Raise your hand if you predicted last night’s non-outcome.
All of you? Everyone? Don’t worry, I’m assigning half-credit to those who thought our love triangle points would pick friendship, just in sake of having an ending, it’d be hypocritical if I didn’t, as I certainly thought so, enough that it was surprising to see Lucas have the idea so early it takes up most of the plot in “Girl Meets Legacy.” It seemed, in a back half that even chronologically didn’t cleanly or clearly shift any one way, the most likely outcome in a show that’s always been a bit more group oriented than Boy Meets World ever was.
That said, if I have to pick out a reason why “Meets Legacy” strangely works, it’s that very fact the show doesn’t pretend like friendship is the true answer. Of course Riley and Maya and Lucas care more about their friendship than hurting one another. That’s never been in question. It’s why we’re in this mess in the first place, it's why we're still in this mess. Maya chose to let Riley have the cute guy, Riley chose to ignore her jealousy when her friend-zoned crush was no longer just hers, and Lucas chose repeatedly to not choose at all, hoping the girls would take care of the situation for him. This may not have always been the most believable set up (particularly on Lucas’ end) but it was what I think we had, now that all evidence is in.
It’s also, very obviously, not a sustainable model. Children grow; feelings change. As Lucas astutely points out, now that they all are aware of how those feelings have changed, it’s impossible to ignore the truth: Someone is going to get picked. Someone is going to get hurt. It’s what one does, knowing this, that ultimately matters, and it’s an encouraging step up for the show that it’s willing to portray this. And as frustrating as it might be to know the love triangle will continue (and oh, it is), it’s mitigated by the sense that Girl Meets World may honestly be just as frustrated--with itself, for choosing this path in the first place.
Case in point: For an episode ostensibly about graduation, it’s interesting how little play-time such a big milestone gets. This is not a criticism; the fact they were graduating didn’t feel shortchanged. Change is in the air. There are heart-to-hearts to have, robes to be worn, obligatory questionable logic that keeps their mentor-teacher still in their academic circle to be spouted. All acting parties involved were great, (with special nod to Blanchard, who continues to prove that while comedy may not be forte, she’s quite a fine dramatic actress.) The show knew what it needed to really emotionally get done though, to the slight detriment of everything else. Zay is in Texas for most of it, because apparently that’s where he is when we don’t see him. Farkle gets a moment or two, but part of it is spent highlighting how little room they have for him, with an absurdist gag replacing him with a goose because they already “looked for him for five minutes” and couldn’t afford to waste more time.
And frankly, in the end, what was the point? There are ways yet to do something interesting with what the show has made, and I hope for them. But I’m hard pressed imagining an audience member who won’t walk away from whenever this does finish a little disappointed, no matter what they do. If they nix Maya/Lucas for good, supporters for that pairing will feel toyed with for no real reason—and understandably so. If they nix Riley/Lucas again, supporters for that pairing will feel jerked around—and again, understandably so. If they pick none of the above now, all of this was for naught; if they pick either pairing, all of this was the slowest possible route to that.
With all of season two now behind us, I feel better than ever saying that while the triangle was not inherently a terrible idea, the build up to it was strange. Because it just is. It’s strange to see Riley come to an important understanding of how she truly sees Lucas, only for her to possibly have that realization again in future. It’s strange to see the show open up Maya Hart, only to possibly shut her down again when we already have the older, inevitably doomed Josh crush for that sort of storyline. It’s strange to watch Lucas be incredibly inarticulate with his own feelings, even unable to discuss how inarticulate he is barring what is finally half-implied in this episode. The triangle works fine, or presumably will work fine, once we see true gains from it. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t perfectly on target to achieve the important stuff without it.
Which brings us to this, I guess: What is important? What does season two leave us wanting? The secret to life is people change people. In a genuinely touching “final” lesson, Cory reiterates that to the group, tying together several of the season’s lessons. I won’t harp on the specifics of what I want, but I do feel a little more hopeful about it than I did after “Meets Texas: Part 3” or a lot of the lesser, time-shifted outings we’ve had lately. I might have preferences, but in the end, I’m Team Change. I’m Team Interesting Writing, for reasons I’ve hopefully made clear through all these reviews.
Feel free to share your own feelings below though. After all, it’s not like we don’t have plenty of time to sort it out. See you in the summer!
All of you? Everyone? Don’t worry, I’m assigning half-credit to those who thought our love triangle points would pick friendship, just in sake of having an ending, it’d be hypocritical if I didn’t, as I certainly thought so, enough that it was surprising to see Lucas have the idea so early it takes up most of the plot in “Girl Meets Legacy.” It seemed, in a back half that even chronologically didn’t cleanly or clearly shift any one way, the most likely outcome in a show that’s always been a bit more group oriented than Boy Meets World ever was.
That said, if I have to pick out a reason why “Meets Legacy” strangely works, it’s that very fact the show doesn’t pretend like friendship is the true answer. Of course Riley and Maya and Lucas care more about their friendship than hurting one another. That’s never been in question. It’s why we’re in this mess in the first place, it's why we're still in this mess. Maya chose to let Riley have the cute guy, Riley chose to ignore her jealousy when her friend-zoned crush was no longer just hers, and Lucas chose repeatedly to not choose at all, hoping the girls would take care of the situation for him. This may not have always been the most believable set up (particularly on Lucas’ end) but it was what I think we had, now that all evidence is in.
It’s also, very obviously, not a sustainable model. Children grow; feelings change. As Lucas astutely points out, now that they all are aware of how those feelings have changed, it’s impossible to ignore the truth: Someone is going to get picked. Someone is going to get hurt. It’s what one does, knowing this, that ultimately matters, and it’s an encouraging step up for the show that it’s willing to portray this. And as frustrating as it might be to know the love triangle will continue (and oh, it is), it’s mitigated by the sense that Girl Meets World may honestly be just as frustrated--with itself, for choosing this path in the first place.
Case in point: For an episode ostensibly about graduation, it’s interesting how little play-time such a big milestone gets. This is not a criticism; the fact they were graduating didn’t feel shortchanged. Change is in the air. There are heart-to-hearts to have, robes to be worn, obligatory questionable logic that keeps their mentor-teacher still in their academic circle to be spouted. All acting parties involved were great, (with special nod to Blanchard, who continues to prove that while comedy may not be forte, she’s quite a fine dramatic actress.) The show knew what it needed to really emotionally get done though, to the slight detriment of everything else. Zay is in Texas for most of it, because apparently that’s where he is when we don’t see him. Farkle gets a moment or two, but part of it is spent highlighting how little room they have for him, with an absurdist gag replacing him with a goose because they already “looked for him for five minutes” and couldn’t afford to waste more time.
And frankly, in the end, what was the point? There are ways yet to do something interesting with what the show has made, and I hope for them. But I’m hard pressed imagining an audience member who won’t walk away from whenever this does finish a little disappointed, no matter what they do. If they nix Maya/Lucas for good, supporters for that pairing will feel toyed with for no real reason—and understandably so. If they nix Riley/Lucas again, supporters for that pairing will feel jerked around—and again, understandably so. If they pick none of the above now, all of this was for naught; if they pick either pairing, all of this was the slowest possible route to that.
With all of season two now behind us, I feel better than ever saying that while the triangle was not inherently a terrible idea, the build up to it was strange. Because it just is. It’s strange to see Riley come to an important understanding of how she truly sees Lucas, only for her to possibly have that realization again in future. It’s strange to see the show open up Maya Hart, only to possibly shut her down again when we already have the older, inevitably doomed Josh crush for that sort of storyline. It’s strange to watch Lucas be incredibly inarticulate with his own feelings, even unable to discuss how inarticulate he is barring what is finally half-implied in this episode. The triangle works fine, or presumably will work fine, once we see true gains from it. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t perfectly on target to achieve the important stuff without it.
Which brings us to this, I guess: What is important? What does season two leave us wanting? The secret to life is people change people. In a genuinely touching “final” lesson, Cory reiterates that to the group, tying together several of the season’s lessons. I won’t harp on the specifics of what I want, but I do feel a little more hopeful about it than I did after “Meets Texas: Part 3” or a lot of the lesser, time-shifted outings we’ve had lately. I might have preferences, but in the end, I’m Team Change. I’m Team Interesting Writing, for reasons I’ve hopefully made clear through all these reviews.
Feel free to share your own feelings below though. After all, it’s not like we don’t have plenty of time to sort it out. See you in the summer!
