S01.E18: Girl Meets Master Plan

[RedFire2000]

It's Maya's birthday and Riley has decided to give her a BFF friendship ring. After giving her the ring, Maya reveals to Riley that her mom had forgotten her birthday and left for work before she even woke up, which upsets Riley. Meanwhile, Shawn comes to visit the Matthews because he is doing a photo project called "New York on less than $100," and asks Cory if he can crash there for the weekend.

 

 

[Akenta]

I had recorded Girl Meets Game Night on my DVR and when that was over, I saw that Dish TV had this episode On Demand.  If you have Dish, definitely worth watching early.  One of the better episodes of the season.  Shawn seems to be the only character that reminds me of how the characters used to be portrayed in Boy Meets World.

[Skyfall]

ANGELA MENTION!!!

[bettername2come]

Thank you, Rider Strong, for agreeing to be on this show. Shawn Hunter brightens my day.

 

I like that they referenced the trip they went on after the Christmas episode, and that they remembered Maya wanted a locket. Nice callbacks to the original series. I especially loved the "You can't go through my purse." "Let him!" exchange. Also, Shawn's mom didn't forget where she lived; she took the house with her. Yeah, I'm still angry at that character.

 

ETA: Also, have they forgotten that their zany schemes almost never worked? Granted, their relationship zany schemes had a pretty solid track record, but Feeny and the Matthews almost always caught them for any other trick.

Edited January 17, 2015 by bettername2come

[Lord Kira]

Likes:

*Maya's character

*Shawn's character

* Rider's and Sabrina's acting.

*Cory putting his foot in his mouth when Shawn and Maya were behind him

*Cory mentioning Shawn giving him a ring. LMFAO

*The girl's being disgusted at Shawn falling in love with Angela by going through her purse.

*Shawn thinking it was okay to immediately go into Caity's purse. lol

*Maya destroying Farkle's watch

* The Shawn/Caity confrontation 

*Maya showing how upset she was at the thought of Shawn leaving.

*Maya being upset with Riley

 

Dislikes:

*Riley was intolerable. Her interfering in other people's lives comes across as annoying instead of funny or endearing. The actress can't sell it. Her smiling the whole time, even when her best friend is upset with her, made me want to slap her. Even when she is supposed to be upset she is always smiling. Who is she supposed to be, the Joker?

*The whole scheme set-up. It didn't ad anything. It was just wasted screentime to get Farkle and Lucas in the episode.

* Farkle was too creepy and stalker-ish.

* The Maya/Shawn sub-plot, which I admittedly liked, felt way too heavy handed and rushed. After all, we only had one episode of them interacting previously.

* The confrontation between Shawn and Cory/Topanga. While good, I can't help but feel that being on the Disney Channel neutered this scene some. Shawn would have been a lot more upset with Cory if he thought he wasn't looking out for Maya, given his own history. Instead Cory was played for comedy and Shawn's reaction felt kind of tame.

 

 

Overall, I really liked the episode. But Riley is easily the worst thing about the series. Maya remains one of the best. I'm glad Shawn's going to have a bigger role because just like on BMW he really steals the show here.

[Primetimer]

And Uncle Shawn shows up to celebrate, hooray!

Read the story

[Steph619]

Can Shawn please be in every episode from now on? :)

In my opinion, Girl Meets World is a great show. It doesn't quite compare to Boy Meets World just yet, but I enjoy watching it. I think that the two episodes that Shawn has been a part of so far have been by far the best. I love his relationship with Corey and Topanga as well as the one he is developing with Riley and Maya.

Tonight's episode was great with the throwbacks to Boy Meets World and the overall plot. I'm interested to see if Shawn ends up with Maya's mom or not.

[Bitterswete]

*Riley was intolerable. Her interfering in other people's lives comes across as annoying instead of funny or endearing. The actress can't sell it.

 

Riley just doesn't bother me, and whenever someone else talks about how they can't stand her for some thing she did in an episode (well, the ones I've seen), I'm always surprised. And I think the actress playing her is doing a good job of it. So I guess it's a "different strokes" thing.

 

*The whole scheme set-up. It didn't ad anything. It was just wasted screentime to get Farkle and Lucas in the episode.

 

I found that amusing, so another "different strokes" kind of thing.

 

* The confrontation between Shawn and Cory/Topanga. While good, I can't help but feel that being on the Disney Channel neutered this scene some.

 

Considering what I've seen on other DC shows, I doubt that was the case here. I just think that, even with the seriousness going on, they were going with a more humorous tone with the whole, "Shawn doesn't think Cory and Topanga are doing anything, but they really are," thing.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Bitterswete

[EskimoInMyWay]

Ok, can we please stop and appreciate the Kill Bill references on A DISNEY KIDS TELEVISION SHOW?? Come on, that is ONLY relevent to people who grew up with BMW. You think 8 to 13 year old Disney Channel watchers understood that?? How can you hate on that...I was absolutely cracking up. What an homage/hilarious tie in!

 

This episode was filled with laughs, in my opinion. Mostly having to do with the tiebacks to the original Boy Meets World. Angela, sleeping in class, schemes, and Shawn family references were so on point!

 

Sure the 'literal' tie up of Mya was a kiddy joke, but it was funny in the sense of...this is a kids show and sometimes things aren't realistic. If it was a real show, Mya would've went home and sat there alone by herself, probably crying. Every young kid can relate to wanting to tie up their best friend in a time of need.

 

I think people (especially those of us who loved the original series) need to watch this show in its FIRST season, as more of an abstract kids show with real life tones. Stop being so critical and enjoy that we get to see Cory, Shawn, and Topanga in their next chapter and how similar the Matthews kids are to the original characters of Boy.

 

I have faith, especially seeing the first season up until now, that the show will only get better. Every episode already has gotten better and better. You 20-30 year olds need to stop being so critical. Once you do, the show will become 1,000 times better.

 

Maybe I'm too much of a Boy Meets World fanatic...haha. Who knows

Edited January 18, 2015 by WendyCR72

[mjgchick]

The GMW writers continues to give Lucas and Maya these scenes where their chemistry is hitting me in the face. That rope tie scene was very shippy to me.

Damn this episode was hilarious. I really like the vibe from Shawn and Maya's mom. The actress makes me feel sympathy for her even though she screws up a lot.

I don't hate Riley like some. She's a really good friend to Maya. She's tries so hard to make her happy. She's a ride or die BFF. These two are way more entertaining than Rocky and Cece ever was but I blame that on the Cece character. She really had no depth.

This episode wasn't just funny though. The scenes with Maya and her mom had me forget to breathe because I was anticipating Maya's reaction. Sabrina Carpenter is such a gem. She's actually better than the writing.

One last thing, no 14 year old dresses like Maya does. lol

[WInterfalls]

How does Rider Strong manage to look so good even after all these years? He was my first crush as a kid and somehow manages to be so handsome and funny.

I'm so happy we are getting to see more of Shawn and I hope it continues.

I don't really get all the Riley hate. To me she is just like Cory at that age. Her facial expressions capture him really well.

[mjgchick]

Is Maya two yrs older than Riley? Last week they said Riley was twelve and Maya turned 14 in this episode. This show needs someone to look at the consistency of the show.

[WendyCR72]

Let's all remember here that people will have opinions - positive and negative. Being "critical" of a show is allowed as long as reasons for the criticism are discussed. It's why this board exists.

 

So let's stop telling other posters how to think and react and focus on the characters.

 

Thank you.

[spanana]

I don't hate Riley.  I think she means well and she has a lot of Cory in her.  So much so that I think the writers try to hit us a bit over the head with their similarities.  I just think Riley comes off a bit more "special snowflake" than Cory ever did.  I don't entirely know how to explain it. Cory was naive and lived in his own sort of happy little bubble, but for the most part he was your average kid.  I think Riley is from a different generation where she's probably been told how special and unique she is all her life.  Plus she also just seems to get away with more than Cory did.  Riley learns her obligatory lessons in every episode, but I think the perception of Riley as brat stems from the fact that Amy/Alan were IMO a lot stricter with Cory than Cory/Topanga are with Riley.    

 

Anyway, Shawn's presence elevates this show.  I wish he was around more often.   

[Kromm]

Okay, Truth Bombs and all, this is still kind of the model of the show actually getting it right.  A hundred things we could pick at, but overall it had the wisdom to emphasize the right things.

 

-Corey actually acting like Corey and not some ineffective grown-up, yet far stupider, stand in. 

-Shawn.

-Sabrina Carpenter getting a script that actually allowed her to do both broad comedy and serious in the same episode.  The show can't visit Maya's issues all that often, so they need to leverage them correctly.  I imagine the only places to go with it now is either if a.) Shawn DOES get involved with her mother, then they have relationship troubles, and how that might affect Maya b.) Maya's father showing up at some point and how devastating that could be.

-The show owning up to the contrivance, with the stylistic stuff like the character cards. I know this won't be popular with everybody, but I loved it.  It's a kind of 4th wall breaking that works for the show.  Not that they need to do that kind of thing every episode, but I like that they're thinking more creatively about the actual form of the episodes.

 

Farkle and Lucas both kind of seemed extraneous to the plot, although as others have noted it just served to remind us how much more chemistry Lucas has with Maya than with Riley (likely something the showrunners don't intend to show us, but they're stuck with us seeing it that way since it's so true).  Also, while I liked actually seeing a bit more of how the Matthews marriage worked, ultimately I wish Topanga had a little more to do in the scheme than just help Corey fool Shawn into going to the Diner himself.

 

Lets see where they go from here.  As I said, they can't visit this well too often, so we need some other sources of drama besides Maya and her circumstances.

I'm on the fence about Riley in that episode.  Sure she seemed smug and know it all, but we at least saw her fess up that she needed help (plus the "scheming" was well played to give us comedy, but also remind us of Corey in the original show, rather than the lame version we have now.

[Mabinogia]

I think Riley is from a different generation where she's probably been told how special and unique she is all her life.

 

 

I think that explains it perfectly. Riley is Cory but with the 2000s (IDK what this generation is being called) sense of special snowflake syndrome. Riley grew up with social media where any idiot can be famous if they get enough followers, where kids are taught that there are no winner or losers and every little thing they do is broadcast to the world because they are so special and wonderful. Riley comes across as very much a product of the world she's grown up in, where there never wasn't American Idol, or the Bachelor, or Real World or a million other shows turning normal, pretty boring people into stars.

 

I think, of the two, Riley is the more realistic kid. Maya, as much as I love her, is very resigned to disappointment and just being Maya whereas Riley has probably spent her whole life being told she can do anything, so she does. Lucky for her she lives in a sitcom where she is the star, so she pretty much can do anything. lol

 

Good episode. I am happy with anything that focuses on Maya and while I hated the idea of awesome Shawn being set up with her annoying mother (sorry, I just can't stand her. I had a single mom, a teen mom at that, who had to work all the time to make ends meet, and she didn't act as flakey and careless as Maya's mom. But of course we got that stupid "I didn't forget my daughters birthday, I just didn't bother telling her I had to work because I was saving money for a necklace. Like seriously, woman, just tell Maya you had to work the morning of her birthday but you'd see her later. It sounds like she just left without saying anything.

 

I was kind of hoping that Shawn and her wouldn't end up liking each other (which they are clearly headed towards) but that he decided to stay in Maya's life anyway, because he doesn't want an instant family but he wants Maya as a surrogate daughter. Oh well. As long as he stays, and we don't see her mother often, I can live with it.

 

Hate how they shoehorned Farkle and then Lucas in. Farkle is funny enough but Lucas adds nothing to the show and seeing him with both girls just reminds everyone how much more chemistry he has with Maya than with Riley.

[princessbroccoli]

I love Shawn Hunter/Rider Strong! I can't wait for Eric to come on next season!

Good episode but I think the pacing for this episode was a bit weird. There were too many awkward lags.

 

I was kind of hoping that Shawn and her wouldn't end up liking each other (which they are clearly headed towards) but that he decided to stay in Maya's life anyway, because he doesn't want an instant family but he wants Maya as a surrogate daughter. Oh well. As long as he stays, and we don't see her mother often, I can live with it.

 

I completely agree! Shawn and Maya's mom should not get together! Big NO!

[Kromm]

More likely, if the show heads where the plot will do the most good, Shawn and Maya's mom get together but later break up. It's the way to milk that for drama (and not terribly unrealistic either). I mean we got the happy comedic beats from seeing daughter and father united in scheming, but it seems to me the flip side is the eventual lesson that there are things you can't fix that way.

[wingster55]

I don't see any chemistry between Maya and Lucas...just because they tease each other? That kind of pairing is always seen as one with all the chemistry. Never got it, never will. 

[Mabinogia]

I think I mainly see the Lucas Maya chemistry because Sabrina just has natural chemistry with everyone and they actually look the same age. If I saw Lucas and Riley out on a date I'd think it was cute that he was taking his little sister on a little fake date to make her feel good about herself. Where I also see Farkle and Riley as the same age. I know they are in that tween stage where ages can be tricky. One year can make a huge difference, growth-wise. But when I first started watching I wondered why a 15-16 year old boy was in the same class as Riley and Farkle who looked about 12. It was weird. Maya can kind of go either way though they dress her older so it looks odd sometimes too. But I'm way too old for this show anyway, it's just something that prevents me from buying Lucas/Riley as a potential couple and find Lucas/Maya far more engaging. (I just think Sabrina makes everything better, even Lucas. lol) Of course I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Cory, Topanga and Shawn are in their 30s! I suck at ages.

 

It's not because they tease each other, that's such a trope, but for me, it's because they are more at ease around each other. It's playful and easy unlike tongue tied Riley and how wooden and awkward Lucas is when interacting with her. Chemistry is fascinating. It's so different based on who is seeing it.

[Kromm]

I think I mainly see the Lucas Maya chemistry because Sabrina just has natural chemistry with everyone and they actually look the same age. If I saw Lucas and Riley out on a date I'd think it was cute that he was taking his little sister on a little fake date to make her feel good about herself.

Bingo. And Bingo.

Sabrina sparks off everyone--and that's so obvious virtually every poster on this board has noted it in some topic or other. They script her being playfully antagonistic with Lucas, and because she actually does emote an older presence (her smaller physical size doesn't change the fact that she FEELS older), it comes off as flirtation.

Riley's interactions, with Princess themes and wide-open-eyed reactions, come off as childish.

They even have Maya be the outright silly one sometimes, for example the way she breaks into these nonsense musical riffs out loud in a few episodes, but it didn't change the sense that she's just older--which is maybe why they seem to have retconned her now as a year older. Of course a dozen other things telegraph her as being even older yet,but I think they hope that the fact that she's also so emotionally vulnerable will counter that and make viewers feel her as younger.

Whereas freaking Lucas looks like he could pass for 18, although the actor is actually 16. Casting that kid was arguably a huge mistake. Rowan is gonna have to have a heck of a puberty to catch up to him even a little.

[Bitterswete]

I don't see any chemistry between Maya and Lucas...

 

Chemistry is fascinating. It's so different based on who is seeing it.

 

Chemistry is definitely subjective because I don't see massive amounts of romantic chemistry between Maya and Lucas either. They do have chemistry, but chemistry doesn't necessarily mean two characters should hook up. It can just mean they play off of each other well, which is all I get from Maya and Lucas.

 

On the other hand, Riley and Lucas have made me go awwww on several occasions. But I don't necessarily see them as some major romance either.

 

They script her being playfully antagonistic with Lucas, and because she actually does emote an older presence (her smaller physical size doesn't change the fact that she FEELS older), it comes off as flirtation.

 

I've had relationships like that with people that were always (and always going to be) totally platonic. So seeing that sort of relationship between characters doesn't automatically make me think romance.

 

As for who looks too old for whom, I suck at judging people's ages. A lot. I think it's because I've known (and seen on screen) so many people who looked either a lot younger or a lot older than they really were that it's sort of thrown off my ability to judge.

 

I do think Maya acts a lot more mature than Riley, but I still see them as basically the same age.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Bitterswete

[Kromm]

A lot of this is indeed subjective. I will state that I think Peyton Meyer looking at LEAST his true age of 16, and at times frankly closer to 18, is likely not one of those things.

With Sabrina Carpenter herself, it's more a combination of slightly more mature angles to her face (less babyfat, whereas Rowan still has a bit), how she's made up, dressed, but most of all how she carries herself. She will lapse into more juvenile things (I gave the example of her little musical riffs before), but she really does seem at least her actual 15, and I bet she could easily be mistaken for 17. The show does make a few efforts to dress her in colors they seem to assume will make her look younger, and she's not wearing anything even remotely "sexy" (as a real 15 year old might try to wear), but at the same time they clearly want to keep Maya looking like the hip/cool friend, so they can't baby how she dresses that much.

In terms of the Maya/Lucas flirtatious stuff? I certain can't disagree that in real life there are plenty of avenues for behavior like that to be totally innocent. But on TV it seems to communicate something else. In this case, it's not even clear if the showrunners intend it or not, since at least on the face of it Lucas is supposed to be Riley's version of Topanga somehow. But the flirtatious bantering stuff leading to romance is such a TV Trope, is it any wonder its in the minds of lots of viewers? Now a lot of this season was in the can before we even were able to post on it here (or on Twitter), so even if the producers saw comments from the peanut gallery they likely couldn't change anything. But I wonder if the way Maya was slotted as being obsessed with Josh was just to make her interactions with Lucas seem more... harmless... (romantically I mean) in contrast.

[Mabinogia]

It actually makes sense for Maya to be a little older, she clearly doesn't apply herself at school so I could see her having stayed back a year, or even started a year back, and she would act older because she has been raising herself in a lot of ways. Kids with single parents tend to grow up a lot faster than those with two loving parents who don't appear to struggle at all financially and are very much in love. So it makes sense Maya would act and seem older than Riley who is a little princess in almost every way.

 

I don't necessarily think the Lucas/Maya chemistry is a romantic chemistry, but to me, they seem more like friends than RIley and Lucas do so I could buy that blossoming into something more than Riley's "he's pretty, I'm in love" and Lucas's "She likes me, I'm...well, gonna just go with it I guess" which is how I see Riley/Lucas.

It actually makes sense for Maya to be a little older, she clearly doesn't apply herself at school so I could see her having stayed back a year, or even started a year back, and she would act older because she has been raising herself in a lot of ways. Kids with single parents tend to grow up a lot faster than those with two loving parents who don't appear to struggle at all financially and are very much in love. So it makes sense Maya would act and seem older than Riley who is a little princess in almost every way.

 

I don't necessarily think the Lucas/Maya chemistry is a romantic chemistry, but to me, they seem more like friends than RIley and Lucas do so I could buy that blossoming into something more than Riley's "he's pretty, I'm in love" and Lucas's "She likes me, I'm...well, gonna just go with it I guess" which is how I see Riley/Lucas.

 

[Perfect Xero]

In BMW Shawn and Cory had great chemistry, but so did Cory and Topanga, she had her own weirdness and place as a character other than just as a love interest. On this show I feel like they got the Maya/Riley part right, but the love interest part of the equation doesn't work nearly as well because Lucas just feels like he has no other purpose than waiting around to be Riley's first boyfriend. I think that's why his interactions with Maya are better, at least there he gets to show a little bit of personality.

 

Granted, I like Lucas better than Farkle, I'll take boring boyfriend material over person with obsessive crush that no one takes seriously.

 

As soon as he started in with the whole "talking watch/recording everything Maya/Riley says bit," should've been the moment that the parents forgot having a "tech guy" and told him to cut that out or they'd file a restraining order.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Perfect Xero

[wingster55]

I also don't think Sabrina is significantly better than Rowan. Rowan can do the dramatic just as well. 

[peachmangosteen]

I think almost all the acting, including from Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel, is pretty bad to awful. Like I am legit embarrassed by a lot of it at times. But I think Sabrina Carpenter is fantastic. 

 

I was going to watch this show because, you know, nostalgia, but then I just didn't get around to it because of other stuff being on and whatnot. Anyway, I ended up catching bits and pieces of some repeats and I thought it was SO bad. The acting is just awful for the most part and the writing is bad, yet I somehow found myself tearing up and smiling through a lot of the stuff I saw. I don't even know! It's really bad, but it gets to me.

 

I watched the full Christmas ep and this ep because of Shawn and I'll probably continue to watch it now. It's fun and cute and makes me all nostalgia-y in a good way.

[Mabinogia]

As soon as he started in with the whole "talking watch/recording everything Maya/Riley says bit," should've been the moment that the parents forgot having a "tech guy" and told him to cut that out or they'd file a restraining order.

 

I know it's a sitcom so there's that, but it is pretty interesting that Corey freaks out of Lucas just standing there because Riley has a crush on him but has no problem with this creepy little stalker kid climbing into his daughters window at any time, recording her voice so he can make her say she loves him and basically hitting on her constantly. I like Farkle as a character, but his obsession with Maya and Riley kind of creeps me out. Luckily this is Disney so it won't go the way of a Lifetime movie, but still, I'm pretty sure Farkle is how all the creepy stalker guys on Lifetime movies started out. lol

[ladyrott]

I don't mind Farkle's crush on the girls.  I think because they are all friends....I just don't take it seriously.  It feels to me like, if Maya and Riley didn't like him or he creeped them out, they wouldn't hang around him.  The fact that Riley smiled when she heard her voice makes me think that she thought it was cute (although girl grins when her best friend is pissed at her, so maybe she just smiles all the time) and I think she is genuinely very fond of Farkle.

 

There is one thing I cant figure out though.....They keep making reference to Shawn/Cory being the Kings of scheming....are they serious about that?  Are they forgetting that, although they had a LOT of schemes, they got caught on 99% of them?!  Is Topanga humoring them by saying how great they were?  Or, in this universe, WERE they the kings who got away with everything? 

 

I am loving the idea of a relationship between Maya and Shawn.  I am NOT loving the idea of a relationship between Katie and Shawn.  If I were Katie, I would always wonder if Shawn was really into me or if he just wanted me to be close to my daughter (ewww....not in a creepy way).  I kind of hope they just go with a friendship between Katie and Shawn (After that final camera angle of the two of them standing together, I KNOW it's gonna be love, but a girl can dream) because I think it would be nice to see two adults who like each other but not in "that way".   They could become good friends, Shawn could be a father figure...a masculine influence....for both Maya and Katie. 

[Mabinogia]

If I were Katie, I would always wonder if Shawn was really into me or if he just wanted me to be close to my daughter (ewww....not in a creepy way).

 

That's exactly what it would be. If Shawn and Katie get together it is 100% because he wants Maya to have the family he never did. And that isn't fair to any of them. I really, really want this show to explore a different kind of family. Shawn can be in Maya's life, be like a father to her without hooking up with her mom (which, IMO, cheapens his connection to Maya). But we shall see. I expect it to go the fairtale route of Shawn magically falls for Maya's mother for no apparent reason because that would make them a big happy family.

 

I almost kind of wish Maya had been an orphan, or a foster kid so that Shawn could be a single dad to her. (yeah, for some reason, I just don't like Maya's mom. I think it was the whole "I'm an actress" thing they introduced her with. She just came off as not taking Maya's feelings very seriously. It just rubbed me the wrong way.

[Iheartdoctorwho]

if IMDB is to be believed, Rider Strong will be on 4 more episodes this year:

 

- Girl Meets Hurricane (2015) ... Shawn Hunter
- Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels (2015) ... Shawn Hunter
- Girl Meets Pluto (2015) ... Shawn Hunter
- Girl Meets the Secret Life (2015) ... Shawn Hunter

 

Fingers crossed!!!

 

[wingster55]

Isn't Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels an s2 ep?

[KerleyQ]

I don't mind Farkle's crush on the girls.  I think because they are all friends....I just don't take it seriously.  It feels to me like, if Maya and Riley didn't like him or he creeped them out, they wouldn't hang around him.  The fact that Riley smiled when she heard her voice makes me think that she thought it was cute (although girl grins when her best friend is pissed at her, so maybe she just smiles all the time) and I think she is genuinely very fond of Farkle.

 

 

That's what I see, too.  The girls seem to genuinely care about him, and his antics regarding his crush on them are so over the top, that they don't take them seriously and are able to laugh it off while still remaining perfectly comfortable being friends with him.  I think part of why I don't find it to be in the creepy, stalker territory is because he seems to have no issue with Lucas.  Instead of being territorial, jealous, or trying to sabotage any potential Lucas/Riley relationship, he's just friends with the guy.  

[HeatherinThailand]

If Shawn becomes Maya's dad, I am adding this show to the DVR.

[beetlesoda]

I just don't want couples or potential couples or shipping to ruin yet another show. I don't care for the couples and I'm glad the shows not taking it seriously as the fans, I hope they stick to their guns and tell their story they want especially during the early stages of the show. As of now I just want the show to focus on the friendships and family and the last thing I ever want is for Maya and Riley to ever fight over a guy.

That being said I liked the episode. Love it whenever Shawne is back although my Shawne and Angela heart is gonna have a tough time with him and Maya's mom even though as much of an absent mom she is I kinda like her and sort of understand her.

[Kromm]

I also don't think Sabrina is significantly better than Rowan. Rowan can do the dramatic just as well.

Hoo boy, we're gonna have to agree to disagree.  Ben and Danielle, for example, still have decent comedic chops, but seem rusty on the rest. The kid who plays Lucas is a pretty weak actor, but luckily he hasn't been given much demanding other than quipping back and forth with Sabrina.  The kid who plays Farkle has had a few decently acted moments around the usual "he's a creepy mini-stalker" thing, so he's got potential if you can get around the overall negatives of the character (which ARE played for comedy, so I guess it's not that hard).  Rowan herself isn't horrendous, but it's all kind of broadly acted wide-eyed emotional spurting, with no shading.  And even if we reduce it just to the charisma/where you look in a scene aspect, it usually comes down to Sabrina.

I think almost all the acting, including from Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel, is pretty bad to awful. Like I am legit embarrassed by a lot of it at times. But I think Sabrina Carpenter is fantastic.

I don't know if its as bad as that, but it's certainly Disney Channel level--which is less than most outlets. The Mouse means quality in many ways, but comedy chops trumps actual acting ability. Edited January 19, 2015 by Kromm

[KerleyQ]

I have to admit, I never liked Angela, both as a character and as a love interest for Shawn.  So on that count, I'd have no issue with Shawn and Maya's mom.  However, I don't see anything "there" between these two, so it would be much better to just have him become a father figure to Maya without the romantic involvement with her mother. 

[Bill C.]

They definitely laid the groundwork here for Shawn and Katy getting involved on some level down the line--the two "people who were left" finding common ground in that, and Shawn realizing that Katy hadn't forgotten Maya's birthday and was trying to preserve her memories of her father by sacrificing herself (which I can't help thinking was a sort of deliberate personality Band-aid for Katy, considering how she first appeared) and sticking up for her.  The bit with Maya looking at them holding the cake and then making her birthday wish was just the cherry on top.  The question is how far they'll go with it.  A post-divorce relationship isn't uncharted territory for DC, but it's still relatively uncommon--and as darkly serious as this aspect of Maya's story is and has been, I wonder if that cements a sort of happily-ever-after for her and her mother...perhaps minus the near-inevitable appearance at some point of Mr. Hart.

 

As for the rest of the episode: I thought it came off well, though they did crowbar Lucas and Farkle (who by DC standards is a pretty stock friend/stalker IMO, but hey) in there.

[Bitterswete]

I also don't think Sabrina is significantly better than Rowan. Rowan can do the dramatic just as well. 

 

Rowan herself isn't horrendous, but it's all kind of broadly acted wide-eyed emotional spurting, with no shading. 

 

I've actually been noticing how subtle Rowan plays Riley sometimes. She'll react to some things with just a shift in expression, or a prolonged look, or a slight change in posture, that tells you what she's thinking about something another character did or said.

 

So while I agree that she acts very broad a lot of the time right now, I can see Riley becoming more subtle and low key as the show goes on.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Bitterswete

[Perfect Xero]

That's what I see, too.  The girls seem to genuinely care about him, and his antics regarding his crush on them are so over the top, that they don't take them seriously and are able to laugh it off while still remaining perfectly comfortable being friends with him.  I think part of why I don't find it to be in the creepy, stalker territory is because he seems to have no issue with Lucas.  Instead of being territorial, jealous, or trying to sabotage any potential Lucas/Riley relationship, he's just friends with the guy.  

There was the episode where Lucas and Riley were playing Romeo and Juliette and Farkle was so jealous that they were going to kiss that he interrupted the play, held Lucas up at spear point so that he could be the one to kiss Riley, demanded that Maya join him on stage so he could kiss her too, getting the crowd to pressure her in to going up on stage when she said no. But for whatever reason the whole incident got treated as "Farkle isn't a good actor", and not "Farkle is clearly a deranged psychopath that they need to stop humoring before it's too late."

[KerleyQ]

There was the episode where Lucas and Riley were playing Romeo and Juliette and Farkle was so jealous that they were going to kiss that he interrupted the play, held Lucas up at spear point so that he could be the one to kiss Riley, demanded that Maya join him on stage so he could kiss her too, getting the crowd to pressure her in to going up on stage when she said no. But for whatever reason the whole incident got treated as "Farkle isn't a good actor", and not "Farkle is clearly a deranged psychopath that they need to stop humoring before it's too late."

 

That whole episode seems so out of character for aIll, compared to how they've been in other episodes.  It makes me wonder what order they were taped in and originally intended to air in. 

[TwistedandBored]

I actually liked Angela. I liked that BMW didn't let some people's opinion get to them and kept Shawn and Angela together. Looks like that is not what's going to happen now. Whatever. I am just hope Angela comes back in season 2 as Topanga's friend if anything. 

[SmithW6079]

I never cared for Angela. I felt like she was shoehorned in, and she never fit in with the rest of the cast.  Maybe it was because the actress was about 10 years older than the rest of the gang. I certainly never saw any chemistry between her and Shawn. But then again, I've long believed that Shawn is gay and should just come out of the closet already so he can get over his emo angst.

[ellenr33]

Alright I'm calling it. Katy and Shawn start dating and Shawn becomes this girls dad. 

I actually like the actors who play Lucas (I think he's a little cutie) and Maya. 

I can't stand Auggie (what the hell kind of name is that) and Farkle.

I see bits and pieces of talent in the little girl who plays Riley. When shes trying to portray any emotions she seems way too theatrical. She needs to learn how to be more natural. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

Alright I'm calling it. Katy and Shawn start dating and Shawn becomes this girls dad. 

I actually like the actors who play Lucas (I think he's a little cutie) and Maya. 

I can't stand Auggie (what the hell kind of name is that) and Farkle.

I see bits and pieces of talent in the little girl who plays Riley. When shes trying to portray any emotions she seems way too theatrical. She needs to learn how to be more natural. 

 

Agreed on that in regards to Riley. It just seems way over the top.

[truthaboutluv]

I just did a recent binge watch of this show. While I was a BMW fan, I just wasn't in a rush to see this version, probably because it's on Disney so I figured it would have a lot of the Disney elements I hate (which it does). That said, I still enjoyed it for what it was. Yes Riley can be incredibly annoying and I too hate how she and even Maya as well speak to the adults but again, Disney so I just ignore it. That said, this episode may be the one to make me move on. 

 

I find the Shawn/Maya thing a bit forced and way too twee for my liking and kind of annoying. I know the show's timeline is a little wacky but it doesn't seem like Maya and Shawn have known each other that long because it couldn't possibly be that many months since the Christmas episode. And already there's this push to place him in psuedo-dad role. Yeah no and definitely no to the possible coupling with the mother. 

 

Yes, I get that they have similar backgrounds and understand each other but isn't it enough for Shawn to just be a cool psuedo uncle that she can reach out to when she needs to? Sort of like what Mr. Turner was for Shawn. Mr. Turner was more foster parent like with Shawn living with him but I liked how the writers paced it and there wasn't a rush to create this father/son relationship with the two. Again, I know this is Disney but the whole thing is just a bit too twee for me. 

 

I like Maya, I like Shawn, cannot stand the mother to be honest and I want none of this insta-family of the broken ones.  Just thought I'd share.

Edited March 27, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[Mabinogia]

I like Maya, I like Shawn, cannot stand the mother to be honest and I want none of this insta-family of the broken ones.  Just thought I'd share.

I agree with this whole heartedly. I love Maya, she's my favorite character. I love Shawn, he's probably my second favorite character. I love their interactions but I do NOT want him to be her father. I also hate her mother. They made such a strong terrible bad first impression at the day after career day that no amount of "she didn't even bother saying happy birthday to Maya because she was spending her birthday trying to earn enough money for her gift" is going to make up for it. So no Sean and Katie. PLEASE!!!!! 

 

I do, however, get the girls wanting it to happen. They are at the age where they still believe in fairy tales and happy endings, especially Riley who has had a pretty easy life so far. She just wants that for her friend. But I would much prefer the Shawn/Mr. Turner kind of relationship for Maya and Shawn and just leave Katie off the show.

 

I think it is even more meaningful  if Shawn is in Maya's life without hooking up with her mom, that he is there just for Maya.