The episode opens with someone dropping dry ice into a bucket. I wasn't sure I had the right channel at first. If I hadn't recognized Nick and his big-ass drum kit, I might have thought I was watching a concert. Nick's in his basement with headphones on, playing along to Rush's "The Spirit of Radio." He's got lighting effects, he's got the dry ice, he's got showmanship and energy. But most importantly, he's got Geddy Lee to sing the lyrics while he lip-synchs -- it looks and sounds great. We see Nick's father come down the stairs, and the camera takes in the scene from the dad's point of view. Suddenly it's just a basement rec room again. Nick's drumming isn't gonna win big awards any time soon, and his singing makes the song almost unrecognizable. His father sighs and walks back upstairs. It's one of the most clever show openings I've ever seen. And it segues nicely into the Joan Jett song for the credits.
After a word from our sponsor, we see the geeks in gym class, looking spiffy as usual in their uniforms. Bill's sporting black socks with grungy white sneakers, and Sam tells him, "You look a little bit like my grandpa." Bill's comeback: "Oh, is your grandpa super-cool?" Biff the gym teacher tries to drum up some enthusiasm for the "President's Physical Fitness Tests." Oh, man, that must be an uphill battle. I used to live in terror of those tests myself. Biff says they will start with the rope climb. Neal says, "Yeah, that's gonna help us get into a good college." How grateful I am that Neal's right, because I was never able to climb more than about six inches on those beastly ropes. Then Biff drops his big bombshell: starting today, the boys are required to shower after every gym class. Sam looks terrified, even before Alan the bully asks, "Is Weir allowed to shower with us? He's a woman!" The rope-climbing begins, and I am surprised to see that Bill's actually good at something. Sam and Neal are holding the rope steady while Sam expresses his dismay at the prospect of getting naked in front of his peers. Bill interrupts to warn them not to look up his shorts. Neal comments that there's nothing to see, and Bill says, "There is something to see," in a way that only Bill could make funny. Sam goes back to declaring that he won't shower. Neal doesn't see why it would be such a big deal, so Sam goes on the defensive, telling Neal, "I think it's kind of weird that you wanna get naked in front of everybody." After Alan shouts an insult at Neal about circumcision, Neal concedes that the shower idea is a bit weird. Bill says he can't climb any further, and asks, "How do I get back down?"
In the lunchroom, Millie and a boy are decked out in pioneer garb. With really pathetic Southern accents, they try to rustle up some business for the McKinley Drama Club's presentation of Oklahoma! I think it's safe to say that Nick, Lindsay and the rest of the freaks will not be attending. Goofy, sweet Nick tells Lindsay she'd look good in Millie's costume. Lindsay pretends that this is a nice compliment. Nick asks the other freaks if they'll be rehearsing later. He's talking about their "rock band," as Lindsay calls it. Nick wants to call this band "Creation," which cracks me up to no end, but I can see why the others won't go along with it. There's a new guy sitting with them who is apparently part of the "rock band." ["I think the new guy may have been in the kegger episode, but I'm not positive." -- Wing Chun] Nick calls a rehearsal for 3:00. Daniel can't make it because he has to "do something with Kim." Ken says, "Okay, how about 3:01?" Daniel counters with, "Let's make it 3:15. I gotta fit in your mother." Ken takes him seriously. Aw, come on, Ken, we know you're brighter than that!
Cut to the boys' room, where Bill is saying, "You know, to be honest, I don't smell so good." Neal and Sam are wetting their hair in the sink so it will look like they took a shower. Sam says they all "have to stick together." Just then, Biff walks by and inquires, "Are you ladies having a nice time at the beauty parlour?" Neal sputters a bit, trying to come up with an excuse, and Sam says, "Well, we didn't even sweat! Smell this!" He holds out the underarm portion of his sweatshirt toward Biff, who replies, "You know, Weir, I'll put that on my to-do list, all right?" The geeks are saved by the class bell, but Biff warns them that tomorrow they will not get away with avoiding the showers. I'm just amazed and appalled that they have to take phys ed every single day.
In Nick's basement, he and the band are butchering Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love." I mean, you'd really have to work at it to be as bad as this band is. Ken, wearing an understated Van Halen T-shirt, is on lead vocals. The band does have groupies in Kim and Lindsay, who are rocking out on the couch. For Kim, at least, hormones take precedence over music appreciation, as she comments on how "hot" Daniel looks playing his oddly shaped guitar. Daniel says, "I wish I could smash this thing," as he pretends to, uh, smash his guitar. Believe me, Daniel, you'd be doing us all a favour if you smashed it for real. Nick, who's wearing a butt-ugly KISS T-shirt, tells everyone that Lindsay's come up with some names for the band. Ken says, "Yeah, I hope it's something catchy, like 'Mathletes.'" Hey, that's a great name for a band! Daniel vetoes "Mission Control" because "it sounds like something spacey." Nick asks, "What's wrong with that?" Ken replies, "Space blows." Everyone's having fun vetoing Lindsay's second suggestion, "Anarchy's Child," when Nick's Army Dad ["Hey! It's That Guy!" -- Wing Chun] comes downstairs to wreck the mood by saying, "I take it the symphony is over?" Nick apologizes for disturbing Army Dad and says, "It sounded a lot better, though, right?" If Nick's waiting for some approval from his dad, he may want to pick up a needlepoint kit to pass the time. The only thing Army Dad's offering is a very thinly veiled order to come upstairs for a "talk." Nick's all dejected as he says, "Yes, sir." To top it all off, everyone except Lindsay takes off on him. As they're walking up the stairs, Ken says, "This is Mission Control requesting permission to rock out."
Nick goes upstairs to talk to Army Dad, while Lindsay eavesdrops from the basement. Army Dad is talking to Nick about their "deal," which sounds like Nick needs to keep up a C+ average or else go into the Army. Nick says he's not cut out for the military, and Army Dad says, in the most condescending manner possible, "C+ -- not too much to ask for, Nick." Man, if I had this prick for a father, I'd probably want to stay stoned 24-7, just like Nick does. Nick tries once more to appeal to his father, saying that he thinks he has a shot at making it as drummer. Army Dad smiles nastily and says, "Nick, I really thought that I could walk on the moon. But you just don't see any moon rocks around here, do you?"
Nick heads back downstairs, and Lindsay pretends she's just been staring at some home-canned vegetables instead of eavesdropping. She starts making small talk about the vegetables, but Nick just grabs a towel from on top of the dryer and uses it to muffle the sound as he screams. Lindsay admits to eavesdropping and gives Nick a really sweet pep talk about holding onto his dream of being a famous drummer. "You can do whatever you want if you believe in yourself, "she says. Nick is touched. He thanks her, and says, "Lindsay, you're like the only person who's ever gotten what I'm about." Inspired by her success, Lindsay goes on to compliment the way Nick looks in his shorts, and if I wasn't afraid of sounding like a lecherous old woman, I'd have to say that Nick looks just fine no matter what he's wearing.
It's time for gym class again, and the boys are lying in a circle on the floor, kicking around something called an "Earth ball," though Bill comments that it doesn't look much like the earth. Biff blows his whistle and tells the boys to hit the shower. Sam wants them all to boycott the showers together, but Neal and Bill don't want to join him in his activism. Neal comments that his hands are "filthy," and Bill says, "Yeah, and I can't say no to a long, luxurious shower."
In the locker room, Harris comes over to talk to Sam, who is a little put off by the fact that Harris is buck-naked. Sam has a hard time making small talk with Harris, who wants to know what foreign language Sam will be taking year. Harris is thinking of taking German because he's "a quarter German." A tense silence ensues until Sam asks Harris to put on a towel. Harris reveals a theory that's pretty sophisticated for a high school student: "A body is merely a shell to conceal our heavenly souls. Try not to get too uptight." With a cheery "Auf Wiedersehen!" he's outta there. Enter Neal, who's wearing a "Virginia is for Lovers" towel, and Bill, clad in a really short little navy blue bathrobe trimmed with white piping. Neal seems particularly proud of his chest hair. Sam expresses amazement that they're going to shower. Neal says, "It's just water. What could happen?" Bill manages to sound utterly unenthusiastic even when delivering an insult: "Well, you could stop smelling like my butt, for once." Neal and Bill are walking toward the showers when Alan and his bully friends start snapping towels at them. The sound effects are vividly painful, and at one point, Bill is brought to his knees. When it's over, he says, "I hope I can still have kids." Since some of these episodes have aired out of order, I'm not sure if they're supposed to have been through Sex Ed yet, because Neal says, "Come on, you got hit in the groin, not a hysterectomy." Maybe he means a his-terectomy.
Sam is fully dressed, trying to slink out of the locker room without showering. It's pretty much a given that Biff catches him. While feeling up Sam's hair, Biff comments on how "fashionable" it is (hee!) and also that it is dry. Sam weasels out of showering by feigning illness. Biff lets him off the hook, but tells him he can "pick up the Academy Award" on the way to the nurse's office. Neal walks by in his "Virginia is for Lovers" towel, and Biff tells him to put on some clothes because he looks "like a fifty-year-old man." It's mean, but kind of true.
Nick's shooting hoops on his driveway when Lindsay strolls up. She asks why he's not practising with the band, and Nick says the other band members are off doing some car stuff. Lindsay says she thinks they should practise more. Word, Lindsay, though I'm not sure there are enough hours in a lifetime to make that band sound good. At first Nick is a little pissed, and I can see his point, because I'm not always crazy about unsolicited advice from friends either. But Lindsay means well, and she manages to convince him that he needs to work harder if he wants to prove himself to Army Dad. She illustrates this advice with a little story about her own Mathletics experience. We learn that she went to the Mathletics Nationals two years in a row! When Nick says Daniel's not really into practising, Lindsay asks him, "Who's the leader of this band, you or Daniel?"
I didn't think it was physically possible, but it seems like rehearsing has made the band even worse. I have to give them props for energy, but I can't even recognize what song they're supposed to be playing. Encouraged by a look from Lindsay, Nick tries to get the guys to treat rehearsing more seriously. He's pretty tentative at first, but soon he's on a roll. Ken is taken aback by the New and Improved Nick, and he asks, "Are you still buying pot from the same guy?" The new, unnamed freak says, "Who, me?" Ah, so that explains what he's doing in this episode. Nobody's taking Nick very seriously, so he drags Lindsay into the mess by saying, "Lindsay, you were right." Daniel and Ken focus their attention on Lindsay, who looks like a deer caught in someone's headlights. Nick goes on about the band some more, and Daniel eventually backs down, but the mood is pretty somber. Daniel starts to play but Nick cuts him off and tells him to "wait for the sticks, all right?" Thank God we have Ken to lighten things up, though. With his usual impeccable comic timing, he says, "Hey, this is really fun, guys. I'm glad we have a band," while giving the "thumbs up" sign. Well, it improves my mood, anyway. I don't know about Lindsay, though, because she's still sitting on the sofa, looking mighty uncomfortable, especially when Kim shoots her a lethal look.
Cut to commercial. Honestly, Candice Bergen, haven't you earned enough money over the years that you can finally give up those puke-inducing Sprint commercials? And to think I used to like Murphy Brown.
Back in the basement, the band is taking another stab at "Sunshine of Your Love." It's only marginally more recognizable this time, but they're playing it like a dirge. I mean all the fun has gone out of it. When they're done, Nick and Lindsay claim it's better, but Daniel's had it. He packs up his guitar and says he's leaving. Uh-oh, I think Lindsay's created a monster. Now that Nick's had a taste of standing up for himself, he thinks he's unstoppable, but this time Daniel and the others aren't buying it. Ken sums up what seems to be the feeling of the band when he says, "I hate this song. I've played it like six times. I never wanna hear it again!" Nick adds, "You know, you and Yoko here have turned music into school. What are you gonna do, start handing out band homework?" Ooh, I've been waiting for the Yoko reference. I'm glad we got that out of the way. When Nick claims he just wants to play the song right, Kim says, "Then go do it in the marching band, geek." Daniel calls Nick a dumb-ass and says, "Rock 'n' Roll don't come from your brain; it comes from your crotch. And if you'd ever got any, Mr. Cute Shorts, you'd know that." Thanks, Daniel; now you made me think about your crotch, and I'm really not enjoying that. Ken quits too, and as everyone's leaving, Nick shouts, "You're not even good enough to be in Creation!" I didn't think it was possible for Lindsay to look any more uncomfortable, but she manages it when Nick turns on her too.
The geeks are sitting on the pavement, and apparently the ice cream truck has just been by, because they're all enjoying some frozen confections. Sam has one of those red, white and blue bomb pops, while Bill and Neal are eating those weirdly coloured "Push-ups." They're watching some popular kids pile out of a car and go into the house across the street. Neal says, "I don't get it. What do they have that we don't have?" For starters, "good bodies," as Sam points out. Bill watches one of the football players throw a cheerleader over his shoulder, and helpfully comments, "He should use his legs more. He's gonna throw out his back." Neal claims his mom says, "Women prefer guys with a good sense of humour." Well, she's totally right, Neal -- except for during the four years that constitute high school. Bill says that Neal's "not very funny, " to which Neal replies, "Screw you, I'm hilarious." Bill's comeback: "Ooh, how witty! Get this guy on Hollywood Squares!" Personally, I don't think any of the geeks will have problems picking up babes in a couple of years. Mind you, I said "in a couple of years," because Sam reveals his cluelessness again when he says, "I overheard that Todd Schelinger takes off his shirt when he makes out. Why would he do that?" Neal claims it's "to show off his chest hair." He's really got a fixation on chest hair, as he goes on to claim, "All cool guys have hairy chests: Selleck, Reynolds, Rockford." Well, one cool guy out of three ain't bad, though I'm not sure how cool Rockford still was in 1980. Bill suggests Mork, which gets a laugh from Sam until Bill follows it up with, "He's got more hair on his hands than Sammy has in his pits." Oh, Bill, have I told you lately how much I love you? Sam plaintively asks, "Will girls ever like us?" Jeez, Sam, weren't you listening before? Neal says, "Our best play is to go for the smart, sexy librarian type. You know, she's sweet and shy, but then she takes off her glasses, and RROWR!" "Like Bailey on WKRP in Cincinnati?" asks Bill. Exactly! Sam claims Cindy Sanders is the librarian type, but Neal says she's more of a librarian for the "Playboy Mansion." Sorry, I just don't see it. I think she's pretty dopey and in need of a major makeover, starting with her hair. Bill tries to eat his entire Push-up at once but has to give up because it's too cold.
Stop the presses! Someone is actually smoking on the smoking patio! They're just extras, though, and it goes by almost too quickly to see. Lindsay walks out there and sees Ken sitting all alone, eating some sunflower seeds. When she asks where everyone is, he answers, "No idea." Lindsay always looks kind of intimidated by Ken, and right now she starts babbling nervously: "Well, that's kind of weird, isn't it?" He gives her a look, and she qualifies it: "I mean that no one is around, not that you don't have any idea where anyone is." Ken just spits out a sunflower shell disdainfully, and Lindsay turns to leave. Ken stops her to say, "Thanks for breaking up the band." Lindsay claims she just thought they "should learn one song." She's right into it as she gears up for her big speech: "God, how could I be so awful to suggest that you actually play an entire song correctly all the way through? God knows, Zeppelin only plays half of 'Stairway to Heaven,' and The Who never practises 'Teenage Wasteland' [sic]." Ken informs Lindsay (and me) that "Teenage Wasteland" is actually called "Baba O'Riley." I feel like a dork because that's the only Who song I can stomach, and now I realize I've always had the name wrong. I'm not sure what Lindsay's feeling, but she sits down at the picnic table, looking kind of pissed at Ken.
Lindsay's still at the picnic table when Daniel comes along. Lindsay starts right in by claiming that she wasn't trying to break up the band; she only wanted to help Nick stay out of the Army. Daniel claims that Nick doesn't need her help and that he'll never make it as a drummer, so Lindsay should let him "have some fun before he has to ship off." Lindsay gives an impassioned speech in Nick's defense, but Daniel walks all over it. I have to admit that he's right, but in this scene I'm too distracted by how much he's already looking like a character from Barfly, as Maggie pointed out last week.
In gym class, Biff is taking attendance. Harris answers him in German. Sam doesn't answer at all. That would be because he's crouched on top of a toilet in the boys' room, trying to remain invisible. Two freaks are by the urinals discussing The Shining. We learn that "Red Rum" is "Murder" spelled backwards. Dude! I'll bet all the non-stoned people didn't pick up on that! Mr. Kowchevski the math teacher comes in and tells them to head off to class. He props himself against the wall with both hands and takes a leak. Sam stares through the slightly open door of the stall, fascinated by Mr. Kowchevski's, um, hands-free technique. As he tries to get a better look, his foot slips, and his sneakers start making squeaky sounds on the toilet seat. Mr. Kowchevski shakes himself off and leans over the stall door, saying, "It would go a little easier if you'd sit down and drop your pants."
Nick is investigating a possible career in lawn care by practising on his parents' lawn when Lindsay drops by. He's bummed about the "whole band-breaking-up thing." Lindsay tells him he shouldn't be, since he was "the only professional." She gives him a flyer she picked up at the record store. A band called Dimension is looking for a drummer, and Nick gets all excited about auditioning for them, claiming they're "like the top working band in Detroit." Hope springs eternal, and it's really cute that Lindsay actually believes Nick would get paid by anyone for his drumming. Nick jumps the fence and gives Lindsay a big hug to thank her.
Later, at the Weir dinner table, Sam is exclaiming, "I don't wanna get naked in front of other guys!" Dad outlines his plan: "All right, look, here's what you do. You tell them you're proud of your body. That'll show 'em." He puts just enough spin on it to remind me of why I've loved Joe Flaherty since the days of SCTV. Mom Weir very sweetly says that Sam has "a beautiful body, doesn't he, Harold?" Dad looks royally annoyed for a moment before gamely announcing, "Yes, I just said he had a beautiful body." Oblivious to Sam's major eye-rolling, Mom adds, "Those other boys are probably just jealous. Lindsay, tell your brother what a beautiful body he has." This earns a disgusted stereo chorus of, "Mom!" from both Lindsay and Sam. Dad forces Lindsay to say it, so she does, adding, "You're an Adonis, a slab of beef. If I wasn't [sic] your sister -- oh my God!" Dad tells her to "can it."
Nick and Lindsay walk in to the audition site, where "Dimension" is a band composed of various members of the production team of Freaks and Geeks, including the creator, Paul Feig, on bass. They're just finishing off another audition. Nick looks pretty nervous, which he tries to cover up by telling Lindsay he's "never played on a drum kit this small." When the band calls him up, he swaggers so hard that he looks like he's about to fall over. When he tells them his drum kit has 29 pieces, a band member named Scott says, "Wow, what are you doing here? You should be auditioning us!" Nick goofily replies, "Yeah, right, right?" He sucks up a bit, just for good measure: "I saw you guys open up for Jethro Tull last year at Cobo Hall. You guys blew them away!" Paul Feig says, "You must've been there Friday night, because Saturday night we got booed off the stage." They ask Nick if he wants "to jam" and allow him to "call the tune." Buoyed by his repeated rehearsals of "Sunshine of Your Love," Nick suggests "a little Cream." Scott throws him off balance by saying he hates "Sunshine of Your Love" and wants to play "Crossroads" instead. Lindsay gives Nick the thumbs-up sign, and he expertly twirls a drumstick before counting off the song. They get through about four bars of the song before Scott stops them and suggests they try it "a little bit tighter." Nick looks slightly bewildered as he inquires, "Tighter?" He plays it exactly the same as before, and the band stops again. Scott tries again by saying, "Let's try it just a little bit quicker-paced." Finally Nick understands. "Oh, quicker-paced!" he says, before twirling a drumstick and dropping it. Nick's drumming sucks more than ever, and even Lindsay starts to look nervous at this point. We see a groupie who is Kim's future doppelganger with a perm laughing at Nick. The band stops playing, and the sound guy looks over at Lindsay and shakes her head. Poor Nick stands up to leave. He reaches out to shake Scott's hand but realizes at the last moment that Scott just wants the drumsticks back. Paul Feig says, "Good luck with that 29-piecer, man. Maybe one day you'll knock it up to an even 30." Lindsay looks devastated as we fade to commercial.
Nick and Lindsay are leaning against a car, and Nick is feeling pretty sorry for himself. He's entitled, I guess. Lindsay's trying to comfort him, but it's not going very well. Nick tries to explain how he's always imagined himself playing in a band, sitting at his drum kit up on a big hydraulic riser. He starts to panic as he realizes, "I'm not gonna be that guy. I'll be lucky if I get to be the guy who pushes the button that makes the riser go up. But I'm not even gonna be that guy, because that guy needs a C+ average, man." Lindsay offers to help him bring his grades up, but he doesn't even respond because he's too freaked by the idea of having to join the Army: "I'm gonna be surrounded by a group of psychopaths, like my brothers and like my dad." I know I've been making fun of Nick a bit, but it breaks my heart when he says, "Oh my God, I'm done, man. I'm done." Lindsay just plants a kiss on him. Aww! She's pretty good at it, considering this is probably the first time she's ever kissed anyone.
Woohoo, more Cream. Everything's in slo-mo as Sam walks through the locker room to "White Room." We see Alan and his minions twirling their towels in preparation for some more puerile fun, and then we see them whacking Neal and Bill with the towels for a while. It's like something out of a war movie as Bill goes down, still in slow motion. Neal wants to know what's so funny about hitting people with towels. Bill says, "If it wasn't us, it would be kind of funny." Clad in only a towel, Sam says, "Get out of my way. I'm gonna take a shower." He starts swaggering through the locker room but doesn't get far before Alan stops him and says he looks "like a flat-chested girl." Sam decides to follow his father's advice -- no, Sam, don't do it! -- as he declares that he's proud of his body. It comes as no great surprise when Alan and another bully carry Sam through the locker room and throw him out into the school hallway, despite Bill's halfhearted protests. Sam starts calling for Biff while banging on the door, but Biff is busy hitting on a female gym teacher. Alan opens the door to the locker room just enough to grab Sam's towel, leaving him naked in the hallway. Needless to say, Sam panics.
Madness's "One Step Beyond" plays in the background while Sam starts hurrying through the halls, his crotchal area covered with his hands and a digitally superimposed blue circle. Just then the class bell rings and the hallways fill with students. Sam's given up trying to cover himself with his hands, and he's just running scared now. We see Bill leaning out of the locker room with Sam's towel, calling out, "Sam? Alan's gone. It's all clear. You can come back now!" Too little, too late, Bill.
As Nick tells Lindsay he wants to talk to her, we see Sam and his blue circle run by in the background.
One dweeby guy calls out, "Streaker!" as Sam runs by, and Dweeb #2 shouts some encouragement: "Go, man, go!" Sam stops short as he sees his crush, Cindy Sanders, at her locker. He mouths the words, "Oh, no!" and manages to escape without her noticing him. Millie sees him, though, and makes the sign of the Cross. Sam eventually makes his way back into the gym, where Biff is still busy chatting up the other gym teacher. Sam hides his body behind the big-ass "Earth ball," and when Biff looks over, Sam shouts out, "What the hell are you looking at?"
Nick is telling Lindsay, "I just can't stop thinking about that kiss," and she is pleased. ["I thought she was uncomfortable, because he was all, 'It meant a lot to me,' and she was all non-committal, 'I'm glad.' I guess we'll see how it plays out over the few episodes." -- Wing Chun] He suggests that they go out to the smoking patio. Lindsay is surprised because she thought he was fighting with the other freaks, but he just tells her the fight's over, and that they "fight like that all the time." Out on the patio, Kim is saying her mom wants to see the band play. Daniel says, "When she gets out of rehab?" Nick receives applause from them as he walks onto the patio with Lindsay. Daniel tells him, "Look, Dimension sucks, man. You're too good for them. I saw them open at the Cobo, and they got booed off the stage." As the male bonding continues, Kim whispers that she and Lindsay have to talk. "You are such a slut!" she stage-whispers, while rolling her eyes toward Nick, who is discussing the Ramones with Daniel: "But the Ramones only play like three chords, man!" Kim announces she has to pee, and she drags Lindsay off, saying, "I heard that you jumped Nick. You don't have to act innocent, Lindsay. I know you're a slut." I think Lindsay's reputation has just taken a turn for the better -- in the freak world, anyway.
The geeks are walking down the street, and Neal is trying to comfort Sam: "I'm pretty sure Cindy didn't see you. And if she did, it was just with her peripheral vision." Bill comments, "Yeah, it wouldn't be bad if people saw my back, but my front's a whole 'nother story." Sam's not looking very cheery. Alan rides up on a really stupid-looking bike and starts taunting Sam some more, but he's cut off by a Jeep full of cheerleaders who rides by. Cindy Sanders shouts out, "Hey, Sam, I heard you streaked! Way to go!" They all cheer and applaud as they drive off. Suddenly Sam's looking a lot more cheerful. Alan realizes that the tide has turned, and he just weakly says, "You guys are losers and you always will be," before riding off on the ugly bike. Neal observes, very accurately, "I think you're the one who'll ride in hell with no friends." Bill looks somewhat jealous as he tells Sam, "People are gonna worship you!"
Well, we've come full circle, with Nick drumming away in the basement to "The Spirit of Radio." He's no more proficient than he was before, but at least he's happy again. As the song ends, he says, "I play so much better when you're around." Lindsay just smiles at him. "Hey, I wanna play it again," he says. "Put more dry ice in the bucket!" Lindsay looks slightly less than thrilled, but she gamely plucks some dry ice out of the cooler and chucks it into the bucket. Cue the Rush!
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