I Just Need to Rant About Girl Meets World
As some readers may be aware, I recently completed a full re-watch of the classic 90s sitcom Boy Meets World, spurred in part by the fact that I got to meet (most of) the cast back in March at a 90s Convention. And pretty much as soon as I finished Boy Meets World, I began my first ever watch of its sequel series Girl Meets World.
Now, while Boy Meets World (hereafter referred to as BMW) was certainly geared toward a younger audience, there’s just something about Girl Meets World (which we’ll call GMW) that feels EVEN younger. I mean, BMW aired on ABC and GMW aired on Disney Channel, for starters. That alone tells you a lot of what probably couldn’t be included in the sequel show; Disney Channel is notoriously hyper-sensitive about sexuality, language, and the like. But also, we got to see the characters of BMW grow into adulthood. Cory and Topanga got married in the last season, for goodness’ sake. Unfortunately, GMW was cut much shorter and ended with its main characters still in 9th grade (at least I think…I’m in the middle of the last season now and they’re definitely still in 9th grade at the moment). 9th graders don’t experience quite as much pressure to have sex as, say, college freshmen do, so it tracks that there would be less talk of that on GMW.
But that’s not to say that there isn’t any romance on GMW! And in fact, that’s what I want to rant about today. Full disclosure: I don’t anticipate this rant meaning much of anything to any of our readers. For that, I apologize. I wouldn’t say that you NEED to be familiar with the series in order to understand my thoughts here, but knowing it would probably increase your enjoyment in reading this. I’ll do my best to break it down for everybody, though!
Okay, for starters, in GMW, your main character (aka the new Cory) is Riley Matthews, daughter of Cory and Topanga. Then, you’ve got her best friend (aka the new Shawn), Maya Hart. And finally (for the sake of this conversation), you’ve got the love interest (aka the new Topanga, I guess), Lucas Friar. Right from the pilot episode, it’s set up that Riley and Lucas like each other. What’s nice, though, is that they don’t jump right into dating—they are only in 7th grade, after all. They make it pretty clear to each other that they like each other, but they more or less decide they should just stay friends for the time being. As a viewer, I had no issues with this.
Then, partway through Season 2, it gets a little more interesting. (NOTE: Many of the things I say from here on out are not necessarily factual—more so my opinion/theory on what happened in the GMW writers’ room). So basically, the writers (and maybe some viewers) weren’t really feeling that Lucas and Riley had a lot of romantic chemistry. Interestingly enough, though, Lucas and Maya actually did seem to have some chemistry. Maya’s character constantly teases Lucas for being from Texas (rude), and the looks they give each other in those moments of jest are downright steamy (for two middle schoolers…I guess. Eww). From here, two key story seeds are planted. First, on a random episode, Riley’s younger brother, Auggie, while reading an Archie comic, makes some comment like, “The blonde girl and dark-haired girl like the same boy. Do you think they can stay friends anyway?” To which Maya (who is blonde) and Riley (who has dark hair) say, “Nah!” and the audience laughs. It kind of comes out of the blue, but immediately after seeing that, I was like, “Oh, are they making Maya like Lucas now? I could see it.” Then, there’s an episode about the school yearbook being distributed (in the fall??). In said yearbook, the “Best Couple” award goes to Lucas and Maya, causing both of them and Riley to freak out, and their nameless classmates to describe the aforementioned “steamy” chemistry Lucas and Maya have. This is the first really overt moment in which GMW’s infamous love triangle is acknowledged.
So at this point, in my theory, the writers were definitely trying to shift from a Riley-Lucas romance to a Maya-Lucas romance. There’s a whole episode dedicated to this kind of subtle reveal that Lucas might be more of a “brother” figure to Riley, and that this other boy, Charlie, might be someone she could actually date. But then it gets weird. Things are kind of in limbo for a bit, then Riley pushes back on the idea that she no longer likes Lucas in a romantic way, but the tension keeps building between Lucas and Maya, and so on and so forth. Finally, there’s a weird three-episode storyline where the gang goes to Texas and Riley forces Maya to admit she has feelings for Lucas. Honestly, I really did buy that Maya liked Lucas, and I previously thought he seemed to like her too, but in these episodes…he just seems confused. He seems pretty mad when Riley keeps telling him they’re now like brother and sister, and he really doesn’t seem that happy when Maya finally sort of confesses her feelings for him. My theory: the writers wanted Lucas with Maya, but the viewers got angry when they saw this starting to happen. The writers had already kind of dug themselves in a hole, though, so this was how they bailed themselves out. They made Maya and Lucas try dating, but their “relationship” almost immediately fails. It becomes apparent that Riley still likes Lucas, so for a while (like, MANY episodes), the joke is that Riley and Maya both like Lucas, who in turn likes both of them equally(??), and they just can’t decide what to do about it. It’s a pretty whack running joke.
Like, I wish the writers had just stuck to their guns. It would’ve been such an interesting deviation from BMW to have the Shawn archetype end up with (or at least legitimately try dating) the Topanga archetype. Why should the protagonist have absolutely everything fall into her lap? I would’ve been pretty impressed with the show if they’d done that, especially because Lucas and Maya (or the actors playing them, anyway) really did have such magnetic chemistry with each other. The episodes of Seasons 2 and 3 where the tRiANgLe is in full effect were just so annoying to me. A constant runner was like, Lucas would smile at Riley, so then Maya would say, “Hey, now you have to smile at me, too!” Which is so not Maya!
…which brings me to the next annoying plotline, where they FORCE Maya to “rediscover” herself. Basically, the card the writers play is that Maya has become “exactly like Riley,” and that’s the only reason she developed a crush on Lucas. Sorry, what?! But yes, they literally say that she wanted so badly to protect Riley from heartbreak that she put herself into her shoes and checked out her friend’s possible love interest for herself. And then they make her go back to being “the bad kid”?! Y’all, I couldn’t even deal with it. One thing I will say, though, is that the moment where (SPOILER) Lucas and Riley finally do get together for real is absolutely adorable and so satisfying. I’m not happy with the hoops the writers jumped through to get Lucas and Riley back together, but that scene was really both acted and written quite well. I just didn’t love the side plot of Riley’s UNCLE, a college freshman, kind of giving in to Maya’s crush on him?? But that’s a whole other issue I’ll have to tell y’all about another time.
In summary:
Riley meets Lucas. Riley likes Lucas. Lucas likes Riley. But they’re young, and just want to be friends for now.
Riley and Lucas still like each other. They try dating, but realize they still might not be ready for that step.
The writers pick up on the fact that Lucas has much more chemistry with Maya than with Riley, so they decide that Riley’s feelings for Lucas will wane, and eventually Maya and Lucas will date.
The viewers (mostly young girls who probably identify more with Riley than with Maya) push back! So now, yeah, Lucas and Maya like each other, but so do Lucas and Riley, damnit!
After thirty too many weird jokes about The Triangle©, Maya realizes she didn’t really have feelings for Lucas, and Lucas realizes he always just had feelings for Riley.
And that’s pretty much where I’m at with the show! I’ve watched a few episodes past Lucas’s decision, but there hasn’t been a ton of development with him and Riley’s relationship since. I’m definitely curious to see where it goes, though, and to see how they wrapped up the series as a whole!
Aimée’s Pick: The episode “Kris Kyer Meets World” on Pod Meets World
Yes, I know, I know, I’ve already plugged Pod Meets World before. “Enough already!” I’m sure you’re saying. But this specific episode, which just dropped on Monday, is really worth listening to. Even if you’ve never seen a single episode of BMW, I’m sure you can find something to appreciate in the amazing life story of Kris Kyer, the one-time dialogue coach for BMW. I don’t even want to spoil any of his crazy stories! It was such a wild ride of an interview with an unexpectedly moving ending. Definitely check it out wherever you listen to podcasts.
Food is the most important school supply.
According to the latest estimates, as many as 9 million children in the United States live in "food insecure" homes. That phrase may sound mild, but it means that those households don't have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life. No Kid Hungry wants to change that.
No Kid Hungry is a national campaign run by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. As a child hunger organization, ending childhood hunger is NKH’s primary focus and they achieve this through healthy and structured school meals, grants for schools, food banks, or community centers, further advocacy and awareness, and exhaustive research and time dedicated to policy changes.
If you or someone you know is struggling to get food for their children, No Kid Hungry wants to help. Use their Free Meal Finder for Kids to find free, healthy meals being served by organizations in your community. You can also find these resources by texting the word FOOD to 304-304. Data & message rates may apply. And, in the OTF fashion, we have already donated $75 to this organization and encourage you to do give what you can—even if it’s just a Facebook or Instagram like.
Today I choose…
To overanalyze even the silliest of things.
Here’s some nifty buttons for you to press, enjoy:
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