You can't center an episode around whether or not a newborn is going to die. By default there are only two paths we can take. Either he lives and the whole episode is just one big emotion-bait, or he dies and what the fuck you just killed a baby and now the parents are going to spiral into depression. Looking at our options, it's about 99.9% chance the baby lives, so any suspense in the plot is automatically wasted. It's not like Chet, who we already had an attachment to, and actually could have gone either way. Added to the fact that we've all seen this already and know how it ends... like... what am I holding on to here? Is the life lesson the power of medicine? Yeah science and medicine kick ass, but that's not why I'm watching this show.
Let's get this over with. Right away the redhead doctor who used to be a journalist informs the parents that they're getting a new doctor, a specialist with newborns, and even he isn't sure if their baby is going to live. But we're sure, so *snore*.
Out in the waiting room, Cory is once again making this all about himself. It's difficult to even explain what he's talking about because it doesn't make any sense. He wants Topanga to be there for him, which she is, but it.. doesn't count..? because she's not acting like she used to when they were kids..?
That was an expert deduction by Topanga, I'm glad SOMEONE understands what he's doing. But of course he responded with insanity that makes you want to punch him in the face. It immediately fades out of that scene, over to Eric hanging out with Tommy at The Apartment. This is one of those remote cases of continuity, as we first met Tommy all the way back in the Christmas episode, number 11. The writers have shown us a certain amount of respect by not blatantly reminding us who Tommy is, and I appreciate that.
Ever since Jack and Rachel "got together", Eric's been acting less like himself, which Tommy picks up on as the two of them pack Eric's suitcase.
That's actually kind of adorable. As child actors go, Tommy's certainly not the worst.
Jack and Rachel come home, pleading with Eric not to move out. Okay so that's what the suitcase is for. All one of the suitcases. The topic of conversation shifts over to the baby dying, and Tommy decides he wants to go visit Eric's new brother in the hospital. The audience thinks it's cute, but it seems obnoxious to me.
Topanga comes home to her dorm and holy shit it's Angela. All we've had to say about her the last few episodes is that she wasn't there. Topanga explains what happened with her dumb boyfriend, and Angela comments that Topanga is handling the baby situation "very maturely", but clarifies that that's not a compliment. Oh god this can't be happening. Angela's insane too.
Topanga begins to reminisce about her time as "the weird kid" in season 1, and tells Angela the story of helping Cory with "a poem for school" when she danced around his kitchen and put lipstick on her face. She's referring to 1x04, "Cory's Alternative Friends", and is giving a false account of what happened. It's nitpicky, but they might as well have just said what actually happened.
Angela tries to convince Topanga to indulge in Cory's lunacy. "Dance around him. Help him through what's going on." I get the sentiment here, like do whatever you have to do to comfort him while his little brother is dying, I get that. But Topanga had the right of it when she told him not to hide from the rest of his life. He needs comfort, that's fine, but he still needs to face the situation.
Maybe Feeny will help. Cory finds the old man having coffee at The Union and explains his frustration with Topanga.
I'M LEAVIN YA CORY. THAT'S IT. TIME TO REVIEW FRESH PRINCE.
I mean come on. MAYBE we could have a real conversation about this if he wasn't completely bullshitting right now. Topanga grew up at the beginning of season 2! She stopped being weird when she started seventh grade. You are in college now, Cory. Have you paid literally no attention to your girlfriend for the last five years?!
Instead of responding to that question, Feeny offers to take Cory to see his baby brother.
We're in the ICU now with Amy, Alan, and some other concerned parents. Amy has decided to name her new son "Joshua Gabriel Matthews". Biblical-Figure Archangel Matthews. See the problem with that name is that it's not cheesy enough. Was "God Christ Matthews" already taken?
So Mista and Misses are hanging out with their baby, and Alan tells God to "come on," whatever that means. Eric and Tommy watch from a window and then head home. We see that Topanga still hasn't strayed from her path, as she and Cory have another completely insane fight.
Are you seeing this shit? Is Cory ten years old right now? He never cared a moment in the last five years that Topanga wasn't "weird" anymore, but now that he needs something from her, he thinks she's a villain!
Just then, Shawn arrives at the hospital, back from his road trip that lasted, what, a week? Cory's first reaction is to say "Shawny", which he neglected to ever say in the Christmas episode of Girl Meets World, something that a large number of fans have taken issue with. Shawn says all the hopeful things Cory needs to hear, that everything's going to be okay, all the fun they're going to have with Joshua in the future... And this all turns Cory's attitude right around. And that's fine. It's heartwarming to see Shawn bring Cory back to life. I don't have a problem with Cory wanting some hope to hold on to. It's just bull shit the way he's taking out his anger on Topanga, who has done absolutely nothing wrong.
The doctor suggests that Cory go in and talk to Joshua, and Shawn and Topanga tag along.
That's really sweet, but I can't ignore the fact that she didn't try to stop Topanga. And how does she even know Shawn's not family? What a jerk.
So the trio are in the ICU with Joshy Josh now, and it's pretty uncomfortable to watch. The slow, evocative music is playing while they talk to Josh. It's the definition of emotion-bait, and all I can do is roll my eyes. Let's make a note, though, of what Shawn says in his ridiculous monologue directed at this day old infant. "Don't go out of town. Don't go anywhere. Life is right here with these people, with your family. And my family. We got the greatest family there is, Josh." IS THAT RIGHT, SHAWN. IS THAT A FACT. BECAUSE I'M PRETTY SURE YOU DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THAT WHEN RILEY IS BORN A FEW YEARS FROM NOW. Spoilers, if you haven't watched that Christmas GMW, Shawn left town when Riley was born because, here's the kicker, he didn't have a family. This is the worst.
That right there is the smug face of a man who never takes his own advice.
At The Apartment, Tommy and Eric goof around some more, and then Eric takes the last of his things out the door for good. It fades back to the hospital where the showrunners did their damnedest to make us think that Joshua had passed away, but he is in fact ready to go home with his family. And then the audience fucking applauds and cheers as Amy and Alan walk off camera. Are you serious with this? What are they cheering for?
The parents proceed out to the waiting room where everyone else is, well, waiting. Shawn makes some comments, and Angela's right next to him, but she's had zero lines since that one scene in the dorm with Topanga.
Topanga draws on her face with lipstick to remind Cory of who she used to be, and Shawn's response is the same as it was in 1x04, which you might not know if you weren't me.
You can see Cory's head peeking into the shot at the end of that gif, and he's got the lipstick heart on his face too, but that hasn't happened yet, as you can see in the first part of the gif. So that shot of Topanga's smiling face is... not where it's supposed to be.
So yeah, Topanga draws on Cory's face too, and they agree to be each other's Valentine, even though that holiday was several days ago. The very last shot of the episode shows us the ICU again, and how all the other parents are still there.
Credit where credit is due, that may be the best artistic choice of the whole series, showing us that last shot of the ICU. They could have left us feeling good and optimistic, but Jacobs said "No, make it real." It's powerful.
(The credits are just the logo and music.)
Plot: 0.25 - It's dumb! We're already almost certain that Joshua isn't going to die from the beginning, and at the end there's no real exposition about it. He just... got better. My opinion on this probably doesn't sit well with some of you, and I'm sorry, but this one just doesn't do anything for me. Especially with Cory being an asshole the entire time.
Character Development: 0.75 - For Eric moving out, and Topanga bringing back some weirdness. I do like the idea of Topanga bringing back some weirdness (which I don't think comes up again after this episode), I just hate that Cory demanded it from her after five years just so she could make him feel better.
Humor: 0.25 - Almost none.
Life Lesson: 0.5 - Hope is important, but if a newborn is teetering on the edge between life and death, you really ought to come to terms with the reality of the situation.
1.75 out of 4.0. And that's the end of Grandpa Sean's story. I don't like this episode and I never watch it. I don't think Topanga's weirdness comes up again after this episode, and everyone seemed to validate Cory's assholeness the entire time. I just don't enjoy anything that happened, except for that very last shot of the ICU.
In other news, if you're looking for an... extensive... writeup of Girl Meets World episodes, in particular the most recent episode with Shawn, then give this one a shot. He does a pretty good job. http://girlmeetsworldreviewed.blogspot.com/
Thanks for reading, see you Wednesday.
All images used under Fair Use.
Aw...
ReplyDeleteI like this one. :(
That's totally cool. No right or wrong. Purely for the sake of conversation, what do you like about it?
DeleteOh crud, I just typed up a massive thing and lost it all. I'll try to remember it all...
DeleteTo address the complaints, with a story like this, I don't think it's really about the predictability of whether Josh survives or not so much as the characters' reactions to the crisis. Cory isn't necessarily likable, but I do think his reaction is both interesting and in-character. I liked the approach that Topanga's sort of this "escape" for him, coupled with Topanga having to be the more logical, realistic one in this episode. Cory was being childish, but it made sense for him. We also get more Alan (who has been sorely lacking in scenes this season), who's always a treat. And I don't think we've seen this side of him before either; personally, I was a fan. In general, I missed the scenes of (older) adults interacting in both the later years of BMW and what we've seen of GMW.
I also liked how Shawn was used as a bit of positivity this time, as opposed to his usual storming off and brooding. It was a refreshing change that fit this situation well enough, and his callback line to Topanga was the icing on the cake.
Of course, it's cool that you don't like it too. I'm just not the biggest fan of the style of the last two seasons of the show in general, so between rational Topanga, naive-yet-understandable Cory, Shawn bringing the happy, and the extra focus on Cory's parents, this one felt like a breath of fresh air to me.
Oh, something I forgot to mention that was in the original version of that post, I liked how they finally acknowledged Topanga's season 1 weirdness! That seemed like an odd thing to *never* bring up again, and it was neat having the show use Topanga's younger, hippie-esque self as a sort of hopeful element in Cory's life. I thought was a pretty clever merging of an old character trait with Cory's current situation.
DeleteThat said, it was pretty late for Cory to bring this up, but sometimes a crisis can get us to reveal feelings that were just under the surface.
I also like this silly exchange:
Cory: "Do I not cherish Topanga?"
Feeny: "Oh, here we go into Cory Land."
Cory: "Did I not raise her and bring her into my home?"
Feeny: "Who talks like you?"
First of all, I love your reviews. I don't really like this episode either but were you in a bad mood today. Like a lot of your complaints seemed unlike you and unfair. 1. Sure you could probably guess that Josh is gonna survive but i doubt you were absolutely sure the first time you watched this. And you also probably thought Chet would live the first time too. 2. Ya Cory was acting like an idiot but all Topanga had to do to avoid everything was comfort him and say everything will be alright. 3. what was the false account Topanga gave? I might have missed it but I thought it was pretty accurate. 4. "the problem with that name is that it's not cheesy enough" Really? Come on. Joshua Gabriel Matthews is not that chessy of a name. 5. That Shawn and Cory moment is fantastic in my opinion. I just thought I would mention that. 6. I didn't think Shawn's speech was that bad. Actually, I thought it was pretty solid how they incorporated the reason he came back with Josh. but even if you didn't like it, are you really going to get mad about how Shawn does the opposite in GMW?! That's is a whole new show! 7. How long is Shawn supposed to leave? A week is a pretty long time for a frosh in college in the middle of the school year dont you think? I dont think he has the money or the time to stay over a month. The good: I liked how you mentioned the Shawn quote "use a mirror babe" And I also noticed how Cory has the heart on his face before he is supposed to. Again, I love your reviews. and it's not that you gave this episode a bad score because I didn't really like it either but your arguments seemed unfair and forced and unlike you.
ReplyDelete3. It wasn't a poetry assignment and it wasn't Cory's poem. Topanga wrote the poem and she told Cory to read it, and he really didn't want to be there at all.
Delete4. It was just a joke.
6. He's blatantly saying that The Matthews are his family, but then he leaves town because he thinks he doesn't have a family. It's the exact thing he's telling Josh not to do. If we don't look outside to GMW, there wouldn't be anything to say. The GMW episode is still fresh in our minds so I wanted to talk about it.
Maybe I had a problem conveying tone, but most of the time I was being critical, I was trying to be funny.
I thought they got away with that, only because both Cory and Topanga completely romanticise their relationship into some kind of fairy tale they tell themselves. Like how when they fall out in Season 7 and they refer to it as their first fight; or how Cory says at his wedding 'I wish Shawn was here' and Topanga reacts with 'I love you too!' I mean, it was undoubtedly the writers being lazy, but I think it works for Topanga's character to remember Cory being totally unenthused about her presence as 'That was when he first fell in love with me!'
DeleteI never know how I feel about this episode. I mean, it's heartbreaking. Its a heartbreaking situation; but it does feel forced. Also I spend a large amount of this time wanting to punch Cory in the face, more than normal. The end scene does sour the whole episode though with Alan and Amy being all happy go lucky about Josh being okay and the AUDIENCE CHEERING WHEN THEY WALK OFF. Its.. just.. I don't know. Its like.. how should I feel about this episode?
ReplyDeleteI think the best shot/screen cap of this entire series is perhaps Eric as Mr. Squirrels. Or maybe Jack seeing Mr. Squirrels for the first time. Its gold.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I more or less agree with your take here. This was an episode that once-upon-a-time I thought I liked mainly because I never dreamed they'd address how Topanga used to be weird and now she isn't, and I'm glad it came up and the show hadn't forgotten. And stuff like "Use a mirror, babe" are nice call backs. But they do handle it wrong, and don't do a seamless job retconning it into it being a phase Topanga outgrew. Girl Meets World's episode on it was a LITTLE better as they made it about lawyer Topanga selling out her principles and remembering who she used to be. But this was stupid.
ReplyDeleteBut it's bad. Cory's reaction is horrifying. Of course it's preposterous that Cory suddenly cares that Topanga isn't a hippie, when she's been un-hippy Type A Topanga the entire time he's dated her and he never complained before, but even that's nothing compared to how disgusting it is that all he fucking cares about it is his stupid girlfriend (or, more accurately, his stupid hurt feelings) when his BROTHER IS DYING.
Now, granted, I've luckily never been in such a situation, but there was a brief situation a few years ago when my mother's life was in jeopardy (she's fine) and I was APOPLECTIC with worry. My every thought from the moment I heard what was happening to the moment I was told she was in the clear, it's all I could think about or wanted to talk about. And Cory's just flopping around, bitching about Topanga to her face, going to get coffee with Feeny to bitch more about Topanga. People have to keep reminding him "Um, don't you care about your brother?" It's stupid. And it doesn't come off like he's in denial, it comes off like he doesn't care.
And, yeah, Shawn's road trip was a total waste too. Dude never even missed an episode. His return would have been way more powerful if he'd actually been gone for a while and the audience maybe even thought he'd left the show.
And yeah, sorry, I don't care about Joshua. Amy's pregnancy with him came up maybe like... four times since it happened. And after this episode, Josh is never significant (and barely seen) again until the last episode of the series. So, like, thank god he survived for all the great Joshua stories. And yeah, the name's too much. Joshua Matthews? Fine. Joshua Gabriel? We get it. Hallowed be his name.
I'm don't want Auggie's middle name to be Shawn though. I hate fiction's tendency to always have babies be named after some past character. Like how in the Harry Potter, he named all his kids first and middle names after his dead friends and he was saying crap like "Albus Severus, listen to me!"
OH AND THANKS FOR THE PLUG! :)
Your comment is as long as your review, but equally high quality. I was starting to think I was insane and everyone else in the world liked this episode. But it sounds like we're on the same page. And you're right, "Albus Severus Katniss Potter" made me gag back in the day, maybe August Shawn Matthews wouldn't be any good.
DeleteHaha, yeah, I don't like this either. If it was just the baby story it might just be typical sitcom "inoffensively not-good", but Cory being horrendous makes so unwatchable. I don't get people's obsession with hippie Topanga. It was clearly a phase that people grow out of, not a personality. Her "take charge" personality always remained though the writers probably didn't realize it from the family assignment when she pretty gave Minkus orders not to get a tattoo and her future job as President where all the men were put underground and only used for breeding.
DeleteHaha, sorry for the repeated length. In my family, anybody who uses 5 words when they could use 500 just isn't trying hard enough.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to be THAT guy, but Cory DID call Shawn "Shawny" in Home for the Holidays. When they were trapped in the bay window, Cory said, "Look at us, Shawny."
ReplyDeleteProbably seen the episode waaaaay too many times now.. :))
Oh, awesome, I took someone else's word for it. Glad that's not actually true. Thank you for being that guy.
DeleteAfter watching the episode where Chet died, "My Baby Valentine," and then this one, I can honestly say that season six was the beginning of the end for this show. Season seven was mediocre overall with a lot of crap, but I feel like this season set in motion a very dark and depressing time for the show. It really felt like Boy Meets World was starting to give up what made it so special in favor of overuse of drama and regressing characters like Cory.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, BMW's attempts at drama are welcome, but there's just a time where you watch these episodes back to back and think there's just too much drama and attempts at emotion. This episode was really hard to watch and I don't know if I can sit through it again.
I think my biggest problem with this episode and the one before it is Cory himself. He's just so insufferable and selfish and moronic in these episodes, I have no idea why the writers made him like that. All he does is complain about how he can't get what he wants and how Topanga isn't the same weirdo from season one, which makes absolutely no sense. I don't know why they even made that an aspect of the story. I feel like Topanga was sometimes capable of bringing out the worst in Cory. Episodes like this are why Cory and Shawn will always be BMW's heart and soul, no matter what the writers tell me.
And another thing, I feel like Jack and Rachel's relationship was never really a relationship. They were friends with benefits at best and a bunch of horndogs with raging hormones at worst. They had no shared interests, no hopes and dreams, no chemistry to play off of, no scenes that endeared the relationship to people. It was just a bunch of making out. I feel like if Eric got together with Rachel, they would have been forced to write better romance plots involving them.
Episode Grade: D+
Episode MVP: Rider Strong, because when Shawn came and reassured Cory that everything would be okay, I got a little emotional.
I'm saying this in a joking tone, but I don't wanna see that MVP Grade crap here. I ain't about that. But yeah, you SUPER nailed it with the word "regressing," the last two seasons send Cory and Eric back to the dark ages. Shawn manages to keep growing, though.
DeleteThere's nothing strange or confusing about the audience cheering when Alan and Amy head out to take Joshua home. The baby was born pre-maturely and was in the NICU. That's something to fucking celebrate! It's a sitcom, so of course the audience is going to cheer — especially when, as Sean pointed out, "the showrunners did their damnedest to make us think that Joshua had passed away."
ReplyDeleteC'mon!
And the whole why didn't the nurse try to stop Topanga from going to the NICU thing is obvious. Cory and Toapanga are engaged. She knows who they are as they've been coming there for what's probably been weeks. Shawn just showed up and the nurse doesn't know his relation to them.
If they wanted their child to have that name, they wanted him to have that name. Give it a break. There are themes of Christianity throughout this show. Big deal.
Also, if we're talking about a relationship no one is invested in, it's 100% Jack and Rachel.
Tommy’s actor dyed his hair. It’s distracting. And ridiculous that we’re supposed to remember the actor but not how he looked.
ReplyDeleteAnd Topanga is still insane if she thinks that that is when Cory fell in love with her.
ReplyDeleteAlso GMW IS NOT CANON TO THE CHARACTERS
ReplyDeleteCory's insufferability in this episode doesn't mean Topanga's realist perspective is right either. What Cory needed was someone to tell him it was going to be okay. If your solution to every emotional problem is to lay out the facts and slap everyone in the face with reality, you probably won't have very many good relationships. Shawn knew what Cory needed and he gave it to him. It was a fantastic moment.
ReplyDeleteI also generally don't mind when things happen that "never came up before". No, Cory didn't have a problem with Topanga not being a weirdo before this episode, but he definitely had feelings for her from when she was. Maybe he was just feeling like something was missing all along, and it just came to a head in this episode due to the drastic situation. The writers shouldn't have to spell everything out months or years in advance in order to make a character feel a certain way.
It's also worth noting that Matthew is a biblical name too. I agree "Joshua Gabriel" was a bit over the top.