Revived and Derived: “Freaks and Geeks” Ep. 4, “Kim Kelly Is My Friend”

In which there is veal piccata, rage and defacing of school property.

Alison: No, I was most definitely not a Kim Kelly. I’d put my high school self somewhere between a Lindsay and a Millie (sigh). But I love Kim’s lack of an emotional or verbal filter. Unlike Daniel, who’s learned how to use charm to get himself out of tight spots, Kim’s only good at the offensive, at the steamroll, and has no idea how to tone things down when the situation — like, say, dinner at the Weirs — demands it. Her attempts to suddenly befriend Lindsay are so hilariously halfhearted that Lindsay assumes Nick put her up to it. She’s not even particularly adept at pulling the wool over her parents’ eyes, as the meal with her sacrificial “nice girl” friend goes almost instantly wrong.

In short, Kim pretty much only know how to be Kim, regardless of where it leaves her. And it does give her the best lines of this episode. For instance:

Kim: My aunt Cathy was so rad. She lived in L.A. She was on “Kojak.” She doinked Ryan O’Neal once at a party.

Lindsay: Wow, she sounds awesome!

Kim: Yeah, well, she’s dead. She OD’d on coke.

Or:

My life sucks. My parents hate me, I don’t have any friends… You’re, like, my only friend, Lindsay, and you’re a total loser! No offense.

Of course, the punchline to most of these is Lindsay’s face as she tries to play along. But she and Kim do reach an accord after this episode, with a major assist from what happens in the next, in which Daniel handily (if unintentionally) kills off the crush Lindsay’s been nursing and makes her less of someone Kim perceives as an interloper imperiling her relationship.

But while Lindsay’s found that, against all odds, Kim Kelly really may become her friend, this is the first episode in which her parents get full exposure to the freaks and start to have some serious concerns about the crowd their daughter is hanging out with. And the members of that crowd are really not at their best when they show up at the Weir residence, with Kim weepingly asking Lindsay’s father why guys are only interested in sex, Daniel sneaking in the back door and scaring the hell out of Jean, and Nick, baked out of his mind, raiding the kitchen cabinets for the Fruit Roll-Ups Sam dismissed earlier. (No Ken, alas, denying us the pleasure of seeing how he’d get along with Harold.)

But worst off here is Sam, who already knows exactly who these people are, and has legitimate reason to resent his sister’s alliance with them — particularly Kim, who’s picked on him before (look at the betrayed expression on his face when Lindsay mutters that “maybe you are a geek”). It’s what makes the ending so excellent. Kim comes to Sam’s rescue, but keeping in character, only because it suits her — neither of them is pleased with Karen Scarfolli. And because of this, and unlike Lindsay’s intervention with Alan in the pilot, Sam’s left with a little dignity, and ends the episode with a smile — even if he has been called a geek once again.

So here’s the question, Matt, and one that Lindsay’s starting to think about too. Is being friends with the freaks turning out to be a bad thing for her?

Matt: I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a “bad” thing, but you could definitely argue that Lindsay’s forays into freak culture are all structured as cautionary tales. Three episodes in a row Lindsay’s learned to be careful what she wishes for when it comes to her burgeoning social life. She throws a kegger to impress her freak friends; the party goes out of control and Daniel hooks up with Kim. She bails on her mom to go cruising on Halloween; she accidentally eggs her little brother. This week Kim finally treats her nicely and she’s witness to a host of meltdowns, freak-outs, and fistfights.

Ultimately, I don’t know if I can answer your question because I don’t know that the show really does. We only got 18 “Freaks and Geeks.” We would have needed a few seasons to truly see how this drastic change of crowd and attitude affected Lindsay. Unfortunately we never got there — hell we’re almost a quarter of the way through the entire show and we’re only on episode four. That said, the reasons why we never got a second season of “Freaks and Geeks” are never more clear than when you watch “Kim Kelly is My Friend,” which is about as dark and bleak as television comedy gets.

Back to Kim: I think you nailed her charm right on the head — as viewers, we’re drawn to characters who aren’t afraid to speak their minds and Kim definitely isn’t. Apparently, the reason White understood Kim Kelly so well is that he knew her in real life. In his introduction to this episode in the “Freaks and Geeks” scriptbook, White says that he based his version of Kim on his cousin Tami, “who ditched school to drink beer in parking lots and used babysitting me as an alibi to sneak out to Tom Petty concerts. I worshiped Tami.”

White definitely gets Kim Kelly. And he definitely worships her, too. In just one episode he’s able to completely redefine our relationship. At the start, we’re a bit wary of her temper, particularly when she’s around the geeks; by the end, when she’s heroically (though still selfishly) defending them from Karen, we’re rooting for her to kick the crap out of someone. Her behavior hasn’t changed: just her target and our understanding of her motivation.

So how did Tami feel to serve as the inspiration for TV show character? According to White, her only response when he asked her about the show was “‘Freaks and Geeks?’ I avoided those people in high school. Why would I want to watch a show about them now?”

Kim Kelly couldn’t have said it better.

More “Revived and Derived.”

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