WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
After last week’s episode, “Girl Meets Game Night,” I admittedly wasn’t looking forward to watching and reviewing this week’s latest installment. Unfortunately, “Game Night” was bad to the point that I partially lost my interest in the whole series. But I’m a fan of the concept, and I want it to work, and I keep hoping they’re going to find their footing, so, like someone who indescribably enjoys being punished, there I was at 8:30pm Friday night, sitting in front of my TV and turning on the Disney channel, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
Thirty minutes later, I breathed a sigh of relief: the show that I loved was back with probably the best episode of the series. “Girl Meets Master Plan” brings Shawn back for his second episode and leaves no doubt that he’ll be a regular cast member moving forward. This is good news not just for older BMW fans, but for younger viewers as well. Not only is Rider Strong great as Shawn, and not only is there the potential for Shawn to have an interesting role in how Maya develops, but like any great comedy team, there’s something missing when we’re left with only half. And the truth is, Ben Savage is better as Cory when Rider Strong is on the set as Shawn.
In this episode, it’s Maya’s 14th birthday, and Cory and Riley conspire to play Cupid and match Shawn up with Maya’s mom. Clearly, in the “Holiday” episode, when they set up Shawn to be a guiding hand for Maya, the writers had no intention of taking that storyline lightly. Instead they’ve gone full throttle and set up a potential situation where Shawn could eventually become Maya’s stepfather.
Wow – go big or go home, huh?
The match up not only creates an infinitely interesting set of problems down the line (how will Maya deal with it if Shawn and her mom break up, for example), but you can almost feel the awkward tension creeping in around Angela’s inevitable return to the show.
And to all this I say: very well done!
This was a great episode. The pacing was perfect, it didn’t hit us over the head with an obvious lesson, it developed the characters while focusing on the most interesting plot lines (Maya and her troubled home life), and didn’t overwhelm the audience with too many characters all at once. There were enough BMW references to keep older fans happy (it was great that Angela was mentioned, and they worked the purse angle in very smartly), while still having enough silliness and fun for younger viewers.
One thing I need to give the writers credit for: the initial introduction of Maya’s mom (in “Girl Meets Maya’s Mother”) was awful. The episode was a good one, but her mother was shown to be just a terrible parent. At the time, I thought that maybe it was too much too soon, but now, after watching “Girl Meets Master Plan” I understand how smart the writers were. They needed the audience to dislike Maya’s mom intensely at first glance, and see her as a disaffected mother who’s too self-absorbed to be a good parent (much like Shawn’s parents were). If they didn’t do that, it’s unlikely that putting Shawn and Maya together would have made sense, and it certainly wouldn’t have made this last episode as successful as it was (which reveals that Maya’s mom is actually a very loving and caring parent). It’s very smart writing.
So far, Girl Meets World has been consistently inconsistent, with some episodes being outstanding and others, well…not so much. “Master Plan” is a return to the level of excellence I’d expect from the Meets World team who, at some point, are going to have to look at the better episodes of the series (like this one) and recognize the following:
- Of all the new characters, Maya is by far the most interesting, and if they’re not careful this could very easily become “her” show.
- The show works better out of the classroom than it does in. But since the school is a necessary setting, the writers will need to find a way to make those scenes work as well as the ones outside the classroom.
- The show also works better when Farkle and Lucas play a smaller role (or no role at all). This isn’t their fault – there are just too many characters in the series, and these guys just don’t add much to it (Farkle especially, although Corey Fogelmanis may be the best actor in the cast, is best left as a background character. Or, as I’ve said in other reviews, write him off the show completely and give this kid his own series). This isn’t helped by the fact that…
- The Riley / Lucas relationship thing isn’t working. There’s no real chemistry between the two of them.
- The show works better when more BMW characters are on it. Sorry, but it just does. Harley’s episodes were good and he was a welcomed addition; Shawn’s episodes are great, including this one. The show may not be ready yet to be helmed by the next generation – it may take another season or two. The popularity of the original characters might be too strong, and the show (the writers, Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel), clearly feels more natural when BMW characters take center stage.
Overall, this was a great episode – so good, in fact, that it sets the standard for what the show could and should be: funny, relatable, quirky and evenly paced with a focus on the most interesting characters and story lines. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: here’s to hoping we see a lot more episodes like this one.
Agree? Disgree? Let us know!
