Freaks and Geeks SE01 EP05 - "Tests and Breasts"

Episode Name: Tests and Breasts

Original Airdate: November 6, 1999

In sex ed class, Sam gets embarrassed by Coach Fredricks due to his lack of knowledge of the female anatomy. In fact, the incident gives him the nickname "Dr. Love," which follows him around, even popping up when he's having a conversation with Cindy (who we've not seen in a few episodes). More frustrating, when the trio (Sam, Neil and Bill) hear a sexual joke in school and don't get it, they try to figure out what it means.

Coach Fredricks, none other than Biff from Back to the Future

Neil, Sam and Bill attempting to understand the joke

Daniel is at risk of having to retake algebra - in Mr. Kowchevski's class, the test tomorrow means almost certain failure. Lindsay notices he's feeling down, and offers to help him study so that he can past the test tomorrow. He goes over to her house that night, and takes a smoke break prior to studying.

Mr. Kowchevski

Outside, he speaks briefly to Sam, noting the anatomy book Sam's reading. He tells Sam that he's not going to learn what he needs to learn from a book. He then says that tomorrow, he'll give Sam something that will help him out. Back inside, though Lindsay tries to help him through the algebra, but Daniel gives up, telling her that he'll be fine.

Daniel and Sam talking

The next day, after handing off a pornographic movie to Sam, Nick helps Daniel steal Kowchevski's test. He goes to Lindsay for help, and at first she declines, deciding to ask Kowchevski to give Daniel an extension (figuring that as he likes her, he would give Daniel an extension). The teacher instead accuses Lindsay's hormones of getting in the way. This angers Lindsay, and she decides to help Daniel study, providing that he actually studies from here on out, and doesn't resort to cheating again. Daniel agrees. After school, Sam watches the movie with Bill and Neil, which makes him greatly uncomfortable.

Sam, Bill and Neil discovering the pornographic movie

Lindsay helping Daniel cheat on test

Neil, Sam, and Bill watching the porno

After Kowchevski discovers that Daniel got an A on the test, he let's Lindsay know that he got an anonymous letter accusing her of cheating, and sets a disciplinary hearing for the next day. She talks to Daniel, and Daniel tells her that it'll be okay, and that's he's gotten past these types of things before. Most important, he says, is to not confess - if neither one confesses, they have nothing on them. Once her parents find out, they immediately berate her for cheating, which angers Lindsay, as they won't even listen to her side of the story.

Sam, profoundly bothered by what he saw in the movie, acts coldly toward Cindy the next day. Neil tries to smooth things over, which fails to work, as neither Bill nor Sam seem to want to speak much.

Cindy talking to Sam

Before the disciplinary hearing, guidance counselor Jeff Russo talks to Lindsay. After relaying a story of how he helped a student cheat back in school, Lindsay reaffirms that she didn't help Daniel cheat. Russo believes her. After a conversation with Kim, in which she says that no matter what Daniel said, he'll just steal the next math test and do it without her help, Lindsay confronts Daniel in the workshop, stating that she wants to come clean and tell the truth, along with accusing Daniel of manipulating her. Daniel denies that accusation, and tells her about how when he came to junior high school, he was placed with the slower, more stupid students, which has impacted his work ethic sense. Being told he was dumb from the beginning made him feel that he had no other way through then to skate by and cheat. Lindsay, taking pity on him, decides to continue to lie for him.

Coach Fredricks holds Sam back after sex ed, and tells him he found Sam's question, which the class wrote down on paper, disturbing. Sam admits that he saw a porno movie. Fredricks then decides to open up to Sam, and explain sex to him in a personable way, all the while a funky soundtrack plays in the background. Sam, uncomfortable at first, thanks Fredricks for being open with him, and is no longer disturbed by what he saw in the movie. Lastly, he asks about the sexual joke, in order to understand it.

Daniel explaining academic life to Lindsay

Coach Fredrick's talking to Sam about sex

Lindsay's parents come to the hearing to support her, apologizing for the way they accused her the previous night. Russo speaks to Kowchevski, supporting Lindsay. He then finds out that there was no note - Kowchevski lied because he's certain that Daniel cheated, and this was a way that would sometimes get a confession. He then berates Daniel, saying that students like that are a waste of time, which profoundly bothers Russo, who believes that teachers have to be friendly and trust students in order to make a connection.

Russo and Kowchevski arguing

Their styles continue to differ as the meeting starts. Mr. Weir yells at Kowchevski for accusing his daughter of cheating. Russo lets them know that he knows Lindsay doesn't cheat, and believes Daniel when he says he didn't cheat also. Kowchevski, though, to Russo's annoyance, gives Daniel a copy of the test, stating that if he can do a single question, he'll retire.

Sam apologizes to Cindy, and the two of them work on a banner together, Sam happy that he is now again comfortable around her.

After Daniel fails to do a question, he goes into the same story her told Lindsay earlier. Not only is it the same story, it's word-for-word, the same pauses, everything. While Mr, and Mrs. Weir, along with Russo and Kowchevski soak up the surface sadness of his story, Lindsay can't help herself, and begins hysterically laughing.

Cindy and Sam working together

This episode dealt with something I'm sure we've all dealt with - the awkwardness of sex education.

Sam's story here is one that many people can probably relate to. Neil seems mature enough, though he obviously doesn't know much more about this type of stuff than Bill or Sam. Bill is bothered greatly by the movie, perhaps more so than Sam (partially because Sam probably talks to girls infinitely more than does Bill). When Sam makes up with Cindy at the end of the episode, Bill's still disturbed, and likely will be for some time.

Coach Fredrick's initially starts out acting like a dick, embarrassing Sam in front of the class (when it wasn't Sam's fault that Neil and Bill were talking). When he decides to talk to Sam, though, frankly about sex, you can sort of see that he is caring in his own way. The man-to-man conversation really gets Sam out of his funk, and because of that, he's able to move on.

Lindsay shows that she still harbors some feelings for Daniel, when she allows herself to be manipulated. Luckily, though, she's able to break away from this at the end, once she realizes how manipulative Daniel actually is at the hearing. I'm hoping that this teaches her to stay clear of Daniel romantically, should the situation happen to arise.

On Daniel, well, I'm sure there is truth to the story he recited both to Lindsay and Russo. And while I understand where he's coming from, he's clearly manipulative. When he tricked Lindsay into hosting the party back in "Beers and Weirs," I suspected that he was doing it intentionally, but couldn't really formally conclude it. I am now. As far as Lindsay is concerned, Daniel knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to manipulating her. And more so, it's to benefit him more than it's to benefit her.

This is not to say Daniel is a bad character. Much like Kim, I'm sure much of who he is comes from his background. When Sam was having troubles, Daniel did try to help him by giving him the porno. While not helpful, or the kind of help that Sam needed, it was probably exactly how Daniel was taught about sex. His intentions were good - the outcome, though, was not.

Personally, Daniel's becoming a character which I am disliking more and more. The last two episodes had this feeling grow - this episode cemented it. I don't know how Lindsay could continue being friends with him, but it'll probably be just so she can stay around Kim and Nick, both of whom are friendly to her.

Speaking of which, while we see Nick in this episode help Daniel steal the test, he didn't really get much involved in the main story. I don't think he would mind helping Daniel out again, and they've probably done it before. Ken, we've not seen for two episodes now, so I do hope he comes back, this time with some actually character (deadpan Rogan is great, but I'd like to see him break out of that a bit).

Mr. and Mrs. Weir, when it mattered, were there for their daughter, though they really should have let Lindsay explain her side of the story before accusing her of cheating on a test. Hopefully, they become more trusting as the series progresses, but I suspect that it'll only get worse.

One last note - Russo has said many a corny thing before, but I deeply respect him after he stood up for Daniel and Lindsay against Kowchevski. Kowchevski's attitude about students is deplorable, and while Russo misplaced his trust in this episode, the fact that he's willing to help out students and stand with them, even against other faculty, makes him a pretty cool guy.

All-in-all, this was a pretty good episode. At the same time, it felt it was lacking in the same way the previous episode was. A good episode, still, and some great scenes, but just a notch below the first three episodes.

Rating: Above Average

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