Freddie believes in Dodd , Dodd's son tells Freddie he's making all of these up as he goes along , Freddie gets angry at him , cops arrive , Freddie fights for Dodd , They go to jail and he shouts you're making this sh-t up.
So Freddie turned against Dodd in a car ride from Laura Dern's house to the jail. That's a quick change of belief isn't it ? The only problem I have with this otherwise amazing sequence.
actions dont always dictate belief.....if someone violently calls your mother a liar you may defend her...not because you believe shes telling the truth.....freddie is simplistically complicated so his actions and motivations arent always clear and/or logical......definitely another layer to the film/character that warrants another watch
Oh great, now it's my dick that's killing me
I don't believe Freddie ever really believed Dodd's methods, he just wanted Dodd's friendship. The jail scene is when he just says what he really felt since the very beginning when he says "I thought you were fools." He likes Dodd and protects the Cause but he never believed in it.
Later when the Split Sabre comes out and he beats up that editor guy, I think it's Freddie also thought the book sucked and he couldn't deal with his own feelings about it. He is torn between knowing that Dodd is full of it and wanting to accept Dodd's willingness to help him.
When Freddie is confronting Dodd's son he's starting to get angry as well... I believe it's because his son was upsetting him by feeding Freddie's doubt. It bothers Freddie so much that he throws it back at Dodd during the jail scene "Your son hates you!"
TLDR: Freddie wants to believe Dodd but actually doesn't.