57. Girl Meets Ski Lodge
Summary
In this episode, the kids go to the ski lodge Cory went to his senior year. The girls imagine their lives with Lucas.
References
Ski lodge reference. This episode references Heartbreak Cory season 5 heavily. Riley twisted her ankle just like Cory. She met Lauren's son at the end episode they went to the same lodge. Cory talked about the blueprints he and Shawn made when they were kids. They even straight up talked about what happened with Cory and Topanga. Another reference was the hormone laugh that Cory and Shawn did in season one. Maya did it when she saw Josh.
Review
This episode is a mixed bag. I usually hate Josh's involvement, but he made it clear Maya was too young for him and left the relationship one-sided, and that’s a plus. I do like his involvement as a chaperone because it complicates the triangle. Does Maya like Lucas or Josh?
As someone who loves the Heartbreak Cory episode, I feel like the nostalgia really didn’t add anything to this episode. I would have much rathered they just focused on the fantasy worlds and made the lodge one really well-written episode. I loved the fantasy worlds Maya and Riley imagined with Lucas. They were both hilarious ways of explaining the differences between Maya and Riley. Maya always has to break the rules, so in her fantasy world, she blew it up by breaking the one rule and setting off a bomb. Although I think Riley was definitely the one that had me laughing out loud the most. Riley's was a cheesy romantic comedy world, and everyone died of happiness.
I still feel like the writers had Riley and Maya talking about things too much. What I mean by that is they sit and psychoanalyze the triangle so much they have barely actually explored it, and I’m not talking about jokes; I mean actually explored Riley and Maya and their different special relationships with Lucas. Also, Lucas should be the one making a choice. I know they want to give the girls autonomy and show they aren’t prizes to be won, but I think they are misguided.
Both girls like Lucas, but he can only be with one of them. The situation dictates he make a choice, and the other one deals with it. I would much rather see that because they would be acting and dealing with a complicated situation Instead of just talking about it all the time. Real kids would have made a choice. I’m tired of Lucas saying he doesn’t want to hurt anybody. Stop stringing one of them along and let the girl you actually like know that you actively choose her.
I enjoyed this episode but felt there was a lot of fat to be trimmed.
Grade C
Streaming homework
Homework Heartbreak Cory
Extra credit Boy meets Girl season 1
56.Girl Meets Ski lodge 2
Summary
In this episode, they conclude the triangle between Riley Lucas and Maya.
References
Once again, this episode references Heartbreak Cory a lot with the talking all night and the couples game and Lauren's son. Watch the original, and you will catch these references.
Review
This episode concluded many big storylines and was entertaining to watch, but I have some philosophical problems with the episode. First off, too much of the parents. In the original episode, Only Feeny watched over them at the lodge. The idea was they were away for the weekend, and Feeny couldn’t watch them all. They are away from home, and it’s time to see them in a different environment. Except they actually have more supervision than school cause they have three chaperones.
Also, Feeny was their teacher, so he was already a part of their world because he was with them at school. In Girl Meets World, they aren’t getting away at all Cory and Topanga are right there when Riley talks to Lauren’s son all night. I know that’s a call back to Feeny being there but getting caught by your teacher and getting caught by your parents and teacher is different. Could you imagine the Ski lodge episode but with Amy and Alan there the whole time plus Feeny?
Also, the kids weren’t old enough for this callback. They are first-year students in high school just now coupling up for real. The original cast was seniors in high school, light-years ahead in maturity. This is why a lot of the references don’t land. Riley staying up and talking all night and Lucas being jealous didn’t work. I didn’t buy it. They aren’t going out; Riley did nothing wrong it wasn’t the big oh my gosh moment; it was for Cory, who was in a long-term relationship. Also, remember only Cory, Feeny, and Shawn, and Lauren knew that Cory talked all night with Lauren. Here everyone knows, and they all stop to comment on it.
I liked Lauren's son Evan. He was only debatably a love interest. But he was good at complicating things and pushing everyone to reach a conclusion. Girl Meets World tried to muddy this up as much as they could to make it acceptable, but it’s not. Josh is a freshman in college, and Maya is a freshman in high school. He is old enough to chaperone her on a field trip. It’s a creepy relationship, and I hate that Girl Meets World is preaching that kids should try and overcome that age difference. They shouldn’t.
It’s not acceptable for the adult chaperone to be getting intimate with the minor he is chaperoning and making plans to be together later; it’s creepy. Also, it’s clear that they only do the someday thing cause they know it’s creepy. After all, at the end of the episode, Riley says they have their first boyfriends.
Moving on to the triangle. I thought Riley and Lucas were the right choice, but it was super underwhelming after all that build-up. Maya says that she would never want anything Riley has, and Josh says that so adult of you (cause he’s an adult and she isn’t). But it’s not adult or realistic. You will want something that Riley has. In fact, you already have you wanted her stable family life, and she wanted to be like you. An adult friendship isn’t about being perfect and never liking the same guy or wanting anything your friend has. The real adult thing to do is maturily working through those situations when they arise. So I was not a fan of this triangle finale. I would rather them deal with complex emotions than say surprise we actually didn’t like the same guy. We didn’t understand our feelings crises averted. Especially given how long they dragged this storyline.
Although I’m glad, Riley and Lucas are finally together. Lucas and Riley picking each other and Lucas giving her the little jelly bean was a genuinely sweet moment and a highlight of the episode.
Grade C
Streaming Homework
Homework starry night season 5 BMW
Extra credit heartbreak Cory season 5 BMW
55.Girl Meets I do
Summary
Shawn and Katy get married.
References
Shawn and Cory sleeping together is a reference to when they use to sleep in class snore together. Feeny doing the wedding is a reference to when he officiated a wedding in season 5. Cory being jealous is a reference to Cory's wedding when Shawn was upset cory was getting married. Auggie saying you killed me, Shawn, after he announces they are going to Figi, is a reference to season 3 when Cory said I love you to Topanga, and then Shawn and Eric were upset cause they felt it meant they had to do so also.
Review
I enjoyed seeing Feeny come back, and I thought Ava and Auggie were hilarious in their scenes. It was also nice to see Shawn finally tie the not, but this episode is kind of played out to me. I’ll explain.
Maya doubting Shawn was clearly just used to attempt to give the episode a conflict. However, it wasn’t a very good one because Maya loves Shawn; we know that, and we also know this is what she wished for, and she knows Shawn loves her mom. So it just wasn’t believable that she didn’t believe in them as a couple. Also, I didn’t think Maya could ruin the relationship either, so that was another stale plot point. In addition to that, I was not too fond of Maya dissing her mother like she was the problem, especially now that she knows her dad was.
Even Cory and Shawn's back-forth felt forced this episode, and it just wasn’t as funny. Watching this episode, it just seemed like they struggled to produce a compelling and happy episode. I wish they would have used this episode to give us the romantic moment while also starting another engaging storyline. With the triangle and the Shawn and Maya wrapped up, the show needs something else.
Still, I enjoyed seeing Shawn and Katy(two of my favs) get their happy ending. Also, I thought Shawn having a surprise wedding showed off his best charismatics. Also, it built off the previous episodes and showed us he found himself. After all these years, Shawn finally jumped in, committed and put down roots, and was even able to articulate to Maya why she should believe in them as well. This aspect was significant because Maya represents the old Shawn and how he would have felt.
Grade C
Streaming assignments
Homework it’s about time season 7 BMW
Extra credit season 4 easy street, season 3 what I meant to say, season 5 no guts, no Cory
54. Girl Meets the Great Lady of New York
Summary
In this week's episode, the kids are doing a project on their heritage.
References
There aren’t any references in this episode. As far as the episode theme of learning your story, the Boy Meets World episode where they do something similar is family trees season 7.
Review
I like the concept of this episode. I like to think it was great that they did an episode on diversity and where we come from. I wasn’t married to the execution, though; however, I will start with the positives.
I thought this was one of the funniest episodes in a while. Marisol as another Ava was hilarious. Also, I laughed out loud when Lucas and Zay dressed up as cowboys. That whole first attempt at the assignment was a riot. I also was interested in Farkle's story of his grandfather being a Holocaust survivor I thought it had weight and was an interesting twist.
A negative of this episode is it makes it painfully clear how white this show is. All these minorities speaking up are guest stars because the entire cast of recurring characters is all white. It's just disappointing that since the ’90s in a reboot, we still only have one character of color who's a semi-regular on this show.
Also, I don’t like that Zay's story was brushed under the rug. They say Zay's people were brought instead of taken, and they allude to slavery, but they don’t give it the weight it deserves. Now compare that to how everyone reacted to Farkles grandfather being Jewish. I have no problem with the gravity Farkle's heritage was given, but I have a problem with Zay's heritage not receiving the same treatment and being brushed under the rug.
I also really didn’t like Riley's character in this episode. As they were trying to appreciate other cultures, Riley just came across as disingenuous and self-centered. She whines and whines about being just American. Even bringing it up right after Zay revealed his heritage. It’s annoying because they are supposed to appreciate other cultures.
Also, when the Cambodian woman told her story in what was supposed to be Riley being polite, she says you don't have to tell us, and she just sounded disinterested. The woman clearly wanted to tell her story. Also, when Farkle reveals his story Riley hugs him as he is talking, but rather than being a crying embrace, it just feels like she cut off his explanation.
Also, Riley isn’t just American. I hated that her mother and her teacher and father perpetuated the myth that she is just American that the only place her family ever lived was the USA. I know America is more than the u.s, but when Riley talks about just being American, she only names places in the USA. She should have pretty good access so to her history. We are a nation of immigrants, and down her line somewhere, she has family from somewhere else. She should have done her research and found out where she comes from. Allowing her to pretend she is just American makes it seem like only white people are American. Also, notice the only white classes explored as immigrants were Irish and Jewish through Maya and Farkle. That seems problematic. This episode made an attempt, and it could have been better, but it fell short.
Grade C+
Streaming Homework
Homework Family Trees season 7
Extra Credit Teachers bet season 1
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