Friday, June 12, 2015

Episode Review: "Girl Meets Rules" (#2.07)

Hey everyone, Sean here, I'll be starting things off tonight. Before we jump into the episode review, I have a quick announcement. 

My closest friend of the last decade, and I'm talking like Shawn/Cory close here, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. Chemotherapy is not cheap, and we're in our low 20's, so his main financial goal recently has been just to pay rent. Needless to say, the medical bills have become overwhelming. As such, I'll be hosting my first ever ever 24 HOUR ANIMATION JAM/CHARITY STREAM tomorrow, June 12th, starting at 5 pm (eastern), and ending Sunday at 5 pm. I will be animating for 24 straight hours, streamed live on my twitch channel here: http://www.twitch.tv/kbmstudios 

We'll be taking donations all through the stream, and you'll find a link to the gofundme page there on my twitch channel. It would mean the world to me if you could tune in for a bit, hang out and say hi, and maybe even toss a donation to the gofundme. I'll have a facecam and microphone and everything, so it'll be fun. And I'm going to be working damn hard for those donations! Everything helps. I hope you'll stop by! 

By the way, my friend's name is Jason, which was of course the name of Eric's best friend in the first two seasons of BMW, though my Jason has curly hair like Cory's. And obviously my name is homophonic with Shawn's. IS IT ALL A BIG COINCIDENCE? IS THAT POSSIBLE? YOU TELL ME.

Now, on with the show.


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My first thought with this episode is that there's no BMW counterpart. Not even Turner pulled anything like this. That alone gets me exci- okay, and I promise I'm not making this up, just as I was typing the word "excited," Ava walked into the apartment to start bothering Topanga. You had me, Girl Meets Rules, don't you want me? Why did you do this to me?
Shouldn't you be at school, Ava? 

W... wait a minute... Computer! Zoom in on the top right quadrant! 
Computer! Repeat last command!

Computer! Enhance!

Well isn't that just adorable. They've got a picture of the old gang pinned up on their kitchen corkboard thing. I wonder how long that's been there. Rider probably hates that picture. Speaking of the Strong man, he directed this episode alongside his awesome brother Shiloh. Shiloh did some voice acting in one of my favorite games, so I'm a fan. 

In the past, Christian has been unhappy with Harley's appearances on Girl Meets World, while I thoroughly enjoyed them. This episode makes Harley 3 and 0 for me. I applaud the decision to use Harley instead of Cory for this lesson, and I still don't understand why ol' blue text is so hard on our man's acting chops. He's no Christopher Lee (rest in peace), and he's not winning any awards, but I definitely think he's up to the standard of this show. And the funniest moment of this episode was him "intimidating" the vending machine.
So let's talk about the lesson. It's basically the entire point of this series that Riley has a positive effect on people. "People change people." I got no problem with that. This episode was a little in-your-face about it, but that's okay, it's Disney channel after all. My biggest concern is that anyone who might benefit from thinking to themselves "I should stick close to my good influences" isn't going to be watching Disney channel, let alone Girl Meets World. But who knows. If it hits even one person, that's a net gain. Either way, I respect both the intent and execution.

The plot, though, was just plain fun. I thought for sure we'd have to deal with that Chinese kid who popped up a lot earlier this season, thank goodness he got left out. I didn't realize it while I was watching, but Zay got left out too. Zay might have actually been interesting in this one as the only character privy to Lucas's "dark" past. There's a lot of room for Zay's commentary on Lucas's character as he obtains the title "Lucas the Good" and consequently joins the Mad Max (Mad Maya?) group. Yes, I'm actually counting Zay's absence as a missed opportunity. Alert the president.

Back to what I was saying though, I had fun from start to finish. Original plot, couldn't predict what would happen. I'm just surprised they didn't do a literary thing with Lord of the Flies in class. Maybe that's too controversial for Disney. 

I'm struggling to think of more to write. That may be because half the episode was a waste of time. It really sucks when Topanga gets relegated to these annoying Auggie stories. It's odd that Ava isn't at school, but even more so that Topanga is home. She is a very busy lawyer and she does not have time for Ava's nonsense. I know I don't.
Ultimately, there's nothing new in the character arcs here. We know Maya is the rebel, we know Riley is her good influence, we know Cory is looking out for Maya. On the other hand, the approach was new and creative, and the lesson stuck, so I'm completely satisfied. Riley and Lucas had a pretty sweet moment out in the hallway, but Maya and Lucas had a pretty saucy moment out in the hallway, with their faces very close to each other. Are the writers just taunting us?


LOOK. AT. THAT. SHIT.

What are you thinking, Christian? Admit it, Zay could have actually brought something to this episode.

HEY! Let's get one thing straight. This font is indigo. 

But yeah, no, Danny McNulty's acting is rough. I'm not sure I agree that he's up to the standards of this show, and this show is mostly children. I guess he's up to the standards of August Maturo. But seriously, I continue to not see a good reason for Harley in this show. But more on him later.

On the whole, this episode didn't work for me. As you mentioned, there's nothing new to be gained here. The basic premise seems to be to remind us of something that's been self-evident, and yet explicitly stated, since the first scene of the first episode: Riley's the good girl, Maya's the bad girl. We know. And whereas you're willing to give the episode points because while the message isn't new, the delivery is, I'm not. While I agree that this episode has no obvious BMW analogue* (though there are certainly shades of And Then There Was Shawn) it's an achingly familiar plot for kids shows in general. Be it Saturday morning cartoons or tween sitcoms like this, eventually every TV writer of kids eventually remembers they read Lord of the Flies in high school and attempts to recreate it. 


And here they did nothing interesting with it which is perhaps what bothers me most. Left without adult supervision, Riley stays quiet and Maya runs around. Exactly what you'd expect. I was hoping for some new twist or revelation, maybe some situation wherein things start to get too out of control and Maya is forced to be responsible or, I don't know, something. But I didn't get it. So I was really left wondering what the point was. I'm not even sure what Cory was attempting to teach them. That Riley and Maya are good influences on each other? They know that already. Was that a lesson he desperately felt he needed to teach? And was it worth subjecting the entire class to this foolishness to do so? I'm just so weary of Cory's teaching style being all about only two of his students, I can't even come up with more to say about it.

Instead, I'll talk about how I thought Harley was weird in this episode. Mainly in his, frankly, bizarre characterization of who Cory has been to him. First off, when he discovers what's going on he kind of smiles knowingly and declares that this lesson has Riley's father written all over it. You know what Harley? I know Cory Matthews very well. Better than you do. And, no, it doesn't! It has the poorly written Faux-Feeny they attempt to clumsily make Cory become in certain classroom scenarios all over it. AKA The Worst Cory of All That Bears No Resemblance To Our Hero. 

Additionally, Harley, while I'm at it, where was I when Cory the good kid showed you the other door and made you quit your n'er-do-well ways. Because, as I recall, the two of you never got along in high school and he had no effect on your bullying, nor did he attempt to. Cory's not even that good of a kid. He was more stable and responsible than Shawn was, but that's not saying much. Yeah, his heart's always in the right place (though so is Maya's), but he got in trouble, like, a lot. He mouthed off in class, didn't do homework assignments, messed around with Shawn instead of paying attention. He's not defined by his super good pure goodness, he's defined by being... I dunno... Cory. Weird, little, 83-year-old toddler Cory Matthews who will go through diabolical manipulations to avoid change.  And I don't like when they forget that in order to have him take the BMW role that someone more suited should be playing. 

So, unless the implication is that Cory's saving of Harley took place when they ran into each other as adults and Cory eventually got him this job (which, I don't think they are, and if they are, is a complicated enough story that they should be expected to explain that rather than have us guess) all of this is bullshit.

So, in addition to this retconning of who Cory was back in high school and the effect he had on n'er-do-wells, I also don't see the point of this mapping they're apparently doing of Cory and Harley on to Riley and Maya's relationship. They've already made very clear that Riley and Maya are the new Cory and Shawn, and, yeah, on the whole, they are. You can't also make them the new Cory and Harley. First of all, no they're not. Second of all, there's no need for a new Cory and Harley. That relationship means nothing to anybody, and it was clearcut uninteresting bullied/bully. Third of all, it undercuts the specialness of Cory/Shawn (and Riley/Maya) if the Maya/Shawn of the equation can be plugged in for simply any wayward soul who passes Riley/Cory's path. 

Sure, there was individual moments I liked. Lucas was mostly boring and suffering from the show's indecision about who they want him to be all episode, but yes, he did have a nice moment with both his ladies. And I liked Sabrina and Rowan's performances throughout (the MVP is certainly one of them), but on the whole, I have to say this episode was my least favorite of the season. As bad as certain moments in Gravity and Secret of Life, I at least respected that they were trying to accomplish something. This was as filler as filler gets. 

Sure, I'll admit this would have been an episode to include Zay. More so than episodes like "Mr. Squirrels" or "Tell-Tale-Tot" where he served no purpose. With an episode like this, that should be about the group dynamics of the kids, the more the better. Still, I think we're thinking of what the potential of Zay could be, then what he actually is. I'm sure if he was here he would have just been a full-throated supporter of Mayaville and nothing more. 

Honestly, though, I will say Ava didn't bother me in this one. I didn't like her or anything. But she didn't bother me. Her actress is improving a little quicker than Auggie's is, especially considering she's in a lot fewer episodes. But yeah, what the fuck is Topanga doing home at 3 p.m.? 

Nice catch with that BMW-picture in the kitchen, a favorite BMW picture of mine (it is the Season 4 DVD cover after all). I like the idea that this picture is now canonically one all four of them once posed for. I have this image now of Amy getting out the camera and getting them to all pose in the park or something one time. And like Shawn wasn't really smiling so she had to take it a few times.

What game, Tales of Symphonia? Good ol' Gamecube.

* Probably because George Feeny wouldn't stand for this shit for a second.

Tales of Symphonia indeed. That game is legendary. 

Honestly, I'm surprised by your reaction. How many times did they do "Shawn and Cory get in trouble"? Or "Cory covers for Shawn and then learns a lesson," or "Cory and Shawn have dating problems"? When it's a fundamental concept of the show like that, repetition is unavoidable. That's how I feel about this episode's "Riley is a good influence." Doesn't bother me at all.

Cory is absolute garbage. You're right. But the rest of the class did deserve detention, and they mostly goofed around during detention. So it's not like these kids were subjected to a cruel and unusual punishment. AND Cory only made Maya stay that extra hour at the end. The "those poor other kids" argument doesn't really work in this episode.

I thought it went without saying that the Cory -> Harley influence occurred in between series. I never got the impression that they're retconning their time in high school. 

Most surprising is that you didn't have anything specific to say about Riley. I usually hate that they constantly shove it in our face that Riley is super duper unusually sweet. But this time they showed us instead of telling us. Her inability to choose a goose? "Wipe your faces off you look ridiculous"? Those were great.  

My apologies, I liked Riley a lot this episode. Riley's been great in general this season, lately I've been enjoying her more than Maya. She's very funny and has had a lot of great bits. I also forgot to comment on her "It STARTS at 10?!" outrage from last week and I meant to.

Okay, it's not a bad point that BMW reused plots all the time and that didn't bother me, but I don't think it's a totally fair comparison. I mean "Cory and Shawn get in trouble" and "Cory or Shawn has dating problems" is so crazy general that there's no choice but to reuse that plot. And this is a totally new plot. I just wish it made us something discover different than... the basic premise of the show which is that these two best friends are different and need each other. Both because it's so self-evident to us, and also because I'm not sure why Cory felt he suddenly needed to each that to Maya and Riley. What was going on that he thought they needed to be reminded of that? I think they know. 

The "these poor kids" argument does hold because this was all like... a social experiment or something of Cory's. He was purposefully late to try to get them to act out (spurred on by Maya) and he only had them all act like this so he could teach Maya and Riley lessons. He's using them like pawns and not teaching them a thing!

As for the Cory/Harley thing, I don't think that goes without saying at all. He kept referring to a "good kid" who helped him out, which implies Cory was a kid, and he seemed to me that this was a lesson he'd discovered during his school career. I had been assuming that when Cory and Harley ran back into each other or reconnected on Facebook or whatever happened that Harley had already turned over his new leaf, was a mature adult who was a little down on his luck, so Cory helped him out. If Cory somehow rediscovered Harley as an adult who was, what, I guess an honest-to-god criminal and he intervened and turned him off of his life of crime... I think we need to hear that. I want to know the story there, I shouldn't have to assume. 

I think we have a mutual love for Nintendo. We should discuss that. Or be Miiverse friends or something.

Was Cory intentionally late? If they said that explicitly I totally missed it. They said at the end that the whole thing was his plan, but I thought that just meant the detention part. Like he saw that they were being rowdy after being late, and thus created the detention plan. If there's proof that he was intentionally late, I will be forced to agree with you.

And your last line about Harley is spot on. We shouldn't have to assume. Especially since this is supposed to be its own show. Anyone who hasn't seen BMW is like "uhhhh okay?" when it comes to Harley. We definitely need some exposition on his story with Cory.

I haven't been impressed with any of Nintendo's releases since Mario Galaxy. My only Wii U game is Smash 4, but I stopped playing pretty quickly. I played Brawl competitively for a while. Life was easier in high school.

Yeah, Cory was intentionally late for sure. At the end of the episode there's this exchange between Cory and Maya:

Cory: How long did it take you to go wild?
Maya: Like five minutes!
Cory: Hey, that's four minutes later than last time!
Maya: But you weren't there this morning...?
Cory (coyly): Yeah. Subway was late or something.
Maya (knowingly): Or something.

Seems we agree on Harley!


Oh man, wow, you've missed out on a wealth of good games! Get yourself Mario Kart 8, Super Mario 3D World, Splatoon, Pikmin 3, Wind Waker HD, Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Lego City Undercover, Rayman Legends and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

I don't know, I'm probably just about out of things to say about this one. Wasn't a horror show or anything, but I think I got the least out of it of any episode this season.

Episode Rating: C
Episode MVP: Rowan Blanchard (Riley was consistently entertaining here)

Feel free to take us home, Sean. And once again guys, tune into his live stream tonight at 5 p.m. (Eastern, I assume?)

Yeah that's about the end of it. Cory is a frustrating manipulator, yet somehow entirely necessary for the show to work. And yeah, I'm unbelievably stupid for not thinking to put the time zone. It's 5 pm Eastern! There's a whole 24 hours to get through though, so any time would be awesome.

I'll definitely try to check it out!

NEXT WEEK: Shawn and Maya go SHOOOPPPPPIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!! Seriously, that seems to be all Disney Channel feels like advertising about next week's episode. Maybe they feel they need to make the promos about the kids. Anyway, next week is the Angela/Chet episode. I'm actually looking forward to seeing exactly how they go about this. I'm starting to feel confident it's going to go the way I want it to. 


28 comments:

  1. I agree the Ava thing was annoying, but I did like her more in this than in her Season 1 appearances.

    Other than that this episode was really good except for:

    "But you seemed like such a nice guy. It's hard for me to believe you ever intimidated anything."

    Um, writers, do you see the irony in having LUCAS, aka the kid who got kicked out of school for intimidating and probably beating up a kid, say this line and not having anyone allude to him doing anything in a similar vein in the entire episode? They seriously acted like this never happened. I'd chalk it up to them airing the episodes out of order but they directly referenced the lesson and even the freaking TITLE of that episode. So what gives?

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    1. It's an ENORMOUS missed opportunity with Lucas. I have to believe it's out of order, otherwise I'll lose all faith in the writers' competence.

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    2. I don't know if they aired them out of order, but I do know this was shot after "Secret of Life", because they directly referenced that episode. Hell, Cory said the title IN THIS EPISODE! They even quoted it. "People change people", remember. So, I don't know why they didn't have Lucas speak on it, from an experience standpoint, other than possibly the writers took it for granted that we knew about his past since they knew that this would air after "Secret of Life".

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    3. Oh, shit, you're totally right. People change people was from the Zay episode. Well damn, there goes their excuse. That's extremely disappointing.

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    4. Just to give everybody the correct info, "Secret of Life" has production code #202, and "Meets Rules" has a production code #211. And yes, it does look like they are airing these out of order.

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  2. I want to start off by saying that I am so sorry to hear about your friend, Sean. I will try and stop by your stream and make a donation. Good luck to your friend, and I pray for his recovery against this disease.

    Secondly, I love the Star Trek commands. Nice touch. And I agree "Y U DO This GMW"! WHY?! I actually muted some, ok most, of the Ava stuff. She grates on my ears to a point where its not believable. And this was the predictable part of the episode. But, in my eyes, this was such a small part that it doesn't affect my overall grade. I didn't like it, but I can live with it. Also, I to hate it when they reduce Topanga to this. She has shown on this show that she can be so much more, yet they sometimes flat out refuse to use her in those ways. Its tough.

    The meat of this episode was in the classroom, and I love that Cory stepped aside on this one. There was no hammering home of anything. Harley was the guide, and even he was hands off. It started off with Maya essentially pulling Riley into starting a bit of a meltdown in the classroom. Of course, Riley was less than enthusiastic about doing it, but she did. Kind of demonstrating Maya's pull on Riley. Akin to Shawn's pull on Cory, although Cory was a willing participant a lot of the time as opposed to his daughter who comes across as apprehensive more often than not.

    Then we got to the "Lord of the Flies"-esqe breakdown. Essentially Riley v Maya. The "bad" kids went with Mad Maya (I like that), and the "good" kids stayed with Riley. What I liked here was that the good kids said they stayed because they liked Riley. That they respected her. And for those who might be wondering the brunette who had some of the dialogue in this scene was Sabrina's sister, Sarah. Another thing I liked was how Farkle and Lucas chose who they went with. Farkle because he felt he needed balance, and Lucas because....well...he didn't want to be picked on by Maya for staying.

    As the Mad Maya crew roamed the hallways, I liked the "name" scene. That interaction between Lucas and Maya was really good. They were in the "money zone". When your that close, you better bring your A game, or else nobody will believe what you're saying. I believed their chemistry. As for Farkle...."I'm Batman". Nice. Harley's intimidating the vending machine, even better. I will say that the "bad" kids came to the lesson a little quicker than expected, but I'm ok with that. Their kidnapping of Riley while playing the worst game of "Duck, Duck, Goose" ever was really funny. Which led to Riley and Lucas' scene, and I liked that too. Riley as the conscience does work, and this was an example of that.

    Liked how it all came together, and of course, Cory has Maya's back. As does Riley. That little end where Maya calls for Riley, and she's right there in the sweetest voice possible says "I'm here". Yeah, I really, really loved that.

    Episode Grade: B+ I really liked this episode. As Sean said, it was a new way of getting at an old lesson. Can't ask for more than that.

    Episode MVP: I'm torn. I'm gonna say...Ben Savage and Danny McNulty. For as little as they appeared, and still managed to have an impact. That's impressive.

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    1. I appreciate the kind words. I mean it.

      I completely agree, the Ava stuff is easy to ignore and forget. It doesn't bring down the good parts. And I like what you have to say about the good kids CHOOSING to stay with Riley because they respect her.

      And holy shit, that's Sabrina's sister. I was thinking to myself that she was clearly a better actor than most of the people on this show, and we've seen her before. That explains that. I'm not sure if her character has a name yet...

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    2. Yeah, that's Sabrina's older sister Sarah. I checked IMDB, and they have her credited, and uncredited, as "Sarah". Also as "Student #2"

      Also, I didn't give credit to "Dave", as I believe he had the best line in the whole episode. "She's so nice, she doesn't want to make anybody goose". Loved that.

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  3. Sean I am so sorry to hear about your friend, the 24hr animation thing sounds like a really great idea! I have an idea about what you're going through and I have a lot of respect for you for doing something about it.
    As for the episode there was a lot of little moments to like all around, But ill admit it was as filler as filler gets. They didn't HAMMER. HOME.THE LESSON as they tend to which I appreciate but there was also not much of a lesson? When Cory tells maya at the end that "the rules are here to help us" I felt like I missed something. There were never any consequences to mayas actions and she did in fact have the most fun out of anyone there. Nothing bad happened and I was left feeling like maya had it right all along, no one got hurt either time she went full blown maya. Although I will admit I absolutely love that end scene with Riley sitting outside the door waiting for maya to get out of detention. One of the sweeter moments in the show, their strong bond will always be the shows saving grace.
    Maya as ring leader was fun to watch as well and her interaction with Lucas was veryy saucy haha. And I don't think they're just taunting us I really think they'll address the triangle dynamic eventually. He's already beginning to seem torn by these two. And his response of "I want you to call me mad dawg" without skipping a beat was one of his funniest one liners yet (admittedly not saying much). Also I am more and more impressed with Sabrina's acting chops with every episode. She's outgrowing Disney channel fast and she clearly outshines most of the other actors on this show adults included.
    Also while it was the same old formula of mayas bad Rileys good there's been a lot of character development since the first episode that I noticed. The pilot Riley wanted to be just like maya, but now she is much more comfortable with her role and who she is. They've been building that confidence for a season or so now and it was nice to see.
    Also good catch on the picture, I loved that!

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    1. Thank you very much.

      And I love what you're saying about the change in their dynamic. Riley isn't trying to be Maya in this episode. She's perfectly happy and CONFIDENT as her own self, and that's awesome. That's new.

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  4. So, I've watched this a few times now to make sure I've caught everything, and I have to say, overall, I liked the episode.

    A few observations - this is now the second time in the series they have reminded us of something they have previously learned. This time, "People Change People". The first time was in Secret of Life when Riley reminded Lucas that -"friends talk to you and real friends listen" from Girl Meets Boy. I'm actually glad this time around that the writers are not forgetting that the characters are actually learning and growing, unlike in BMW. In BMW they even made fun of that fact in Eric Hollywood (how can we learn so much stuff, and still be so stupid? - paraphrasing). I would like to see more of this.

    Second, we get more of classmates talking, but not before Riley hits us over the head with the meta joke that "oh yeah, you guys don't talk". That was really unnecessary IMO. I assume that by the end of the season, most, if not all of the class will have been given dialogue since that is another meta joke they covered earlier this season. And where was Yogi? He has been sitting next to Riley in just about every episode since Girl Meets Boy, and now after he is given a name and dialogue, when we have an episode in which the entire class gets involved, he isn't there and his seat is actually taken by a new student? WTH? I missed him. I didn't however actually miss Zay. Not that I have any issues with him or the actor, but just that being a recurring character, I know from experience that he won't be in any episode that he doesn't have dialogue in.

    The classroom stuff was fun, the kids delivery is getting better as they get more experienced, and I liked seeing Cory as more of a real teacher in this episode. Farkle with that Latin was great, and I can totally believe that he actually knows that saying. The fact that more of the class chose Maya over Riley was interesting. The "good" kids and "bad" kids lamenting that they really can't have fun without the others being present was also spot on, I thought. Maya and Lucas with the Mad Dog/Mary's Little Lamb was pretty funny. But Lucas also had a point that Maya riding him all the time diminishes him in the eyes of everyone else. Maybe Maya will eventually understand that.

    How does Lucas have Cory's cell number to text him? Maya, maybe, since they have known each other for such a long time, but a teacher giving his phone number to students doesn't seem legit to me, even in this age of I gotta use my phone every 30 seconds.

    I think that Harley giving Cory all this credit for his changes is a little fishy right now, but maybe this will be explored more in the future. If not then I agree that it is pretty much BS. However, Danny McNulty seemed much better here than in season 1. He never seemed like he was gonna win an Emmy in BMW, but he seemed fine here. And I loved him intimidating the vending machine. The one that has never been in that spot in the hall in the entire series until now. And even reformed Harley apparently still give nicknames to students, just like bull Harley. Riley is now "Little Zippy".

    Continued in my reply - dam character count limit.

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    1. Now we come to the "B" story. I have to say, that unlike many others, I actually enjoy Auggie and Ava in the show. They are 8 and 7, playing a 7 and 6 year old, and while their dialogue is totally unrealistic for their ages, they still hit their lines and their expressions and always make me laugh. I also have always felt that until this episode, their story always added something to the show. In this episode however, I felt that they wasted 5 minutes of screen time that would have been better served by giving us more of the main cast. A & A just took that time to reiterate EXACTLY what Farkle said in class to Riley and Maya. Too much of anything in the extreme is not good. The kids were fine with what the writers gave them, but it wasn't important enough to have included it at all to begin with. If they have nothing to add, leave them out. And I realize that they might have just included them to give Topanga something, I feel that if the story doesn't need her, or anyone for that matter, they can be left out of an episode. William Daniels wasn't in every episode of BMW and when he wasn't it was because the story didn't need Feeny that week. Any cast member except Riley and Maya should be "expendable" if the story calls or it.

      One other thing I want to point out, though this is more of a season long thing so far as opposed to just this episode. In season 1, any interactions between Cory and Maya, no matter where they happened, or under what circumstances, Maya always treated him respectfully and called him Mr. Matthews. This season, except 1 time, every time she has addressed him, it's been just "Matthews". While I can understand that maybe in the Matthews home, where she has been interacting with him for far longer than she has in class, that might pass, in school, Maya should know better and Cory should be correcting her, just to maintain the respect of the other students. I'm not sure why Maya thinks she can do this now, other than maybe the writer's are setting up a lesson on this in the future. We can only hope.

      I want to live in the Matthews' house. They always have a chocolate cake and whipped creme in the fridge when you are feeling bad and need it! That was never the case when I grew up!

      Overall I give this episode a B and the MVP in my eyes is Danny McNulty. His performance compared to his usual and everyone else basically being their usual selves gives it to him in my opinion. He also had a more prominent role than he had in his 2 other appearances.

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    2. One other thing to note - the friendship rings that they "will never take off" after they got them, are worn for the first time since Girl Meets Master Plan. We haven't seen Maya's locket another time either. I hate when they make a big deal about that stuff and then drop it.

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    3. I had no issue with Lucas having Cory's cell number, not in his capacity as his student, but as the friend, semi-boyfriend of his daughter. I bet Maya, Lucas, and Farkle all have his number in case they're out with Riley and there's some sort of emergency. Makes sense to me.

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    4. I agree that other cast members are expendable except... I dunno. For some reason, I don't want to see an episode without Cory. He's the only character to be in every episode of these two shows, and, I dunno, he's still the lynchpin for me. Cory being ditched would make me sad.

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    5. As far as your cell number complaint, I had an English teacher in high school that gave the entire class his phone number so we could reach him if we ever had a question about something. So, it made total sense to me.

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    6. Fair enough. When I was in the 8th grade, cell phones didn't exist. And no one gave us phone numbers except college professors. Of course by that time were considered adults, so no one had issues with that.

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  5. As far as missed opportunities go it would've been really fun to watch maya corrupt the new crop of good kids but they just kind of showed them asking her to help them be bad and then coming back chanting.

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  6. I agree that Corey had an influence on Harley after "Boy Meets World" ended, but before "Girl Meets World" started. I like that it shows that time passed, and Corey had a life between the two series. Harley calling Corey "kid" reminds of "Star Wars," the way Han called Luke "kid."

    Long term, I want Maya to eventually end up with Lucas, because I think they have great chemistry. I want Farkle and Riley together, because it's a bit like a gender-swapped Corey and Topanga.

    I'm not a fan of the Ava/Auggie/Topanga stories. I don't understand why the need to give Auggie actual storylines. They're not plotlines that would appeal to tween's younger siblings. Morgan never had storylines, and I never thought, "gee, wouldn't it be great if Morgan had a storyline."

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  7. I actually enjoyed the Ava/Auggie storyline. That little girl actually showed some decent acting chops and good comedic timing in this episode.. same with Auggie.

    also +1 with wanting to eventually see Farkle and Riley together long term with Maya with Lucas.

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    1. Id have to disagree on the Riley farkle relationship. I think it'd be too weird if everyone in the friend group started dating eachother long term. It'd be kind of like if Joey had started dating phoebe on friends, too much friendcest.

      Personally I don't think Riley belongs with anyone on the show yet. I hope they introduce her love interest later in the show and I hope
      It's someone who really challenges her the way maya and Lucas challenge eachother.

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    2. I agree about the friendcest.. I don't think Riley should be with either one.. at least not long term. I think they should explore the Riley-Lucas relationship a little then let it go. I think it would be more interesting if Riley's life didn't end up as a carbon copy of Corey & Topanga's where she marries her first love.

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    3. I'm starting to come around on the "friendcest" thing, as I believe that not setting up long term relationships makes for some interesting plotlines they could develop and really get in to. Problem is that one of the main columns of the Lucas character is that he's Riley's love interest. That's something they've said since Day 1. Rightly or wrongly. I don't know how keen Jacobs and the writing team will be to change that. They could, but I really doubt it.

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  8. Zelos Wilder is best Tales character.

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