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| Pictured: Humor (?) |
This episode's hook is satisfying. One of our best stories (Texas part 1) flourished because we finally got to see Riley and Maya in conflict, and here we are once more. Carry on Girl Meets World, you have my permission to live.
For now.
Riley is forcing herself to "change" because she thinks she's supposed to, and Maya knows that she's full of it. I'm certain Riley has done this before, but I cannot for the life of me figure out which episode it was. Regardless, this is at least a trace of consistency, which is nice.
Maya is romanticizing about the Bay Window, and it has no depth at all. In Boy Meets World, they get to romanticize about the classroom after seven seasons, or Chubbie's after five seasons. But nothing super important has happened at the Bay Window that we know of, it all relies on the girls' offscreen history. Save this for season 4 and I would probably be invested.
THIS IS IT AGAIN, this is the Farkle that I hate, who's just so calm and wise, SAGE FARKLE coming in through the window to spread divine wisdom, "Because things grow, Maya. Can you hear how certain of myself I am?" It's like they heard everyone's criticism of Lucas, right, but completely missed the point: "Oh he shouldn't be perfect? That's true! That's great advice! ....Farkle should be perfect instead!" His science fact about 7 years and new cells is awesome, that's a good version of Farkle. I don't like the fortune cookie part.
Oh it's a flashback. OH IT'S A FLASHBACK. I didn't sign up for this.
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| No Mister Bond, I expect you to die. |
I can't understand any of the children so hopefully Christian has something to say about it.
WHAT ARE THEY DOING? IT'S CHILD RILEY AND MARV- WHAT'S HER NAME? I'M TOO ANGRY TO REMEMBER HER NAME, IS IT MULVA?
Child Riley and Child Mulva are singing to present-day Lucas because they wish they had known him since the time they were kids. The sentiment, I can understand, but the execution is the Voynich Manuscript.
I still can't understand the children, so let's move on. If Peyton Meyer pulled that off in one take, he has my respect. My gut reaction is to hate anyone better looking than me (this is where Christian says "I wish you didn't hate me" or something like that), but Peyton has come a long long way, and the writers have come a long way with Lucas. He's the only character I'm enjoying so far.
Cory and Topanga don't immediately approve of the kids' totally professional construction work, and in turn make their epitome-faces. COME ONE, COME ALL, EVERYBODY BUY YOUR FUCKIN TICKETS, RIGHT HERE, FOR MY NEW ART GALLERY, THE FACES OF GIRL MEETS WORLD.
The writers remind us that they're very in touch with their audience as the characters harass Cory for trying to teach them. You can't do Eric Hollywood in every episode. Do it once, maybe twice.
We flashback to the day Auggie was born, when Riley was afraid of change. Riley asks a very important question, "why do we need another baby," and, unsurprisingly, does not receive a good answer. Because there isn't one.
This is a divisive opinion, but you're (for some reason) here for my opinion, so here it is. It takes something away from this friendship that Mulva is worried about drifting apart. It seems like an extremely cheap ploy to draw emotion out of the audience, or to show Sabrina's range, I don't know. When Shawn and Cory went to high school (looking at the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2) it never even crossed their minds that they would drift apart. Of course they're still best friends! With sideburns! Yeah they get separated for a bit later in 2x01, but the boys were never worried. Why is Mulva worried? I can't come up with any answer besides "to force emotion into the episode."
There's another flashback but I can't understand what the children are saying, so let's move on.
Alright, that running joke is hysterical, but I can't commit to it because kid Mulva actually says something of substance here. She has run away from home because she doesn't like listening to her parents yell at each other, and found her way into Riley's Bay Window. That is compelling. That is a story. How do you have that in the same episode as Riley drowning in an apple bowl? Probably the same way you have Auggie in drag the same episode that you defeat communism. The writers are capable, they're clearly very capable, they're just not consistent. They just can't hold it together for an entire episode.
I genuinely can't understand kid Riley though. That's not a scam, no scam here, I can't understand her. This is Full House. This is Kids Say the Darnedest Things: Bay Window Edition.
The girls are meeting their past selves, and I can't take it seriously. Riley's reaction to it is "Look, it's them." Like it's just a thing that happens, like I'm supposed to be okay with it. I swear to god, if they don't mention Mulva's parents fighting in this scene, I'm done. Okay kid Mulva sort of half mentioned it by asking if her dad was gone, which is better than nothing, but how does she even know that? And why, once again, did Mary Kate Olson Blast From the Past get that line instead of Sabrina?!
DO I NEED TO SHOW UP
AND HOLD THEIR HANDS
WHILE THEY WRITE THE SHOW?
And I still can't understand kid Riley, even Rowan is looking at her like "how the fuck did you get this job are they paying you to do this?"
I want to feel something! I want to feel pain when Mulva is sitting here crying, but I feel nothing. Does that make me a cynic? Am I too jaded for this scene? Or did Jacobs ask way too much of these children to portray the gravitas this scene is supposed to have? I think they wanted this to be Shawn and Chet's ghost in the trailer before the road trip, but it's not. This is Cory talking to toddler Joshua in Brave New World. Jacobs has this terrible tendency to put too much gravitas on kid actors' lines. It's not their fault, they're kids, they can't fuckin act. So stop doing this.
FUTURE selves?! You can't do the future in season 2!
Unless it's like "They want you to take the rolls" future, but that's not the real future! You don't do the real future in season 2. SPOILERS, MAN. That's spoilers! I don't wanna see that! Shut up kid Riley, I can't understand you. Whose kid is this? Whose kid is this that she was able to get on this show?
I'll be right back though, I gotta go get future Riley's phone number.
Riley does the "one last look" but at least she doesn't say "thank you" or "goodbye" like sitcoms usually do. Even Fresh Prince was guilty of that one.
Sabrina is wasted on writing like this. That's the most important thing I have to say.
Hey all! It's me! Christian!
So, right off, I'm not pleased by this forced "Things Change" thing they're doing here. They're using the theoretical changing of the bay window to represent how things are changing in their life, and Riley's urging Maya to accept it as inevitable.... but it's not inevitable! Riley's changing it all on her own accord! Chubbie's got turned into a pirate restaurant because Chubbie's got bought out by a pirate restaurant chain and there was nothing Cory could do about it, making it a small microcosm of all the things in his life that will change and he can't do anything about.
But Riley's entirely in charge of what happens to the bay window in her room! It's her bay window! This wasn't a magical bay window they found in the woods one day, and now the bay window's true owners are tearing it down. It's just the window in her room. What do you mean you're tearing it down? Who tears down the window in their room? Bay windows are a very attractive feature in a home. My sister's room had a bay window in it when I was growing up. That room went through a million different iterations during her many tumultuous angsty phases (she was one of those teens), and then she moved out of the house, and now my mom has renovated it into an office for herself. But you know what never changed? The bay window. No one gets rid of a bay window. How would you even do it without, literally, remodeling your house?
On another note, it's pretty sweet that my room got turned into a second guestroom and my sister's room got turned into a second office. I come home, I get to stay in my room. Brittany's S.O.L. Ha! Anyway. It strikes me as a forced attempt to make "Things Change" happen. And they haven't earned it, obviously, as Sean mentioned, but it also just makes no logistical sense. But it's obviously just the best they can do. They've twisted themselves into knots trying to hammer home how great this Bay Window is, so this is the place they have to use for it. Plus, what else could they use. Topanga's? Topanga owns that, if it's going out of business that's... a larger story.
Last thing I'll say about "Things Change" - the thing I was always impressed with regarding what they did with Chubbie's is that it was obviously like... spurred by a behind-the-scenes decision. They knew they were going to college, they were going to have new sets, that a University coffee shop would be taking the place of Chubbie's and they'd be losing the set. Most shows might have just... stopped showing it. BMW took the time to weave Chubbie's into a story about graduation they were already telling and sort of... send Chubbie's off. And, because Chubbie's was such an iconic part of the show, it really did throw me for a loop. I remember when I first saw this episode - LIVE ON ABC IN 1998 MOTHAFUCKAHS BECAUSE I AM MORE HARDCORE THAN ALL Y'ALL - and I was absolutely floored that they got rid of Chubbie's. I wasn't even totally sure it had happened, because it was so abrupt, and seemingly in service of a joke, I figured "Oh, no, Chubbie's will be back next week." But nope. That was the end of Chubbie's. That was good.
"Things Change" is a really a good episode. Let's get back to this one.
Maya's "We don't even know for sure" is a pretty funny joke, especially considering it's obviously a reference the fact that they were writing this episode without knowing if Season 3 was happening.
Farkle coming in and not saying ladies is good. Both because it's an earned change. And because it's a reminder after Commonism that he's not someone who... acts like that anymore.
Oh, and okay, flashback, so it's also "It's Not You, It's Me". I'll try not to compare it too much. Mainly because I'm not as wound up about that episode. But I will note that they've given L'il Farkle glasses just like how L'il Cory had glasses, even though neither of them had glasses as adults. L'Il Farkle's really bad casting in general. Though not as bad as what I seem to be recalling as a freckly red-head playing L'il Shawn in the zoo flashback.
As this scene goes on, now I see why they went with the little bespectackled Farkle - he's such a good natural actor that they said "Appearances be damned!" and nope, he sucks and is the worst, and August Maturo deserves nine Oscars compared to him. Clearly this is Randi Barnes' nephew. But him saying "My mind is very fancy, feel free to use me as you see fit." is kinda cute.
I don't even know what the fuck's going on with this Texas/Lucas part. This is not good. Also, I literally can not understand these little kids when they're singing. That was maybe the shittiest least professional thing I've ever seen in this franchise. I do like the joke that Lucas looked like himself even as a kid though.
Why does Topanga have a memory of that memory of Auggie being about to be born? She wasn't in the room. She was in the car. Also, it wasn't interesting enough to cause them to laugh uncontrollably. Riley's reaction was very muted. Cory was barely paying attention to her too.
Blah, blah, blah. L'il Maya misses her dad. I'm over her dad. We met him. He's whatever. And blah blah, we're all gonna be friends in high school. We know. We weren't worried about it. And they're speaking in that heavily punctuated "All. These lines. Have meaning. Pause and consider. All the emotional meanings. Behind every. Bit of these lines."
Blah, I don't wanna see Riley and Maya meet because they met as little kids and little kids meeting each other isn't interesting. Also, it's really good to have a HUGE portion of this episode hinge on the acting abilities of, like, four-year olds.
Oh god, and now the Big Mileys are talking the L'il Mileys and I just set my bedsheets on fire. Still, Rowan and Sabrina are selling this scene pretty well. They actually generally seemed moved. Maybe they thought they were getting cancelled when this got filmed. I believe they're legit crying.
AND I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THESE FLASHFORWARDS ARE IN THEIR HEADS AND ARE NOT ACTUALLY CANONICAL. THIS IS LIKE SEVEN THE HARD WAY. I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS TO BE CANON. I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ANY ARGUMENT.
Wait. Is THAT all this was fucking about? Riley was just going to get some new cushions and curtains for the bay window? That's hardly TEARING IT DOWN. God, what a fucking waste of time.
Episode Rating: D+ guys, whatever.
Episode MVP: Sabrina Carpenter, but Rowan did a good job too.
I'm glad you brought up the Shawn/Cory origin, because I forgot to. I did want to say that this was certainly better than saving Cory from the llama pen. It's not hard to beat that, but regardless, they pulled it off.
So, there's two Jacobs boys (and an older sister, I believe) - David and Joshua. I don't know which is which. The younger is the one who played Josh, who's probably now like 20. The elder is more like roughly our age. I actually think it's David (who just has a co-writing credit with Daddy on "Fish", a childish episode to be sure) who is the younger one and thus played L'il Josh. I think Joshua is the older one, he's the one who's done this, "Cory and Topanga", and co-writing "Commonism" (with Daddy again)
And yeah, I'd say this is worse than Commonism, though I did consider the fact before giving it a D+. Commonism was handled badly, but, like, there's an episode there. It was an okay idea handled badly. This is a bad idea handled badly.
You're not great at predicting what Christian's going to do when you do those occasional "And now here's where Christian says..." You have never been right!
The one big difference here (and big, perhaps, is exaggerating it) is that you seemed to find something worthwhile about the portion that was about Maya's dad. I did not. I do not want them using him as a grabbag excuse for Maya's every move. Maya's sad. What's it REALLY about? I bet it's REALLY about her DAD who ABANDONED HER. No. Maybe it's just about the dumb window. It felt a little lazy to me. And also it being focused on L'il Maya sucked.
EDIT: Actually, it looks like DANIEL Jacobs played L'il Josh. So this is a whole brand new THIRD Jacobs. Now I don't know WHAT the story is. But Daniel Jacobs has yet to write an episode, which is good, because he's like 20. But I am pretty sure I looked up Josh Jacobs and found he was in his mid-20s. I guess I don't know who David Jacobs is.
Also, someone's gotta tell the Jacobs family you can find some male first names outside of the old testament.
If you had read my part before posting, AND I hadn't added that prediction, I think you would have said it. I think I'm always right, it's just that writing out my prediction prevents you from actually doing it. I will hear no argument.
Maya and Riley had to meet somehow. Running away from home is a Maya thing to do, and running from her parents yelling is founded on something we've actually seen firsthand. That's full points in my rubric.
While I grant it is impossible to tell whether I would have said something after you've already predicted it, I still have on more than one occasion read that and gone like "Haha, what? It would never have occurred to me to say anything like that."
Eh. Maya and Riley did have to meet somehow, and odds are it was on the first day of school and their first interaction was "Hi." "Hi." I don't need Maya and Riley having, like, a meetcute anymore than I need Cory and Shawn having one. They're childhood best friends. All the history I need. People aren't interesting when they're four. Maya would never have done any of that. Four year olds don't run away. At least not this successfully, Maya's from a shadier side of town. How the hell did she even get to Riley's place?
That is all fair criticism, Parts of it are wrong, but I maintain that it was partially decent. You can take your "eh" somewhere else.
For grading this episode, I give it a D-, and then its mom called me and complained so I raised it to a D.
This whole episode was bizarre. They put way too much EMPHASIS and DRAMA in the stuff that didn't matter and gave HUGE IMPORTANCE to stuff no one cares about. It's a goddamn window. You're putting new pillows in. Get it together. I don't remember Maya crying about change for half an hour when Riley dyed everything in the room black that one time in Yearbook. The child acting was awful. Unwatchable, even. I understood what they were trying to do...but nothing worked. At all.
ReplyDeleteI choose to believe that this episode didn't happen, it was just 20 minutes of static and it occasionally cut back in for the Lucas jokes.
The child acting was so bad, it made me miss Auggie. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, they started singing. I had to mute it to even make it through the episode.
DeleteThe title was enough to drive me away from this one.
ReplyDelete"Girl Meets One of the Things That Christian and Sean Criticize Most"
DeleteStay tuned next week for "Girl Meets Lucas' Lack of Character Depth" and then for the season 3 premiere: "Girl Meets God It's Sure Been a While Since We've Seen Eric or Shawn."
when is Girl Meets The GOP
Delete"Girl Meets Mr. Feeny Gives Cory Big-Boy Detention Forever For Being A Terrible Teacher."
DeleteI remember there being buildup to "Bay Window" like it was going to be an episode that advances the narrative along.
ReplyDeleteThen I watched it. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. There was no substance, it was more Poor Maya moaning about her dad running off. I've been waiting since Texas for this episode and we got a goose egg. They are starting to lose me now.
Plus they showed future Miley. While future Maya was bombin' I was disgusted that they showed were the girls ended up. That dissolves ANY conflict in episodes going forward because we see them end up fine as future selves.
I understand you don't think it's canonical but I beg to differ. The writers didn't know if the show was cancelled at this point...so they put the adults in to show that friendship perseveres. Heck even if season 3 was greenlit they know the show won't see the girls go to college...so my point still stands. We saw the future selves. There was no mention by the girls that this was their vision.
After all they were interacting with their younger selves when they saw the adult selves. since the show established the younger selves could
meet older selves...there is no question that the girls that the girls also met their adult selves.
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh pretty sure you misspelled future Riley.
DeleteMiley - Maya combined with Riley. I was talking about both. Or Raya of you will.
Delete"while future Maya was bombin"
Delete"Plus they showed future Miley. While future Maya was bombin' I was disgusted that they showed were the girls ended up. That dissolves ANY conflict in episodes going forward because we see them end up fine as future selves."
DeleteI don't disagree. This was the weakest part of the episode, because it eliminates any future stakes. But there is hope, I think.
When I was in the Honors College, we discussed string theory and quantum physics. I wasn't that strong in the STEMs, but the gist is that if we accept multiple timelines and dimensions, there could be any number of worlds.
Sure there is the World we're watching Riley meet right now, but there could be a World where Riley has a one-year-older brother named Elliot instead of a seven-year-younger brother named Auggie. Or a World where Stuart Minkus developed time travel.
So, maybe, just maybe, the Future-Riley and Future-Maya we just saw won't be OUR Future-Riley and Future-Maya.
LOL I was referring to Maya at that point. She was looking good. But it was late and I was tired, so sorry for the mixup.
DeleteThat aside...I'm just upset that Bay Window still conveniently avoided the events of Texas and New Years. I mean what is going on?!?
I'm not going to buy that in some future episode they all of the sudden get upset about the Lucas situation again. You can't just drop plot point in Bay Window after the prior FOUR EPISODES dedicated to it. Yes they paid lip service to it, but it didn't move along in any way. This lack of consistency is really starting to get on my nerves.
I think the gist is that they're actually going out of their way to avoid talking about the New Year. Which is a pain, I agree.
DeleteNow, I actually like New Year a lot by itself, but the out of order episodes do weaken it.
Matt, they didn't completely avoid the triangle stuff. If you listen to the dialogue closely when the core 4 are talking Lucas says to the girls (paraphrasing) "You two are important to me ... in ways you'll eventually let me know". It's clear that as they approach graduation the whole Riley/Maya/Lucas thing is still going on. And Lucas still hasn't grown a spine.
DeleteI do not care what they do to end this:
DeleteSend Lucas off to military school, have him grow a spine and say "Enough!", have there be a schism that makes the girls and Farkle not want to be his friend, banish him to the Other Side Of the School, squish him with a Megazord that Minkus designed.
I want Lucas the Boring off the show.
Well that being said, here's my other beef with how this show is written. Sean has even mentioned it many times. They drop bombs and don't show how they are resolved.
DeleteAt the end of New Year's Farkle dropped a bomb at the end of the episode. Then you see the Lucas, Maya and Riley sit together.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT!??! That was mega-awkward...and now we are at Bay Window, the first show after this event in the timeline...and there is nothing about how that huge issue got resolved. That was a big deal. It was treated as a cliff-hanger and then it's ignored. At least BMW resolved these things as they occurred and didn't just drop the ball.
Eh I know I'm still on the same subject, but I had such high hopes for Bay Window...and we got nothing.
"Well that being said, here's my other beef with how this show is written. Sean has even mentioned it many times. They drop bombs and don't show how they are resolved."
DeleteYeah, that is a problem. "Texas 2" picked up only a couple hours at the most from the bomb dropping, but the issues after "New Year" have lingered for a long time.
If I could hazard a guess as to why this is happening, I've got nothing.
I mean, maybe Disney wants this show to remain as re-run easy as possible, with episodes being watched in any order, so serialization isn't really a thing. That's darn near a constant for most slice-of-life shows across a lot of networks.
But a lot of the filler episodes just don't hold up very well because they feel so disjointed. When is Hollywood going to realize that fans LIKE continuity and LOVE serialization?
I agree with you Cryptid that it probably has to do with the ability to rerun the episode with minimal effort. My problem then becomes, Jacobs KNOWS that's what Disney wants..and Disney KNOWS the kind of show Jacobs is trying to create. They are on different chapters of different books...and the show is suffering.
DeleteTying GMW to Disney is killing what I think could be a REAL follow-up to BMW with real substance. I've seen glimpses of what this show could be through the last two seasons. However, somewhere along the way Disney really pulled back on the reigns and isn't letting the show be what I think Jacobs envisioned when he went to create it. It's sad and it's going to cause fans to drop off before season three.
I've been loyal to this show, but unless graduation pulls through and makes some meaningful use of it's 22 minutes...I won't be sticking around for season three. There's nothing left to watch if the girls are just going to ignore things as they happen to them.
The thing is, Disney Channel came to Jacobs and said "We want to re-boot Boy Meets World."
DeleteJacbos said "What? Why? The syndication is doing just fine. I like what we did."
Jacobs came back to Disney and said "What if we did it with Cory's daughter?"
The rest is history. Apparently the show underwent creative changes after the pilot was filmed. They dropped Riley's brother Elliot and apparently took away Cory's backbone.
I'm loyal to this show, because I'm loyal to Michael Jacobs.
When this show is good, "Pluto," "Yearbook," "Texas," it's easily network quality. But when it isn't good, it shows.
hey sean if you do not surrender I wil keep fighting until you delete what you wrote in your review of raging cory you know the part where you wrote that riley is cory maya is shawn lucas is Topanga farkle is minkus you have to delete that part because carly was cory sam shawn Freddie Topanga gibby minkus first
DeleteI think the fear of changing and separating from your friends exist more when you're about to go to college or when one of your closest friends is moving somewhere else. Crying about a bay window's appearance is ridiculous and pointless. Also, why are they crying now? Riley and Maya know they're gonna be together in highschool. No one's leaving, there's nothing life-changing, at least for now.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen you in quite some time, Warrior96. Welcome back.
DeleteI wouldn't count high school out as a way for friends to separate.
Speaking for myself, when Shipping and I were in middle school, half the class went on to the local regular high school and the other half went on to the local prep school. After graduation, such that it was, kids were distraught at the prospect of leaving each other. And I have to say, there are only two people who went to the city school whom I am currently in touch with.
And in the film "Stand By Me," Chris had figured that Gordie would eventually stop being his friend after the latter went on to take AP courses while he took shop courses.
So the conflict is definitely not too contrived at face value, at least in my opinion.
Cryptid456-"And in the film "Stand By Me," Chris had figured that Gordie would eventually stop being his friend after the latter went on to take AP courses while he took shop courses."
DeleteThat's exactly why I thought Maya was so worried. I was surprised she didn't do a better job of saying that.
What the actual F***? This is the kind of emotion I'd expect in a series finale or when someone is moving away, not REDECORATING! This was pointless.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought she'd remove the seats and put a work table there or sth.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I like to think that the new bay window design is so similar the old one because Riley went a step towards Maya. Like, maybe she wanted to get rid of the cushions but in stead got a bit more grown up looking ones. The thing that doesn't make sense about the window (apart from what you already mentioned) is that they ruined the walls around it in the middle of the episode. I think you could see bare bricks. How? Why? Why weren't the parents more upset and how did they fix it? I guess it was for a more dramatic effect, but it's just weird.
I actually think there's a fourth brother: Aaron Jacobs.
ReplyDeleteWell....I didn't hate it. Maybe it's because "Commonism" used up too much of my anger. Or my desire to say bad words.
Yeah, this one wasn't great. But I didn't hate it. I'm a sap guys. When Shipping and I were in high school together, I watched Hallmark Channel. A LOT. 7th Heaven, Touched By An Angel, Little House on the Prairie. Those were my bread and butter throughout my high school years.
So yeah, I am a sap.
Functionally, I actually find it akin to the clip-show episodes that air right before the final battles begin in every season of "Power Rangers." Those were never particularly good. But "Power Rangers" is awesome. Usually. Except for Operation Overdrive and the Nickelodeon seasons. But Time Force is awesome. And on Netflix. :D
Not much is good here, I admit. I'm not a big fan of how Farkle met the girls. It's kind of cute, but I don't know. For one thing, we didn't learn how Farkle wound up going to school with them, because he certainly doesn't appear to be in their class or even their school in the flashback.
A better thing to do, I think, would have Farkle be the new kid and have Riley be the only one who doesn't laugh at his name when the teacher introduces him to the class. It provides a reason for Farkle to actually "be in 'love' with Riley since the first grade" and gives a good foundation for Riley's character.
Instead, Farkle saves her when she was bobbing for apples. Uh oh. Guys, remember how Cory and Topanga met in Origin Story 3? When Topanga rescued Cory after he got stuck on the monkey bars?
I didn't have much of a problem with Maya running away from her yelling parents, but I do recall that in "World of Terror 1," Maya was offended that Riley was afraid of the poorer neighborhood. And Riley sitting in her room singing to herself...why couldn't she just be having a tea party with Beary the Bear-Bear? Riley singing to herself just seems off...and why on earth was there a baby monitor?
There was a mis-step, I think, in flashing back to Riley being afraid of change with Baby Auggie. While the anxiety makes sense, and certainly sounds better coming from a seven-ish year old Riley than it did from a teenaged daughter on "Good Luck Charlie," I don't know why Mrs. Svorski was said to be the babysitter. "Gravity" firmly established that Riley barely knew her. You couldn't have Grandpa Alan and Grandma Amy babysit? Or at least Uncle Eric?
More to the point, if they want to emphasize change can be a good thing, why on earth wasn't Present-Day Auggie in this episode? Riley adores her little brother. Why mention she didn't want him at first, if we're not going to see that she changed her mind (Probably three seconds after her parents brought him home)?
The biggest flaw is the Present-kids meeting their Past and Future selves. I didn't even mind the singing number, since it was pretty much said outright to be an imagine spot. I'm very forgiving of Imagine Spots.
But I didn't like the future-Riley and future-Maya. Their acting was mediocre, and I am being VERY generous saying that. And their reveal...Maya's getting a fellowship at Soho, for art. That's not bad--I know very little about NYC but Soho's big in the arts, isn't it? As for Riley...we know nothing! Again! I heard a rumor that there were lines that originally indicated that Riley was planning on grad school. Which would have been excellent. But since we didn't hear that, we don't know.
Grade: B-
I ragged on it a lot, but like I said, I'm a sap
Awesome Scene of Awesome: It wasn't exactly Awesome, but Farkle coming through the Window and going off about random scientific trivia was good. I agree with Sean; Science Farkle is fun.
Really Cryptid, you'd let Uncle Eric babysit? Cory may be a bad teacher and he and Topanga may not be Alan and Amy as parents, but they have more smarts than that.
DeleteAnd just because Riley doesn't really know Mrs. Svorski doesn't mean they had never met. Let's face it when she died she was about 80 and Riley was 13. So if she was watching 6 year old Riley, do you really think little kids (other than Auggie) are going to become friends with a very old woman who isn't related to them?
"Really Cryptid, you'd let Uncle Eric babysit? Cory may be a bad teacher and he and Topanga may not be Alan and Amy as parents, but they have more smarts than that."
DeleteTwo words for you, 1960. Uncle. Daddy. Eric is fantastic with small children.
Also, if Topanga was involved in her daughter's life as an actual role model, I have little doubt Topanga would have squashed Rucas flat halfway through Season One.
Fair point about Svorski, but the impression I got in "Meets Popular" was that Topanga only knew her through Auggie in the first place. Then again, i haven't seen "Meets Popular" recently, so I may be remembering wrong.
I do realize that Eric and Tommy were great together, but I also feel that I still wouldn't take a chance with my children with Eric. He is as likely to set the apartment on fire as he is to take care of them well. Just my opinion, but as you know I don't hide my disdain for "idiot Eric" the character.
DeleteAnd you should be absolutely welcome to have that opinion. I love Eric Matthews, but I can understand why a lot of people don't. (Curse you, Season 7, curse you!)
DeleteCryptid456-"A better thing to do, I think, would have Farkle be the new kid and have Riley be the only one who doesn't laugh at his name when the teacher introduces him to the class. It provides a reason for Farkle to actually "be in 'love' with Riley since the first grade" and gives a good foundation for Riley's character" I like this version much better than what actually aired.
DeleteI was very happy with the way Maya and Riley first met. I think the baby monitor was there to show how protective Corey was of her.
I found the idea of Uncle Eric babysitting young Riley terrifying and wonderful at the same time.
Yeah, I mentally checked out when their first flashback took an entire scene. Not good. I did actually skip that whole flashback with Maya running away from home. After reading this, it seems like there might have been some actual story in there, but I don't want to go back and watch.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is too early to put this kind of emotion into it. I don't care enough about these characters to cry about them. This episode did have a series/season finale feel to it, so maybe that's why they had so much crying.
This show is just missing something to make it decent. I'm not sure what it is, but even the first season of Boy Meets World had more heart than this. Honesty, the only good episodes they've done (imo) was the cafeteria one and anything that Shawn was in. Everything else was just typically Disney Channel shennannigans.
I used to enjoy reading this blog, but you two seem to have become so negative about the show. I've seen praise for this episode on Twitter and Tumblr. It seems to be a lot of people's new favorite episode, but I just knew you guys were going to end up hating it. If you really didn't enjoy this episode, I should go ahead and let you know that Michael Jacobs has said that this is one of his favorite episodes of this season.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI cant edit that comment on my phone, but I just checked the GMW Writers Twitter (run by Michael Jacobs) and he said,I quote "Bay Window may be my favorite episode of the series. A wonderful story of growing up with a friend"
DeleteOkay, just because Sean and Christian are more critical of an episode does not mean their opinions are any less valid than the fans on Twitter and Tumblr.
DeleteI can understand why Michael Jacobs is so fond of this episode--he's the producer of the show. This is his show, he's literally watched the actors grow up. In an episode that is heavy on flashbacks, it makes perfect sense for the cast and crew to be especially attached to it.
Now, I would like to hear other opinions. What did you think of this episode?
Honestly, I'm with Sean and Christian. And this is coming from someone who used to think they were being too hard on the show (last year idk). I might sound crazy, but when I saw Riley and Maya crying at the end I kind of just rolled my eyes because: (1) this isn't the end (2) where are they going LOL. (3) I could care less about Maya... I didn't even like Forgiveness... and simply, (4) it was too early for this. This would've made sense for a high school-to-college transition. But, they're going from middle school to high school and they're crying about change/drifting apart? What? And you know that cringeworthy dialogue they often give to the teens? They gave the same type to LITTLE KIDS.
DeleteI probably have more to say, but this is all I remember for now.
OUAT15, please remember that Sean and Christian are doing CRITICAL REVIEWS of the episodes, not the PR that news sites or a lot of fans are doing.
DeleteWe all like the series as a whole or we wouldn't be here, but if you really liked this episode then you must be a lot closer to the 13 year old girls they wrote this for then the adults that comment and chat on this board. While this isn't the worst thing they have written (the writers) it isn't close to the best. It seemed to be a way for the writers to get the targeted demographic (8-14 year old girls) to enjoy the show again for the first time in several months WITHOUT actually doing anything to resolve the issue that is causing the fans to have all their angst - the triangle.
I have to say that even for those of us that like the series this episode will probably age badly. While we will look back on other episodes and forgive some things that went on, the unrealistic dialogue here and the awful child acting is just unforgivable. The few scenes where it was just the core 4 or them and Cory and Topanga were acceptable. The rest made me think that the Claymation stuff from "World of Terror 2" wasn't so bad after all.
"
DeleteI have to say that even for those of us that like the series this episode will probably age badly. While we will look back on other episodes and forgive some things that went on, the unrealistic dialogue here and the awful child acting is just unforgivable. The few scenes where it was just the core 4 or them and Cory and Topanga were acceptable. The rest made me think that the Claymation stuff from "World of Terror 2" wasn't so bad after all."
I actually did like Topanga taking Beary the Bear-Bear and the boot and advising Riley to put them in a box for safe-keeping. Had that been a bigger part of the episode, I'd have enjoyed it much more.
Michael Jacobs also said season 7 eric was his favorite, so I don't feel too bad about being at odds with him on this.
DeleteI genuinely want to know what you liked about this one, OUAT. I want to like it, I want to be sad when Maya is sad, but there was nothing for me to grab on to.
Also, I appreciate the defense everyone. I'm glad you guys don't think we're just picking on a kids' show here. We're not Full House Reviewed.
DeleteWait, you don't consider GMW a kid's show? BMW was not, but I think GMW is. I'm twentysomething and I can still still enjoy and relate to an old BMW ep, but when I watch this show, I feel so old. I don't feel like the show, and it's jokes, are at all targeted at me. Comparatively, the show seems very childish and juvenile. The fact that it's on a kid network doesn't help. Is that just me?
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DeleteLord knows we've had our disagreements Sean, but I am not about to sit back and let somebody accuse you of just hating the show.
DeleteAlso, Anonymous. Yeah, I consider GMW a kid's show, but that's not entirely because it's on Disney.
The humor is about the same as Season 7, heavy on slapstick and not much on wit.
As to relating to this show: It does feel tied to the 2010s a lot more than BMW felt tied to the 90s, but a huge part of that is how the adults are portrayed. Feeny's competence aside, I don't know if Cory's had a plot of his own that wasn't tied to his kids. Topanga had the identity crisis back in "Popular," but that's not saying much.
On the whole, yes, this is definitely a kid's show. But there is hope. Season 3 will be here soon. Change is acoming. If nothing else, they're not going to be in a neon-colored school.
I consider it a kids' show. My point was that we aren't just here to bash on it.
DeleteSean. Christian.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite review you've done by far.
I didn't like this episode at all. I agree with Sean that I do not give two fucks about the fucking bay window. What happened here that is so important? Riley's breakdown in Rileytown....and Shawn saying he'll be there for Maya. Jesus H. Christ, writers. That is NOT enough. The classroom in BMW is self-explanatory and Chubbies was in almost every episode and a ton of shit happened there.
I also agree with Christian. Here's how the opening should have played out. I would have Riley already halfway down with remodeling the bay window.
Riley: Maya, I'm redecorating.
Maya: Bitch, you can't do that without my permission. After all, I'm the most popular cast member.
Riley; Bullshit, it's my room. You don't even live here.
Maya: That's not fair. I have a shitty life.
Riley: Boo fucking hoo. Uncle Shawn never complained this much and his life was way worse.
That said, I didn't like the flashbacks at all. The kid who played Farkle looks like a blonde Harry Potter. And he cannot act out a paper bag. Neither could baby Riley or Maya. The musical number was idiotic. Poor Peyton Meyer for putting up with that shit.
Now, the second half of the episode-the flash forward, the kids meeting their past and future selves? It was boring, more than anything else. I just didn't care and it's kinda creepy that Riley/Maya in the future are still attached at the hip.
Sean, I will fight you for Adult Riley.
Episode Grade...C-. It's' not as "Dafuq did I just watch?" bad as Fish, Tower of Terror, Belief or Commonism. But it's still plenty bad.
MVP: No MVP. I'll give a shout out to Sabrina Carpenter but the writers can't keep making the kids cry in every other episode. It loses its emotional impact. The original cast didn't cry unless...you know, something really shitty happened. Like moving. Or death.
"Riley: Maya, I'm redecorating.
DeleteMaya: Bitch, you can't do that without my permission. After all, I'm the most popular cast member.
Riley; Bullshit, it's my room. You don't even live here.
Maya: That's not fair. I have a shitty life.
Riley: Boo fucking hoo. Uncle Shawn never complained this much and his life was way worse."
Beautiful.
"I'll give a shout out to Sabrina Carpenter but the writers can't keep making the kids cry in every other episode. It loses its emotional impact." This!!!!! This is why I don't care about Maya anymore!!!! All she does is verbally "cry" (ok, "whine") about her not-even-bad-at-all life and when she DOES cry... I don't care. I'm sorry.
Let's see Lucas cry. I might actually care for that.
The kids have cried in "Forgiveness," "Rileytown," "Texas 3" and apparently here, even though I didn't notice. Maya sounded more to me like she did in "Master Plan." On the verge of tears, but not actively crying.
DeleteI still like Maya, but I have to say that this entire love triangle weakens her character. I hate how Riley defines herself almost entirely by Lucas, and I don't want that for Maya either. I'm sick to death of Lucas.
Really, just get rid of Lucas and let us watch Riley, Maya and Farkle Meet the World.
Also, I forgot. Riley apparently shed a tear for Pluto, and then again for the people who live on $2 a day, but I didn't mind that. For teenagers complaining about their lives, that really is jarring, even if it isn't going to stick.
DeleteLittle Farkle actually reminded me of Jonathan Lipnicki when he was younger ("Stuart Little" and "The Little Vampire" years).
DeleteFIGHT for her? How bout a DUEL?!
DeleteAnd yeah. You nailed it about the crying. At this point we're just expecting it, it's not special anymore. I'll be surprised if none of them choke up during the graduation.
Also, thanks for the kind words. I'm happy with this one too.
A duel?!
DeleteSo I suppose I'm going to be Shipping's second, aren't I?
Where did I put my tetsubo?
Come on guys, don't talk about Mrs. Sandwich like that.
DeleteMrs. Sandwich?!
DeleteBen, I thought we were friends. When was the wedding? I'd have gotten you a bread box.
Sorry for not inviting you, but if that's the gift I think I'm relieved. A bread box? Do I look like my brother, Bread Sandwich?
DeleteThe breadbox was solid gold.
DeleteAnd you're asking an identical twin whether or not two siblings look alike?
Delete:D
Sean, I accept your duel. Do you prefer Yugioh or Pokemon?
Deletei think girls tend to cry or get more emotional than boys cause cory shawn or eric never cried that much on boy meets world
DeleteAnother way to look at it..
DeleteBMW Cast: Fuck yeah, we're growing up!!!
GMW Cast: Fuck. We're growing up.
Sounds like we're too late, Shipping. I'm not willing to kill both you AND sandwich.
DeleteI kinda liked it. But, I'm not proud of that.
ReplyDeleteFor as much as I ragged on it, Milestones, I actually sort of enjoyed it too. I gave it a B-.
DeleteYou're among friends, here.
aw come on milestones, you gotta be more specific
DeleteSpecifics? Well, a generality first: I watch GMW because I like GMW, some recent episodes notwithstanding. I wouldn’t say Bay Window, or anything within it, epitomized GMW, but I found it more idiomatic of the show I know and occasionally love than anything I have seen in awhile.
DeleteI watched this episode differently than I have watched some others. When the show takes as its subject matter something real that I care about, or even know something about, science, religion, the Soviet Union even, my critical thinking mechanisms become fully engaged, and I invariably find much with which to take issue. If it were socially acceptable, and I had more spare time, I would still be in the Belief or Commonism comment section, ranting away.
A 14-year-old girl’s emotional attachment to drapes and upholstery? I shrug and go with it. And if Rowan Blanchard and Sabrina Carpenter sell the shit out of it, I buy in.
It helped that, whatever the show’s intention, I took it as being less about the décor change than about Riley’s wanting to make the change and identified it with other times Maya was distressed over disturbances in her relationship with Riley.
It really helped that they underlined Maya’s sense of safety. That landed. I have no trouble believing that she would still be affected by her abandonment, even if her mom’s current boyfriend is kind and generous. And Shawn, like much of her support system, is there via Riley.
It helped that I have always accepted the bay window as a thing. It doesn’t mean anything to me per se. But I buy that it means something to them. And if they are doing stuff in the bay window, that means we get Riley and Maya interacting with each other, and these two characters and their relationship are why I watch GMW. (Well that, and Katy.)
They also threw in some good stuff for Lucas. In addition to liking the bit with the photos, I continue to find at least some humour in Lucas’ lack of influence over the resolution of the dreaded Triangle.
So, for me, instead of an uphill battle, this was GMW’s game to lose. Of course, they almost did. But I did like young Farkle’s justifiable humiliation over his name.
"It really helped that they underlined Maya’s sense of safety. That landed. I have no trouble believing that she would still be affected by her abandonment, even if her mom’s current boyfriend is kind and generous. And Shawn, like much of her support system, is there via Riley."
DeleteAnd with that, Milestones1958 has won the argument defending this episode. Whatever your profession is that currently has you so busy, Miles, you'd make one heck of an analysis.
Have a cookie, Milestones.
I understand the concept they were selling, but it was the ridiculous dialogue they were using to try to sell it that didn't do it for me. That and that musical number. I had less issues with the Halloween party and the first meeting though if the present kids were using stupid dialogue then the first graders speech was like they were aliens.
DeleteI give the writers a lot of leeway for their ideas here but it seemed like their native language wasn't English and they used a bad translation app to get the script into English.
1960—to be sure, there was all kinds of bad stuff in this episode. I don’t expect this one will survive repetition especially well. I certainly didn’t mean to suggest that those who didn’t like it, which seems to be the vast majority around here, just didn’t understand. I was just spelling out why I kinda, sorta liked it.
DeleteCryptid, thanks. I think I will be able to check in for Legacy. If Season 3 starts airing before May, I probably won’t be saying a whole lot about those episodes.
Milestones - I agree that there was both good and bad here. To me at least, the bad just outweighed the good. Also season 3 is set to premiere on June 3rd with Meets High School Part 1 and Part 2 on June 5th, at least here in the States.
DeleteYeah, on paper the ways the kids meet are fine. I mean, Maya ran away from home and the girls met Farkle at a Halloween party.
DeleteReally, that seems to be very common with this show, some bad and some good. Usually, the bad comes in the third act.
Speaking for myself, I'm willing to forgive bad in the first or second act if the third act is good.
So they're not going to do a five-episodes-in-a-row. Fine by me. I just want the episodes to be good. I've heard the first seven episodes are going to be big.
Seven episodes in this year we got "Rules," which frankly feels like a lifetime ago.
This episode was terrible. Why does everyone love Sabrina? Why is this show more about Maya than it is Riley? Why is Maya always throwing her crap life into everyone's face to make them feel sorry for her but act like she doesn't want the attention?
ReplyDeleteThe kids were terrible.
I liked present-day Farkle and Riley. I know everyone wants nerds Farkle back, but I find it interesting to see how his character deals with trying to mature without losing himself but still being "cool" and likeable.
Maya was unbearable with her refusal to change. Yes, it was Riley's conscious decision to change and that's her right! It's HER room and HER life. So what if she wants to totally rearrange? So what if she feels like changing everything up will help her prepare for high school? Good for her! It's like she wants to grow up but Maya's instability won't allow her. Seriously, every time Maya spoke this episode, my eyes rolled so hard. It was cringeworthy.
All that being said, I can't find rating that appropriately describes this episode, so I will go with F+... the plus because Farkle and Riley are my homies.
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DeleteNah, I'm good with this Farkle. Old Farkle should be locked away in an asylum.
DeleteI feel like Maya is turning into a one trick pony. Well two trick.
DeleteHer schtick is either "I am dumb at school...let me show you how funny that is" or "GAHWAHHHH! My dad abandoned me...and even though I settled it now with him...I'm going to bring it up ANYTIME something rocks my little unstable boat. Because it's a hard knock life."
I had sympathy for her character, but now she's starting to just appear whiny and needy. She's also becoming a drag and/or limiter to Riley's ambitions. Riley keeps trying to get moving and grow up. Yet Maya is forcing Riles to drag her along kicking and screaming throughout the process. It really doesn't seem like a friendship now as much as a charity case.
Maya has the capability to be way more dynamic, like Shawn was but the writers keep refusing to expand her character. While Maya may show growth at the end of an episode, by the next one she's back to form. She hasn't expanded herself. She's back to whining about the same things. It's not realistic at all.
I don't think there's a soul on God's green earth that wants to see Old Farkle again. Turtlenecks can come back, because turtlenecks are awesome, but "Laaaaaaaaaadies" Farkle can stay far away.
Deletenew farkle is better, but that doesn't say much
DeleteOh, Sean. I meant to mention this way back in "Money."
DeleteI actually think the Wise Sage Farkle might be a bit of an act. I think he's trying to re-invent himself again, though not to the degree of Donnie Barnes. But since he's not the POV character, it's not sticking well.
But I'd take New Farkle every day of the week over Bucky McBoring.
I want to lead off this review by saying Michael Jacobs should thank his lucky stars that Sabrina Carpenter and Rowan Blanchard are on this show. They proved in this episode they can make shitty, heavy-handed writing at least palatable. They are good, very good, at what they do despite the writers insistence on giving them crap to work with. Now on to this episode.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I understand that in the show the Bay Window is the center of their "World" so to speak. And, some legitimately good moments have taken place there. However, it doesn't hold that kind of special feeling for me. And that's the problem. They want us to care that the characters care, and not care because we care. And that's a fatal flaw for any TV show. Why someone like Jacobs doesn't get this is astounding to me. I will say here that Josh Jacobs needs to step away from his writing duties. He's awful.
I'll say here that I am not going to comment on any of the flashback scenes. They were all varying degrees of bad. Just utter tripe. Disasters from the word go.
The stuff with Lucas has reached a breaking point. I give all the props in the world to Peyton Meyer for dealing with the BS in this episode, and did find some of his stuff funny. However, we need to do something with this kid. He's downing in horrible writing and character development. DO something with him. Please! End this triangle so that way we can tell a new story with him. Or else, just cut him from the show.
I have to believe this was the last episode filmed of S2, and they had no clue they were going to get a S3 cause Rowan and Sabrina were not just cry acting, they were sobbing! Like they just got hit by a emotion train. And like Cryptid, I'm a total sap as well, so it ended up almost making me cry. Which means it worked for me. Sorry guys.
Oh, and I get that Maya has daddy issues. And I get that is scarring for many young girls/women many whom never get over them. Yet, it's becoming Maya's crutch on this show. That needs fixed, now. People are already hating on the character. The second you start hating the characters, you lose everything that your trying to do.
Episode Grade C+ Was it as good as the writers and Jacobs made it out to be? No. What made it good indecently might have just been when it was filmed and the girls reaction that they might not get to do a S3. That was where the real emotion was in this episode, not the Bay Window.
Episode MVP(s)- Rowan Blanchard and Sabrina Carpenter. They made this episode work. As they have with so many others. They are almost too good for the stuff they're given.
Valid comments. I definitely overlooked the idea that this was filmed before they knew they had a season 3, and that almost certainly played into it. With that in mind, I can forgive a few things.
DeleteJust curious but was "Bay Window" the end of Season 2? I was under the impression Graduation was the last episode? Or is that considered the start of Season 3?
Delete"Bay Window" was the last filmed, even though "Legacy" is the season finale.
DeleteSame thing happened last year, "Master Plan" was filmed last, I think it was partially due to Rider and Cheryl's availability, even though "First Date" is the actual finale.
Where are you getting this info?
DeleteDisney has the production codes listed here:
http://www.disneyabcpress.com/disneychannel/shows/girl-meets-world/episodes/
It lists "The New Year" as #229. I'm positive #230 is "Legacy" (we'll see at the end of the month when the code is released).
It does, however, list "Money" and "The Bay Window" as both #226--one of them has to be #228 since no episode has that code.
Legacy was filmed last this season Cryptid. After they finished they did the cast wrap picture that was online and included Smackle and Charlie and Zay, that's how we know they are in the episode. Money was filmed in between Texas 2 and 3 due to Mark Cuban's availability. "Bay Window" was the last episode filmed before a live audience though.
DeleteAs for everyone saying they weren't sure this was getting season 3, please, they knew. Dog with a Blog had ended, I Didn't Do It was already cancelled, Jessie had ended and Austin and Ally was ending in January. Everyone knew there was no way Disney was going into 2016 having Liv and Maddie being the only show not in season 1 (Bunk'd, Best Friends and KCU are all still in season 1). Disney had just not made the official announcement. Jacobs himself had said during the summer that they were sure they would start season 3 in January.
DeleteIt seems more likely to me that they were crying because that's what teenage girls do when they watch/listen to this sappy stuff. Not a great mystery of the universe.
I would believe that if it was just that if it was just the regular crying we see on TV, like we got earlier from Riley in "Rileytown". Yet, it wasn't. That looked like honest emotion from both girls. Nothing in that scene called for what we saw. Could it be a classic case of overacting? Maybe. I just don't believe it was. Now, I'm probably wrong, which would shock no one.
Deletegirl meets legacy wasn't filmed in front of a live audience. i cant wait for that episode cause morgan is gonna be in it :)
DeleteHere's every GMW episode from both seasons in production order if anyone wants it.
Deletehttps://anotepad.com/note/read/h4gpn9
And I ironically made this list for my own benefit before I saw you guys talking about it here.
It's literally sad what their doing to the Maya charecter, personally with Shawn what worked for him was that whenever they would do a storyline with him involving his family issues it was both relatable and realistic, with Maya it's not. If they want me to care about that storyline, stick to it and make it more believeable.
ReplyDeleteI watched the episode live and honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as the reaction here suggests. I would say B-minus/C-plus territory, but I still have an unbiased review to write so I'm definitely going to watch it again.
ReplyDeleteI will say that the ending was ridiculous, and not in a good way.
Christian, in regards to Topanga having a memory that she wasn't even present for, my guess was that Cory told her what Riley and Maya said or told her about the situation at one point or another.
ReplyDeleteThe real star of the episode were the arms on Lucas...does he purposely flex all the time?
ReplyDeleteI also thought the topanga and Cory's flashback was going to be them moving to New York because she struggled with accepting things would change so that was a disappointment.
ReplyDeleteI started a long review, essentially touching on everything that everyone in here is stating as to why it didn't work and at times was borderline horrible. However, I had a few minutes to kill before heading out earlier so I, rather impulsively, decided to re-watch, but skip over all the flashback stuff with the exception of the last scene.
ReplyDeleteThe fascinating takeaway is that the last five minutes had a MUCH stronger emotional impact on me without all the noise and silliness of the just-kid portions. This is not to say that I now think it was a good episode or even that I think those last five minutes and bumper were perfect, because they weren't ... but they at least got me to feel and emote, which they did not on first watch.
The one thing that I will reiterate from essentially almost all of you is that, yes, the show just hadn't earned this moment. It was way too soon. That coupled with, probably more importantly, poor execution really tarnished what could have been a beautiful piece of television. Because, what worked for me on second watch was primarily the dialogue. I could look past the absurdity of them somehow holding their former selves in their arms, because I was connecting with the message. You write it well enough and then all of a sudden the absurdity of them holding their younger selves in their arms actually enhances the message.
I think the writing staff was very much going for an "Inside Out" type of deal and it would have been successful if the first 17 minutes could have fleshed out the last five. And that is not just to poke at how cringe-worthy some of the stuff with the kids was. Riley's motive for wanting to change the scenery should have been more well-established. I give the show credit for liking to dive right into the plot, but don't do it just to do it. An inciting incident would have made both her and Maya's actions feel more legitimate and given the audience more of a reason to latch on.
All in all, far from the season's best, but I could see myself going back to that last little portion every and again. It is frustrating though, the elements I liked could have been the whole episode, this staff is capable. I continue to hope that S3 is the real turning point. Maybe I'm just a dope though.
Also, future Maya appeared to be 35 to future (SMOKING) Riley's 24. And I rule not cannon.
The past/present/future interactions can't be cannon. The only cannon here is the Bay Window itself.
DeleteCory's yellow hoodie in the flashback makes the episode worthwhile.
ReplyDeletehaha yeah i was listening to the boy meets world commentary from the boxset and they were talking about how they went through this hood phase where thats all cory wore in the early seasons. he did wear a red hoodie in one episode of season 7 boy meets world.
DeleteThat's hilarious, I totally missed that
DeleteIt's the same hoodie that Cory's mom gets for both him and Shawn in Home, and Shawn thinks it's dorky but Cory comes down the stairs wearing it slightly unzipped all proud and shit
Deletei love that episode
DeleteWhen someone posted pictures from this episode a while ago, i wanted to comment something along the lines of, "Little Riley's actress just LOOKS like a kid whose lines will be impossible to understand." Glad to know that judging by this review, I was right.
ReplyDeleteI kind of get why Riley would want to change her window space- not it specifically, but change something physical. Isn't it a control thing that teenage girls do when they feel they can't control things? They kept saying, "change your hair" which is, also, a thing that's done- but more concerning.
ReplyDeleteI mean, Riley said it herself, it's a little girl's Bay Window with its cutesy purples and oranges and what-nots. She's not fighting with her best friend over a boy, but i'd wager she wants to. And that the boy may prefer Maia, who's not as little girl cutesy, probably gives her pause. Then there's high school (which, looking back, is nothing to sweat; but looking forward to, is rather daunting).
So, i agree with the sentiment of wanting to "tear down" her window. (Note, even the wording is telling. She's getting rid of it. Never calls it redecorating).
I didn't care for the flashbacks.
Thank-you, Luc, for acknowledging that they keep making decisions about who you should be, without consulting your opinion on the matter.
Oh Gods! Someone make Cory a guidance counsellor, Dean of discipline or a school Social Worker, already.
While i like the 'air' of this new Farkle... i get what ( was it Sean?) meant about nothing phasing him. They need shake him up a bit.
If this was the episode the writers and directors hyped up, what crapfest is coming in Graduation?
"While i like the 'air' of this new Farkle... i get what ( was it Sean?) meant about nothing phasing him. They need shake him up a bit."
DeletePart of it is I think Farkle having a toned down Donnie Barnes vibe to him. Barnes wasn't afraid of anything and went with the flow. Part of being Teenaged Cool is not reacting to things.
But I agree. It'd be nice to see Farkle get a little more to do. Bring back Isadora and let them play off each other. That's always fun.
Holy SHIT did you guys see the kid in the shark costume during the first flashback
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! There was a kid in one of those Super Bowl Shark costumes.
DeleteMan, they were pressed for costumes.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWHAT?! How did I miss that! That's amazing
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ReplyDeleteI liked the adult sequences. However, while the casting was good for adult Riley, adult Maya -- well, they definitely chose a lady who *looked* a lot like Maya's mom, but the (very good) actress lacked Sabrina Carpenter's incandescent megawatt charm -- admittedly, a very tough thing to mimic.
ReplyDeleteI've given it some thought guys and I think I realized why the Bay Window doesn't feel quite so special as they want it to be.
ReplyDeleteIt's too over-saturated.
The locations in Boy Meets World all had their own unique feel.
Chubbie's was a huge set allowing for longer conversations that were often informal, but could be intimate. Cory and Shawn had most of their conversations here, as did Eric and his many girlfriends. It also felt busier. There was the bar where they ordered and the pool table. It felt a lot more real.
The classrooms stand out for reasons every single regular on this blog has complained about. There was a clear division of authority. The kids sat in the chairs and the grown-ups looked down on them to a degree.
Cory got most of his advice from his parents in the kitchen/dining room.
Finally, and most importantly in my view, was the fence border. Feeny was on one side, Eric or Cory or Alan was on the other. There was some nice symbolism, occasionally lampshaded at how they might not see things eye-to-eye.
By comparison, the overwhelming majority of important scenes happen at the Bay Window. It loses an important sense of identity:
Riley and Maya discuss something together.
The Core Four discuss something together.
Riley and Farkle discuss something together. Doesn't happen often, but it's there.
Riley and Maya and Isadora discuss something together.
So yeah, we're at the Bay Window too often, I'd say.
Cryptid, you just wrinkled my brain. But, an important question: did BMW always have a talking cat, and I just somehow missed it?
DeleteGood Lord! Milestones breezed through Season 4 and most of 5. He's at the time travel episode!
DeleteHold on, Miles! I'm coming!
*Grabs tetsubo and begins running to Canada*
In all seriousness, the episode to which you refer to is "No Guts, No Cory."
It was part of a multi-crossover between "Sabrina the Teenaged Witch," "You Wish," "Boy Meets World," and "Teen Angel."
Salem the Cat ate a magical thingamabob that sent the casts of those shows to various time periods.
In other words, it was the original Haunted House Crossover that EVERYONE hated.
But that episode does make "World of Terror 2" non-canonical. Loath though I am to place Boy Meets World in the same universe as Sabrina and Salem, the system of magic in Sabrina is completely incompatible with the wizardry system of the Disney Channel Live Action Universe.
Also, you've made it to Season 5! Wonderful! What did you think of Jack Hunter?
Cryptid to the rescue, thanks. Guess I didn't stand a chance. No way I would figured any of that. I would have guessed the previous one with the witches was the Halloween episode.
DeleteJack Hunter? Hasn't really made much of an impression yet. Just kind of there. The impact of his arrival might have been blunted by the still-fresh memory of the other mystery half-brother from what ever episode that was with Cory filming stuff in the trailer park.
Oh, the Halloween episode was the one with the witches. I just brought up the Halloween Haunted House for sake of comparison of crossovers.
DeleteSeason 4 is probably the most popular season. What were your thoughts?
Season 4 really does seem like the high-water mark for the series. While I wouldn’t say Season 5 has stumbled out of the gate, it is the first one that hasn’t felt like an improvement. The witches and talking cat episodes back-to-back didn’t help. (I might have kinda liked the witches’ episode except, during the would-be sacrifice scene, thanks to STEM, I found myself thinking that Yogi would have been into it. A really unwelcome thought.)
Delete"the first one that hasn't felt like an improvement" is an outstanding way of putting it. I've never put those words together, that really nails it.
DeleteLast thing I'll say about "Things Change" - the thing I was always impressed with regarding what they did with Chubbie's is that it was obviously like... spurred by a behind-the-scenes decision. They knew they were going to college, they were going to have new sets, that a University coffee shop would be taking the place of Chubbie's and they'd be losing the set. Most shows might have just... stopped showing it. BMW took the time to weave Chubbie's into a story about graduation they were already telling and sort of... send Chubbie's off. And, because Chubbie's was such an iconic part of the show, it really did throw me for a loop. I remember when I first saw this episode - LIVE ON ABC IN 1998 MOTHAFUCKAHS BECAUSE I AM MORE HARDCORE THAN ALL Y'ALL - and I was absolutely floored that they got rid of Chubbie's. I wasn't even totally sure it had happened, because it was so abrupt, and seemingly in service of a joke, I figured "Oh, no, Chubbie's will be back next week." But nope. That was the end of Chubbie's. That was good.
ReplyDeleteThis has actually happened in GMW before! (Can't remember if you commented on this already)--when Farkle changed to Donnie Barnes and never went back.
i loved that episode cory was freaking out about change and erics reaction to mr feenys retirement. i really hope i get to see mr feeny and eric together again in girl meets world before the actor passes away william daniels is 88 years old
DeleteNot germane to this episode but GMW related, Disney/ABC has the Sabrina Carpenter train chugging along right now. She hosted the Disney Channel Christmas Special, this past Friday while "Bay Window" was running she hosted a special Disney ran during the night talking about girls' dreams, tonight she participated in the Disneyland 60th Birthday celebration on ABC and in 2 weeks she has a guest spot on the 100th episode of Once Upon A Time (March 6th at 8PM). She also got a voice gig on Milo Murphy's Law a show coming soon on Disney XD.
ReplyDeleteWith all the crap you see online about Rowan it's a little refreshing to see an actress Disney is pushing that seems to be having success while doing things the right way.
Here is Sabrina singing from this past Friday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-25yuhOpYQ - Sean you gotta watch, got a lot of Sarah there!
And completely unrelated to Sabrina but still BMW/GMW related, Blake Clark had a guest star role on ABC's Last Man Standing this past Friday. He will also be on the next new episode. While Blake was doing his Chet Hunter bit he was also playing the Harry the hardware store owner on Home Improvement. Tim Allen has had most of his old cast guest star on Last Man Standing. I personally love LMS and you guys should check it out if you have time.
She's seriously got a spot on Once Upon A Time? I've followed that show since day 1, that's so awesome. Don't tell me who she is, I want to be surprised.
DeleteI don't think I want to see Sarah outside of an extra role. For reasons I can't explain, it's only funny to see her as this face on the side of the camera shot.
Blake Clark was on Last Man Standing and I missed it?! Man this is what I get from not watching much this season.
DeleteChet was always one of the best parts of the original show. Nice to see Clark is still acting.
Speaking of Clark, "Toy Story 4" is due out on June 15, 2018.
I know we've all beaten it to death, but part of me wonders what it would have been like to have LMS and GMW airing together. I actually remember seeing a LOT of promos for LMS on Disney early on.
Blake Clark will always be Coach Bogner to me.
DeleteAh, Community. Never seen it.
DeleteHey, wait a second. Coach Bogner was only in one episode. Chet was in a fair few episodes of BMW and most notably always left an impact.
I would chalk it up to first impressions, and this one was indelible. A very funny, and fearless, performance.
Deletesince the next episode girl meets legacy is going to be a graduation episode from middle school. will their be any boy meets world cast in it? like shawn, mr turner, eric or even alan and amy that be amazing
ReplyDeleteRatings are in:
ReplyDelete--------------------------------
Friday, February 19th
8:00 BUNK'd - 1.620M
8:30 Girl Meets World - 1.702M
--------------------------------
Some things to keep in mind:
-The show is heavily spoiled (on Instagram/Tumblr) during the entire week before the episode premieres on TV.
-Disney Channel started releasing episodes on the mornings of premiere nights.
If either of the Sunday shows (Liv and Maddie/Best Friends Whenever) manage to get 2+ million viewers, I'd say GMW is in trouble. Not "cancellation" trouble, but it just means that GMW is losing fans/nobody cares about it as much anymore.
Eh. I mean, at this exact moment the ratings it doesn't matter. At the very least, it has thirty episodes of Season 3 ahead of it. There's no predicting where the ratings will be by the end of 2016, and that's the time period where a Season 4 decision will be made.
DeleteHonestly, I'm fine with it going after Season 3 if that's what happens. They seemed to have moved on from the BMW connections, which I can understand, but it also... lessens my interest rather significantly.
Christian, I'm not sure that they have moved on from the BMW connections. While we still don't know who we might see in "Legacy" here is what we have gotten so far in season 2:
Delete3 - Eric
2 - Feeny
2 - Shawn
2 - Turner
2 - Minkus
1 - Jack
1 - Angela
1 - Tommy
1 - Jennifer
Even discounting Jack and Tommy and Jennifer and Shawn's appearances since they each overlapped another callback, we got 10 BMW guests in 29 episodes. That is a pretty high percentage, much higher than season 1 where we got 4 callback episodes out of 21. The fact they front-loaded most of them may seem to skew the actual totals.
Liv & Maddie is one thing--it's relatively popular and beating GMW in the ratings is not unheard of.
DeleteBest Friends Whenever...kinda stinks.
I won't lie; I'd prefer for this show to get more viewers, but then again, I'd rather the show be good enough to deserve that many viewers.
I wouldn't say we have anything to worry about in the grand scheme of things, but I do think social media has...had an effect on this show's popularity. For better or worse.
Part of it is certainly the shipping. I lost count of the number of Tumblrs that are devoted entirely to the ships on this show.
Thank you, Christian and Sean, for creating a relatively shipping-free environment.
That's a fair point about how the old crowd was pretty much relegated to the front half of the season.
The only ones who came after "Semi-formal" were the Minkuses, and Turner in "Creativity." I enjoyed the Minkuses but I think Turner was squandered in that episode.
Also, isn't this kind of the slow season anyway? The winter hiatuses are only just ending and network shows are slowly getting back their steam.
DeleteMarketing, gents. Marketing. Look at this way. Disney DID NOT air a promo for Commonism-which led to dismal ratings. Which also means a lot of people didn't know the episode would be on. I don't watch DC except for this show, so I can't say how well the show's promoted.
Delete"Even discounting Jack and Tommy and Jennifer and Shawn's appearances since they each overlapped another callback, we got 10 BMW guests in 29 episodes. That is a pretty high percentage, much higher than season 1 where we got 4 callback episodes out of 21. The fact they front-loaded most of them may seem to skew the actual totals."
DeleteOh, I'm entirely referring to the back half of the season. Eric, Shawn, Feeny, Angela, Chet, Jack, Turner, Harley, all of those appearances were in the beginning of the season and then they dropped them all. The Minki appeared in the bottom half, but as the parents of a main character, they're sort of a different situation.
Just seems like maybe the writers have started to have more interest in just focusing on the GMW characters and less on the BMW folks of the past. I can't exactly blame them for that, but I'm not really as in to their characters. The second half of this season has proven to me that, while I actually do like Riley and Maya both quite a bit, without the BMW connection, I would not be watching this show.
"Just seems like maybe the writers have started to have more interest in just focusing on the GMW characters and less on the BMW folks of the past. I can't exactly blame them for that, but I'm not really as in to their characters. The second half of this season has proven to me that, while I actually do like Riley and Maya both quite a bit, without the BMW connection, I would not be watching this show."
DeleteI'm inclined to agree. While it's nice they're not copy-pasting anymore, and really they haven't done that for quite a long time, I'm not sure I'd be watching otherwise.
Boy Meets World was a superb coming of age show, helped in no small part by Bill Daniels. But this...I'm not sure. Maybe it's just that it's more ham-fisted (Not that Boy Meets World wasn't preachy at times) or maybe because I'm not sure if the lessons being taught this time are what's needed over what's wanted.
I want things to get better. I want to be engaged in a show I've spent two years watching.
Wow I forgot Chet, but he was in an episode with Shawn and Angela so not another episode to count.
DeleteI think the point of what the writers were doing was to get the BWM fans to watch the show, then get GMW to stand on its own. I'm completely ok with that. It's disappointing to hear that you are less into the show when its trying to be its own thing. I do understand though, as it clearly isn't as good 50 episodes in to its run as BMW was
When I stop to think about it, I think the reason I'm not engaged as I want to be is....well, it boils down to Lucas and the over-reliance on romance.
DeleteLucas Frair...
I cannot honestly remember a time when there was a lead I was less interested in watching, since I am fond of the show. And I have never liked a love interest that wasn't clearly meant to be an actually unpleasant character--like Jennifer Basset, for example--less than Lucas.
And while it may not be as good in its first two seasons (things picked up big in Season 3, I'm not sure it's fair to compare 50 episodes side-by-side), I'd argue that when it is good, Girl Meets World is probably just as good as the best the first two season have to offer.
And to be fair, considering we don't have William Russ, Bill Daniels or Will Friedle, it's no wonder GMW isn't as good as BMW.
There's also the thing with the Core Four acting as a nearly homogenized unit, but that's actually pretty common. There are loads of shows that have character dynamics that don't get explored very often.
Just to let you guys know, Liv & Maddie came in at 1.8. Best Friends Whenever at 1.6. When you see numbers that close across the board, it may be indicative of a poor viewing weekend for whatever reason.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletethis episode was really gay. and I don't mean gay as in lame or whatever. I mean gay as in homosexual.
ReplyDeleteI was so scared to even bring that up because I don't want to be seen as a crazy shipper but that was all I could think of when watching this one and I'm glad I'm not alone on that front.
DeleteI know people keep talking about Riley is the new Cory, but she reminds me so much more of her Uncle Eric. I could totally see Eric having the same problem the first time he tried to bob for apples.
ReplyDeleteyep defiantly like eric sometimes these kind of prove it it XD
Deletehttps://www.instagram.com/p/9oxRIDIwUJ/?taken-by=meeting_world
https://www.instagram.com/p/0X2AleowcO/?taken-by=meeting_world
New Tweet from the Writers:
ReplyDeleteOkay, two part ski lodge where the triangle we find out wasn't a triangle in GM Triangle and GM Upstate finally absolutely resolves maybe.
Seriously, just fuck off writers.
On the plus side, at least I get the ski lodge reference now.
DeleteI sure hope not. If it's at all related to Lauren's lodge, I will be seriously upset. It almost certainly IS, but I refuse to believe it.
DeleteHey, a lodge is a lodge. One is as good as any other. So long as Lauren isn't actually there...I can't be too mad.
DeleteWho knows? Maybe Lucas will try to ski a really dangerous jump and fall and get lost in the woods and get eaten by a bear.
another thing with this episode how are her parents not freaking out that she teared down her wall without asking them first. they let her and augie get away with every ting alan and amy never let cory or eric get away with things they always got yelled at they did something wrong
ReplyDeleteHey, look everyone! Shipping's famous!
ReplyDeletehttp://duhriarkle.tumblr.com/post/140069769213
is that his blog or did someone rip that off? i really hope that's not his blog
DeleteOh, hell no. That isn't his blog. My brother hates shipping.
DeleteFuck Tumblr. That is all.
DeleteI think a lot of people completely missed the point of the episode it wasn't about the Bay Window it was about change. Maya was upset because the Bay Window was her one constant thing along with her friendship with Riley .No matter what troubles Maya had she and Riley could go to the Bay windows and talk,laugh ,cry etc. Maybe because I think GMW is better than any of the shows they have on Disney Channel . By the way they sit in the bay window quite a bit .
ReplyDeleteYeah they hang out there a lot, but they hung out at Mrs. Svorski's bakery a lot too, and where were Maya's tears when they changed it to Topanga's?
DeleteAnd like we said in the review, this would be fine later on, like Things Change in Boy Meets World, but season 2 is a little early to start idolizing set pieces.
But yeah, it's definitely the best show on Disney.
i just saw girl meets legacy and Morgan and charlie arent in it which sucks i though morgan was going to be in girl meets legacy it was shit episode
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fanbolt.com/67154/girl-meets-world-creator-michael-jacobs-on-morgans-return-catering-to-the-boy-meets-world-audience-and-more/ and he said in this interview she would be in an episode of season 2
ReplyDelete