"Lord of the Nerds" is the second segment of the thirty-first episode of Recess.
Synopsis[]
When T.J. breaks his collarbone during a football game, he's forced to stay in a room full of nerds who don't go outside for recess.
Plot[]
The Recess Gang is up against Lawson's Crew in kickball. When the ball flies out, T.J. manages to catch it, but falls and bends his arm back. Now with a cast, Miss Finster tells T.J. that he is not allowed to play during recess and has to report to room 51. Lawson mocks T.J. for this and tries to scare him with the story of Tiny Sedgwick, a boy who suffered a broken leg and had to report to room 51 where the Pale Kids stay. After being sent down, he was never seen again. However, T.J. undeterred, reluctantly heads over to the infamous room.
T.J. heads down and meets the Pale Kids who are all stereotypical nerds who play role-playing games and refer to each other by their fantasy names (their regular names backwards). T.J. is initially disinterested in them, until he finds out that they are Señor Fusion fans and own many issues. He begins to join in on their tabletop role-playing games and even joins them to an inner city comic book store that is huge. After hanging with them for so long, T.J. realizes that his arm has healed, but feels bad for leaving and suggests that they join him.
T.J. brings the Pale Kids out who already make things awkward with the gang, with the exception of Gretchen whom they are infatuated with. They join a game of kickball, much to Lawson's ridicule, but fail to grasp the game's nuances. When Lawson continues to mock the Pale Kids, Knarf, the leader, stands up to Lawson and reveals that he was Tiny Sedgwick from his story, having grown significantly since. Lawson is flummoxed by this development and the Pale Kids thank T.J. for bringing them out, but they choose to return to room 51.
Cast[]
- Andrew Lawrence as T.J. Detweiler
- Rickey D'Shon Collins as Vince LaSalle
- Pamela Adlon as Ashley Spinelli
- Ashley Johnson as Gretchen Grundler, Ashley Tomassian
- Jason Davis as Mikey Blumberg
- Courtland Mead as Gus Griswald
- April Winchell as Muriel Finster
- Anndi McAfee as Ashley Armbruster
- Francesca Marie Smith as Ashley Boulet
- Rachel Crane as Ashley Quinlan
- Erik von Detten as Erwin Lawson
- Eddie Deezen as Knarf/"Tiny" Frank Sedgwick
- Kenny Blank as Rodney
- Pamela Hayden as Steve
- Kath Soucie as Carl
- Sam McMurray as Comic Shop Owner
Trivia[]
- On Disney+ and outside the U.S., this episode is second next to "That Stinking Feeling".
- Daggers & Dragons is clearly a reference to Dungeons & Dragons.
- The episode's title alludes to William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. One of the novel's characters, Piggy, is ostracized from the rest of the boys in the story due to his physical weaknesses and social ineptness.
- Room 51 is a reference to the famous Area 51.
- Miss Finster explains that children with a broken arm or leg have to play indoors. However in "The Bet", kids with broken legs are clearly seen to still be allowed outside.
External links[]
- Lord of the Nerds at the Recess Wiki
