Freaks and Geeks/Kim Kelly Is My Friend

Kim Kelly Is My Friend
Season 1, Episode 4
Airdate	UNAIRED
Production Number	103
Written by	Mike White
Directed by	Lesli Linka Glatter
← 1x03 Tricks and Treats	1x05 → Tests and Breasts
Freaks and Geeks — Season One

Kim Kelly Is My Friend is the fourth episode of the first season of Freaks and Geeks. Sam gets picked on by one of Kim's friends, Karen, who labels him a geek. Lindsay hangs out with Kim and discovers how messed up her life is, and begins to understand her a little better.

Guest Stars: Ann Dowd (Cookie Kelly), Jack Conley (Stepfather), Sarah Hagan (Millie Kentner), Rashida Jones (Karen), Steve Bannos (Mr. Kowchevski), Jerry Messing (Gordon Crisp), Mike White (Chip), Shane Johnson (Good-Looking Guy), Brianna Brown (Perky Blonde), Tom Virtue (Teacher)

Plot Overview

As Sam and the Geekscontemplate their lowly place in the school hierarchy, he inadvertently pisses off Karen, a friend of Kim's, who then scrawls the word 'geek' on his locker with lipstick. Later, when Sam removes the mark, Karen scrawls the words 'pygmy geek' in permanent ink. This gets Sam into trouble with Mr. Kowchevski, who punishes him by telling him to write an essay about the wrongs of vandalism. Meanwhile, Kim continues to treat Lindsay with utter disdain, causing Nick to attempt to intervene.

Later, Kim mysteriously changes her attitude towards Lindsay and suggests that they go to her place for dinner. A bemused Lindsay agrees. When Lindsay tells her mom about it, Sam becomes irritated because of his dislike for Karen and Kim. Sam also becomes fixated on improving his limited physical stature (which Karen made fun of) by eating more. Lindsay joins up with Kim and goes to her place for dinner, but discovers that she is being used to impress Kim's parents so that they won't take her car away. Kim's plan fails, and a horrified Lindsay witnesses Kim's family explode in rage and attempt to assault them both. She and Kim manage to escape in the car.

Neal and Bill come over to Sam's and mess around with Neal's new chemistry set. They discuss Sam's predicament with Karen and how they are always going to be picked on for being geeks. Sam and Neal begin to argue about which of them is a bigger geek, and they end up coming to blows. Kim and Lindsay talk; Kim breaks down and admits she acts bitchy to scare other girls away because she doesn't want to lose Daniel, whom she considers quite a catch. Moments later, however, they witness Daniel and Karen fooling around, and this sets Kim into a rage.

Lindsay brings Kim home and she has dinner with the Weir family, who are taken aback by her behaviour. Mrs. Weir worries about the influence she'll have on Lindsay. Kim informs Sam that she'll deal with Karen the following day. Daniel and Nick show up at the house to try and talk to Kim. Daniel manages to placate the fuming Kim, and the two of them start making out in the Weirs' kitchen. Once they all leave, the Weirs are left shell-shocked. The next day at school, Kim gets her revenge on Karen, much to Sam's delight.

Notes

• Unaired Episode: This episode was not aired during the show's original run.

Featured Music

• "Jamie's Crying" by Van Halen
• "Ice Cream Man" by Van Halen
• "King Tut" by Steve Martin
• "Reminiscing" by The Little River Band

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Kim and Lindsay: They get to know each other a little better, and a possible friendship begins.

• Kim and Daniel: While overcoming a hurdle, their relationship is shown to be stronger than it might initially appear.

• Meet the friends: The Weirs finally meet Lindsay's new friends and begin to worry about her.

Characters

• Kim: Has to put up with a difficult family life, which makes her aggressive. She also admits she's bitchy because she wants to scare off other girls from Daniel, whom she feels strongly about.

• Lindsay: Finally makes a connection with Kim, who's been giving her a hard time up till this point. This further establishes her as one of the Freaks.

• Sam: Continues to have trouble with high school life because of his geekiness, which he begins to despise.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Rod Serling: Neal does an impression of Rod Serling from the anthology show The Twilight Zone when talking about the incident with Sam's locker. He does a monologue that is typical of how Serling would open the show - " ...Perhaps we have left McKinley High, and entered the cheating corridors of... The Twilight Zone."

• Bilbo Baggins: Karen says "What was that Bilbo Baggins?" to Neal, a reference to the famous character from the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Bilbo belonged to a race of 'small-folk' called hobbits.

• Pygmy Geek: A pygmy refers to a person of unusually small size. In Greek mythology, pygmies are a race of dwarfs.

• Tonka Trucks: Neal makes fun of Sam for still playing with Tonka trucks, the popular brand of toy trucks.

• Gilligan and Gomer Pyle: In addition to Einstein, Neal cites Gilligan of Gilligan's Island and Gomer Pyle of The Andy Griffith Show as examples of famous Geeks. Both characters were renowned for being dim-witted and hapless.

• Rod Stewart: Kim states that Daniel is "sexier than Rod Stewart", the famous singer / songwriter.

Memorable Moments

• Kim and Lindsay escape from Kim's parents.

• Sam and Neal argue about being geeks.

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