Retro Episode Mini-Review: #1.14: "Girl Meets Friendship"

So, there's six episodes I haven't reviewed. The first four, because it was pre-blog, and "Girl Meets Flaws" and "Friendship", because I hate them. So, I'm going to do mini-reviews of them all sort of ad hoc in no order and on no time table. Up first, "Girl Meets Friendship" because it happened to be on TV this morning and I have a day off. 

Episode Title: "Girl Meets Friendship"
Episode Number: 14
Boy Meets World Episodes Borrowed From: Season 2's "I am Not a Crook", full-stop. Also Season 1's "Father Know Less" as a subplot.
Cory's History Lesson and Relevance: Democracy vs. Dictatorship, which, sure, very relevant to an episode about elections.

Episode Review: 

This episode sucks. I also suspect it was one that was written and produced much earlier. People still feel like they're being introduced, and we're going with some earlier dynamics - Ben Savage is still a little rusty, Farkle's got his evil streak that he doesn't really have anymore, Maya's all upset about not bothering Lucas with her jokes which she doesn't really do anymore, Lucas is... relevant to the plot which hasn't been a thing in a while. Oh, and because Lucas is relevant, it sucks. 

I talked about this before, but the most bizarre part is this weird 'The Rebel' kid that they try to introduce. I'm not sure they even tell us his name. He just kind of shows up in one scene, isn't relevant again for the rest of the episode, until the very end when he again just kind of shows up to like... tell us what a Secretary of State does. And he's not remotely rebellious, so I'm not sure why they refer to him that way. Unless rebellious means calling Lucas "Harmonica" and calling Maya "Art"? But otherwise he's just nice and smart and polite. I don't know if an earlier version of the episode included him in a larger role or something and most of it got cut? And they never use him again. But they clearly had some idea that maybe he was going to be a character, and maybe Maya's love interest? I really don't know what the hell's going on with this kid. It seems like they replaced whatever role he was going to play with perhaps Josh? It was a good move. This kid is the weirdest thing. I can't get past it. 

So, the episode is a blatant rip-off of "I am Not a Crook." with people running for Class President, making

outrageous promises, and turning on each other. This episode is handled MUCH worse for a lot of reasons. Mainly because it just not as well written. But at it's most basic concept it's messed up too. The different governments thing is stupid (and it's ridiculous that Farkle, even at his most extreme, would want to evoke, like, Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Un in the way he comports himself. Everyone's extremely quick to turn on each other whereas it seemed to happen for a reason with Cory and Shawn, and most of the slander was just between Cory and the Minkus-Clone. Also, the promises they make aren't as funny or as believable. Instead it's people getting too excited about free t-shirts and stuff.  And it ends with them learning that democracy is a better form of government than fascism and monarchies. Like.... thanks, Girl Meets World. American pre-teens all over are struggling with that. 

God, everyone's just such an unlikable snide shit in this episode. Maya and Farkle obviously, but even Lucas. Riley, like, says hi to him when he's on the phone and he snaps "EXCUSE ME. This phone call is PERSONAL." Oh, and he's all bent out of shape because his dad won't fly him out to Texas for the second weekend in a row. Shut up, Lucas. At the end he feels better because Maya and Riley get his friends to send him a video taped message standing in front of the WORST greenscreen for Texas I've ever seen. Why did that have to look so lame? Just give these kids a video camera and have them just actually... go outside. 

Then there's a subplot with Auggie not being able to sleep. And I guess the reason is he refuses to sleep because both Cory and Topanga aren't tucking him in, just one of them is. So, he sucks too. And they do the plot of "Father Knows Less" in miniature in there too, with Cory keeping Auggie up late to watch a baseball game with him.

And, in the end, Lucas and Riley ride off on a white horse, to just tie a nice little bow over the worst thing I've ever seen.

Episode Rating: F. This episode is the worst in the series, and a total failure from top to bottom. It's abysmally written, the plot's bad and made up of two flagrant rip-offs of classic Boy Meets World episodes, everyone is unlikable, and the thing with The Rebel is just bizarre. Nothing positive here.
Episode MVP: Danielle Fishel, just because she's kind of funny in one scene where she's sleep-deprived. And because at least she avoids being tainted with the school plot.