Friday, June 3, 2016

Episode Review: "Girl Meets High School Part 1" (#3.01)

Hello.



Alright, let's do it.

Look I'm the kinda guy who wears Chuck Taylors. Alan wore Chucks most of the time in Boy Meets World. I never really imagined Riley wearing them, but here we are. I don't like it. I don't want to wear the same shoes as Riley Matthews. 

We're not even a minute in and Farkle's preaching his 13 year old wisdom already. Jacobs has always pushed this philosophy of "Love exists, therefore the universe has meaning." It's a lot easier to digest when you hear it from Alan or Feeny. Coming from Farkle, it's just annoying.

I'm glad Zay is here right away. At the moment, he's the only Lucas-relationship that doesn't make us angry. Which is to say, it's actually good. Their conversation on the roof at the end of Graduation is still fresh in my mind. They're tangible, they're feeling the same insecurities we all felt in high school. But then we jump over to Maya and Riley who are feeling the insecurities that the writers made up because they wanted to feel smart.

It's the same shit as always. Riley somehow remains uncertain that their friendship can survive, and Maya says "What if we don't own this place?" completely unironically and completely un-self-aware. Yeah Maya, What Fucking If. What if you can't do whatever you want all the time and just bullshit around? The horror.
They get split up the same way Cory and Shawn did in Back 2 School, which I guess I appreciate? This show aggressively blurs the line between shameless re-use and paying homage, it's hard to tell.

But based on the new theme song, probably homage. I talked to Christian about the theme song when it first went online. It can't ever be the same if we're not "wandering down this road of E. Coli," but I like it. Some of the shots are weirdly empty, and I really wish they changed the song, but I'm 99% only here for Boy Meets World references so how could I turn this one away?

Unfortunately, every movie that was made in the 80's has just begun. Isn't the whole world tired of this? The upperclassmen at my high school were all too busy texting and trying to sleep with each other to waste time bullying freshmen. It's fucking six vs three, just ignore these people. 

Lucas realizes he can't protect his friends from Thor and The Valkyries, which is at least interesting. Maya and Riley though, "Boo Hoo we're not kings anymore." You know who are kings? Nobody. It's school. It's god damn school. "Life is a lot tougher than school, my dears." George Feeny.
But Sean! You weren't this hard on Back 2 School! That's true, because Harley Keiner is a caricature. Boy Meets World knows that it's a Friday night sitcom when it introduces Harley. On the other hand, as always, Girl Meets World thinks it's being real when it's actually being totally ridiculous. 

I admit that Lucas has hooked me in though. The best (maybe only) story advancement for Mister Perfect is to rip his status away from him (Hello Jaime Lannister). I'm not convinced that anyone else's life has changed at all here.

Ava's parents are "fighting again," which honestly made me do a double take. The writers were like "Fine you don't like Ava? Fine we'll throw some Shawn Hunter in there, see how you like that you golden text bastard." Zero to a hundred at the speed of sound.

I think what happened here... Is the writers were with Jacobs, right, they said "have you heard these kids today Mike? Have you heard how snarky they are about our writing? Let's put em in the show, that won't be condescending at all." And that's how we got Marley. She's what they think we sound like. Therefore, I hate her.
Poor Cory, he couldn't get thirty seconds into his very first high school lesson without this crap bubbling to the surface. How many seasons of fans complaining about this shit does it take? How many more hours of my life will be spent watching Riley yell at her friends in class? If she doesn't get detention, I quit. I'm not actually quitting but god damn Cory, grow a pair. Remember in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Shawn and Dana are arguing with each other in class, but it's wrapped up in them talking to Feeny about the actual content of the history lesson? That was cool! That was fun! And Feeny maintained control of his class! Imagine if Shawn and Dana just started yelling at each other and Feeny's like "Oops lol!"
Zay is pretty hilarious with these cheerleaders. Once again he actually feels like a real person. The girls both want to be called Lucas's girlfriend even though they've probably never held hands and the last time Riley and Lucas kissed was more than a year ago. BUT IT'S TOTALLY NOT A TRIANGLE GUYS. The two girls want to be his girlfriend, but that's toooooooootally not a triangle. The writers said so on Twitter.

Farkle runs in claiming that the scientists here are gigantic, which is refreshingly self aware, since height is the only thing making these upperclassmen look intimidating next to Lucas and Maya.
Cory is entertaining as he complains about high school, Smackle continues to be the best, Maya goes wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh and Riley makes the Riley Face.
Cory tries to be profound, then Riley tries to be profound, and Lucas acts as my total surrogate as he gets pissed as hell. Am I LOSING IT or is Lucas seriously the only person making any sense here? 

Farkle is talking shit, directly blaming Riley for "leading us down a hole." It's nice to see some harsh truths setting in, but I'm really scared it's all gonna turn around by the end. My fears are strengthened as Cory tells Ava to always hope for the best in people, mirroring what Riley said earlier that pissed everyone off. 

NO. DON'T DO THIS TO ME. THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY THAT THOR AND THE VALKYRIES ARE SITTING BEHIND RILEY AND MAYA. THERE IS NO WAY THAT THEY'RE ABOUT TO JUSTIFY EVERYTHING. I CAN'T WATCH.


I have died. This scene shuffled me off my mortal coil. I will thank you all to address me as Ghost-Sean from now on. This blog is officially haunted.



By me.


Fuck.

This isn't about sticking together, Riley. This is about THEM sticking with YOU. It's just like Lucas said, why doesn't Riley believe in Lucas? Why does it have to be everyone else believing in Riley? I thought we could get through this without Riley crying, but here we are. Ava's dad apparently skipped town so now it's her turn to cry, then Maya consoles her with her own experiences, making it her turn to cry. I'm glad we covered all our bases.

Well that's the end. The girls cry because they think their best friends have eternally moved on after arguing for exactly two days. Tell ya what though, I'm coming back for part 2 because I do want to see what Lucas and Zay get up to. And the Fark Smack super team, even though they didn't get nearly enough time in this episode. 

It was stupid. I think I've made that clear. I don't know. I need to see what Christian says.

By and large, while I didn't love this episode, it didn't bother me either. Like you I was actually way into Lucas in this episode. Peyton Meyer did a good job in his scenes, and his "You're too much for me, Riley" along with his hurt at Riley having no faith he could succeed in high school football felt very real. If this is who Lucas is now, I'm on board. Golden God Lucas wasn't working, so if instead he's an ex-Golden God that the world is no longer rolling over and instead he has to fight and scrap for things, sign me up. Everything he was saying seemed to be the rational thing to say. 

The ridiculous triangle business needs to be over tout suite though. Look, I was pretty clearly a Lucaya fan back in the day, but it seems abundantly clear at this point that, whether we like it or not, Riley's actually the one Lucas is into. The longer this goes on, the more pathetic Maya's going to look. If they're going to do this, then just do it. Get it over with. And let Maya move on.

Zay was a delight in this episode, very surprised he wasn't promoted to the main cast or at least the "Also Starring" that Corey Fogelmanis got in Season One. He was great with the cheerleaders, like you said, Sean, great everywhere. I've totally come around on him. 

I was less into Farkle in this one - while Lucas had believable beef with Riley, I'm not exactly sure what Farkle's problem with her is. Yeah, Riley's suggestion of just hanging out in the hole was a bad one... and so you and Smackle left. Who cares? And while Riley is certainly the queen of thinking the universe revolves around her and her friends and so nothing bad will ever happen... it's not her fault you drank that Kool-Aid and started believing it too. It's not like she's the only one guilty of that line of thinking either. 

I do really like that Smackle's attending Abigail Adams though. That came as a surprise to me, and a welcome one. She didn't have much to do here, but she was fun. Also, speaking of Abigail Adams, I like that being the name of the high school. Abigail Adams was a boss, and by every historian's estimation the most important Founding Father wife, every inch as brilliant and revolutionary as her husband, and it makes a kind of sense that since Cory attended John Adams, the spinoff about his daughter takes place at first the school that's the child of John Adams, and then the school that's sort of the female John Adams. 

The little homages to Back 2 School were fine. Not all that funny to me, but I thought they worked because they're jokes that just work on their own and aren't total "Cory said 'Undapants!" again" non-sequiters. If you get the reference, then it's a fun callback, if you don't, it's just a joke that makes sense in this context anyway. 

You know who I liked that you didn't? Marley. She may be a one-off, but I like that there's a character with a name and identity with a problem with Cory's teaching style and Riley and Maya taking over the class with their problems. The show has done a few passes at "We know you're criticizing us, so here's us drawing attention to it." The Season 2 premiere did it, very unsuccessfully, but I thought this was handled better. We'll see where it and Marley goes - if anywhere.

I didn't have a problem with Ava's storyline. While I understand the Shawn comparisons, it also is just... something that happens. People's parents get divorced. Topanga's parents are divorced too, and I'm actually surprised it didn't mention, though I get having Maya talk to her because she's a lead and because if the issue is the dad leaving, then she fits better, since Topanga was already in college when her parents split. If the dad TOTALLY ghosts, that would be different, but if it's just a simple divorce and him "leaving" is just that he's not going to live with her full time anymore, then I'm fine with it. I also thought Danielle Fishel did a good job in those scenes. I enjoyed both her and Cory a lot in this episode, though they didn't have too much riding on them.

Those are all my initial thoughts. I thought all the seniors looked about 30 years old, but I guess that's what you have to do when one of your Freshman looks to be 25 years old. Peyton Meyer is not a super tall guy, which helps, but it may have been a bit much to make seniors be exclusively 6'5" in order to dwarf him. But still, him being physically intimidated is a fun switch.

All in all, I dunno....

Episode Rating: B- (Nothing really bothered me here, but there wasn't much that I walked away from loving, and it wasn't particularly funny)
Episode MVP: Peyton Meyer, actually. Is this the first time I've given him this?

121 comments:

  1. I have seen the 2nd part already, and I am going to tell you that it is worse than this episode.

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  2. this show is a goddamn mess

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  3. Am I the only one totally pissed by the Ava story? They completely shoehorn this divorce plot out of nowhere and offer so little exposition with a character we're supposed to normally be annoyed by just to get a good cry out of the audience. I don't like it, it's as cheap and lazy as writing gets. I'd rather have the little kids do another one of those dumb fake-marriage plots that annoy the shit out of me than this. Those were less insulting to the viewer than this.

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    1. If they'd dragged it out over a few episodes it'd be fine but this came out of nowhere and moved way too quickly.

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    2. I absolutely agree. My problem with this show is just how lazy the writing is, especially in comparison to BMW. They tend to rush through things and find a conclusion despite no progression actually happening. And there's a smugness about it, acting like it comes close to the wonderful pacing of a great BMW episode.

      You're absolutely right. There's nothing wrong with a divorce story. But man does it not feel earned by the writer.

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    3. While it did conclude quickly, it didn't come out of nowhere.

      In season 1 we met Judy (Ava's mom) and we saw what a shrew she is. Also in season 1 (though I can't remember the exact episode) we've seen that Ava was sent to the Matthews' apartment while "her mother told her father what he is doing wrong". It is apparent that Ava comes to their place while her parents fight.

      While that hasn't been mentioned in a while they planted that seed long ago. What we saw in this episode is just Ava's dad finally reaching his breaking point and leaving. To me this was a payoff of a plot point they gave us early in season 1 - so good for them. I do hope they don't just drop it now.

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    4. I agree with 1960, it's not as if this is something new--this just hasn't been seen it quite some time. And it's pretty clear that Ava's poor behavior is either a cry for attention (AVA MORGENSTERRRRRNNNN!, or something she's copying from her mother.

      It may have been more interesting to see Ava's mother leave, rather than her father. While divorced parents are a dime a dozen on Disney Channel, it's usually the father who's left the family.

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    5. Hmmm that's interesting 1960. I didn't know this show was capable of subtle continuity, I wish I had paid more attention to that.

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    6. Considering the episode that introduced Judy Morgenstern was "Farkle's Choice" and the episode that established Ava as going over to the Matthews' when her parents argue was "Flaws," I think you can cut yourself some slack there Sean.

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  4. I'll post later. Just want to say RIP to The Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali.

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  5. Zay is the best part about this show and everything else sucks

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    1. He has had a tremendous improvement since his introduction.

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    2. Zay is a lot funnier than he is when he started, but I did notice a while ago, that while he makes Lucas tolerable, even likable, Zay doesn't have a rapport with anyone else.

      Seriously, when was the last time he had one-on-one interaction with ANYONE other than Lucas?

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  6. I think this one was a step in the right direction despite it's problems. They seem to be getting rid of the "Riley the martyr" crap they've used previously and Lucas actually DID something this time. The romantic plotline still sucks but supposedly that'll be done in like 8 episodes so hopefully we'll get to see these people face other problems other than romance after that's done. And they didn't tie it all up in a happy little bow at the end. That's pretty ballsy for Disney Channel.

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    1. I'm genuinely concerned that part 2 will have the happy little bow. If not, definitely a step in the right direction.

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    2. Oh yeah it probably will but this was treated as a single episode on it's own despite the "Part 1" and "Part 2" titles. There was no "to be continued" or anything at the end like Disney usually does.

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  7. I liked this episode. It was far from perfect but I thought it took a lot of steps in the right direction. It was great to see Lucas actually have a problem and do something; Zay and Smackle were funny; for once, it actually felt like the show could manage all 6 of these kids and give them something to do. The plot with the seniors was confusing and baffling but I enjoyed the outcome of the group splitting up.

    People are harshing on the Ava stuff but other than the mandated GMW "watch these actresses cry" scene at the end I liked it a lot. I could not STAND the early Ava scenes on this show but the lil' actress has improved a lot.

    It wasn't BMW but it felt better put-together, funnier, and more "whole" than GMW usually does if a guest star isn't involved. I had fun with it, but then again I am a lot more forgiving than you boys with this show.

    I look forward to seeing your complete spiral into oblivion as the season goes on and the blog more and more resembles the raving manifesto of madmen.

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    1. Yeah it's interesting. When Zay was introduced it felt like it was too crowded with five, but here with six it went pretty smoothly. I think the trick here was pairing them up, and I am definitely looking forward to more of that.

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    2. Yeah, pairing them up seems to work well. We saw this before in later seasons of Boy Meets World, when Jack and Rachel and Angela joined. The group collapsed under its own weight, and dynamics that should have been explored--Jack and Shawn--were not.

      So, seeing the group break into smaller groups is a good idea.

      That said, I think it may have been funny to see Zay meet Isadora for the first time.

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  8. I'm not sure what to think of this one. It's certainly a stronger opener than Gravity was. The dynamics are definitely shifting.

    Personal experiences, as always, taint my interpretation of this show.

    I think the primary problem with the Riley-plot is that it's hard to get invested on a personal level.

    When I graduated middle school, our class was divided. Most of the class went to the regular public high school closest to their home in the school district. But Shipping and I were enrolled in the college-prep school.
    We had one fairly close friend in middle school that I have seen exactly one time in the decade since I graduated middle school, and I must say I don't care if I ever see him again.

    So the fear of growing apart is not something alien to me. At our eighth grade graduation party, many students were in tears, since they realized they would be at a different high school than their friends.

    If they want to emphasize that Maya and Riley are afraid of growing apart, then why not actually show them apart? We've all beaten "show, don't tell" to death, but it still remains. At the very least, let Farkle and Smackle be in upper classes, away from their friends.

    Now onto the conflict of the episode itself, even if I disagree with the degree to which Farkle confronts Riley--how is it her fault that Farkle and Smackle, two certified geniuses, were intimidated by the SIZE of the kids in the Science Club--I have to at least give him credit for actually confronting her.

    Lucas lost his cool, which is nice, but he and Riley and Mays still have huge communication problems.

    And Cory's classroom...I think they may be trying to have him confront his abysmal teaching methods. But I don't think using a confrontational student is going to work.

    Instead of using Marley (I can't see that name and not think of the movie "Marley & Me") as an apparent audience surrogate, why not have Cory give a pre-test to see how much the students know, and have most of the class (Save Farkle, Smackle and Riley [who is actually supposed to be very book-smart]) fail?

    That way, you confront Cory being a bad teacher, and the inherent flaws of a three month break from classes adversely affecting the students' knowledge.

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    1. I saw some glimmers of hope for Cory confronting his bad teaching, but then at the end we got punched in the face with Ava being all "YOU'RE THE BEST TEACHER AREN'T YOU." So it's hard to tell whether the writers are going to budge on that, but I hope so.

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  9. Reserving main comments for later; but I do actually like what they did with Ava. For the first time I actually felt sorry for her; despite being quite aware that she didn't have a great home life. I think it was an earlier episode when mentioned that she was there whilst her parents fought that she mentioned "they're ever meant to stop?" She actually felt real to me; and if they start pushing her more as Auggie's best friend than his 'girlfriend', I could live with her going in this direction.

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    1. Will van Roekel- I like that they're making Ava more of an actual character. This is the first episode where she didn't make me feel uncomfortable. I would love if they took out all the old married couple jokes that they do with them and made them little kid best friends.

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    2. More thoughts about the rest of it now that I've had some sleep.
      It makes sense Topanga wouldn't bring up her parents divorcing. Yeah it was hard; but she was already an adult. She also never really blamed herself. She did some screwy stuff, but never blamed herself.
      I'm also glad Ava flat out told Auggie he couldn't help. He just.. has no real experience with parents splitting up. Maya's parents already were I believe by the time he was born, certainly by the time his long-term memory kicked in. His parents have had fights, but in his lifetime, never anything that really hinted they were down that path.
      Cory's teaching method I don't think will get an update. I still think the biggest problem with it is that he teaches his daughter and her friends. He just cannot be expected, realistically, to keep himself aloof.
      I had more issues with Farkle than anyone else. Smackle is still getting to know Riley to be honest, so her walking out made sense. Lucas appears to be tiring of Riley's positive all the time attitude, and Zay goes where Lucas does. Riley - well, I didn't like her decision, made it actually made perfect sense for her character, and Maya will always choose Riley. Farkle, after all his forcing Riley to confront her feelings on Lucas, I feel should have been more patient with her.
      I miss bullies being bullies.

      As for Danielle Fishel's recent divorce; I think I might have more issues with this episode, if she was more heavily involved in the story. As in, if we actually saw her talking with Ava's mother, or even worse, if it was Topanga going through the divorce. (Yes, I know that will never happen).

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  10. Is it me or does the group work so much better when Zay and Smackle are included? Like when its Riley, Maya, Lucas, and Farkle, its so unbelievable..especially the Farkle and Lucas pairing.

    This episode felt refreshing in a way. I like that we saw conflict unfold by itself and it didn't get happily solved in the goddamm classroom (its happening in Part 2.. if it wasnt already obvious). When they cut to Riley and Maya doing homework in the bakery, it was oddly nice to see them judt hanging out there instead of school/home 24/7.

    Topanga. Give her more to do PLEASE. Give us a Cory and Topanga PLOT, not one minute of cheesy lovey dovey dialogue tied into an Auggie story.

    Like basically all of Season 2, I loved some parts of this, yet there were parts that can't be forgiven and as a result, drag the entire episode down. WHY is this even a plot? WHY do the seniors have to be teaching them? Just let them bully the kids in the first scene and let them go. We don't need an HOUR to learn that these kids aren't kings anymore. Boo hoo.

    I actually like Ava, but this story sort of came out of nowhere (keyword: sort of). Did anyone actually feel sorry for Maya like she's supposed to be all tough and fierce but she cries at anything lol

    Riley crying at the end was cringey. I guess its ok because her only 4 friends dropped her on the first day of school but simply: I've had enough of the crying.

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    1. I agree in general, but specifically that homework scene. For the thirty seconds before Thor and the Valkyries interrupted, it was definitely that realness we've all been looking for.

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    2. Yes this is exactly what I meant. Thought I'd be the only one to appreciate that part.

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    3. Jet-What I noticed about Thor and his friends is that it's just the three of them. If we are supposed to think that they are glimpse of Riley, Maya, and Lucas's possible future, what it does mean that it's just the three of them?

      Sean-Thor and the Valkyries sounds like it should be a 1960s garage band type group.

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    4. Kit - they actually answer that very question in part 2.

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  11. The only redeeming quality in this episode was the guest appearance of Ashley Argota, from "Bucket and Skinner". Other wise, this episode is just continuing the train-wreck that was the 2nd half of season 2. And worst of all, Sarah was missing. I think I'm done with this show. I think I'm done with Disney Channel. I'm defecting to Nickelodeon. At least their shows, "Henry Danger", "School of Rock", "Thundermans", and "Bella and the Bulldogs", know that they are supposed to be funny and entertaining, unlike the Disney shows which are all falling into an abyss of Degrassi-like pseudo-drama and teen soap opera nonsense. Heads need to roll at Disney. There needs to be a house cleaning.

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    1. If it is any consolation, I'm pretty sure Sarah was in this episode (and she is 100% in the classroom in part 2)

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    2. Yea it's also too many shows with "shipping" drama like in Liv & Maddie. Disney channel has went from family programing, to teeny bopper singing and dancing and now we get the Disney version of the SOAP network.

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  12. I have only three words to describe this episode. STOP THE CRYING! It's lost is effect. Now, I will say that the tears we saw forming during Riley's arguments with Lucas and Farkle are much different than the ones at the end. Those tears were ones of anger. She was pissed at her friends blaming her for their bad first day. Which, I found remarkably dumb. Here we have 3 people Lucas, Farkle and to some degree Smackle, blaming another person for things she can't control. They are free thinking individuals, and it's Riley's fault that everyone is a good half foot taller than them? That's stupid.

    I will say that I did like that we are finally seeing them fight. I hope that when they do go to wrap this 2 part premiere up, that the bow isn't neat. They can still be friends, but let the feelings linger. Fights happen sometime, and its only natural that it leaves an impact on everyone.

    I agree that somehow, Zay and Smackle actually feel the most like people. Not caricatures that can fit whatever the writers need them to. Also, I like the report that Cory and Lucas have. It's a different kind of comedy, and I think it's refreshing.

    I really hope they're going to make Cory change his teaching style. I don't know what to make of Marley yet, but I'll give her a chance. And finally, Ava. Where the hell did that come from!! She's now a proto-Maya, who's supposed to be a proto-Shawn anyway. I'm now convinced that Jacobs can't write anymore. That's lazy writing, and no amount of emotion is going to make me ok with turning Ava into this troupe that Jacobs relies on.

    I'll withhold my grade and final judgement for now, but I think this leaves the second part in a position to go either way. I think this can finish very strongly, but I can also see them going down in flames.

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    1. Part of the problem with the crying is the WHY, I think, rather than the frequency.

      Riley and Maya cry, generally with regards to the state of their friendship, especially as far as Lucas and the Triangle is concerned. It's hard to get invested, because both love stories suck, and we know the friendship will be maintained.

      I have no problem with Riley crying frequently; I just want it justified.

      The best example, in my view, of what I guess you'd call "justified crying" is Maya's crying in "Meets Forgiveness." It made complete sense for the story, and the character, and I was invested. I only wish she had hugged her mother, rather than Cory.

      I can't get invested if Riley cries because of Lucas. I could get invested if Riley cries because she's afraid of actually getting in trouble--she was "crying" in "Demolition," as I recall. It was played for laughs, but who hasn't been moved to tears of stress when they know they're in deep trouble?

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    2. Still, the frequency doesn't help. We are how many episodes removed from them crying last. 3? 4? And the last time, they were balling, for no well explained reason. In this episode we saw both versions of what you're describing. When confronting Farkle, there were tears starting cause she was angry and pissed that her friends are blaming her. At the end, during the Ava scene, she's just crying. I know the reason they'd give for it, but it still felt out of place.

      I agree, I'd like for them to give us a better explanation for the emotions, but I'd like for them not to rely on them as much as they do.

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  13. Kind of awkward to have Danielle Fishel involved in a divorce plot right after her actual divorce. Ouch, writers.

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    1. In fairness, I think that got announced way after this episode would have been written.

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  14. This is my favorite website.

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    1. I thought you said "This is my favorite episode." Phew

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  15. Please never stop doing this blog. Can't wait to read part 2

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  16. I agree, I didn't like this episode either. The one part that I did like in this episode was Lucus. For the first time, he actually felt like a real person, who might have his own goals, rather than Mister Perfect, or whatever Riley and Maya need him to be.

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  17. I agree with everything you have said, right from the punch it's trying to be serious but it's not. Zay and Lucas held the episode together for sure and Riley needs a smack in the face and understand she can have faith in people while also not being stupid.
    I did appreciate that they all fought in this episode and it wasn't all, singing by the camp fire and hugging.
    Part two will be interesting even though it will probably also not be good. I do love this show and try to find the little glimpses that are true bow moments and thought the high school years would resemble more the classic bmw but maybe I need to stop getting my hopes up.

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  18. Why does every single conversation between characters on this show have to be some profound, philosophical, existential realization or epiphany. They never sound like preteens or teenagers or even humans. I get sick of hearing the same phrases every single episode as well, as if they're incapable of discussing anything other than the strength of their friendship. It's nauseating. Also, why isn't Cory fired? These kids will have to take exams whether they like it or not, and no actual history is ever taught. It's all just generic nonsense.

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  19. Well, that was... bad.

    I loved the first third of season 2, was disappointed at the second third of season 2, and outright indifferent at the last third. But I was actually looking forward to season 3 because I thought with the show going to high school, there might have been a chance things would improve and go to back how they were pre-"Semi-Formal". Of course I was wrong.

    Watching this show, I felt something I never felt even when watching the worst episodes of BMW - boredom. I was completely bored. They say hate isn't the opposite of love, indifference is. And that speaks volumes about how I feel about this show. Crap like "What a Drag!" or the first few episodes of S7 from BMW actually got a reaction out of me. Even if it was a negative reaction, it was still a reaction. But watching GMW, I don't even get outraged, just irritated. I have NO idea what Riley and her friends were fighting about. Riley was upset because her friends didn't want to stand with her in a HOLE? The group is going their separate ways because they don't want to stand in a HOLE? I just don't understand. Maybe I wasn't paying attention and I need to rewatch it, but this is another example of the show's habit of trying to make a big deal out of nothing. I feel like the Matthews family could run out of milk and the characters would cry and make a big deal about it at this point. Like someone else said, the show keeps trying to make every conversation between the characters into a meaningful, existential, philosophical thing. BMW was a very self-aware, humble show. They never took themselves too seriously because they knew they were a Friday night sitcom with mediocre-ish ratings, so they just tried to make the best show they could about life, and it came off as very natural and was actually a great show. But GMW (and its writers) just has this arrogant tone like they are making a television masterpiece or something.

    It's quite ironic how Lucas and Zay and Riley and Maya have switched places. If you had asked me a year ago, I'd say Lucas and Zay were the worst characters and Riley and Maya were the only non-BMW characters I really cared about. But Lucas and Zay were easily the best part of this episode. I love how natural their friendship is, and how Zay goes after Lucas after he storms off. Riley and Maya have this smarmy, "we're the best friends of all time" thing that they say EVERY single episode. So it's nice to see Lucas and Zay so grounded. Zay going after Lucas saying this is when Lucas does something was a nice touch and it reminded me that Zay, despite being the most recent character, knew Lucas before ANYBODY else did and knew him better than anyone.

    Overall, this show just suffers from bad writing. It feels too saccharine and sappy, and I hate this "our friendship is so strong, we love each other so much" vibe that goes on. BMW did it too, but it felt earned most of the time and they didn't do it EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. What really sucks if the kids on the show CAN act. Rowan Blanchard and Sabrina Carpenter are two of the best child actors I've seen on the Disney Channel in a long while, but they aren't given much to do. Ben Savage was given a lot of range as Cory. He could be over-the-top happy, he could be devastated ("A Long Walk to Pittsburgh"), he could be pissed (like he was at Amy in the engagement episode), he could be HILARIOUS ("UNDAPANTS" anyone?), but all Rowan is given the chance to do is either be extremely happy or cry.

    Anyways, props to you Sean, and I can't wait to hear Christian's analysis. If it weren't for this blog, I really doubt I'd be watching the show anymore.

    Anon Guy

    ReplyDelete
  20. I’ve watched this twice and reacted the same both times. It grated at the start, then won me over to its side later despite throwing down the considerable obstacle of the bullies turning out to be cosmic mentors. On balance, I grudgingly liked it, and maybe not all that grudgingly either. Not great, but the best 2016 has offered so far. It compares favourably to the other season openers.

    Great review.

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    Replies
    1. Those are somewhat along my thoughts Milestones. The opening was a little rough, but on the whole I think this episode had more pluses than minuses.

      On the seniors, I think the issue is that they're too forthright with telling the freshmen that they're messing with them AND helping them. I don't think the balance of good-and-bad works as well as it could have.

      Consider what we'd have if we had a friendly, well-intentioned senior who wasn't particularly helpful. As the saying goes, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." It'd be easier to sympathize if something that was meant to be beneficial went badly wrong.

      Alternatively, if the seniors were full-out bullies, but their role in the story manages to be helpful in spite of, or even because of this, with the freshmen having to face their fears head-on.

      Good to hear from you.

      Delete
    2. Cryptid456-I like the idea of what was supposed to be good advice going horribly wrong. That would have made for a great episode.

      I would also be okay with character development happening more gradually. We think Thor and the Valkyries are bullies, but we found halfway through the season, or even at the end of the season/school year that they were actually good people who were trying to help/teach an important lesson.

      Delete
    3. Hey Cryptid, thanks. It’s nice to have new material to talk about too. I like your ideas, and Kit’s as well.

      I was also interested to read about your high school circumstances with your brother above. I started Grades 8, 10, and 11 in new schools in new locations, three different cities, two provinces. I never had a first year of high school, since, at the time, Grade 9 was junior high in one place and high school in another. What limited experience I have with it is from the other side: when I started Grade 12, I was assigned a Grade 9 student for what amounted to school-sanctioned hazing.

      That was an awfully long time ago. Knowing that at least some of the writers grew up in the same era, I wondered if Thor and company were just carrying on a tradition and, when asked to justify it, would only offer that it had happened to them and they turned out okay. That would represent a lack of purpose that would fly in the face of what they were trying to do in the episode. Once that, and the nature of the rift with gang, was clear, what we got was inevitable.

      Then again, they had Ava being told to hope for the best, and doing just that, and it didn’t work out. But I would guess that was less a matter of nuance that of the desire to twin Ava and Auggie’s relationship with Maya and Riley’s taking precedence.

      Random question, Cryptid: did it seem to you this episode was harshly lit?

      Delete
    4. You were a military kid, right Milestones?

      Yeah, I think listless is a good word to use here. The schism doesn't quite feel earned, at least on part of why the Seniors chose to initiate this.

      On to your question about lighting, perhaps a little Milestones, but I'm more inclined to notice particularly long shots and camera angles. Now, the lighting may have been deliberate. The colors are muted, and now the lightning is harsh to emphasize that.

      Now, with regards to the high school Shipping Wars and I went to...quite frankly it is one of the best high schools in the country; I loved every minute of it, except Spanish Class; Shipping and I could write books about that place; we had fantastic teachers.

      Delete
    5. Spanish you say? It was French that did it to me. I much later (and now a long time ago) became nominally bilingual, but no thanks to high school.

      Between work and a hockey game tomorrow, I probably won’t be entering the Part 2 fray until Tuesday.

      Delete
  21. Shipping Wars Are StupidJune 4, 2016 at 6:44 PM

    Hi. On my phone.

    Danielle Fischel is single.

    Dibs.

    ReplyDelete
  22. what i thought was dumb was how they legit tried to put maya/ava's family tragedy on the same level of like, riley having a fight with her school chums for 2 days. @writers, that's not the same thing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Here's my thoughts. First of all, no kids talk like this. It's not even remotely believable that a kid could say out loud...in High School...that they "Are Patriots" and not be completely labeled nerds and/or social outcasts. There are plenty of other examples of this, but I suspend belief because it's GMW and that's what the writers do.

    Other Observations.

    1.) I LOVED that the characters are calling Riley out for her self-pretentious bullcrap. This whole "If you don't agree with me, then you must not be a true friend" attitude she possesses needed to be checked. Especially when she so freely didn't believe in Lucas and seemed SHOCKED that she received a negative response from him.

    2.) Maya is realizing she's losing Lucas to Riley. When she says "Bird" and mentions about being in a triangle with Riley, it was like she airing a frustration that she was losing to her idiot friend at that moment. It was actually an open insult at Riley. I liked it.

    3.) The Ava thing feels forced. Not sure how I feel. However, I feel this was just spun into the story line to support what was happening with the Core 4 (5? 6?) and will be paid little lip-service in the future. After all, the show tends to start major stories and abandon them. (Charlie Gardener etc.)

    Heres the problem for me. I rooted for Cory in BMW as he grew up. If he felt pain, I felt pain for him. But with Riley, I enjoyed her getting checked into line. That shouldn't be happening. I should be wanting to root for her. However, the way she's been written so far acting like her whole world is falling apart every time a tiny disruption occurs is very off-putting. Maya isn't much different but at least she feels more believable. She's had a few hard-knocks and therefore she has room to be jaded.

    I dunno, I hope I see Riley actually MEET THE WORLD and realize it's all not sunshine and lollipops. If the writers don't do this, then they are doing a COMPLETE disservice to the kids watching this on how things are. And for as much as Jacobs waxes about how real his plot devices are, he should be doing better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meh. To be fair, I don't think they were great at giving kids watching it a real perspective of what the world was like, even in BMW. I... was a fan of Cory/Topanga for the most part; but certain storylines from a 'this is how the world works' perspective were horrible.

      And if Maya has room to be jaded, I think with Riley's upbringing, her utter faith in people is just as believable.

      Delete
    2. Not to mention, Will, from the very beginning Riley has been encouraged to be their ray of sunshine, and nothing but their ray of sunshine. As annoying as Riley's optimism can be, and it usually isn't, it make sense it context.

      As a result, her behavior here, her despair that her friends are telling her that her worldview is wrong, when they usually praised her for it before, also makes sense.

      Now just because it makes sense, and can be justified in-story, does not necessarily mean that it's good, because it's imperative that we get character development from this.

      It would be nice for Riley to learn that the world is not so nice, but we already had that chance slip through our fingers in "Demolition."

      Delete
  24. First and foremost, great review as always by Sean and Christan. The thumbnail had me rolling before I even clicked on the review.

    After watching part 1 all I have to say is the only good thing about part 1 is Zay. His character is someone I believe could've actually been a character on BMW. Even though he isn't given much lines he still delivers them so well and smoothly it's like he actually talking and not reading from a script like what Farkle sounds like. His friendship with Lucas (like many of you on here have said) is the only organic one that doesn’t have to hammer in over and over the "we're friends" line, they show it and they also indirectly say it.

    Now the problems that I have in this show imo need to be fixed:
    1. The dialogue definitely needs to be changed. I've had this problem since season 1 and it seems like it has never been changed. How many episodes are they gonna talk about friendship and that stupid triangle because that seems to be the plot of EVERY EPISODE and EVERY lesson correlates to it. The character with most awkward dialogue to me has to be Farkle imo. The way I'm hearing him is like he's just reading lines off a script and saying them really fast at some points. I can't feel what he's saying because the actor says his lines so dry.
    2. The humor at most points don't hit for me. I don’t know if this show is supposed to have jokes that have you laughing on the floor but the only person capable of doing that is Zay. I think Riley is supposed to be the character with the most comedic lines but she is not funny to me at all.

    Now hopefully in the next episode we get to see the characters do their own things for the first half of the episode. For example in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody episode when they first started High school we saw Zack, Cody,London and Nia do their own things before all 4 of them ended up in the principal's office for getting in trouble on the first day. In comedic fashion they also learned a lesson WITHOUT having to hammer it down our throats.
    Also can they please show these "teens" having more fun. They're in Highschool for christ sakes, show them going to a movie or sneaking out to a concert or something. Even though it's still part 1, WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT DO THEY LIKE TO DO or what do they like. For example in one of my favorite Disney Channel shows, in That's So Raven we knew Raven loved designing clothes (the writers continued that story until she finally got an intership in S4), her favorite band was Boyz in Motion, she did alot of activities in school, she was boy crazy (unlike Riley and Maya who seem to be stuck on 1 guy) and loved her family and friends. You also got see what her friends were all about, as Chelsea also was boy crazy, smart, loved animals, and was a vegetarian. As for Eddie he liked girls, was good at rapping and playing Basketball and also valued his friends too. If wanna watch a show about friendship that doesn't beat you over with the word, I recommend watching That's So Raven weeknights on Freeform.
    We can only the next few episodes get better or else they need to move to FreeForm.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Happy Sunday boys and girls! Let's get to it.

    First things first, solid reviews from Sean and Christian. I make it no secret that I'm not in this show's target demographic for two reasons. 1) I'm about 10 years older. 2) I'm a guy. Needless to say, several plotlines are going to feel dumb to me because, being out of high school, and now teaching high school on a substitute level, I can say that this show is NOTHING like school. Which is why I'm glad we have this blog as a community that can criticize the show...unlike other sites that sing the show's praises or rip it apart for the sake of ripping it apart.

    Now, moving to the episode at hand.

    Eh. I'm with Christian on several things and Sean on others. I think everyone here agrees that this was an underwhelming episode.

    Stuff I liked:
    Riley's naiveté either can be charming or annoying. It goes through both here. I liked her singing the little freshman song but I never quite understood why she felt the hole would teach them something. I loved Zay and Smackle. I was worried that 6 would be too many but it seems to be working. Neither one are main cast members because Disney shows have a limit on that-it's not like they can do Modern Family.

    Lucas was really good here and it's nice to see him have a personality.

    I liked Marley. She'll probably go away but whatever.

    Stuff I didn't like:
    I wasn't as big on Farkle as I have been in the past but he did feel a bit underused. I think one more scene where Riley's optimism screws him up personally would have benefited his anger.

    I really liked the Farkle/Riley fight at the end for two reasons. Up until this point, Farkle has grown as a character but he's always been....for lack of a better word, Riley and Maya's bitch. He does whatever they say and it was nice to see him on a different side for once. I also liked the way Rowan did this scene. She was pissed and when she said certain words like "us" or "we" or "friends", she added emphasis. I think it worked because this is the first time Farkle isn't on Riley/Maya's side and she isn't used to it.

    I didn't like Maya much. I still hate "HaHurr."

    The seniors sucked. I liked that Thor is played by Luke Benward, who was 20 when this was filmed. He was 20 and he looks like that.

    One final note.

    Stop. Saying. Triangle. Let me, repeat STOP FUCKING SAYING TRIANGLE! How in the world are Farkle, Smackle and Zay putting put with this. It's been about nine months in the show's universe and it's fucking ridiculous that we're still fucking on this shit.

    That's all I got, I guess. If the plot is lame, I want character development which I kinda got.

    Grade B-
    MVP: Meyer

    ReplyDelete
  26. Well, time for me to chime in here. We are now 52 episodes into this series, so the amount of leeway I give the show has been reduced by a large amount. Most shows roar out of the gate for season 3, but this show gives us this sorry excuse for an episode.

    I liked the opening at the school that was a total callback to how Cory and Shawn did it in "Back to School". It was pretty much all down hill after that. The dialogue and main story were bad and it continues to amaze me that the writers can keep shoveling this "Riley sees the best in everyone" shit down our throats after I thought they taught her the error of those ways in "Demolition". It is ok to hope that everyone is good, but by now she should be aware that it just isn't true and act accordingly when it becomes apparent.

    The entire "triangle" thing is just tired by now. I wont go into all the issues others have raised about it except to say it needs to stop soon.

    I did like Cory lamenting that now he has to actually teach, and can't just make shit up as he goes like he did in middle school. And Marley was great here. However I'm sure that just like The Rebel/Billy Ross/Missy Bradford she will never be seen again (I know she is in part 2, but I assume after that she is gone). Her part would have been better if it were handled by a combination of Darby/Sarah/Yogi/Dave giving us the - "you aren't going to keep your class doing this shit for 4 more years are you?"

    As for the class - except for the addition of Smackle and Marley - it was the same kids from middle school. While all those kids will take history, the chances that they are all together in that class again are practically nill. Not a realistic decision there by the showrunners.

    And who makes casting decisions for this show? The football players were all college age and the cheerleaders were younger than the squad from "Rah-Rah".

    As others have said Zay was great here, but unlike others, I have liked him for a while now. His bits and rapport with Lucas are much more reminiscent of Cory/Shawn than Lucas/Farkle or even Riley/Maya are. They need to use him as much as they can. Smackle is also a welcome addition and though she isn't a regular I'm hoping they use her much more than in the past. Not only is the character good, Cecilia Balagot is excellent.

    The "B" story line with Auggie and Ava was the highlight of the episode for me. While Auggie has gotten a little better since the start of the series, Ava Kolker has improved markedly. I liked that they brought back the problem of Ava's parents fighting that was told to us in season 1 and the fact that they paid that off 2 years later was excellent.

    Grade: C - I feel I might be too generous here. If this were the middle of season 2 this episode might have been acceptable, but not to start season 3.

    MVP: Ava Kolker - Peyton, Cecilia and Amir were all good, but Ava has upped her game more than anyone over 2 years. Having said that, she might have had further to go than anyone but Auggie, but she delivered.

    I've already seen tonight's episode and all I'll say is that I'm looking forward to next week's episode.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Another wonderful tweet from our favorite writers.

    Girl Meets Writers
    ‏@GMWWriters
    Oh yeah. True Maya. Right after Upstate. Right before Ski Lodge. True Maya. Where she finds out who she is. Oh yeah. Hot summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And another one

      Girl Meets Writers
      ‏@GMWWriters
      Last thing: All fighting about relationships aside, we are giving our hearts to the show and the stories. We're very proud. You will be too.

      Delete
    2. I don't like these people.

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. Shipping Wars Are StupidJune 5, 2016 at 5:32 PM

      These smug sons of bitches can go fuck off.

      Delete
    5. Once again Shipping Wars, my feelings exactly.

      Delete
    6. Yeah they aren't as intelligent or creative as they think they are.

      We have been in a damn holding pattern ever since Mya said "You think of him like a brother." That was the moment of the downfall.

      Also, Part 2 can go fuck a rabid porcupine. That was the most contrived dialogue and episode I've seen in quite some time.

      Delete
    7. Ugh...you can almost see the writers patting themselves on the back for how important and clever they find themselves and the show.

      Delete
    8. Profundity. Words. Punctuation.

      Next week. Triangle may be resolved. Or not. Or will it? Or not.

      Delete
  28. Hey, can you explain your Jaime Lannister reference? Kingslayer was never perceived to be perfect. Not by other characters and certainly not by viewers. Or did you mean something else by it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I assume that he meant that Lucas was the group protector, and now he can't be - so what does that make him? The same way that Jamie was born and bred to be a Kingsguard, and now that he lost his sword hand and can't - what is he? He is still trying to find out - and now Lucas needs to as well.

      Delete
    2. Was Lucas ever really the Group Protector, though? Part of it may be that the kids don't get into that much trouble, but still.

      I can think of only two instances before this where it was a thing, in "Flaws" and "Secret of Life" when he almost pounded Billy Ross and Giant Kid About to Pound Zay respectively.

      Delete
    3. Lucas was the Group Protector when it was needed I guess. He's more Zay's Protector though - he did get Maya to back off from Zay when she wanted to move desks.
      I'm actually a bit surprised he hasn't needed to be called on more; maybe it's his reputation that stopped people from picking on them, especially Farkle and Riley.

      Delete
    4. literally will friedleNovember 16, 2016 at 10:33 AM

      Jaime wasn't bred to be in the Kingsguard: he chose it to be near Cersei and to spite Tywin. He was definitely a guy the world rolled over for (youngest man ever raised to the Kingsguard, incredibly skilled swordsman, born into an incredibly rich/powerful family, awfully handsome etc.). When he lost his hand he essentially lost his manhood, as he was no longer capable of fighting (which, aside from boning his sister, seemed to be his main purpose in life). It's less "no longer perfect" and more "no longer a man". <_<

      Delete
  29. Yall are not going to like the message in Part 2...

    ReplyDelete
  30. AirbendingBookworm123June 5, 2016 at 6:29 PM

    I couldn't even watch the entire episode without even cringing, because it just was so unrealistic.

    I was a freshman in high school two years ago, and this upcoming fall, I'm going to be a junior. There, not everyone was huge-- there were seniors who were barely five foot tall. There were football players and cheerleaders, yes, but they weren't (and still aren't; go cross country!) the most dominant "groups" roaming around the school, as shown in this episode. And there was bullying and a dissension among the class groups (the upperclassmen called freshman "fresh meat,") but that was to the extent of it now. I know it's mentioned as if it was in the past, but still, two years later, it still applies. Then again, everyone's experience is different.

    The show tries to be realistic, but it's still caught up in its attempts to be great that it oversteps and oversees certain things that need to come together and just ultimately fall apart. I feel like this episode was like a collection of all of the high school chic-flicks out there. Heck, I don't even know people who like speaking about deep, philosophical meanings life has to offer all of the time, and this comes from someone who is in a learning program that discusses the underlining meanings of Socrates through Plato and Locke for my English and History classes. Ha hurr.

    You know what I did like? Lucas and Zay. THANK GOODNESS FRIAR DOESN'T SOUND PERFECT FOR ONCE.

    If only the show would have loose strings of behavior that causes a rift between the friends that would finally cause for an explosion of another argument, and would somewhat taint the shiny "we're friends and we're always happy" attitude that these friends have, then maybe I wouldn't stop to cringe every ten seconds.

    (Gosh, I hate the stupid fandom right now though, all because of the leaked Ski Lodge spoilers. Shish kebabs, it's a stupid thing to be stressing about. Deal with it.)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Your "Ha Hurr"placement made me laugh out loud. That's all I got.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh, the preview for Girl Meets Jexica looks dumb as all hell. It appears it's going to be another Riley attempting to become a new "person" episode for some reason. Very much like "Marosha" Riley in Yearbook or "Dork" Riley in Girl Meets Popular.

    She's in High School. It looks like this will be a wasted episode that doesn't progress anywhere. It will be Riley once again learning "to be herself" for the umpteenth time. I mean jeebus h. christ on a pogo stick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I saw the promo Girl Meets Popular and Girl Meets Yearbook immediately popped in my head too. How many times are the writers gonna retread this plot? Riley is having an identity crisis and creates an alter ego (Harajuku dork, Marosha, and now Jexica).

      Delete
    2. For anyone not part of the in-crowd at schools, identity crisises tend to happen a few times. Despite everything, Riley is not. Having her father teach at the school would make it worse; though the overt bullying might be less.

      And her trying to fit into high school would make another attack likely. But as stated earlier about this episode, she needs to start to learn things. She's now getting to the age that these lessons should be sticking.

      Delete
    3. In the real world yes, but in TV episode world...the identity crisis plane has been given clearance to land, touched down, took off and is continuing to circle the field. It's been rehashed going on three times now and it wastes a valuable episode slot that should be put to use on another topic. She's learned the "be yourself" lesson at least twice now (with identity switches I mean. There have been other episodes without this extreme with the same lesson.) How many times does it need to be rehashed?!?

      Delete
    4. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, guys. Now, the "Jexica" promo did look pretty crummy, but at the same time, "Yearbook" was a fantastic episode, and the promo...wasn't what I'd call good.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dztlZsc3qx4

      Also, with the new Disney Channel show "Bizzardvark" being centered on teenaged internet celebrities, and due to air later this month, "Jexica" may have some executive meddling behind it.

      Delete
    5. God I hope Bizzaardvark has nothing to do with this. That show as whole might be worst than any Disney Channel show ever made

      Delete
  33. Promo for Girl Meets Jexica, airing this Friday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tfVymjs3L8

    Sweet Jesus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is pwfan, btw.

      Anyone want action on Spartacus being involved in Cory's lesson? $20 says it is.

      Seriously though, what the hell?

      Delete
    2. All I can think of is this:

      http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XmZqb-lg8r8/VCMHfIsVkYI/AAAAAAAAEIE/PZ3TYsHASYU/s1600/9.gif

      Credit to our boy Sean for making this gif originally.

      Delete
    3. Please tell me this is a joke. Is it April 1st again? I think I might literally die watching an episode based on that premise.

      Delete
    4. Oh God, I wasn't paying that close attention the first time I saw that clip. This does look pretty bad...why on earth would Riley wear that get-up to school?

      Having said that...who knows? A miracle could happen. Like I said, "Yearbook" was fantastic and its promo was pretty crummy.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dztlZsc3qx4

      Somebody around here has to be the optimist. Might as well be me.

      Delete
  34. Okay...so the promo for "Jexica" is...underwhelming, but we got two episodes that look solid after that.

    Judging by their synopses, "Permanent Record" and "Triangle" sound much better. Heck, "Permanent Record" sounds like something straight out of the original show. And "Triangle" has Katy; that's always a treat.

    http://www.disneyabcpress.com/disneychannel/shows/girl-meets-world/episodes/girl-meets-permanent-record/

    ReplyDelete
  35. Just watched part 2... While it had its problems I don't see why people thought it was worse than part 1. There were quite a few relatively enjoyable parts, especially in the first 2 scenes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I should also add that the stuff with the seniors was still cringey as hell and worse than in the first episode but not by much. That's probably why people are so down on it I guess. Maybe I'm just in a better mood than when I watched part 1 idk

      Delete
  36. New Tweet from the Writers:

    A grateful thanks to our wonderful audience. 1.9m viewers, plus over 200k illegal views (Stop it) Plus the Disney App. Yay us. Enjoy Jexica.

    1.9 million viewers. That's pretty good considering we were hovering around 1.7 million for "Bay Window" and "Legacy."

    ReplyDelete
  37. I'm guessing part 2 put Sean and Christian into a coma.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll get to it today, probably. Sorry for the delay.

      Delete
  38. Ugggghhhhhhh....

    New Tweet From Jacobs:

    https://twitter.com/GMWWriters/status/740213348214571008

    Another grateful thanks to you for a big Sunday. A wonderful start for Season 3. Next: 2 funny, lovely stories. Then it begins.

    Keep patting yourself on the back Jacobs. We are not impressed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To write a standard Jacobs tweet, select two or three of the following:

      - Fake profundity
      - Sentence fragments
      - Insistence that you will love it
      - Triangle
      - Unnecessary punctuation
      - Complacency
      - Promises of "realism"

      Delete
  39. It seems to me Rowan Blanchard's extreme liberalism is sneaking into this show, as it seems to be pushing the idea of "threesomes" as normal. Special episode coming up, written and directed by Rowan Blanchard: "Girl Meets Triangle". Riley, Maya, and Lucus on a date, things get heated, and the threesome go all the way for the first time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Rowan Blanchard is simply an actress on this show. She is not a writer. She is not the executive producer. I think they value her and would listen to her if she had something to say, but she's a 14-year-old girl. Her power here is limited. Jacobs and Disney are calling the shots.

      2. I'm not sure if you're referring to the actual upcoming episode "Girl Meets Triangle" but that is neither written nor directed by Rowan Blanchard, and isn't about polyamory according to the description.

      3. This show has not depicted the situation with Riley, Lucas, and Maya (weird though it is) as polyamory. Lucas is not comfortably dating them both, and Riley and Maya are not dating one another. It's just a poorly handled triangle. They both like Lucas, Lucas likes them both, everyone is avoiding making a decision because they don't know what to do and don't want to hurt anybody.

      3. Polyamorous relationships are hardly a uniquely "liberal" concept. Wave hello to early Mormonism.

      4. Extreme liberalism is awesome. I'm an extreme liberal. You go, Rowan Blanchard.

      5. Lastly, and most importantly, while there's nothing wrong with this comment specifically, I will say that while every other GMW place on the internet may serve as a refuge for people to lash out at a 14-year-old girl who has the gall to speak her mind and express herself, this isn't the place for it. If you don't like the show, the writing, the characters, Rowan's performance, go to town on her. But we're not going to tolerate the often vile and misogynistic comments that are so often levied against her on the internet. Not even for a second.

      Delete
    2. Shipping Wars Are StupidJune 8, 2016 at 10:56 AM

      Christian, thank you. Said it better than I could.

      Delete
    3. Stupendous, Christian.

      I may not agree with you or Blanchard or many others on a lot of issues, but they are your views and I will defend to the death for your right to hold those views.

      Delete
    4. Trolls gonna troll.

      Well done, Christian.

      Delete
    5. Usually wouldn't respond just to say 'me too' after so many already have but...

      I'll make an exception this time. Well done.

      Delete
    6. Wow. Y'all took that post WAYYYY too seriously. Get a sense of humor.

      Delete
    7. Such a post required a serious response, lest such comments continued.
      You go, Christian!

      Delete
  40. I imagine that clips of "Jexica" will be out shortly as Disney finally released it to those of us that get episodes early. If I find any I'll link here for folks.

    Without spoiling anything, I can say it was great. I am truly astonished that the people responsible for this gave us the drek that was "High School"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's heartening to hear, 1960. I had reservations when I saw the promo, but I also remember that "Yearbook" didn't have a very good promo.

      Delete
    2. Something kind of interesting to note. Someone on Tumblr who watched "Jexica" said it was a written by a new writer: Mackenzie Yeager. I looked her up on IMDB and she's only credited for a few things. Her biggest credit is a short TV series that she starred in, wrote for, and produced.

      http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4351487/

      Delete
    3. Here is a link to Girl Meets Jexica for those who haven't seen it yet but want to. :)

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzB6DaJJdWqMVFrZzh3S1BqTms/view

      Delete
  41. New Tweet - Girl Meets Writers ‏@GMWWriters · 26 minutes ago

    I just watched the first cuts of Triangle, Upstate, True Maya, Ski Lodge and I Do. You have really wonderful shows to look forward to.


    What is he gonna say - first cuts were terrible, back to editing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As a follow up, a tweet from Rowan Blanchard.

      FYI I'm going to answer questions about tomorrow nights episode during the east coast airing! Send me questions tomorrow night

      Delete
    2. "Triangle" airs in only two weeks. I find it curious that Jacobs only just watched the first cuts. I thought it took longer to make an episode of a live-action show.

      Delete
  42. Ava's story didn't come out of nowhere. There was at least one time (maybe 2) where Ava went to the Matthew's because her parents were fighting.

    ReplyDelete
  43. literally will friedleNovember 16, 2016 at 10:40 AM

    That episode would've been ~a C (maybe C+) if the seniors hadn't shown up to TEACH THEM A FUCKING LESSON. Literally no senior in the history of high school has ever bullied freshmen and then, ON THE SAME DAY, told them "NO I'M NOT BULLYING YOU. I'M ACTUALLY TRYING TO TEACH YOU A LESSON SO YOU CAN BE PREPARED WHEN YOU'RE SENIORS". Also NO ONE GIVES TWO SHITS ABOUT SENIORS. I get that kids think they "run everything" when they're upperclassmen, but that's stupid and dumb and wrong and I hate it.

    and i don't get why lucas didn't mention the junior varsity team that likely exists at abigail adams high

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. literally will friedleNovember 16, 2016 at 10:42 AM

      Also bully-Thor looks kind of like Bill Pullman, and his jacket was one of the ugliest things I've ever seen a person wear. It was like a jacket liner or something. BILL PULLMAN: YOU CAN AFFORD BETTER CLOTHES.

      Delete