What day is it? What year? I’m not really sure anymore after watching “Girl Meets Commonism.” It feels like 2016, but surely that can’t be, when apparently the most relevant issue Girl Meets World can think of to tackle in our show about life lessons and growing up is the rise of Communism, here to destroy us from within.
No, really. In a conversation that ultimately becomes centered on why competition between students is required at all (especially when it is revealed, illogically, that Riley was an accomplice) when students could easily help one another by sharing their strengths—an entirely reasonable concept that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact Maya cheated—Maya and Riley convert to communism, starting a chain reaction of horror as they start to lose their individual identities, to the point they must be saved by the principles of democracy.
No. Really.
For a brief, shining moment, there’s merit to tonight’s episode. The show establishes that Riley and Maya have no clue what communism really means—to the point that Riley mostly seems to think it require trendy European fashion and a fascination with John Lennon of The Beatles and Groucho Marx, the comedian. In a more joke-oriented, offbeat sort of show, “Meets Commonism” could have been a hilariously bizarre exploration of young teen politics, often passionate but inexperienced. Riley is interested in the promise of socialism, not in the history of failure it has. She doesn’t even know enough about it to know the superior, democratic form of it that some subscribe to.
But as the show builds to its finale, and more and more to a condemnation of communism as a whole and a Ayn Randian speech on the merits of individualism, one does wonder whether or not this is intentional. The show doesn’t want to accurately depict communism. It wants to ensure its bright-eyed American viewers stick to the best damn model of government that has ever been. It wants Cory to carry around the American flag like it is a minor god. It wants to tear down a makeshift Berlin wall, and claim the victory over cardboard is equivalent to the union of family and friends over a very difficult period of history.
“Meets Commonism” really only excels in one thing: Knowing, without a doubt, how utterly terrible it is. The episode is clearly an early one held back—Farkle and Riley, whose actors have really launched into puberty over the past season of Girl Meets World, are back both to their earlier characterizations and their younger faces—to a point where one wonders why it was aired at all. Not only does “Meets Commonism” not move the overall arc forward, it very clearly has no idea the new arc exists. Lucas has no relationship with Maya, in a situation where he clearly should have an opinion. Riley has no romantic inklings toward Lucas. And there’s certainly nothing in the B plot, a muddled and incomplete story of Auggie dealing with a bully at school, that required airing. While it would have been a terrible episode at any point, this far into the season, it’s almost insulting. The main audience might be kids, but kids are smart. Kids TV has been, since the 90s, frequently smart, and this show at its best is no exception. Anyone can see this episode is out of order, in a way that at this point seems mainly designed to prolong the love triangle as long as possible—
Which, in itself, is really the trouble. It seems inevitable at this point that the triangle will end in disappointment, no matter what actually happens, no matter what anyone is rooting for. There’s no structure to bring us to a conclusion now, no sense that events are proceeding in a way to make us believe in whatever the answer is. And the longer we wait, the bigger an expectation there is of a definite answer, one that is worth the journey to that answer.
Maybe that’s an unfair weight to add to “Meets Commonism’s” already heavy burden, but it’s where we’re at now. Season two is drawing to a close, and rather than coming to any conclusions, we’ve been saddled with a string of increasingly problematic stories that perhaps were best left in the can. It’s disappointing, given how promising season two’s start and some of its highlights were. Hopefully season three continues to ascend rather than mire itself in more episodes like these.
No. Really.
For a brief, shining moment, there’s merit to tonight’s episode. The show establishes that Riley and Maya have no clue what communism really means—to the point that Riley mostly seems to think it require trendy European fashion and a fascination with John Lennon of The Beatles and Groucho Marx, the comedian. In a more joke-oriented, offbeat sort of show, “Meets Commonism” could have been a hilariously bizarre exploration of young teen politics, often passionate but inexperienced. Riley is interested in the promise of socialism, not in the history of failure it has. She doesn’t even know enough about it to know the superior, democratic form of it that some subscribe to.
But as the show builds to its finale, and more and more to a condemnation of communism as a whole and a Ayn Randian speech on the merits of individualism, one does wonder whether or not this is intentional. The show doesn’t want to accurately depict communism. It wants to ensure its bright-eyed American viewers stick to the best damn model of government that has ever been. It wants Cory to carry around the American flag like it is a minor god. It wants to tear down a makeshift Berlin wall, and claim the victory over cardboard is equivalent to the union of family and friends over a very difficult period of history.
“Meets Commonism” really only excels in one thing: Knowing, without a doubt, how utterly terrible it is. The episode is clearly an early one held back—Farkle and Riley, whose actors have really launched into puberty over the past season of Girl Meets World, are back both to their earlier characterizations and their younger faces—to a point where one wonders why it was aired at all. Not only does “Meets Commonism” not move the overall arc forward, it very clearly has no idea the new arc exists. Lucas has no relationship with Maya, in a situation where he clearly should have an opinion. Riley has no romantic inklings toward Lucas. And there’s certainly nothing in the B plot, a muddled and incomplete story of Auggie dealing with a bully at school, that required airing. While it would have been a terrible episode at any point, this far into the season, it’s almost insulting. The main audience might be kids, but kids are smart. Kids TV has been, since the 90s, frequently smart, and this show at its best is no exception. Anyone can see this episode is out of order, in a way that at this point seems mainly designed to prolong the love triangle as long as possible—
Which, in itself, is really the trouble. It seems inevitable at this point that the triangle will end in disappointment, no matter what actually happens, no matter what anyone is rooting for. There’s no structure to bring us to a conclusion now, no sense that events are proceeding in a way to make us believe in whatever the answer is. And the longer we wait, the bigger an expectation there is of a definite answer, one that is worth the journey to that answer.
Maybe that’s an unfair weight to add to “Meets Commonism’s” already heavy burden, but it’s where we’re at now. Season two is drawing to a close, and rather than coming to any conclusions, we’ve been saddled with a string of increasingly problematic stories that perhaps were best left in the can. It’s disappointing, given how promising season two’s start and some of its highlights were. Hopefully season three continues to ascend rather than mire itself in more episodes like these.
