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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S03.E18: Girl Meets A Christmas Maya

Tara Ariano

By Tara Ariano
in Girl Meets World [V]

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Dee

Dee

(edited)

I do agree 100% with the recapper about the logistical issues with Riley's gift to Farkle.

The sentiment behind it was quite sweet but the handling of it left a lot to be desired.

Edited by Dee
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Texasmom1970

Texasmom1970

1 hour ago, maraleia said:

OMG this show needs to die so Rowan can actually shine as a actor because I think she has it in her she just needs a good script and director.

I agree I think the scene between her and Farkle was nice. They spend too much time making her character act goofy.

And I will offend Maya fans but I have said it before does almost every episode have to focus on poor, broken she has had a hard life Maya? I love Sabrina but the writers need to do a better job with Riley who is supposed to be the main character. At least if you go by the shows title.

And what kind of crap boyfriend is Lucas if he heads off to Texas for the holidays without telling Riley.

  • Love 2
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madfortv

madfortv

This was one of the better episodes this year though not the best. I am tired of the "poor little me" Maya stories. Augie looks a lot better with his hair styled as it was when he played Shawn.  I enjoyed when Topanga was reading the story (but not Ava's response to it).

I really disliked Ava high on sugar and pretty much everything Ava.  The actress did a good job playing young Maya. The mommy/daughter part at the end when Topanga held Ava was very sweet.

The other actors were fine and did a good job with their parts.

I hope the show gets renewed and that the quality of the writing improves next year. RIley is way too OTT and Maya is too poor me. Fixing those problems would improve the show.

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ybrik

ybrik

I liked the episode. I agree that we don't need any more poor Maya episodes. Definitely felt the episode was missing an appearance by Shawn.

Auggie  as young Shawn looked good. I think he kind of looked like the young Shawn they had in flashback in an ep of BMW where Cory and Shawn first met.

Yeah Lucas leaving like this really doesn't do much to make his relationship with Riley seem that big of a deal. The show really is minimizing it. Not that I mind. Almost have to laugh at this because they also have Riley make this sacrifice out of love for Maya while comparing it to a Christmas story of a couple in love.

The gifts were sweet but a little too well thought out. I wouldn't have minded Zay and Riley's gifts been the only real thoughtful ones and have the others be just nice regular gifts. Also yeah I did notice there was no Riley gift.

Riley's OTT-ness this episode didn't bother me as part of a single episode because you could make a case it was partially an act considering the ending but of course this is standard Riley so yeah. I did like Riley this episode. She does need more serious moments, Rowan has really improved.

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Mabinogia

Mabinogia

That was...bizarre. I kept waiting to see what Maya got for Riley. I got what Farkle was going for with his gift to Zay the second Zay opened it. Obviously it was something he was going to play with Zay. Smakle's gift to Maya was just ridiculous. Talk about trying way too hard to find meaning. The Menorah was nice, but only once you hear the reasoning. That was the problem with all the gifts, really, it was contrived so that the gifts only worked once they explained them. None of them stood on their own, with one exception.

Zay, I love this boy more and more each episode. That gift was awesome! And, had Smakle not thrown it across the room and actually opened it, she would have seen the meaning behind it without him having to explain it.

You know what's interesting? I missed Shawn immediately. Didn't realize Lucas wasn't there until just now.

I cringed at the little play. It was well done, and Topanga and Ava nailed their characters, but OMG! It felt so insulting to Maya and Katy. Like, who wants to be reminded of what a selfish little brat they were to their single mom, or how they can't give their "baby girl" a nice Christmas? It felt more in poor taste than lighthearted parody. Maybe I'm overly sensitive because I'd never want anyone to remind me and my mother of how ungrateful I was to her as a kid because I don't want her to have to relive that.

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WhosThatGirl

WhosThatGirl

Shawn should have been in this episode. If it's his presence that's affecting Christmas now for Maya, him not being in the episode..makes.. no sense to me. I don't know. I think I checked out of this show a while ago. I wish I liked it more but I don't.

  • Love 4
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Linny

Linny

I get why Shawn isn't shown much, since Rider Strong apparently likes doing work behind the camera. But his absence is super obvious. They can't keep creating these storylines where Katy and Maya reflect on their past and how it bleeds into their present and NOT include Shawn. His marriage to Katy should be incredibly life changing for all three parties involved, yet we're not being shown the important emotional beats. It sucks, because the writers have half-assed what could have been an interesting storyline. The actors certainly have the ability to pull off more serious material.

All that being said, I did enjoy this episode. Zay might be my favorite now. It was sweet how he encouraged Smackle to embrace her idiosyncrasies. And I didn't miss Lucas one bit.

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KaveDweller

KaveDweller

1 hour ago, Linny said:

I get why Shawn isn't shown much, since Rider Strong apparently likes doing work behind the camera. But his absence is super obvious. They can't keep creating these storylines where Katy and Maya reflect on their past and how it bleeds into their present and NOT include Shawn.

I get that Rider Strong doesn't want to act much anymore too. But that's why it's so stupid that they keep having stories about him.  They should have had Katy marry someone else or just skipped the whole storyline. 

And like the recap pointed out, why wouldn't Shawn want to visit Cory and Topanga on Christmas? 

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WhosThatGirl

WhosThatGirl

Yeah tats my main problem with Shawn/rider strong not being on the show. Shawn is married to a prominent character on this show and therefore his absence is kind of striking. Especially in a Christmas episode, because if Shawn was living in the same state he would always spend the holidays with Cory and Topanga. It doesn't make sense.

  • Love 3
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Mabinogia

Mabinogia

Just another reason why they never should have gone down this ridiculous Shawn and Katy path. If they wanted Maya gets a dad, have Katy marry some rando we rarely/never see. I wouldn't be annoyed if some rando didn't head over to the Mathew's house with their new wife and daughter but having Cory's best friend not be there with his new wife and daughter is just stupid. At least have someone  comment that he's out of town on a job. Have Maya bummed that her new dad won't be around for Christmas and that's why she is ditching her house, because she doesn't want another crazy Katy Christmas and without Shawn there she's afraid that's what she'll get.

And if they were hell bent on Shawn as a father figure for Maya, just have him be that. He doesn't need to marry her mother and actually be her father to be a father to her.

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Mabinogia

Mabinogia

Aren't her parents divorced, or getting divorced? Of course she'd be at the Matthews' Home for Children of Broken Families. Where else would she be?

Was it actually Christmas? If so, that's kind of a sad little gathering. Unless otherwise stated, I'm guessing it was either Eve or a few days earlier. Why wouldn't any member of either C or T's family be there, or them be with their families? Or Corey's brother who goes to school in town be there? Unless I missed where they said this is Xmas day I'm going to guess it was the day before. Otherwise, this show really is ridiculous. I know it is, but even more than I thought. Or the people who write this shit should never, ever work in any form of writing again.

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Skyfall

Skyfall

One thing we've all glossed over that I didn't catch until the rewatch. We now know how Maya is in the same school as Riley. And we can fanwank Farkle into the picture because Minkus is rich and likely wanted his son in a school system with Mr Turner and Cory.

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Check Sanity

Check Sanity

On 12/3/2016 at 0:25 AM, KaveDweller said:

Did we see what Riley got as a gift? It would have been from Maya, right?

 

On 12/3/2016 at 9:02 AM, ybrik said:

Also yeah I did notice there was no Riley gift.

 

 

On 12/3/2016 at 9:53 AM, Mabinogia said:

That was...bizarre. I kept waiting to see what Maya got for Riley.

 


In regards to Riley's gift, I read the name draw scene as Maya got Lucas, so Lucas would have gotten Riley. Maya said she wouldn't even say if it was a "him or 'her hur'", which is the noise she makes to tease cowboy Lucas. Plus the camera panned to show Zay catching on immediately. I actually really liked the subtlety and teenagerishness of that moment. I actually thought it was pretty obvious Zay's gift should be an extra cookie from his grandma since they bring that up so much... but the game was pretty good too. 

1 hour ago, Skyfall said:

One thing we've all glossed over that I didn't catch until the rewatch. We now know how Maya is in the same school as Riley. And we can fanwank Farkle into the picture because Minkus is rich and likely wanted his son in a school system with Mr Turner and Cory.

 

I liked that they explained that. Even though that's not really a thing according to the author of the recaps. But has it been established that the school isn't a private school? I mean, it would explain a lot if it were and that would make Maya's mom's sacrifice even bigger.

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Skyfall

Skyfall

12 hours ago, Check Sanity said:

 

 


In regards to Riley's gift, I read the name draw scene as Maya got Lucas, so Lucas would have gotten Riley. Maya said she wouldn't even say if it was a "him or 'her hur'", which is the noise she makes to tease cowboy Lucas. Plus the camera panned to show Zay catching on immediately. I actually really liked the subtlety and teenagerishness of that moment. I actually thought it was pretty obvious Zay's gift should be an extra cookie from his grandma since they bring that up so much... but the game was pretty good too. 

I liked that they explained that. Even though that's not really a thing according to the author of the recaps. But has it been established that the school isn't a private school? I mean, it would explain a lot if it were and that would make Maya's mom's sacrifice even bigger.

Actually in my area if you want to attend a school outside of what you're supposed to attend you have to pay a yearly fee (or something like that) unless you're in the same county and want to apply for a school designated as open enrollment (see: doesn't have enough students so kids in crowded schools can attend the open school and in hopes help reduce the crowdedness at others). I had a classmate that had to pay the fee because our town was on the county border and he was in the other county but his parents wanted him to the attend the school nearest to him. Crossing the border probably caused the fee, but still the waiver beat has enough real world plausibility, at least for me, to work.

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Check Sanity

Check Sanity

6 hours ago, Skyfall said:

Actually in my area if you want to attend a school outside of what you're supposed to attend you have to pay a yearly fee (or something like that) unless you're in the same county and want to apply for a school designated as open enrollment (see: doesn't have enough students so kids in crowded schools can attend the open school and in hopes help reduce the crowdedness at others). I had a classmate that had to pay the fee because our town was on the county border and he was in the other county but his parents wanted him to the attend the school nearest to him. Crossing the border probably caused the fee, but still the waiver beat has enough real world plausibility, at least for me, to work.

 

Ah, thanks for answering that. I just accepted it because of my own experience of not being able to go to the school I'd planned on and in the end going to a private boarding school out of province. It was paid for in part by my parents, a scholarship, and a significant bursary. I'm Canadian though, so I'm wasn't sure if bursaries were a thing the US and if the GMW school was a private or public school. 

At the same time, Boy Meets World was never big on realism in the school sense so I don't think Girl Meets World needs to meet realistic standards in that regard. However, I do wish they'd be a bit more realistic in how the characters interact with each other, just be a bit more subtle. I did appreciate that the episode didn't go the typical magical "A Christmas Carol" route with the dead ghosts and all that. 

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dmmetler

dmmetler

The waiver thing makes sense to me because there was a piece of the No Child Left Behind Act that required that districts allow kids zoned into low performing schools or who failed assessments to transfer into higher performing schools. There is a boatload of restrictions, and most schools don't publicize it more than the legal minimum, but mostly it comes down to "is the parent willing to go to the school district offices and outwait them". Maya being zoned into a low performing school, and her mother (probably with support from Cory and Topanga-Cory would be in a place to know district rules and has the ear of the Superintenent, Topanga is a lawyer and school districts tend to cave when a lawyer is involved) being able to get that magic piece of paper, knowing it's one thing her daughter really wants and that she can't do much else rings true. 

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Pallida

Pallida

I thought I saw Ava wearing a menorah shirt, and as her last name can be Jewish, I thought maybe the show was trying to subtly bring that up. 

Speaking of menorahs, I really hated Riley's gift to Farkle. I understand the intent, but I understand the menorah to be more sacred than would allow this to be appropriate. A dreidel and a book seems more acceptable. 

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spanana

spanana

On 12/8/2016 at 2:52 AM, Pallida said:

I thought I saw Ava wearing a menorah shirt, and as her last name can be Jewish, I thought maybe the show was trying to subtly bring that up. 

Speaking of menorahs, I really hated Riley's gift to Farkle. I understand the intent, but I understand the menorah to be more sacred than would allow this to be appropriate. A dreidel and a book seems more acceptable. 

I don't know.  As a Jewish person myself, Chanukah isn't remotely an important holiday in the scheme of things and it's been hugely elevated thanks to a need to have an equivalent for Christmas.  So I don't know that I really think of menorahs as sacred.  More meaningful than a dreidel for sure, but I don't really think of them as sacred.  At least not when I can buy a cheap one off the shelf of any local drugstore, especially in NYC.

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