Girl Meets World - Girl Meets Midseason - Review

PREVIOUSLY, ON GIRL MEETS WORLD …

• Feeny is dead—or not?
• Riley and newcomer Lucas flirted—or not.
• Cory is a history teacher—oh no.
• Farkle is a Minkus—oh yes.
• Topanga is a shark lawyer—or maybe it's so much simpler than that.
• Maya's mom is a deadbeat—or maybe it's so much more complicated than that.

Here's the most important thing to know about me, as it pertains to my reviewing this show: I did not grow up with Boy Meets World.

I hate writing this, because it feels like a lie. Hook a polygraph into my system and the needle will samba across the screen. I was there when Cory and Shawn couldn’t stop throwing “High School!” at the beginning of everything they saw. I was there when they all (illogically, impractically, impossibly) went to college together (Feeny included, of course). I was cordially invited to Cory and Topanga’s wedding, and I was caught up in the excitement of a New York City move, long before I really understood what New York City meant.

I was also nowhere near any of these things. I was born in 1991, a statement probably meaning nothing to the target audience of Girl Meets World, but which the internet assures me was just two years prior to the premiere of its predecessor. I didn’t start watching the show until well after it was over, not even realizing it was. Reruns reigned over my childhood TV habits—it never occurred to me shows started or ended. They just were. Boy Meets World in particular, airing at all times of day on multiple channels, never felt anything less than a—well, world. It wasn’t a story. Cory, Shawn, and Topanga just lived in an adjacent dimension to my own, and I just happened to sync up with them every so often.

So when I say that Girl Meets World feels inevitable and unreviewable, know that it’s because, to some extent, I really do feel like it is. Of course Girl Meets World is on television. Cory and Topanga never went away; I just strayed too far from their world for a while. Back are the reruns, evidence at last of eternal return, probably dooming me to an endless cycle until eventually I realize I haven’t seen Riley wear that top before. And of course Girl Meets World is not outstanding.That was never the point. You live with the Matthews; you don’t evaluate their character arcs. I could, of course, pick apart the jokes, for their timing and skill. (Good: Topanga’s polite but increasing loathing of the spoiled and controlling brat from down the hall. Bad: Farkle. Good: Mrs. Svorski’s whiplash turn into a sordid tale from her childhood in the Ukraine. Bad: Farkle—let’s just always assume Farkle.) I could probably pick apart the structure, the life lessons tied up in a pretty looping bow at the end. (Good: “Girl Meets Maya’s Mother”. Bad: “Girl Meets Father”.)

That’s all honestly what makes Girl Meets World fascinating though. It’s not a show—or at least, it’s not really valuable as one. It’s a time capsule dug out of the ground and given a glossy new coat of paint, hoping no one will notice its age. It’s a shot of nostalgia straight to the vein, courting to a single digits set that has no idea what it means for a lawyer to worry the girl we knew and loved has been buried for the the woman she now is. It should by all means not exist—and yet, like clockwork, I’m Googling every Friday night to see if I have to tune in or not, because it always exists. It’s just a matter of getting in at the right time.

Will it become a show on top of that? I don’t know—but then, who judges a whole world? You just have to follow it through, and see where it goes.

What did you think though? What's brings you to Girl Meets World? Tell our world in the comments! I'm thrilled to be here with you.

About the Author - Sarah Batista-Pereira

An aspiring screenwriter and current nitpicker, Sarah likes long walks not on the beach, character-driven storytelling, drama-comedy balancing acts, Oxford commas, and not doing biographies. She is the current reviewer for Girl Meets World.