Carded And Discarded

S01E06

In the cafeteria, the Geeks are trying to figure out how to keep Maureen away from Vicki for the rest of their school career. Just then they look up to see that Vicki has started a conversation with Maureen in the cafeteria -- right there in front of the Geeks! The Geeks all look shocked. Bill asks where Eli is. Neal tells Sam to go talk to Vicki about Three's Company. Instead, Sam calls Maureen's name and invites her to come sit with them, which she does, but not before telling Vicki she'll talk to her in Algebra. Maureen sits down, and Sam observes that she got the pudding: "I like pudding too." Maureen says that she likes pudding when it's been "sitting around for a while, and it gets that skin on the top." Neal nods knowingly. Bill says, quite formally, "It's nice to see you again," and Neal asks how her day is going. She says it's great, and that she's met "tons of new people." Bill asks what she's doing this weekend, and Maureen says that Vicki invited her to a party. She adds, "Wasn't that nice of her?" The Geeks' faces fall. D'oh!

Lindsay jogs up to Millie in the hall. Millie gives her a cold reception. Lindsay casually asks Millie whether she ever talks to her cousin Toby anymore. Millie, affronted, emphatically replies that she hasn't spoken to Toby since he went to jail. Disappointed, Lindsay repeats, "He's in jail?" Millie says that he was, after getting caught stealing hood ornaments off cars. She adds, "They weren't going to lock him up, but he called the policeman a bad word." "Bad word" is not an expression I use enough, I've decided. Lindsay, caring only that Toby's not in jail, asks whether he still makes fake IDs. Millie says she doesn't know, since her family doesn't talk to Toby anymore. She explains, "He was dropped on his head when he was a baby. That's why we think he's a bad seed." Then realization dawns, and Millie demands, "Why do you want a fake ID? So you can go get loaded?" Lindsay protests that she just wants to go see a band. Millie points out, "That's why there's [sic] records." Lindsay disregards Millie's admonitions and asks for Toby's number, but Millie is adamant: "I'm not going to be an accessory to this crime. You know where he lives. Do it yourself." Way to stick to your guns, Mil.

The scene has Lindsay, Daniel, and Nick marching through some overgrown foliage on their way to what is presumably Toby's house. Nick is saying that he heard that the drinking age in Idaho is "something like ten." I'd like to tell our American friends that the drinking age in some Canadian provinces -- definitely Quebec and also, I believe, the abovementioned Alberta -- is only eighteen. Even in the comparatively sedate Ontario it's only nineteen. Plus your dollar goes a lot further. I'm just sayin'. (This message brought to you by the Canadian Ministry of Tourism.) Lindsay gently suggests that Nick's information might not be correct, and adds, "This is it." The house looks kind of creepy; there's some unidentifiable furniture on the porch (which is really more like a square of cement), and let's just say that gardening doesn't seem to be a hobby Toby enjoys. Nick asks how Lindsay knows Toby, and she says that since he's Millie's cousin, Lindsay used to know him when she was young, but she thinks "he's kind of scary now." Daniel confidently says that he thinks they can handle it. Nick nudges Lindsay to draw her attention to a chicken crossing his path. Somewhere, Ariel yelps in recognition at her former neighbours' house. Just then the screen door slams open and out steps The Ugly Guy (a.k.a. Kevin Corrigan, a.k.a. Toby). He's wearing a buff-coloured t-shirt that at first made me think was just his skin, and a lumberjacket with the sleeves cut off. Either he has a fake belly on, or he's gained a few pounds since Walking and Talking. He notices the kids on his lawn and tells them that "the pharmacy's closed." Daniel explains that they're there for fake IDs. The Ugly Guy makes some noises of recognition and then yells at them that only one person's allowed in at a time, and, pointing at Daniel (who's wearing a tight toque), yells, "You, McMurphy, you come in." He instructs Nick and Lindsay to stay outside, so Nick leans over and starts making affectionate noises at the rooster. Warningly, The Ugly Guy says, "Don't play with that rooster! That's not a nice, petty-pet-pet rooster." Nick says, "I'm sorry." The Ugly Guy says, "You're the one who'll be sorry. Very dangerous." What, he's trained it up as an attack rooster? The Ugly Guy goes inside. Lindsay watches, looking like she she's in over her head.