For almost as long as there has been The Simpsons, there has been “Treehouse of Horror.” Made up of three self-contained, non-canonical, and often satirical stories, it’s a memorable tradition, with its own set of in-jokes and characters and devices separate from the rest of the series. It’s a hard homage for Girl Meets World to pull off, but frankly, probably the wisest thing so early on in its life. The Boy Meets World classic “And Then There was Shawn” would cast an even longer shadow over a straighter Halloween outing than it did over “Girl Meets 1961” and unfairly so—that was an episode earned by the cast’s maturity, primarily. As weirdly adult as Lucas looks by virtue of his height, the cast’s cheeks are far too cherubic for anything truly scary, especially on the Disney Channel of all places.
Instead, the show tries for some scares through shadows on Maya’s curtain, but wisely chooses to focus on character work and compact messages in its "Of Terror"—though not all stories are created equal. I feel like I spend most of my reviews harping on either Farkle or the suggested relationship dynamics, but the first story up, of Farkle versus a game of softball, genuinely does suffer for both. I have sympathy, don’t get me wrong. As a hand-eye challenged child, any sport that demanded I hit a very small object being thrown very fast at my head was horrifying. I also enjoyed the emotional beat hit between Lucas and Farkle, as he realizes that sparing Farkle’s feelings isn’t as useful as giving him a controlled taste of his fear. Much like Riley and Maya, the show seems to be embracing the way the pair's differences make them better able to understand each other’s flaws, and it’s probably the best tactic in making their bond believable.
Notice all of this is the quiet stuff though, the soft words and pensive thoughts. That’s not Farkle’s problem; that’s never been Farkle’s problem. The problem is that Farkle is loud, in a way that felt controlled with Minkus because he was not a major character and in a way young Topanga at her craziest never suffered. He’s the show’s over-saturated color palette in a blender with its top blown off, and frankly, Fogelmanis lacks the physical talent to pull it off. I have hopes the show will realize they need to turn the volume down on him, given in particular “Girl Meets 1961,” but it cannot happen soon enough.
Similarly, I’d be remiss not to touch on the sudden burst of Riley/Lucas this episode. On the one hand, I’m excited to see Riley taking it up a notch in her flirtation. It’s nice continuity, to see her actually have grown and developed past her initial fears and wariness over it, and it’s rare to see a young girl so clearly and confidently in the driver’s seat of her own sexuality. On the other hand … well, loud. Again. And all the louder for how unconvincing it felt. It’s continuity, but perhaps a few steps too far, especially when it’s unclear at which volume she and Lucas sound best. I want reasons to care about them, if that’s what the show wants—not to see the writers smash their faces together and make kissy noises.
Our other two stories are simple but cute though. Riley is too afraid of Maya’s neighborhood to sleep over at night, an idea I wish had been played with more but is also understandably subtle. Auggie is the monster over the bed to the monster under his bed, and comes to a mature agreement to part ways. The latter is arguably the strongest story of the night even, hampered only by Maturo’s, shall we say, still developing acting skills. I also liked the subtle nods through Auggie’s hosting to other classic horror anthologies (in particular, of course, the Hitchcock silhouette, a reference I will consider my own personal gift because God knows the target audience isn’t getting it).
Once again, perhaps Girl Meets World played it safe, but in its search to better balance itself. For now, that’s enough for me.
No random thoughts today, but please do share some of yours with me, per usual!
I think the show will always play it safe (especially with it being on Disney Channel). Also, Boy Meets World was a kids show for the first 3 seasons; maybe by S4 they will take more risks.
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