Girl Meets World

                  Since I’ve started this chain of the Disney Channel and Boy Meets World I figured I should finish it off with Girl Meets World.  Set years after Boy Meets World ended, Girl Meets World follows the life of Cory’s (Ben Savage) and Topanga’s (Danielle Fishel) daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard).  She is in middle school and experiencing all that comes with being that age.  One of the biggest things she is going through is having her first crush on a boy.  Lucas (Peyton Meyer) is a transfer student from Texas and at first Riley can hardly even say hi to him.  Over time they become good friends, which deepens their feelings for each other but also makes them more confusing.

                Alongside Riley through all the ups and downs of life is her best friend, Maya (Sabrina Carpenter).  She is quite the opposite of Riley who tries to see the happiness and the positive in things.  Instead, Maya is cynical about life.  She has a hard time seeing the lightness in things which leads her to be a tad mean, even towards her friends.  Most of this behavior stems from the fact that her father left when she was a young child.  When Maya meets Shawn (Rider Strong) this behavior slowly starts to lessen as she has met someone who understands what she is going through.  Maya would love for Shawn to become her stepfather, but that is yet to be seen.                     

                The fourth member of the group is Farkle (Cory Fogelmanis).  He is the son of a kid Cory and Shawn picked on during the first season of Boy Meets World.  Farkle has been in love with both Riley and Maya for a long time but they only see him as a friend.  He is very intelligent along with having a really good heart.  In the almost two seasons this show has been on the air, Farkle is the character that has changed the most rapidly.  He went from young and geeky to a more mature and cool presence.  Fortunately, during this change Farkle did not lose his intelligence.  Actually, it has increased.  Not only does Farkle’s book smarts continue to grow, but he is also learning how to be intuitive with people and their feelings.              

                Zay (Amir Mitchell Townes) is sort of the fifth member of the group.  I say “sort of” because Zay is not in the show as much as the others.  Also from Texas, Zay came into the show later, making him a bit of an outsider.  That outsider status, however, does have its benefits.  Not being part of the core group of four, Zay can stand back and look at the others with a more objective eye.  He is able to see how everyone’s dynamics really are because he’s not wrapped up in the confused feelings like everyone else.  His commentary about what goes on and how everyone acts is pretty funny.  I especially like when he objects to how everyone climbs through Riley’s bedroom window without being invited.  At these moments it is clear Zay is the voice of reason amongst the group, and I hope he becomes a more constant role in the future.                

                As the kids go through all they’re going through, the original Boy Meets World cast members make their appearances.  These are my favorite episodes.  Cory and Topanga are regular cast members so they are seen all the time.  As for the others who return as guest stars, Shawn and Eric (Will Friedle) have been the most prominent.  Cory’s little brother, Josh (Uriah Shelton), also shows up somewhat frequently, but as his character was very young when Boy Meets World ended, his story is really starting now.  Most of the other original cast members have continued their stories in one way or another.  There are some that haven’t, but I figure nearly all of them will wander through at some time.

                Even though I still prefer the episodes involving the original cast members, I have found myself enjoying the episodes without them as well.  I think this is because as the cast members age the storylines become more mature with them.  This makes me look forward to their high school years.  I wonder if Cory is going to follow the kids there as Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) did in the original series.  It would not be surprising if he did.

                All this speculation on my part implies there will be a third season.  So far I haven’t seen anything confirming there is one.  That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, though.  There is still a good amount of the second season left to air and a lot can happen between now and then.  One thing I would like to see happen, other than a renewal of the series, is a DVD release of the first two seasons.  There are episodes I have missed and I have definitely not watched them in order.  For the most part this doesn’t cause much of a problem, but every once in awhile I feel I’ve missed something somewhere.  If the series were on DVD I would be able to start at the beginning and really get on track.