Topanga’s Café: after much chicken clucking from Riley and Maya, Shawn caves and gives Maya his idea of fatherly advice: she should dress better. She starts crying, but only because no one has ever cared enough to say something like that. I found this rather rude; it’s insulting to both Maya and Katie, plus Maya has an envious jacket collection. To stop the crying, he takes her shopping for new clothes.
After a quick stop at Demolition, they return to Topanga’s to show off their haul to Katie. Katie is hesitant; the deeper Maya’s attachment to Shawn, the more hurt she’ll be later on. Shawn proves that he just wanted to do a nice thing for someone by telling Maya that the clothes are from both him and Katie.
Cory’s history class: this week they’re learning about Hurricane Katrina (or a version of Hurricane Katrina stripped of the devastation and lasting effects) in order to teach how necessary it is to have hope. We’ve really given up hope on any sort of linear history, haven’t we?
Topanga’s Café: Katie tells Shawn to stop being nice to her—she shut that part of herself down when her ex-husband Kermit left her. Shawn tries to alleviate her concerns, convincing her that they have to move on from Kermit and Angela. ENTER ANGELA.
Angela has several items on her agenda: one, her father died. “Do you still have that thing where you could feel your dad standing right next to you?” she asks Shawn, setting us up for later in the episode. He responds in the affirmative. Next item: Angela has been married now for four years. When Shawn asks why she left, Angela explains that she wasn’t ready, and that sometimes life puts people in our paths to make us ready. Because of Shawn, she was ready to marry her husband.
Final item: her husband of four years wants to have children, and Angela isn’t sure if she’ll make a good mother. She needs to “talk to someone who knows her,” so she came to Shawn. Y’all, there are so many problems with Angela’s guest spot, and so many ways it could have been better. Does your husband of four years who wants to have children with you know and feel comfortable with the fact that you went to your ex-boyfriend you haven’t seen in like thirteen years to discuss this very personal manner? Sloppy writing, Girl Meets World. Either the topic should have been her father’s death or she should have run into Shawn while talking to Topanga about this one—there are too many things going on. One of the trends I’ve noticed is that the second season’s storylines featuring new Boy Meets World character appearances are weaker. Eric’s storyline suffered from a similar problem in “Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels,” but Angela’s storyline is especially weak. Anyway, Shawn endorses Angela having children: “We’re here to make somebody else happy.” She thanks him, taking her leave and encouraging him to explore a future with Katie and Maya. Another complaint: I don’t love how they’re pushing this children storyline on Shawn; it’s starting to feel like brainwashing.
Demolition: shopping again. Katie asks Shawn on a date in front of everyone. Shawn’s hesitation brings forth the specter of his dead father, Chet, who also encourages him towards a life with Maya and Katie. “If that little girl can let her guard down, why can’t you?” Shawn accepts the date with Katie.
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Yikes, you guys. There were so many weird bits of story and a lot of vague dialogue in that episode. After all that build up, Angela’s return was rather anticlimactic and not quite believable. The Shawn-Katie-Maya dynamic is progressing weirdly as well, though I’m happy that progress is being made in Shawn and Katie’s relationship. However, yay for an episode ending on a full upswing for Maya, rather than ANOTHER life lesson.
Boy Meets World Throwback Factor: OFF THE CHARTS. Not only did we see Angela, but we saw CHET! Chet, who died years ago! It’s interesting that they still have Shawn seeing the specter of his dead father.
Episode Rating: 3/10. Wasted potential really dragged this one down.
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