Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers

When I think of the long-term potential missed out on Freaks and Geeks, episodes like ‘Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers’ come to the forefront of my memory. It’s an episode about two non-main characters (Bill and Millie) giving unexpected depth to their characters, family situations, and teenage lives. They come in very different forms – one from the death of a family member, and the other from a family gaining one – but they tie back to this similar idea of teenage rebellion, of how forcing ourselves to not deal with something emotional only makes things worse in the long run.