day, as expected, gets no better. While going to find Daniel, she spots him and Karen intimately flirting, which causes her to lose it. She shouts angrily at Daniel, and speeds off, all the while Lindsay not knowing what to do. They go back to Lindsay's house, and Kim decides to have dinner with them, sitting across from an angry Sam, still mad about being bullied earlier. Kim's teary-eyed, to which Lindsay informs her parents is due to troubles with her boyfriend. Kim's mother calls, and at first, Mrs. Weir believes Kim to be a bad influence, but after Kim politely thanks her for dinner, she decides to let her stay over for a bit.
Later on, Nick and Daniel come over, and want to see Kim. Though Mr. and Mrs. Weir encourage her to talk to him, she refuses, and hides in no other than Sam's room. Sam, outraged at first, yells at her to get out, but calms down once Kim tells him that Karen's not her friend, and the following day, she plans on hurting her badly.
Daniel enters the house, causing a ruckus, and a very ugly fight between Daniel and Kim. As Kim is slapping Daniel multiple times, he repeats over and over that he did not sleep with Karen. His calm, persistent tone causes Kim to slow down, and she forgives him. Nick, Kim and Daniel leave, and Lindsay rushes to do homework, leaving no time for her to explain what just happened to her parents. Mr. Weir quips simply to his wife, "This isn't good."
Neil and Sam make up the following day. Sam turns in the essay, but the teacher throws it away in disgust after seeing another locker written on, this one being Karen's. Kim, in her anger, wrote "Slut" on it. Karen starts yelling at Sam, but Kim shows up and defends him, letting Karen know that after school, her days are numbered. Sam thanks Kim, to which she replies, "No problem, geek."
Sam's having a hard time thus far. Being humiliated by Karen and Kim really pushed him over the edge, and furthermore, having Lindsay defend Kim makes me feel that the two of them may never really connect again with each other as they did in the first few episodes. The egging was bad enough, but this may cause irreparable damage. The fact that Sam and Kim sort of made up might help a little, but I think Sam will look at Kim more highly than he does Lindsay.
Neil arguing with Sam over how best to deal with bullies was also a bit sad to see. They made up also, as younger kids often do, but this isn't the first time they fought. Bill seems unable to pacify them during their arguments, which is something I wish he would be more forceful about. Right now, I can't imagine the three of them ending their friendship, but I do think they need to work on it to solidify it a bit.
Lastly, and I sense this will be important as the series progresses, Mr. and Mrs. Weir get their first real look at Lindsay's new friends. After the Halloween incident, she was already on thin ice, but since they saw Nick, Kim and Daniel for the dysfunctional group they appear to be, I think that they'll do a lot more to ensure that Lindsay steers clear of them.
Though this episode did contain a lot within, I felt it wasn't in the same league as the first three episodes. The subplot regarding Sam wasn't as enthralling as I would hope it'd be, and Kim forgave Daniel a lot easier than I would have hoped for. It's still a good episode, no doubt, but compared to the first three, it's a slight downgrade.
Rating: Above Average
Previous episode
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| Karen and Kim picking on Sam |
Lindsay, meanwhile, is fed up with Kim's antics toward her, and leaves their lunch table angry. Nick follows, and tries to convince her to come back to the table, going as far as to offer to talk to Kim, which Lindsay vehemently protests against. Nick, though he feels bad about how Kim treats Lindsay, promises that he won't talk to her.
Later, Lindsay overhears a call between Kim and her mother, which results in shouting from both sides. Daniel states that while Kim has a hardened surface, she's cool if you get to know her. Surprisingly, after Daniel leaves for a biology test, Kim starts acting nice toward Lindsay, indicating she wants to hang out with her. After school, Kim invites Lindsay for dinner at her house, which she hesitatingly accepts.
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| Lindsay's reaction when Kim is nice to her |
At home, Sam tries to load up on carbs, telling his mother that he no longer wants to be a "midget." Lindsay asks if she can skip out on dinner, and upon saying she'll be eating at Kim's house, Sam angrily calls Kim both a "psycho" and "evil." Perturbed by this, their mother asks Lindsay why she'd want to be friends with a girl like that, and Lindsay defends Kim, saying, basically, that she's just misunderstood. Reluctantly, she allows Lindsay to have dinner with Kim's family. Before being picked up, Lindsay and Sam get into an argument about Kim, with Lindsay defending her and Sam admitting that she and Karen bully him. Lindsay states that maybe he is a geek, which naturally causes Sam again to become angry. Kim pulls up, and Lindsay, before getting in, asks her to stop picking on Sam. Kim doesn't really agree, but Lindsay doesn't push the issue.
On the way to Kim's house, Lindsay learns that the car Kim's driving was given to her by an aunt, but Kim's parents believe it to be theirs, and have been considering selling the car, causing Kim to be much more on edge recently. Kim then informs Lindsay, before they go into her house, that her parents really like what they've heard of Lindsay, the fact she has good grades, and some falsehoods, like she has a vacation home in Michigan.
Kim's house is dilapidated, and her mother and father, much like Kim suggested, are quite dysfunctional. The dinner starts out moderately well, but when Lindsay fails to lie properly about coming from a wealthier family, the thing falls apart, and Lindsay and Kim drive off before Kim's parents can stop them.
Sam, meanwhile, is trying to write his essay, which is difficult as Neil and Bill are messing around with a chemistry set. Sam decries the whole thing as unfair, believing that should he have to write an essay, Karen should also. Neil and Sam get into an argument over what Neil would have done differently, and they end up physically attacking one another. Sam ejects both Bill and Neil from his house.
Kim's day, as expected, gets no better. While going to find Daniel, she spots him and Karen intimately flirting, which causes her to lose it. She shouts angrily at Daniel, and speeds off, all the while Lindsay not knowing what to do. They go back to Lindsay's house, and Kim decides to have dinner with them, sitting across from an angry Sam, still mad about being bullied earlier. Kim's teary-eyed, to which Lindsay informs her parents is due to troubles with her boyfriend. Kim's mother calls, and at first, Mrs. Weir believes Kim to be a bad influence, but after Kim politely thanks her for dinner, she decides to let her stay over for a bit.
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| Daniel and Karen flirting |
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| Kim's breakdown |
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| Kim informing Sam of what she plans to do to Karen |
Daniel enters the house, causing a ruckus, and a very ugly fight between Daniel and Kim. As Kim is slapping Daniel multiple times, he repeats over and over that he did not sleep with Karen. His calm, persistent tone causes Kim to slow down, and she forgives him. Nick, Kim and Daniel leave, and Lindsay rushes to do homework, leaving no time for her to explain what just happened to her parents. Mr. Weir quips simply to his wife, "This isn't good."
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| Nick trying to calm a tense Lindsay down |
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| Kim and Daniel making up |
This episode, like many of them, had a lot in it.
Let's start with Kim: In this episode, we get a really good look at Kim's life, and insight into why she acts the way she does. Her home life is less than ideal, not to mention constantly being on the lookout to ensure Daniel doesn't cheat on her. In fact, during an emotional breakdown, Kim suggests to Lindsay that she is her only real friend.
The main question is, should she have forgiven Daniel? Well, as cliche as it is, the heart wants what the heart wants. Even though she was hurt, and hurt badly, by Daniel, she trusts that he loves her, and trusts also that, despite what she thought, he was not unfaithful with her regarding Karen. And thus, she forgives him. I don't think, though, down the line, the relationship will work at all. At some point, one of them is going to get really tired of dealing with the other, and this episode points to that person being Kim.
And I can't say I blame her. Daniel was clearly flirting with Karen. Without a doubt. Kim, though she went overboard, had every right to be pissed at him. The fact that Nick doesn't see it as that big a deal is actually moderately concerning. For Kim and Daniel's relationship, pain and heartbreak is down the line.
Lindsay, this episode, had an eye-opening experience. While Kim has been very harsh to her in the past, Lindsay seems mostly willing to let that go and start anew. Seeing Kim at her worst, she definitely has a sympathy for Kim that she didn't have before. I don't know if Kim will continue to try to be friends with Lindsay, or if it was purely a one-off thing, but hopefully, at the very least, they remain civil to each other, as Lindsay went out of her way this episode to be sensitive to Kim's emotional needs.
Nick felt detached through the whole thing. He's seen Kim and Daniel fight before, and because of that, there's not a doubt in his mind that despite Kim's anger, they'll get back together (which he is proven right on). The fact that Nick seems more on Daniel's side, though, is disheartening. He either doesn't know the extent to which Daniel hurt Kim, or doesn't think it's a big deal. Overall, I still think he's a good guy, but if Lindsay and him ever happen to get into a relationship (which I think is quite possible), then Lindsay best be looking out for herself.
Speaking on Nick's character, during the chaos erupting between Kim and Daniel, Nick sensed that Lindsay was tense, and tried to relax her with a massage, which is pictured above. While Daniel's coming into the house interrupts this, it does show that Nick really is concerned with how Lindsay is doing, and while he doesn't seem to understand how badly Kim was hurt, is looking out for Lindsay (which is also backed up when he offered to talk to Kim for Lindsay earlier in the episode).
Sam's having a hard time thus far. Being humiliated by Karen and Kim really pushed him over the edge, and furthermore, having Lindsay defend Kim makes me feel that the two of them may never really connect again with each other as they did in the first few episodes. The egging was bad enough, but this may cause irreparable damage. The fact that Sam and Kim sort of made up might help a little, but I think Sam will look at Kim more highly than he does Lindsay.
Neil arguing with Sam over how best to deal with bullies was also a bit sad to see. They made up also, as younger kids often do, but this isn't the first time they fought. Bill seems unable to pacify them during their arguments, which is something I wish he would be more forceful about. Right now, I can't imagine the three of them ending their friendship, but I do think they need to work on it to solidify it a bit.
Lastly, and I sense this will be important as the series progresses, Mr. and Mrs. Weir get their first real look at Lindsay's new friends. After the Halloween incident, she was already on thin ice, but since they saw Nick, Kim and Daniel for the dysfunctional group they appear to be, I think that they'll do a lot more to ensure that Lindsay steers clear of them.
Though this episode did contain a lot within, I felt it wasn't in the same league as the first three episodes. The subplot regarding Sam wasn't as enthralling as I would hope it'd be, and Kim forgave Daniel a lot easier than I would have hoped for. It's still a good episode, no doubt, but compared to the first three, it's a slight downgrade.
Rating: Above Average
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