Blame the lateness of this review on my alert for the show, which did not go off. However, regardless of what Google tells me, Maya is back—which means that Maya is out to do something big in high school so everyone knows it. D’oy is also back—very obviously—and is struggling with some self-control issues when he steals, and then eats, a bunch of candy. It all twists together (as much as GMW ever twists anything) into a storyline about ostensibly self-control, and the friends beside you who help guide the way. But while structurally there’s a little more to like here than there was in last week’s outing, “Girl Meets True Maya” continues season three’s trend to frustrate rather than entertain.
In fact, I’m just going to come out and say it. While others may disagree, I think I know where I stand three episodes into it, and that is: The Maya storyline is a bust.
It did not have to be a bust. I want to be clear about that, particularly as I think the show should be commended for the idea behind this storyline. Girl Meets World is exploring identity in a way that few children’s shows allow for their female characters. Yes, the Lucas question is still there. Yes, clothes were involved, and thus fashion and looks to some extent. But neither are integral parts to what Maya is grappling with in these episodes, as she tries to balance the person she is with the kind of person she admires, in her search to find the person she wants to be. Gender is irrelevant to her search for herself—there is only personhood, and that is deeply rewarding to watch. Taken as is, as only pertaining to season three, I think we could even call it a win.
Taken as a whole though with the rest of the show, I’m afraid there is a distinct and bitter aftertaste, every time it comes up. As great as it is to see Maya run across a reminder of her past and see, very clearly, how she has changed in ways that are entirely her own, it’s mind-boggling watching Riley in "Meets True Maya." She circles Maya like a helicopter parent (as clearly paralleled with Katie, even). Acting, explicitly, as if she is a volcano desperate to explode.
Here's the thing though. We know Maya. We’ve seen Maya. Maya is, frequently, a lot of talk and a lot of snark and a lot of mischief—but she’s not cruel. She’s not destructive. It takes a lot to push her over that line, and usually, there's a point to be made when she crosses it. “Meets True Maya” ends exactly the way I could have told you it would end a week ago when a friend of mine described the promo—Maya vandalizing, yes, but in the name of art and beauty and just a little bit of wild fun.Nothing more, if nothing less.
So why does Riley, who should know her better than we do, freak out? Blanchard’s comedic talents have never been quite as sharp as her dramatic ones, but that’s not the problem—she’s much more comfortable here than she has been in episodes past. The joke is fine. The truth behind that joke though just doesn’t feel real, not even for a second.
And if we are to take it as real, it frankly makes me question Riley’s motivation in all this. Does she want Maya to be Maya for Maya, or because it benefits Riley to have a fun, delinquent friend? Or worse, is she really only doing this because it is somehow (according to the show’s logic) possible that Maya will realize her feelings for Lucas have all been imagined? Riley leaps at every opportune time to ask if Maya still has a crush on Lucas—even when honestly, she has no right to be asking it. Certainly she doesn't in front of Lucas, in a public space. Riley also snaps at Lucas’ rather tame suggestion that Maya is beautiful (which after all, him actually maybe liking her might put a damper on that plan)--and while it's something we've seen before, it feels distinctly crueler not having Maya there to be in on the joke, and in conjunction with Riley's apparent belief that the triangle has never been a triangle at all. It's been hard to like Riley this season. It's sad to see the show make that even harder.
Especially when it doesn't feel intentional. Don't get me wrong when I say these things: I know part of this is just me. I truly do hate picking on issues that I don’t think the show is trying to say. It's difficult though when I just don't feel like the show is thinking things through. GMW this season so far demands me as a viewer to think things I have not been shown. It tries to surprise me with information I already know—and, very possibly given Farkle's "Oh!", wants to reveal to me something about Maya’s romantic feelings I just will never believe. Maybe this twist was planned all along but increasingly, it just seems like a stopgap for the triangle problem. A story within the show's theme wheelhouse that could help get everyone out of a mess they clearly weren't ready to handle.
This may be high school. Girl Meets World certainly keeps reminding us of it. But so far, in terms of complexity, high school still looks mostly like middle school—and that’s a shame for a show that’s clearly hoping to do more.
