Episode 3x15 "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"

If you haven't seen the teaser for Girl Meets World yet, consider the two following questions:

"Should you go watch it?"

"Do you want to be disappointed?"

Those two questions have the same answer.

Who's Shawn on a date with this week? Could it beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee DANA PRUITT? Played by the lovely and talented Larisa Oleynik?

Yes.

That is who.

Larisa played Alex on The Secret World of Alex Mack, and a bunch of other cool stuff (just go to IMDB) all the way up to 2014, and you better believe I was excited to see her on Mad Men. And this actually isn't the first time Larisa and Rider have met, they played opposite each other in Les Mis a few years before BMW started airing. So this is a real treat.

Anyway, these two are lockin' lips here at Chubbie's and start planning their next date. Dana suggests working a volunteer booth or a picnic, but Shawn's not keen on either of those activities: it's apparent that he really just wants to makeout some more, so Dana ultimately declines a second date.

The gif tells us the plot in a nutshell. Shawn's super interested in this "nice girl" but because he's a hit-it-and-quit-it kinda guy, the odds are against them.

Off to the side, Eric's discussing his recent shitty grade on a paper with Eli and Turner. Our boy Rico explains that he's trying to turn things around so he can get into college, and the teachers tell him about an internship at the local news station. The competition's rough, but Eric thinks the other applicants will all cancel each other out, leaving him to steal the spot. Eli's not so sure, but Turner's convinced.

That might be THE most meta thing I've ever heard. Imagine you're on your couch, watching this episode, and in between spoons of chocolate pudding you're like "pfff how the hell would Eric ever get an internship pfff", and then your cynical, smartass buddy is like "it's a fuckin tv show, what do you expect." That's what Turner is saying, on the meta level anyway. In context it's just, sure, Eric can get a job at a silly tv station, but he's also saying "we're on a tv show, of course he's going to get it." Funny stuff.

Back on the other side of the hallway, we learn that Dana wants a date with Cory, and Shawn is supportive, though hesitant. He quickly finds some "bad girls" in leather jackets to take his mind off of Dana.

Home girl on the right has her shirt tucked in, even the dangerous girls weren't safe from the power of the 90s.

At the Matthews house later that night, Shawn's hanging around in the kitchen even though Cory left for his date after dinner. He's just waiting for Cory to get home so he can ask how things went with Dana. Morgan is lurking around too, and she's got some boss ass comfy slippers.

Look at those slippers. Are those little cows? That's awesome, I want that shit.

Anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews go to bed, and Cory comes home shortly after.

This is one of those rare times where I just have no explanation for why something is funny. But I love that line. And look at Shawn's hair bounce, god damn.

So Cory didn't kiss Dana on the date, but he had a good time. It quickly becomes apparent that Shawn has very real feelings for this girl, and Cory agrees to back off. I'm not entirely sure what purpose this served, except to show us what kind of guy Dana is typically interested in.

At school the next day, we meet one of the smarty-pants guys Eric's competing against for that internship. His name is Arthur and he's played by Danny Strong, another actor I saw on Mad Men recently. Maybe that's just the way of things. You got Alison Brie on Mad Men too, sitcoms and Mad Men, folks, it's destiny.

On the other side of the hall, Shawn talks with Dana about her date with Cory. Turns out, she thinks Cory is the kind of guy you could get serious with (yeah no kidding), so she didn't want to rush things by kissing him. But on the other hand, she kissed Shawn on the first date because he's cute but not "boyfriend material". Ouch. At lunch, Cory and Shawn discuss their respective identities as the "nice guy" and "bad boy". Topanga comes around and lays down some fuckin truth about how Shawn objectifies women and needs to grow the fuck up. 

This is good stuff! Up until now, the show has mostly been glorifying Shawn's dating habits, but now we're seeing the dark side of it.

At the news station, Arthur's just finished his interview for the internship and it looks like it went pretty damn well, and a sweaty, nervous Eric is up next.

In Feeny's class, the man himself mentions that if the media had been as invasive in the past as it has become in the last few years, some people, including Kennedy, might never have been elected. True enough. Shawn opens up a debate in the class about whether Kennedy could be considered a good president. The first time I saw this I didn't know about Kennedy's numerous affairs, so I was like what the fuck, of course he was a great president after the Cuban Missile Crisis. But now that I know the full context, it's actually a really interesting discussion. Dana believes "less of a husband, less of a leader", so we see how this debate about Kennedy is analogous to the conflict in this plot. And that's pretty awesome. I always say this, but I love when the lessons in the classroom directly reflect the lessons in the story. Very good stuff.

Now we're... back at the news station... I guess the interviews are during school hours...? Anyway, Eric comes out even sweatier than he went in, and the interview was clearly pretty shit. But he starts chatting with some guy who appears to be a janitor, and helps him clean up the studio. As he does so, he explains that all the other applicants just want something to put on their resumes, and that he really needs this job, and that he would put his heart and soul into working there. In all honesty, he explicitly said earlier in the episode that he just needed some stuff to help get into college, but we'll accept that he really does want to work here.

Anyway the old janitor guy turned out to be Pat Darby, the station manager (come on Eli, it's television!) and so Eric gets the internship.

Pat is played by Brandon Maggart, who was a big deal in the 80s and had a recurring role on Sesame Street in 1970, so he's alright in my book!

At Turner's apartment, Cory searches for a lost mitten while Shawn gets advice from their English teacher. Cory finds the "scarf he lost last year" under Turner's couch cushions. BUT WAIT! Shawn only moved in with Turner at the end of season 2! This is strong evidence of my "a year passed between seasons 2 and 3" theory. Cool. Turner advises Shawn to show Dana he really cares, rather than just telling her. That's the abridged version anyway. It's actually some of the best we've seen of Turner this season. Is it mere coincidence that Eli isn't around for Turner's good advice? THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS, PEOPLE. THIS IS WHY WE'RE HERE.

We're seeing a lot of this, where Shawn and Cory trade off between being either goofy or the focus of the story, and it works really well. And honestly, I think I like it better when Shawn's getting the character development and Cory's doing the jokes. Cory's humor is more silly and witty, while Shawn's is mostly centered on him being dumb in one way or another. Either way, it's definitely working in this episode.

Next, Dana finds Shawn outside Chubbie's.... somehow... and he shows her that he was listening when she suggested they go on a picnic and bleeds his heart out for her, so she agrees to a second date. It's pretty compelling and sweet. Usually this kind of scene is really hard to watch, but they're both so solid in these roles and the writing is pretty good, so it's definitely easy to watch. I do have two things to point out though.

1. Dana explicitly suggested they go on a picnic at the beginning of the episode, but in this scene she tells Shawn he's silly for trying to have a picnic in the middle of winter. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, DANA PRUITT.

2. For as long as there have been shows and movies, there have been stories of the guy who "just needs a chance" and ultimately gets the girl, like we saw here. But almost never is there a girl who "just needs a chance", you know? This is a great episode and all, but like, why don't we get one where, I dunno, Trini gets a date with some football player who's willing to "give her a chance"? You know what I mean? I'm not trying to preach, I'm sure BMW isn't gender biased or anything, it's just sort of a double standard. Then again, Cory kinda gave a chance to Topanga back in season 1... I dunno. Leave a comment.

During the credits, Eric and Morgan pour coffee for the entire staff of the news station. 

Plot: 1.0 - Great stuff for both Shawn and Eric. Why is the "it's television" excuse okay for Eric here? Well, this episode is more of a setup for him. The news station plays a big part in coming episodes, so we cut a few corners here for the sake of a later story. And that's fine.

Character Development: 1.0 - Shawn's journey of self discovery continues. Shawn and Turner talk about dating stuff, making Turner look more and more like a father, which is always cool.

Humor: 1.0 - Everybody did a stellar job in this episode. Even Morgan was tolerable.

Life Lesson: 1.0 - We learned about what to do and what not to do in dating, and Eric showed us that passion is highly valued by prospective employers.

4.0 out of 4.0. This is one of my favorite episodes. The Shawn and Dana pairing is great, Cory is hilarious, Feeny's history lesson relates to the story, Turner acts like a father figure, and Eric gets a little bit closer to college. Recipe for fuckin success right there. 

Thanks for reading, see you Monday!

All images used under Fair Use.