“Girl Meets Creativity” is a typical episode for teen TV. Painted (ha) as a life lesson nearly from the get, it’s hard to get too excited. But, with clear plotting and a delightful return from Mr. Turner, it’s also possibly the best fusion of the show’s limitations with its BMW aspirations. As predictable as the episode may be, clear and obvious goals mean the show’s got an obvious roadmap to follow, and the necessary weight of the school meeting allows for the show’s usual pitfall of overlong scenes to work surprisingly well.
It’s also, just as surprisingly, an effective scene. As creative as the art it celebrates, even if I find it hard to believe it would work, it’s a winning combo of talent and spontaneity that manages to find new highs right when you think it’s started to drag. Riley’s dance routines may be mixed, but Maya’s lovely singing cut off after a few notes, Auggie’s appeal to their desire to not be hippopotamuses, and Farkle’s recitation of prime numbers are delightful. Though really, ultimately, it’s the show’s past that allows the episode to sail smoothly. Maya’s love of art is well grounded in canon, but so is also the enormous progress she makes here by owning it and defending it. It’s been a careful climb from the girl who wouldn’t admit her appreciation for the world to the girl whose first instinct may not be to believe she can do something about it, but can be pushed to try, but it’s one we’ve seen and it’s great to see her character development get her this far, whatever your feelings on their last ditch appeal. That it works at all on its own is, all things considered, a bonus.
If I seem to be focusing on this scene alone though, it’s because “Meets Creativity” simply isn’t really all that exciting or noteworthy outside of it. There’s some cute jokework, particularly from Blanchard in the teaser. There’s, once again, Turner, returning just as I hoped he ought to fulfill the role he seems destined to play.
But mostly, there is a lovely step forward for the show towards Maya/Lucas without distracting too much from the group, a great move for a number of reasons. As I mentioned last week, I’ve been missing the group dynamic, and this episode more than delivers on that front, giving everyone equal time to shine in their own way but also as a weird, tight unit. That said, also as I’ve said (repeatedly), it’s hard to deny that there’s a genuine spark between the two actors, and Maya’s stunned appreciation of his praise and insistence to aid her in protecting something he knows is important to her and thinks she’s wonderful at is a long awaited validation of this feeling. I could do without some of the running commentary during it--though I appreciate that they’ve got to help along the switch for those in the audience who may have settled in for a long Riley/Lucas haul--it’s in every way a demonstration of just how natural and compelling the dynamic is, without any of the herculean lifting they had to do with Riley and Lucas. Their spark doesn't need commentary--we can see it, feel it, know it, and have done so all along. The show has a real chance to be something undeniable with this storyline if they play their cards right, and I hope they continue to work with it in just as satisfying and slow and appealing a way as they have started it.
And ... that's kind of it. “Meets Creativity” is an episode that appeals to me, don’t get me wrong. I write this for you now because I appreciate art. I was a theater kid, a not clever but always engaged art student, a film studies major. If anything, it’s possibly I am more up on the half-hour than it deserves. But while thoroughly solid, it’s a slight outing for the show, one that gets in and out without much to say other than the crowd-friendly message. While a good demonstration of how far this show has some, there are better stories to tell yet to come—and I’m eager to get to those.
Though, fess up--who else wasn't that blown away by Maya's actual painting? Sound off on that and more in the comments!
