UPDATED ON DEC. 14: SEE BELOW FOR UPDATE!
The writers for Disney’s Girl Meets World certainly know how to keep people talking! First there was the build-up about Shawn coming back (awesome!)…then there was the excitement about Eric’s imminent return (also awesome!). Now, just in case your head hasn’t exploded yet, they’re teasing hints over Farkle’s mom.
So far, here are the hints they’ve revealed on Twitter about Farkle’s mom:
- She was a cast member on season 1 of Boy Meets World
- She was a “major minor” character
- Minkus never interacted with her on Boy Meets World
It doesn’t seem like much to go on, but when you think about them carefully, and read through various guesses on Facebook walls and Twitter feeds, there’s actually more to go on than meets the eye!
Ok, so with those clues, we’ve been able to narrow down the possible candidates and come up with the odds:
MOST LIKELY:
Kelly Packard
Kelly is one of the favorites for a few reasons. For one thing, she’s one of only a few minor characters to appear multiple times in season one (she played Tracy, a girl Eric was interested in, in both episode 15, “Model Family,” and episode 18, “It’s a Wonderful Night”). According to her IMDB page, Kelly hasn’t been doing much these days, but of all the “minor” characters, she’s clearly the most “major” actress to appear this season.
Keri Russell
Another good choice would be Keri Russell, who played Mr. Feeny’s niece Jessica. Although she only appeared in the one episode, she could be considered a “major minor” character for two reasons: she’s a well known celebrity, and she’s related to Mr. Feeny, which would add interesting twist to the show’s dynamic.
Kathy Ireland
Ireland played a model agency representative in “Model Family.” Seem far-fetched? Maybe, but consider this: Ireland is instantly recognizable to the adults in the audience (a “major” minor character). In the episode, she was clearly only interested in money, and Minkus grew up to be extremely wealthy. At some point in BMW, Minkus mentions that he likes older women. It would make for a pretty insane – but interesting – addition to the show!
MAYBE, BUT PROBABLY NOT:
Nikki Cox
Cox played a girl Eric was dating in episode 5, “Killer Bees.” Since then, she’s gone on to be a fairly decent name for herself in Hollywood, although her IMDB page shows little activity in the last few years. And while she’d be considered a “major” minor character in BMW’s first season, her presence on the one episode was so small it’s doubtful anybody even remembers she was on it.
Stephanie Dicker
Stephanie played Erin in two episodes, “Model Family” and “It’s a Wonderful Night.” But considering her star power was overshadowed by Kelly Packard (who played with her in both episodes), and the fact that her IMBD page doesn’t even include a picture of her, it’s unlikely she’ll make a return visit. That’d be a pretty big let-down after all this build-up.
Lindsay Price
Lindsay played Linda in episode 8: “Teacher’s Bet.” Her’s was one of the stand-out episodes of the season, and Lindsay played a good part as an Asian-American was had gotten bullied at a mall because of her background. It’d be a stretch to think she’d somehow end up with Minkus, but it’d be nice to see Price on the show again.
WOULD BE TOTAL BUZZ KILL:
These were the other actresses who appeared in Season One, but don’t seem to be memorable enough to warrant the kind of teasing that the GMW writers have been doing. So we’re going to simply call them “pretty unlikely” and move on:
Episide 4: “Cory’s Alternative Friends”
Marla Sokoloff…played Paige
Megan Parlen…played Barbara
Katie Johnston…played Hillary
Episode 9: “Class Pre-Union”
Christine Healy…played Jane
Brittany English Stephens…played Stephanie
Episode 21: “Boy Meets Girl”
Breanne O’Donnell…played Hilary
Episode 22: “I Dream of Feeny”
Juliette Jeffers…played Karen Chase
THE TOTALLY INSANE OPTION:
Krystee Clark
Krystee played Nebula, Topanga’s older sister for about a minute in episode 13, “She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not.” And that was the last we’ve seen of her (for fans old enough to get the reference, she’s likely hanging out with Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days). This would be a stretch: It would mean that Minkus is Cory and Topanga’s brother-in-law (which wouldn’t make sense on a number of levels), plus there’d need to be an explanation as to why Topanga’s sister was never seen or mentioned again throughout the rest of the Boy Meets World series, not to mention the fact that Farkle and Riley would be cousins.
NOT EVEN A POSSIBILITY:
Stacy
Shawn’s sister who was never seen, and was only mentioned once during season one. Adding a sister would make Shawn’s already convoluted family life way too muddled to even bother trying to figure out.
Lily Nicksay / Lindsay Ridgeway
Both actresses played Cory’s little sister Morgan. While Morgan was probably the most “major minor” character on BMW, it’d be hard to believe this wouldn’t have already been made apparent (Shawn, for one, would have known about this – instead he seemed genuinely surprised that Farkle even existed in “Girl Meets Home for the Holidays”). Plus, we’d have that creepy Farkle-and-Riley-are-cousins thing going on.
UPDATE DEC. 14:
Since we first published this article, the writers have given us two new clues:
She appeared in more than one season
She’s a former flame of Cory, Shawn, Eric or Jack’s
With those additional clues, the mystery is all but over. We can say with 99% certainty that Farkles mom is: KELLY PACKARD! Kelly not only appeared as a girl Eric was dating in two episodes of season one, but she also played Candy, the girlfriend assigned to Cory in season 2, epsiode 21 “The Thrilla’ in Phila'”.
Any other guesses? Let us know in the comments below (and please remember to share this article!)