grandemocha

Maya's mother (behavior) was straight up retconned from Season 1 to Season 2. She very much appeared to be a flake, immature, and an absentee parent in the first season who didn't help Maya with her homework or show up to important school events. Now, that's fine in the real world. I was a latchkey kid myself and adjusted since I would rather have had food at night and a house to sleep in versus my parents showing up to career day. The comparisons between Maya's mom and Chet Hunter don't really apply here. Again, this is Disney channel. They will never show Maya's mom leave town to go look for her dad or whatever and have Maya stay with Corpanga and Riley. It just won't happen. When BMW was on, it was a different time in the world, and a different channel where things like awful parents neglecting their children could be shown on ABC. You can't do that now. So the writers are slightly restrained in what they can show to put across that Maya's mom isn't great and it ends up coming across to us (adult viewers) like "What's the big fucking deal? Maya still has cool clothes, nice locket, and a place to live". But to a kid like Maya who has no father, and is probably hurt that her father had a second family (a bit of "Why wasn't I good enough for him to stay?"), at 13 she's blowing it up more than it should be on occasion. I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen any jealousy from Maya toward Riley's picture perfect life. Two educated parents with great careers, a younger sibling, and an awesome room. I'd be jealous at 13 if I was her. Maya's mom is alot nicer this season and much more present in her daughter's life and I'm guessing an adjustment was made between Season 1 and 2 when it was decided that Rider Strong would have a bigger presence on the show and needs to be interconnected to Maya, and this is how they did it. I never personally thought he was abusive, but I did think he was a bad father. There was no excuse for some of the shit he pulled. It's like he saw that Alan and Amy were functional, mature, and responsible adults so he thought it was perfectly A Okay to let them take some of the responsibility of raising his son, which was unfair. No offense to Chet, but he could love his son all he wants, but unless he's physically present in his son's life and actively trying to be a good parent...then that love doesn't mean much (IMO). Shawn had to raise himself for some of his childhood/ early teen years and that's unacceptable.

..This show isn't for us though ( I admit I am assuming you're an adult). It's a Disney show targeted toward 8-12 year olds I believe. I'm way way out of the age range of the intended audience, so things that would irritate you or I concerning character motivations or what not likely wouldn't occur to children. That is a gigantic IF. If any of that happens at all, like I said earlier, it takes two to tango. I personally despise the old chestnut that it is the woman who should solely be blamed for relationships ending, if a guy doesn't want to go, then he won't go. I'm not personally offended by anything concerning GMW just to let you know. I see it as silly to get worked up over what could possibly happen concerning the dating habits of 13-14 year olds, and don't see any great betrayals occurring. I see this show for what it is: a cute Disney sitcom with semi-passable actors that has occasional callbacks to one of my favorite TGIF shows. I think it's ridiculous for a tween character to be called hateful things for something that may occur but likely won't but yeah, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.. It is extreme to me that Riley should trash and get rid of her best friend that she has known for years for again, something that hasn't even occurred. This is ALL conjecture, melodrama, and overreaction. Characters mature and evolve and who knows what the show will be like in Season 3. The writers aren't idiots and know how their characters are going to be perceived by the kids who watch the show, they'll make everything amicable and work out in the end.

90% of what I have seen HAS been an attack on Maya as a character. People saying Riley should dump her as a friend, and almost calling for her head because of no good reason. Someone in the episode thread called her a bitch..a 14 year old girl is now a bitch because..why exactly? Because she had some random epiphany about her friend's relationship? That she hasn't even done anything with? She has kept it to herself, exactly as she should. I myself used the word slut as an exaggerated term, but Maya has been described as a scheming harlot who is going to go around stealing guys. That's not a flattering description, and it's completely 100% unfounded. Riley will either come to the realization herself, or she won't. Either way, I feel comfortable stating with a good bit of certainty that the girl's friendship will be fine in the end. What? I don't know..they're two different people who learn things at different times? Because Maya is an outside observer of Riley's relationship with Lucas? The only person who can tell Riley how to feel is Riley. If she is actually looking to her friend to tell her what to do, how to feel, or what to say..then Cory and Topanga need to sit her down and have a long talk about independence and teach her how to retain her individuality even among friends or boyfriends.

If you are reminded of One Tree Hill (because of the mention of guys named Lucas) I think you might be a bit off in this particular instance. #1 Who said Riley isn't going to come to a conclusion on her own? #2 Why is Maya being painted as the slut who is going to steal her best friend's guy when absolutely nothing has indicated that is what will happen? Maya isn't some black widow who goes around stealing taken guys. It takes two to tango, if these characters were 23 or 13. There's little difference. #3 Again, this is not a show on the CW, so the teen angst is not going to overpower the show. It's Disney. Everyone will end up happy. #4 Maya has had ONE epiphany when she was pretending to be Riley. Who knows if it's even correct? If anything will come of it? If Lucas will feel the same? What Riley will think? Maybe Riley will mature into someone who doesn't feel the same way for Lucas anymore or vice versa? People are jumping the gun majorly IMO. ...and Maya hasn't gone after Lucas. It's like the character is being blamed for things she hasn't done. Unless people have had a sneak peek at the scripts for the rest of the season, I am really curious as to why it's being stated as though it's fact that Maya is going to start dating Lucas or steal him away (BTW, no one can steal anyone, people make their own decisions). As far as I can see, the show is the same as it has been, Maya and Riley are still best friends who support each other, Lucas and Farkle are also friends, and they are all tweens who are just trying to figure out their lives.

Agree, he was a cutie pie. Sad that he was probably a one off character who won't pop up again.

Bingo. Maya has been there for Riley several times over the two seasons, just like Riley has had good intentions and tried to help Maya out. That time when Missy was being awful and trying to get to Lucas and push Riley out of the way, Maya was there trying to protect Riley from seeing it all. Or the time she tried to just sugar coat the death of the fish in that awful episode. It's a give and take relationship, always has been and will continue the same way.

Thank you for saying this! I absolutely agree with all you said and never had any doubt that in the end, Maya will still have Riley's back and vice versa. Maya is not a bitch (for goodness sakes..IMO that's kind of harsh toward a 13/14 year old girl), she's not a terrible friend who should be shamed or ostracized, she's not selfish or hateful or a bully. NOTHING has happened so far to justify any of the vitriol I've seen spewed in the character's direction. If anything, Lucas is a starter boyfriend V. 1.0 for Maya, Riley, or any other girl. I feel fairly confident in saying the friendship between the girls will reign supreme in the end over any guy. I personally think the writers need to back off of making Riley as dumb as a door nail (the moments of idiocy she displays are ridiculous) and maybe let her experience some disappointment that Maya, Cory, or Topanga can't immediately fix. Shit happens and sometimes you have to learn how to work through it. The creator of the show clearly said that Lucas & Riley were never going to be Cory & Topanga 2.0 and that was instead going (for some stupid reason) to annoying Ava and Auggie. The writers could've just had Riley realize she and Lucas work better as friends and been done with it over time. Easy peasy.

Yeah, I had the same thought as you. Rowan Blanchard is currently 13 and the show is on Season 2. Disney shows usually only run for 4 seasons, so unless there's more than one time jump, it'll look kind of weird to have them graduate high school and still look like high school freshman.

Well, the characters are all still really young, so it could very well end up that they all just stay friends by the end of the series. But who knows when the end is any way? 4 seasons? Maybe more? Unless they do a time jump, the characters will still be fairly young by the end of the show. Riley and Farkle could possibly get together, it wouldn't be the craziest thing in the world, so who knows? :)

IMO, painting Maya as a big bad bully who is "special or great" (I don't actually recall anyone here describing her that way or on the show..if anything it's Riley who is seen as special) would be like me saying Farkle should be referenced as a creepy little perv who needed a restraining order to stay away from Maya and Riley since he clearly has no sense of respect for them or doesn't know what boundaries are. Farkle said some real creepy shit to Maya and Riley back in Season 1, but painting him as a creep who needs to be set straight by Riley's parents and Maya's mom would be me exaggerating. Again, just (IMO) but Riley and Lucas together are bland as hell. They're like vanilla pudding or beige wallpaper. There's no spark, there's nothing that makes their "romantic" scenes together come alive, and it's all very tepid. Whether that's an effect of how they're written, or the fact that Rowan is younger than Peyton, or just something lacking...when Lucas has scenes with Maya, it's like Sabrina just brings something out of him to finally make him interesting. Maybe it's because Sabrina is closer in age to the actor that plays Lucas, IDK, but he's more interesting to me when he's paired with her. They have chemistry (which I know is subjective) and it shows. However, this is just a kid's show and I get the feeling the writers will push the "girl power" and "sisters before misters" motto to keep the Riley & Maya friendship above all. That's perfectly fine too.

I 110% hated Farkle when I first started watching GMW. I thought he was too loud, too annoying, and a tiny bit creepy with his obsession w/ Maya & Riley. Who would've thought that just one season later the writers would tone him down and make me actually enjoy his scenes with another character (in this case: Lucas). I very much enjoyed the conversation with Lucas and Farkle at the end of the episode and am glad that Farkle didn't revert back to his old turtlenecks and over the top personality. Smiley Riley was cute at the beginning of the episode and even her trying to resist falling for the cuteness of the puppy & bunny combo made me chuckle. I don't see the writers backing away from the Lucas/Riley pairing and moving onto Lucas/Maya until atleast Season 3, which is fine with me. I personally wouldn't see a Lucas/Riley relationship making it to high school, and I'm interested to see how the writers approach it all in the next few episodes. I did notice the way Lucas and Maya just kind of gel well in this episode and the only thing that was slightly disappointing (even though I know it was said jokingly) was that the class wanted Maya to stay as Riley. Overall, good episode!

The entire show (all 10 episodes) was filmed before it aired: "Filming took place between August 19, 2013 and February 14, 2014 in Burnaby (interiors) and Agassiz (exteriors), in British Columbia" http://globalnews.ca/news/780328/stars-set-to-begin-work-on-wayward-pines-in-b-c/

I'm just gonna say it: the kid playing Ben seems way gay to me. His interest in Mal is just so not believable, I saw more chemistry between him and Carlos. Like even Zac Efron was believable as Troy being interested in Gabriella. Major major lip-syncing issues. I'll assume some of these kids who were chosen absolutely cannot sing which is why their voices are dubbed during the musical numbers.

I think the thing I want the most is to NEVER AGAIN have Ava sing her first and last name in any scene in any episode we have to have her in with Auggie. There is other stuff I have on my wish list for the show, but if they got rid of that one thing, hah, I think I'd be semi-satisfied.

Even a science teacher makes sense though, usually there are units that have the students studying wildlife and various animals where pets might come into play to teach the students, and a class pet could make sense in that situation. But in what reality would it be logical for a history teacher to have a class pet that the students take care of? It doesn't go together.

Anytime I see that an episode has an abundance of Auggie and Ava, my eyes start to glaze over in boredom. Agree on the weirdness of a middle school history class having a class pet, its something that would make far more sense if Cory was their homeroom teacher. Riley is way way too old to not understand that 25 cent goldfish die quickly and are easily replaced, I hate when they dumb her down. There are genuinely talented kid actors out there, but IMO the kid who plays Auggie and the girl who plays Ava are not among that category. I feel like the director and other actors just let the two of them ham it up way way too much and write/ react around that. And yes, I totally realize that technically I am too old to be watching this show and little children who watch Disney shows probably love them.

I'm hoping that now that it looks like Kelly is going to have some intelligence again (like Eichorst) that she'll show up, the stupid son character will be kidnapped & taken to the Master, and off my screen for the majority of the time!

So, I didn't think it was possible, but they picked an even more fucking annoying new kid actor to play Eph's son. First episode of Season 2 and I already want him gone.

It's not a dream, it's not all in the mind of a child, Ethan's not being injected with hallucinogenic crack to fantasize all of this stuff. That was already shot down several times by the creators/writers/actors weeks ago. Thank goodness it's not a dream IMO. That would be the cheapest excuse ever, completely unimaginative. I hate the "they're all dead, the government is responsible, it's all a dream, a psychological experiment" cop outs.

EDIT: Blehh, never mind.

They didn't snitch on Beverly. After Ethan showed up in Kate's house after the reckoning at the start of 1x03, she said it was Pope who did it and it was done as a warning to them. Wasn't 12 years. The flashback with Kate and the proto group of rebels meeting in private and discussing their pasts had Kate with the same short haircut she had when she first arrived in Wayward Pines. So she likely faked adjusting soon after the padded room scene we saw, met other like minded individuals, married Harold, and had to continue therapy sessions with Jenkins/Pilcher which we saw her with long hair.

...Okay. But I am fine with that personally. Obviously the truth was revealed to us (and Ethan) in episode 5. But Kate, Harold, and the other rebels still don't know. Yeah, the situation is likely hopeless. But they want the truth and until they get it, they will continue to try to escape. I didn't see it as a sob story, it just was additional character depth for me. Like the bit about how Harold (thinks he has still) a fiancee out in the real world. It makes the characters more than just boring caricatures for me. The reality of the situation isn't going to change no matter what. It is 4028 and predators want to eat them all alive. But so be it, Kate and the rebels will have to come to terms with the truth in their own ways and meanwhile I am rooting for them.

Meh, agree to disagree. I like Kate's character much more now than I did in the beginning. I'm actively rooting for her to succeed (obviously not for her to get eaten outside the walls, but just to get the actual truth.) The flashbacks/dreams she had helped me with that because it really drove home (for me) why she so desperately wants to get out after being fucked over by Hassler (IMO that message Kate said she got from him was a set up, he's on Pilcher's side and he sent her there on purpose) , Pilcher, and Pam.

This was explained perfectly fine in 1x01 and 1x02. What else did we need to know? Clearly Ethan felt guilty about the bombings and felt like he was responsible which was noted by the way he memorized the names of the victims. He turned to Kate for the affair as a coping mechanism because he could be open with her about it all and not Theresa. Enough said IMO. Who cares about the bomber's name? It's irrelevant. As for Kate, if we had learned she was psychoanalyzed by Pilcher and tortured by Pam with drugs early on, people would have complained about too much info too soon. It couldn't have even possibly been revealed until after 1x05 when we learned Kate wasn't an obedient little citizen, and that's when we officially met Pilcher as himself and not Jenkins. Tonight was 1x08. It could have been stuck in the last episode and they could have removed some of the boring teen stuff.

You could just read the summaries of the last two episodes instead of wasting 90 minutes of your time? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Strangely enough, I think by Kate's rebel group having to work amongst themselves for years and slowly try to plan their escape will somehow make them more resilient when they discover the truth of the outside world and the abbies. Instead of just being told immediately, they've worked for years to try and get out. Might be to their benefit. Goodness knows Kate has clearly undergone psychological abuse and drugging, I think she could adjust. It hasn't been 20 years. Just a bit less than 12. It seems like the rebel group started with Kate and even that didn't begin until she was out of the padded room and straight jacket.