Her younger brother, Sam Weir (John Francis Daley), is a geek through and through. He and his friends, the earnest Neal (Samm Levine) and the gloriously awkward Bill (Martin Starr), navigate the treacherous waters of freshman year: gym class bullies, unrequited crushes on the popular girl (and gifted clarinet player) Cindy Sanders, and the terror of the school dance.

Season 1’s masterstroke is its refusal to offer easy resolutions. Lindsay spends the entire season trying to "save" the freaks, only to realize she can barely save herself. Sam finally gets the girl, only to discover that getting the girl is not the victory he imagined. Daniel joins the academic decathlon and finds it boring. Nick’s drumming will never improve. The show argues that high school is not a crucible that forges heroes; it’s a waiting room. The series finale, "Discos and Dragons," is a perfect ending. After a disastrous disco night, Lindsay faces a choice: follow the freaks to a Dead show on a cross-country road trip, or return to her academic life. In the final shot, she climbs into the van, her future uncertain, as the Grateful Dead’s "Box of Rain" swells.

If you have never seen it, do not binge it. Watch one episode a night. Let it settle. And when you finish "Discos and Dragons," you will feel a strange, hollow ache. That ache is not just for the season you wish existed. It is for the teenager you used to be.