S02.E14: Girl Meets Creativity

[Tara Ariano]

Art and music are threatened to be cut from the school curriculum, so the kids search for a creative way to show the school how important they are to their education.

[Lindsey]

While I've heard crazier stories about the things that go on at school board meetings, I'm pretty sure that display would have made any school board decide to cut all fine arts programs immediately. Or they would, if their teachers didn't have contracts and could be laid off in the middle of the school year. I don't teach in New York, but don't the teachers' unions prevent that kind of thing?

[FrumiusManxome]

Alright episode. Way too cheesy sometimes. Like Maya's line 'All of them' when asked who her favorite artist is felt too much like Maya just couldn't name any. 

 

I love that Zay was back. I wish that his character was included more, but I like that his commentary exists sort of outside of the realm of the show. Like the fact that he was able to point out (what was supposed to be) Lucaya tension. No other character on the show could have made light of it like him because everyone is always so into the friendship thing. It's awesome that they're all friends, but with the way it's written they all often come off as those types of friends who are afraid to actually tell each other the truth for fear of hurting anyone's feelings. Especially considering the fact that Maya apparently 'knows' this secret about Riley that she won't tell her. And that's not true friendship imho.

 

They had some good points with their little 'Save the Arts' performance, but a lot of it came across as childish. There is no way I would have taken these kids seriously with they way they set this up. I also hate how they treated the woman as if she was doing some horrible thing with no concern for them. Like, this was a money thing. And if the Chairperson was as into the Arts as they revealed her to be then wouldn't she have already 'thought creatively' and exhausted all the options trying to save the Arts in the first place? It was just a ridiculous situation.

 

I also didn't like that angsty woe-is-me Maya had returned. Can we please stop pretending that Maya does not have a picture perfect life? Seriously, the only thing wrong with her life is that her dad doesn't talk to her. Which if future episode synopsis(es?) are to be believed won't be lasting much longer. 

 

Overall, it was alright though.

[Lindsey]

They had some good points with their little 'Save the Arts' performance, but a lot of it came across as childish. There is no way I would have taken these kids seriously with they way they set this up. I also hate how they treated the woman as if she was doing some horrible thing with no concern for them. Like, this was a money thing. And if the Chairperson was as into the Arts as they revealed her to be then wouldn't she have already 'thought creatively' and exhausted all the options trying to save the Arts in the first place? It was just a ridiculous situation.

 

Mr. Turner did make a comment about replacing the arts programs with test prep, and I would have bought into the premise of this episode much more if the kids had based their arguments on the value of enrichment programs over test prep courses, instead of convincing the board to save the arts with puppy dog eyes and really terrible interpretive dance. But that would have been less an episode of Girl Meets World than an episode of The West Wing: The Next Generation.

[KaveDweller]

Mr. Turner did make a comment about replacing the arts programs with test prep, and I would have bought into the premise of this episode much more if the kids had based their arguments on the value of enrichment programs over test prep courses, instead of convincing the board to save the arts with puppy dog eyes and really terrible interpretive dance. But that would have been less an episode of Girl Meets World than an episode of The West Wing: The Next Generation.

 

Yeah, I actually thought they were going to get into some kind of political statement about standardized testing after the test prep comment, but I guess I forgot this is Disney.  I thought it was really unrealistic that the kids saved anything with their presentation, and don't think their argument was really that creative a way to solve the problem.

[Primetimer]

The kids step up to save art class, but who will save Riley's soon-to-be broken heart?

Read the story

[Texasmom1970]

The writers really are pushing the Maya is so great, tough, beautiful and talented stuff down our throats. Don't get me wrong I love Sabrina Carpenter, but they were just too heavy handed trying to set up a future romance between Lucas and Maya instead of him with Riley.

All we have seen all season was Lucas and Riley heading toward something together, and Maya showing disdain for Lucas. Now he is spewing about how talented she is, staring at her in class, and we are now to believe he described her as the blonde beauty in letters to his friend. And ofcourse we see Riley noticing these moments as well.

I said it after last episode please either keep them all friends or get Maya her own love interest. I am not interested in seeing a love triangle, or watching Maya and Rileys friendship crumble over a guy. It is too "One Tree Hill" but for middle schoolers!

[stormborn]

Zay is an utter delight. The young actor playing him just lights up the screen whenever he's on. I really hope they begin to utilize him more, especially now since they have toned down Farkle. 

 

I agree also that the premise was a bit shoddy; I feel like this is one of those episodes where an adult, preferably Mr. Turner (Heyyyy Mr. Turner ;)) should've sat down and gently explained to the kids the harsh reality of school budget cuts and the like. They are not going to be able to save the day every day. I get that this is Disney but sometimes I would like to see Team Maya & Co. take a loss because I remember watching Cory, Shawn and Topanga having to deal with a lot of disappointments in BMW and it made them more well-rounded characters. But like I said, this is Disney. 

 

Also I see that the Lucaya "hints" are dropping like atom bombs now. I really dislike force-fed ships so its beginning to bug me a lot now. But whatever, they'll do what they will.

 

And they can stop now with the Maya is Shawn when it comes to having a crappy home life. Maya is not Shawn. Maya's life is a CAKE WALK compared to Shawn's. She gets everything she wants including getting Shawn as a father-figure. Its becoming more than a little ridiculous... 

Edited August 22, 2015 by stormborn

[SosaLola]

I honestly wish they'd stop it with making the kids this new generation's version of the BMW kids. Why must Maya be like Shawn? Why can't she be her own person? I like that she's into art and I like that her mother is a decent person - comparing her to Chit or Verna is laughable. She'd never abandoned her daughter the way Shawn's parents did. 

 

My problem with the show is that it's painfully heavy handed. As someone who's rewatching BMW and is currently in the fourth season, I can tell you that BMW isn't perfect: the continuity errors are uncountable and it does contain some cheesy dialogue here and there, but overall it's way more subtle than GMW. It also benefits from treating the adults with respect: while Cory, Shawn and Topanga dominate classroom discussions, there's obviously a lot of respect for Mr. Feeny and Mr. Turner in the class. Yes, they speak their minds in class but there are always boundaries not to be crossed - unlike the kids in GMW. Allan and Amy are shown as responsible parents, and while they do have some silly moments, they still maintain their children and their friends' respect.

 

I just feel so disappointed with GMW. I want more focus on Riley - like BMW did for Cory, we didn't really get to the Shawn drama until the end of S2, before that the show was 90% focused on Cory and establishing that this is Cory's show - and way, way, way less focus on Maya. I'm sick and tired of the repeated tune of her father leaving home and her desire to have Shawn as a dad and her obsession with art as well. We get it. Maya is a good artist. What about the other characters? What are they good at. Especially the lead character!

 

I'm very curious about Farkle's homelife and his desire to change his image and I wanna learn more about Lucas.  So, less Maya and more of everybody else!

[David-]

Just have a rewatch of this ep later but Maya's terrible life?

She gets to wear designer clothing.

She has a mother that slogs her guts out working.

She has a wanna be father in Shawn that buys her clothes and she hangs out with Riley and family.

The most terrible thing about Maya is her attitude.

I've seen kids with terrible pasts and Maya's past has nothing on them.

Pretty much Maya's attitude is, "I'll do whatever the hell I want because Daddy left me when I was younger."

Move on to other more interesting characters. Getting bored with Maya now.

[beetlesoda]

Well I guess I can just be thankful boy meets world didn't have social media, Shawn would've been pushed and would've been explored more than Corey and the inevitable triangle between Topanga, Shawn, and Corey would've dominated the show.

I've said a lot of the lucaya topic (because I truly honestly believe it can ruin this show), it's going to be done I was hoping it would transition a bit smoother and not after an episode that dealt with Riley and Lucas geez and before Riley had the chance to discover that her first kiss was with her brother

Zay! Great to see him back to bad he was brought back to prop up something and then leave. He dropped the bomb now let's see how the writers deal with it. Hopefully they can have him in more episode to prop himself and not other characters. It is kinda ironic how I feel Riley and Lucas were more natural

And my deep condolence to Maya's hard hard life.

[Skyfall]

I loved the purple cat door riff!

[Misslindsey]

 

I just feel so disappointed with GMW. I want more focus on Riley - like BMW did for Cory, we didn't really get to the Shawn drama until the end of S2, before that the show was 90% focused on Cory and establishing that this is Cory's show - and way, way, way less focus on Maya. I'm sick and tired of the repeated tune of her father leaving home and her desire to have Shawn as a dad and her obsession with art as well. We get it. Maya is a good artist. What about the other characters? What are they good at. Especially the lead character!

This. I liked Maya in season one, because I thought the focus on the Riley/Maya friendship and the other characters was more even. Now I am so sick of Maya. It is like everything that I liked about her in season one had been watered down or gotten rid of. The Lucas/Maya ship and the increased focus on Maya is making me lose interest in the show. It is a shame, because I enjoyed it prior to most of this season.

[allonsyalice]

Both Riley and Zay killed it. I loved seeing Zay, we should see more of Zay. actually

 

 

I'm very curious about Farkle's homelife and his desire to change his image and I wanna learn more about Lucas.  So, less Maya and more of everybody else!

 

this. 

 

Riley and I feel the same way about purple (and yeah it is rude that the art teacher hides the purple i'm glad she finds it.) Is it weird that I don't care about riley and lucas or maya and lucas? honestly bmw did a great job of just not force shoehorning romance into into and why cant gmw do the same!?

[MiseryIndex]

I realize I'm a dude in his 30s watching this show for nostalgia. And it was for dramatic effect. But did that janitor or whatever he was really take thre door painting maya did? I can't see how that would happen.

[Kromm]

What's really sad is that the mega-shitty "Mr. Robinson" just had this same exact plot.

This wasn't much better. I'm used to this show being heavy-handed and typically alright with it, but somehow this episode went too far for me.

The one aspect I like is that Riley rather than just being shown as dim, like usual, was actually shown as fairly smart/on the ball. So for everyone saying this was yet another version of The Maya Show, I'd urge you to take a look at that aspect instead. This was clearly a major Riley episode in many ways, even if Maya's artistic fate was the subject. It's too bad the whole thing was such a bundle of cliches.

[WhosThatGirl]

I don't know how I feel about this episode. I was never really on bored with Riley and Lucas last season, probably because the show was dead set on MAKING IT HAPPEN! LOOK, VIEWERS, LUCAS IS THE TOPANGA TO RILEY'S CORY! And no, sorry, show. But then I slowly started to get into it once the show started to let it happen but now they're pushing Maya and Lucas and I'm not a fan. It's like this show can't leave things be and see what happens.

Someone above said they are sick of the show stating Maya is like Shawn in being tortured. I agree, I am too and Maya has it much better than Shawn. Shawn at more than one point had NO parents around. His Dad left town, he stayed with The Matthews and then Mr. Turner. Maya has her Mom who hasn't left and yes can't make it to certain events because she is working. But she hasn't left Maya like Shawn's parents did. It's a very different story.

[spanana]

While I liked Riley in this episode, that doesn't change the fact that this episode was essentially about Maya.  I get Sabrina Carpenter is a find and I do really like her, but this show is really becoming the Maya show.  Almost every major storyline is about Maya.  It's not like Rowan Blanchard is incapable of carrying the show so I don't entirely get it.  At this point the girl in Girl Meets World is more Maya than Riley.

 

Anyway, many a show has tackled this particular storyline.  The kids presentation was so simplistic.  I get protesting the arts being cut, but they didn't offer any valid solutions.  All they said was not to cut the arts. They didn't give any sort of insight in terms of what in the budget could be cut to make room for the arts.  All they told the school board or whoever was to "think differently".  Okay.  I can think differently and out of the box all I want but at the end of the day the school budget is still the school budget.  If the kids were going to do a presentation it should have been researched and grounded in reality instead of a free for all variety show.

 

But oh well.  I do like this show.  It has good intentions.  Just sometimes it is so heavy handed.  That and they need to pull back on the poor Maya schtick, when the girl probably has a better life than most kids from middle income families.  

[chuhulil]

Totally agree with everyone here. I mean, it's so completely obvious that her mother loves her to death, and Shawn got bounced around all the time. And even going through all of that, he still didn't complain about his life nearly as much as Maya does. Honestly, when she told Shawn "I've got half a mom" and was complaining about how her mom wasn't there for her birthday I wanted to cry tears for her poor mother. I mean, a single mom working her butt off to make minimum wage and support her daughter? It's so obvious that Katy jumps through hoops for Maya and loves her more than anything in the world. How anyone can be so disrespectful to someone who does all that just to do their best to make you happy? Just ugh. It's so disrespectful to say the least. I liked Maya when she was Riley's edgy best friend who was still learning to cross the line. She's turned into a pity party and yet all the attention is on her. 

 

Also, this has turned into the Maya show. Maya can do art, Maya can sing, Maya's such a strong, wonderful person. I love to see character development but jeez, it's like no one even acknowledged any of the other kids even though they were just as much a part of it as she was. In fact, I'd go ahead and say Zay did much more than Maya, he's the one that got the kids fired up to do this and all. It just seems kind of ridiculous that whenever all the kids do something, it's just Maya that seems to get credit nowadays. Like, she's becoming a successful person, like Shawn did. But BMW didn't need to turn Cory into an airhead to achieve that. Like, what exactly is Riley good at? Because it seems like "fixing things" is being handed over to Maya too.

 

Lucaya...ugh. Why they need to go that route is beyond me. But it definitely seems like it's coming. I for one am not excited. This is a Disney show, not a soap opera. Most people are not watching this show for romantic pairings. So the fact that they're actually pandering to what one group of people wants is ridiculous, especially when there are tons of Rucas fans as well. And as I've said 20 times before....they're in middle school! Why are relationships such a big for them? Is that the message to send to children? I just don't get it. 

 

The episode seemed a bit off to me, like many of the other ones. Just the whole "Oh...you've shown us the light. We know now that we were completely wrong" thing, especially after that entire circus they did was somewhat laughable. I thought it was a rather cute episode, and while it touched on a somewhat important subject, it was still cute and funny and lighthearted. 

 

I feel like everything is just kind of forced on this show at the moment. I quite thoroughly enjoyed Season 1.There wasn't Rucas propaganda every episode even if it was there on occasion. Also, all the kids seemed to be pretty involved in storylines, and the viewer learned about their strengths and their weaknesses. Now it's turned into the Maya show with Lucaya propaganda every episode. Also, they gave Riley some dumb pills before S2 as well. I love Rowan. It breaks my heart to see her be given material and a character like this, with the mentality of a 3rd grader, when Sabrina is given the type of material she gets. Don't get me wrong, I love Sabrina very much, she's so talented. But I just don't see why the character of Riley has to be such an airhead for them to develop Maya's character. They're overdoing it with that....by far. 

[WhosThatGirl]

I don't think Shawn ever said anything on BMW until Cory had to pull teeth in order to get him to so. And even if Shawn said the truth, he mostly said it as a forced joke. All Maya really does is complain and I agree, Sabrina is great but she isn't Riley and I think Rowan is great too. And I feel like this show is the Maya show. We sometimes get a break but more episodes than not have been about her. 

[KerleyQ]

Totally agree with everyone here. I mean, it's so completely obvious that her mother loves her to death, and Shawn got bounced around all the time. And even going through all of that, he still didn't complain about his life nearly as much as Maya does. Honestly, when she told Shawn "I've got half a mom" and was complaining about how her mom wasn't there for her birthday I wanted to cry tears for her poor mother. I mean, a single mom working her butt off to make minimum wage and support her daughter? It's so obvious that Katy jumps through hoops for Maya and loves her more than anything in the world. How anyone can be so disrespectful to someone who does all that just to do their best to make you happy? Just ugh. It's so disrespectful to say the least.

 

 

To be fair to Maya (and I do agree that Maya has taken up the focus of the show which should be on the daughter of Cory and Topanga), before the birthday episode, Maya's mother was portrayed that way, to a degree, where it would reasonably seem, from Maya's point of view, like her version of her life was accurate.  We had the scene at the diner between Riley and Katy when Riley tried to get her to go to the art show.  And we had the birthday episode scenes between Shawn and Katy, where she admitted that she let Maya think the worst of her rather than being honest with her about their situation, leading to Shawn's "she deserves to love the parent who stayed" line.  Now we see a good relationship between Maya and Katy, but up until that birthday episode, we saw something entirely different. 

 

The show is rushing this Lucas/Maya thing now.  You have to put some time between establishing that Lucas and Riley are just friends (or have a brother/sister relaionship) and Lucas suddenly being into Maya.  We started the last episode with Lucas still being interested in Riley and now we get this.   Neither one of these two would do this to Riley.  If we waited a while and saw some natural lead in, or some big moment where their previously unrealized attraction to each other comes out, it would be one thing.  But what they're doing right now kind of comes across like we're supposed to just memory wipe everything Lucas/Riley and pretend that we haven't seen Lucas showing up to ask Cory for permission to take Riley on a date, Lucas showing up with a horse for Riley, their first kiss, etc.  "Just pretend it didn't happen kids, because some fans on Twitter see a bigger spark between Maya and Lucas."  

[grandemocha]

 

Maya's mother was portrayed that way, to a degree, where it would reasonably seem, from Maya's point of view, like her version of her life was accurate.

 

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.

 

 

Chet Hunter was criminally negligent in my opinion, but that man loved his son to death and was proud of both of his kids for turning out better than he did.

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. 

Edited August 23, 2015 by grandemocha

[katie9918]

Chet Hunter was criminally negligent in my opinion, but that man loved his son to death and was proud of both of his kids for turning out better than he did.

And Katy is a much better parent than Chet was.

Virna and Maya's father are the ones who deserve all their children's disdain.

Never understood the accepted myth that Chet was abusive. Criminally negligent, yes. Abusive, NEVER.

[Mabinogia]

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 still think this was a huge mistake. Having Maya's mom continue to be a total flake who seemed more into her make believe life as an actress than her real life with her daughter would have made Maya's life more connected to Shawn's. It would have allowed her to still have her edge. I find it mildly insulting, as the daughter of a single mom, that they are trying to make her seem like Little Orphan Maya when really she has a hard working mother who loves her more than anything. Huge retcon IMO and also a huge mistake IMO. I think it's part of the reason Maya isn't as sympathetic to so many now, because, what's she really got to complain about? Yeah, it'd be nice to have a dad, but it's not like she has no parents which was more the case for Shawn for a period of time.

 

But they wanted their stupid canned romance so we get the Katie retcon. Ugh! (sorry all, but it is the thing that bothers me above everything else on this show. I can get down with how absolutely ridiculous that little skit the kids did at the meeting was, or how convenient it was that the head of the board happened to have been an art major. IOr even the sudden realization by pretty much the whole school that Maya and Lucas have something unspoken going on. But what I can't get past is the total change in Katie as a character because it totally changes Maya's situation and makes Maya come across as a bit of an ungrateful brat instead of a poor kid who is desperate for a family. They should have left it the way it was and made Shawn and Maya's connection about them and not his need for an instant family.

 

People are saying how this is becoming the Maya show but damned if her entire backstory hasn't been rearranged for Shawn.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Mabinogia

[Ambrosefolly]

I still think this was a huge mistake. Having Maya's mom continue to be a total flake who seemed more into her make believe life as an actress than her real life with her daughter would have made Maya's life more connected to Shawn's. It would have allowed her to still have her edge. I find it mildly insulting, as the daughter of a single mom, that they are trying to make her seem like Little Orphan Maya when really she has a hard working mother who loves her more than anything. Huge retcon IMO and also a huge mistake IMO. I think it's part of the reason Maya isn't as sympathetic to so many now, because, what's she really got to complain about? Yeah, it'd be nice to have a dad, but it's not like she has no parents which was more the case for Shawn for a period of time.

1) Even in Girl meets Maya's Mother I thought Katy was pretty devote to her daughter. Sure she wished she was a successful actress, but she did hold down a crappy job waiting tables at a diner and she was working during her daughter's art exhibit, not having a bender in Atlantic City.

 

2) I know that there might be more of a time crunch, but I wish Michael Jacobs would take the approach he had to BMW, where he let the show reveal its self to him. I know in the first season, they wanted to give Cory a gang of friends, but Shawn was the only one that stuck and Topanga eventually joined the group as Cory's girlfriend, and it allowed Eric a bigger role, which strength the presence of Cory's family on screen.

[bettername2come]

Virna and Maya's father are the ones who deserve all their children's disdain.

 

Don't forget Shawn's birth mother that took off right after he was born without leaving a name! Good God, the writers were mean to that boy.

 

I'd appreciate if they just stuck to the "I'm not giving up hope yet. I just got it" aspect of Maya. Balance out some of the optimism that Riley has. Let her realize things are picking up and she has a family that loves her, plus the Matthews and loyal friends.

[KerleyQ]

1) Even in Girl meets Maya's Mother I thought Katy was pretty devote to her daughter. Sure she wished she was a successful actress, but she did hold down a crappy job waiting tables at a diner and she was working during her daughter's art exhibit, not having a bender in Atlantic City.

 

 

I think that, as outside viewers, with more life experience than Maya, we see this.  But, I think it's believable that a seventh grade aged girl didn't view it that way.  Kids that age can be rather self-centered.  She wouldn't necessarily see what her mother was doing and sacrificing so much as she'd see "my mother is never around for the stuff I consider important."  And when you add in that her mother had this desire to be an actress and clearly wasn't happy with the life she was living, that can come across to Maya as not being solely about her career (which it is) and more about her whole life, including Maya.  

[RedFire2000]

I thought the school board meeting was by far the worst thing in the show so far. Basically if you bitch enough, you get what you want. Never actually explained where the money was coming from, art class just magically reappeared.

[Ambrosefolly]

I think that, as outside viewers, with more life experience than Maya, we see this.  But, I think it's believable that a seventh grade aged girl didn't view it that way.  Kids that age can be rather self-centered.  She wouldn't necessarily see what her mother was doing and sacrificing so much as she'd see "my mother is never around for the stuff I consider important."  And when you add in that her mother had this desire to be an actress and clearly wasn't happy with the life she was living, that can come across to Maya as not being solely about her career (which it is) and more about her whole life, including Maya.  

My point was I don't think Maya's mother was ever presented as being a neglectful parent, not to the level of Chet and Virna (though Virna did take on a baby that wasn't biologically hers, so there is that). I am in the camp that doesn't like the Shawn/Katy romance (and the mallet they try to beat me over the head with). She was unhappy with her life at the time, and really who can blame her, but I don't think they did a complete 180 with her. She now has a better job where she no longer has to wear a demeaning uniform. I for one wouldn't mind less focus on someone's crappy home life and just present the struggles of being the child of a single working mother. 

[grandemocha]

 

1) Even in Girl meets Maya's Mother I thought Katy was pretty devote to her daughter. Sure she wished she was a successful actress, but she did hold down a crappy job waiting tables at a diner and she was working during her daughter's art exhibit, not having a bender in Atlantic City.

I personally thought Katy was awful in that episode. I presume that Katy has a working brain..therefore she has enough common sense to know that she would embarrass the hell out of her daughter by #1 Showing up a day late to career day (or whatever it was) and barging into class #2 Making a scene with her "skills" as a so called actress in her work uniform. If I was her daughter I would have taken it alot better if my mother had just flat out said that she couldn't leave work to come to school and she'd make it up to me in the future. Her doing a dramatic scene to show what she auditioned with was inappropriate, wrong time and wrong place.

 

I didn't really care that she couldn't attend the art show Maya was in, Katy had to work. Work comes first in that situation. There'll be many many more art shows in the future. Riley seemed to take it harder than Maya but I suppose that was because Riley had likely never had to deal with real world disappointment in her life. Living with Cory and Topanga probably shields her from alot of stuff. 

 

 

I thought the school board meeting was by far the worst thing in the show so far. Basically if you bitch enough, you get what you want. Never actually explained where the money was coming from, art class just magically reappeared.

Yup. I know Disney Channel is the land of happiness and rainbows 24/7 but I would have loved it if even after the whole kitschy song and dance routine the kids put on that in the end it just didn't work. Money doesn't grow on trees and sometimes difficult decisions have to be made by school board members.

Edited August 24, 2015 by grandemocha

[Luckylyn]

I thought that they should have ended it with them getting art back and having a little victory only to discover that another program they like ended up getting cut to pay for art.  I think that would have been a original ending that showed the kids that solutions aren't as simple as they think.

[mjgchick]

I think the problem with Maya having a terrible home life is because this show is set on the Disney Channel where they no longer want to get real for a hot minute. Had this show been on ABCF Maya wouldn't have designer clothes. Just look at how they dress Callie on The Fosters. The show wants us to feel sorry for Maya but want to distract the kids with colorful clothes.

I don't think Riley is dimwitted. I'm still convinced she's slowly losing her mind though. She probably has her own mini cartoon like Lizzie McGuire did. lol Give Riley all the purple cats. I love that she knows she stinks and it doesn't bother her. She's a really good friend which is why I think they'll have her realize what's going on between Maya and Lucas. MAybe we'll get a reverse where Riley knows what Maya's feeling and won't tell her till she gets it. This is incredibly stupid but I hope it doesn't ruin those two. I finally like Lucas but not enough to ship him with either.

Love Zay. Give us more Say please.

[FrumiusManxome]

My biggest problem with Disney is their tendency to latch onto the first couple they write in and never let it go despite how stupid it may be. They did it on Liv and Maddie. Maddie and Diggie dated, but broke up because Diggie was supposed to go to Australia after just being gone like a year and Maddie didn't want to do long distance again. Yet, now they're trying to put those two back together and have Diggie give up a great opportunity for a relationship at 16. They did it on Good Luck Charlie. Teddy got back together with her scummy boyfriend even though he had cheated on her. Heck, they're even doing it on ABC Family with the Fosters. Callie is supposed to get adopted by the Fosters (hence the name) however, the writers refuse to let her quit her foster brother even though they have said a million times that family is more important than a boyfriend.

My point is that Disney always goes with the first couple they write in. They don't care if it sends a bad message or if it even makes sense. They just go with the one that the audience would typically be the most invested in for the sake of ratings as past history/chemistry between the two characters means that they don't need to take time to build up again. So even though the Lucaya is strong now, I get the feeling Rucas will make a comeback. And I dread how messy things are going to get when it's decided to go back to them.

[Kromm]

My biggest problem with Disney is their tendency to latch onto the first couple they write in and never let it go despite how stupid it may be. They did it on Liv and Maddie. Maddie and Diggie dated, but broke up because Diggie was supposed to go to Australia after just being gone like a year and Maddie didn't want to do long distance again. Yet, now they're trying to put those two back together and have Diggie give up a great opportunity for a relationship at 16. They did it on Good Luck Charlie. Teddy got back together with her scummy boyfriend even though he had cheated on her. Heck, they're even doing it on ABC Family with the Fosters. Callie is supposed to get adopted by the Fosters (hence the name) however, the writers refuse to let her quit her foster brother even though they have said a million times that family is more important than a boyfriend.

My point is that Disney always goes with the first couple they write in. They don't care if it sends a bad message or if it even makes sense. They just go with the one that the audience would typically be the most invested in for the sake of ratings as past history/chemistry between the two characters means that they don't need to take time to build up again. So even though the Lucaya is strong now, I get the feeling Rucas will make a comeback. And I dread how messy things are going to get when it's decided to go back to them.

Disney isn't writing this.  Michael Jacobs and his team are.  They get notes from Disney I'm sure, but that's different from being in-house Disney writers.

[Gbb]

Yup. I know Disney Channel is the land of happiness and rainbows 24/7 but I would have loved it if even after the whole kitschy song and dance routine the kids put on that in the end it just didn't work. Money doesn't grow on trees and sometimes difficult decisions have to be made by school board members.

 

Well to be fair, at the end of the ep they didn't actually get the arts re-funded.The committee simply agreed to take Mr. Turner's advice and postpone the decision to give them time to look for other options. Now, I'm pretty sure we'll never hear it mentioned again and the art class will stay, but the committee didn't just automatically hand over the money because of the kids show. In real life, it would have had to have been done on a state level anyway. That's where the education budgets are being slashed. But that's a discussion for another forum.

 

As for whether Maya's life is as terrible as she makes it out to be, I agree she has it pretty good right now. She still doesn't have a father, but where before she just thought her Mom didn't care enought to be around more she now realizes her Mom works very hard to keep things together for her. That and Katy's burgeoning relationship with Shawn are the reason I can't shake the feeling that something might happen to Katy before it's all over. We'd have the symmetry with Shawn losing a parent, some "life isn't always fair" lessons,  and we'd have a real reason for Maya to feel like her life sucks. But this is Disney, and although Disney loves dead parents in its movies I'm not sure I really see it happening here. Still I think it would open up a lot narrative possibilities, and if I wrote for GMW I'd be pushing for it.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Gbb

[spanana]

My biggest problem with Disney is their tendency to latch onto the first couple they write in and never let it go despite how stupid it may be. They did it on Liv and Maddie. Maddie and Diggie dated, but broke up because Diggie was supposed to go to Australia after just being gone like a year and Maddie didn't want to do long distance again. Yet, now they're trying to put those two back together and have Diggie give up a great opportunity for a relationship at 16. They did it on Good Luck Charlie. Teddy got back together with her scummy boyfriend even though he had cheated on her. Heck, they're even doing it on ABC Family with the Fosters. Callie is supposed to get adopted by the Fosters (hence the name) however, the writers refuse to let her quit her foster brother even though they have said a million times that family is more important than a boyfriend.

My point is that Disney always goes with the first couple they write in. They don't care if it sends a bad message or if it even makes sense. They just go with the one that the audience would typically be the most invested in for the sake of ratings as past history/chemistry between the two characters means that they don't need to take time to build up again. So even though the Lucaya is strong now, I get the feeling Rucas will make a comeback. And I dread how messy things are going to get when it's decided to go back to them.

 

I really don't think you can say this is a Disney thing so much as a common writer trope period.  All these shows have different writers and I can't imagine they are getting notes from Disney ordering them to pair off their lead characters with the first guy they come across.  I also think in some of the examples you gave, it's unfortunately also just the showrunners in question being partial to the actors and therefore sort of force feeding things so as to keep certain people employed.  For instance, Dove Cameron dates the dude that plays Diggie and they are basically joined at the hip.  I think they might live together and are basically a package deal.  They have a band together, they act in movies together, they appeared on Austin & Ally together, they do meet and greets together and etc.  Bridgit Mendler dates the guy that played her boyfriend on GLC as well and they have been together for years.  So let's just say I think showrunners try a little harder to keep certain actors around when they are attached to their main stars in real life as well.

[chuhulil]

I think that, as outside viewers, with more life experience than Maya, we see this.  But, I think it's believable that a seventh grade aged girl didn't view it that way.  Kids that age can be rather self-centered.  She wouldn't necessarily see what her mother was doing and sacrificing so much as she'd see "my mother is never around for the stuff I consider important."  And when you add in that her mother had this desire to be an actress and clearly wasn't happy with the life she was living, that can come across to Maya as not being solely about her career (which it is) and more about her whole life, including Maya.  

Not at all. My mom missed all my birthdays from ages 9 to 14 and a couple more here and there because she had to go out of town and work. She'd been going out of town her whole life for her job and I only saw her on weekends. She had a high paying job, and we were never strapped for cash or anything, so if she really wanted to, she could have taken time off, but that would have meant that she would not have gotten to the job she has now, where she spends a lot of time at home. Of course I didn't know that when I was younger, and of course I was upset that she was gone sometimes too. But I never want as far as to doubt my mother's love for me or say that I have "half a mom" or that she's the reason for any problems I had. I know she loves me, because she worked for me. She worked to make money for my education and so that I could have a comfortable lifestyle, as she came to America with nothing and worked hard so that I never had to be in her shoes. Again, I was always born into a comfortable household, and I never really understood why she was gone all the time, but I knew she was doing it for me, even when I was younger than an 8th grader. 

 

Lucky for my mom, she held a job that she wanted, and a lot of people said she put her career over her kids, which I wouldn't even say is true. But either way, Maya's mother is not a waitress by choice. She didn't work at the diner and "Topanga's" because she wanted to further her status as a waitress. She wanted to be an actress, and she has never ever pursued it because she has to make money to support herself and her daughter. She is not at all putting her career above her child, because she's not even going after her dream job, she's going after the job that will get her and Maya through their life. Katy isn't trying to act professionally, it's just part of who she is. Sometimes she's a bit weird about it, but it's her personality, and I don't think it's a bad thing. Definitely not as bad as continually berating your mother who lives her entire life just to make you happy. Just...ugh. 

 

My point is that Katy isn't doing anything that a single mom making (probably around) minimum wage shouldn't do. She's basically given up her entire life for Maya. And it's not like she knew that Kermit was going to leave her when she had a child. She was married for goodness' sake. The thing is, many mothers have to do this as well, budgeting every penny and every minute. A person only knows how difficult it is to do this unless they've actually been in their shoes. So to make this type of storyline where a single mother who works 24/7 for her daughter constantly was painted as a bad mother... I know that Disney can't exactly have a Chet and Virma Hunter parenting duo anymore, but then don't make that kind of story. Kids take things literally, they're not just going to know that Katy was "supposed" to be much worse in season 1. And even now when Katy is being portrayed as a rather good mother.... a) The damage is done. Kids can sometimes have a hard time letting first impressions go. When I babysit, kids still tell me how awful they think Katy is even though the show stopped portraying her that way. b) Maya still continues to complain about how everything is broken for her. It's like she doesn't even want to acknowledge how hard her mother is trying. 

[KerleyQ]

To be clear, I'm not speaking of ALL kids, some kids are mature or aware enough to get it (although I'd imagine it's a bit easier to understand what Mom is doing when you are living a rather comfortable life).  Also, I'm not saying that Katy is all about her career.  I was saying that her dissatisfaction in life is about her career (and, of course, being abandoned by Kermit).  But, to a kid, that may not come across clearly, especially in a situation where a kid has already been abandoned by one parent.  It's not unreasonable to think that a kid in that situation might feel like "Mom's life sucks because of me."  Of course, it's not true, but emotions aren't always rational.  A big reason Maya wants Shawn to be with her mother is because she probably feels like her father left because of her (again, not rational, but fairly common), so if she can bring this new guy into Katy's life, she'll be making it all better for both of them. 

[chuhulil]

I think it's more difficult to understand when you're living a comfortable life. When you're strapped for cash, you know that you really need the money and that your well-being comes from your parent's working. When you're living comfortably, you don't exactly need the money, so you wonder why your parent is gone for seemingly no reason. Besides, I had friends in elementary school even who had one parent leave or something, and had to go to extended day after school and things like that because their parent couldn't pick them up from school until 7:00, and had to go home and usually their parent would have to leave again and they'd  stay home in an empty household for a while. There's a difference between feeling guilty for a parent's bad situation, or wishing that they were there or even feeling slightly neglected, even when you know that they're doing their job for you than constantly using that as an excuse to make people pity you or tearing down your mother to anyone who will listen or complaining about how horrible she's made your life when she does nothing but work just to support you. Of course, it would be nice if Katy could spend more time with Maya, and if  she had the ability to take time from work, the first thing she would do is take Maya and spend some really quality time with her. But the thing is, she can't. If they're going to do a story about a single mother, they shouldn't do it this way. It's just atrocious. 

 

Also, was I the only one who was really annoyed that Lucas called Maya "the blonde beauty." I mean, this was supposed to be before Zay even got here so that was when he was going after Riley and asking her father for permission to take her on a date. So, basically they're making it so that he's chasing after one girl and then saying stuff like that about her best friend to other people. If Lucas actually said that, I hope Maya and Riley both dump him and move on to better people, because he really wouldn't deserve either one of them at that point. 

[sallyellen]

I wish they would send Zay off to Minkusland. Everytime his bad acting hits the screen I cringe. Obvious diversity requirement which adds nothing to the show.