Girl Meets World: Season 1 – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

Episode 16: “Girl Meets Home for the Holidays”

Overview

As the Matthews come to Christmas, with Shawn en tow, we finally learn the fate of Maya and Shawn.

Topic 1: Cory & Topanga 4 Ever

Topic 2: Shawn and Cory 4 Ever

Topic 3: The Mysterious Uncle Shawn

Review (with Spoilers)

Topic 1: Cory & Topanga 4 Ever – Cory & Topanga

Topanga and Cory have taken over the holidays and now it seems it will be hosted at their house yearly. Something Amy, Cory’s mom, isn’t too happy with. However, Topanga woos her over by using her recipes to cook the family dinner. Though, at the end of the night, after all the drama with Amy feeling replaced, and Topanga feeling like she is 2^nd to Shawn, Cory reminds her how thankful he is for her, their family, and their life together. A very sweet moment indeed.

Commentary

It has been awhile since I’ve watched Disney programming, never mind Boy Meets World, so I was sort of confused about Cory little brother. For while I remember a little sister, him having a little brother seems weird to me. That aside, I loved how cute Cory and Topanga were being together, especially in terms of Topanga joking around how Shawn has always been priority in Cory’s life.

Topic 2: Shawn and Cory 4 Ever – Cory & Shawn

After 13 years Shawn and Cory have reunited and Cory is freaking out like a teenaged girl meeting her favorite singer. To the point everyone sort of jokes about how odd their bromance is. Like Maya calling Shawn his boyfriend, and Cory’s little brother noting how odd it was for them to be alone and talking in Riley’s room. Their relationship aside, the chemistry between the two is as strong as ever and it makes you wonder why was he gone from Cory for so long?

Commentary

Being held off for Topic 3.

Topic 3: The Mysterious Uncle Shawn – Shawn, Riley, and Maya

The answer? Riley. For while not the direct reason, so he says, she notes that his disappearance, and aversion of her, makes her feel bad. After all, he acts like he doesn’t like her. Truth is though, it isn’t that she took his best friends away, but more so reminded him of what he didn’t have. Making it seem like him and Angela have long since broken up.

That aside, Shawn proves he loves Riley, even if just because she is his best friends’ kid, by noting the day she was born, time, weight, and how long she was. He even notes he was the first to hold her after her parents.

Leading to the topic of Maya. Now, over those 13 years Shawn has been traveling, doing photography, and has been writing about places for a website. One which Maya goes onto. Leading to a buildup in which you think it would be revealed Shawn is her relative, or even father. Truth is though, she is just his gender swapped twin. Her absent dad matches his absent mom, his part time father matches her part time mom, and they both heavily relied on their relationship to the Matthews clan for love and stability.

So, with all that noted, and Shawn planning to be around more, it seems he will look at Maya as family as everyone else does [1]. Meaning, while he may not be her father, he may make it so she has less reason to feel sad about not having him. For while Riley has Cory, perhaps Maya can have Shawn.

Commentary

I never though Shawn was Maya’s dad since it would have ruined the character. Especially as we learned it was 13 years since he last saw Cory, meaning Shawn would have abandoned Maya around the time she was born. With that said, I could see where Shawn was coming from with wanting to distance himself from Cory and Topanga. After all, at the time they were in their 20s, as I am now, and seeing friends get married, paired up, and talk about having kids, it is sort of awkward if you aren’t currently on that path. And while you love each other like family, there is always that question of where is your place in things? For after high school, and even college, you find yourself shedding a lot of people. So, maybe in Shawn’s mind, he might have thought he made it past the first two major hurdles, but this next one would have been hard to overcome.

Shawn’s disappearance aside, with him being confirmed as not Maya’s father does come the question of how active will he be in Maya’s life? Will he be uncle Shawn to her, a father figure like Cory, or may he, as some fans say, get with Maya’s mom and become her step-dad? Who knows? However, with Rider Strong signed up for more episodes in season 2, anything is possible. Though with Shawn, again, not being Maya’s dad, it really makes me want to see her real father show up. If just because Maya remains the only character who seems genuinely interesting and I’d hate for her edge, per se, to be erased quickly.

Things To Note

• Well, Maya and Cory’s little brother flirt so they may not exactly see each other as family.
• Farkle, once again, makes a random window appearance and it leads to Shawn joking that perhaps Farkle is a clone and how surprised he is Minkus has a kid. Something which surprisingly doesn’t insult Farkle, but does lead him to wonder if he is a clone.