Episode 1x02 "On The Fence"

*Preface* In an effort to transition from "general synopsis" to "review", I'm introducing an evaluation system out of four points. There is one point available for plot, humor, character development, and a sparkling Boy Meets World life lesson. If an episode earns a full point in a category, it will also receive a shiny Badge, all of which are pictured below. I made them in like 3 minutes in Paint, give me a break. There are also possibilities for bonus Badges, which will be defined as their circumstances arise. This is a test run and thus subject to great change and tweaking. *End Preface*

This episode opens in the cafeteria again and Bad-Hair from the Pilot has been replaced by Black-Hair. There's much discussion to be had about super heroes as parents (Cory wants Superman) and water guns. Good-Hair points out that the show's nerd character, Stuart Minkus (it's fascinating that Minkus is named before ever appearing on camera, and yet Good-Hair still has not been called by name), is seated nearby, and is subjected to water gun based bullying from Good-Hair.

 The viewer's first reaction is to roll their eyes, "Ugh, typical nerds-being-bullied cheap laughs". But this is somewhere that Boy Meets World truly distinguishes itself from other series. Minkus responds by busting out his own water gun, a far more imposing model than Good-Hair's, forcing Good-Hair to back off. You see, Minkus is a strong nerd. He is often the butt of jokes and insults, but he retaliates! His strengths are emphasized just as often as his weaknesses. I'll be pointing these moments out as we go through the series because he's really the best nerd character I've ever seen on television. If even ONE of the male characters on Big Bang Theory were written as well as Minkus, I wouldn't hate it quite so much. So right away Minkus earns this episode the Character Development Badge. In addition, the whole scene is pretty funny, so we're well on our way to the Humor Badge as well.

We're at the Matthews House next, and Cory attempts to convince his parents to buy him an expensive water gun. The writers definitely went for quantity over quality on jokes for about seven straight minutes here. I laughed a few times, but the laugh track played much more frequently, which is annoying. Even more annoying is Cory's dumb sister Morgan whose every sentence is received with laughter. Fortunately, Cory is as annoyed by her as I am and parries her unfunnyness with semi-funny harshness.

We're at about the 10 minute mark now, and the only real plot so far is that Cory wants a water gun for the "Water War", because no pre-teen wants to miss out on an alliterated event. That's just a fact.  Anyway, Cory goes to Mr. Feeny, who you'll recall is his neighbor, and offers to work for money. Mr. Feeny is funny, cancelling out Morgan from earlier. Cory paints Feeny's window shutters and does a great job of it, entirely contrary to what you would expect from a sitcom. I think that earns a bonus badge of "Not Being a Predictable, Shitty Sitcom". Cory isn't quite in the clear though, somehow he got paint on his fence which quite frankly I don't understand. How did he mess up the entire fence without noticing? Any hope of the plot badge is now dead.

Cory must now paint his fence before he can go to the Water War. He recruits his friends with some of the money he got from Feeny. Minkus makes a brilliant Tom Sawyer reference, which makes everyone else look like an idiot for not understanding it. Rock on, Minkus. The scene is written so that Minkus looks smart for having read Tom Sawyer, and everyone else looks like an idiot! He's cool for being smart! It's just so unheard of in television. Seriously guys, I love Minkus. 

Cory's friends abandon him, he has a funny exchange with Feeny, and then Mr. Matthews shows up and relieves Cory from painting. "Your responsibility is to stay eleven years old, for as long as you can." Cory runs off to the Water War. When he gets home, he discovers that his dad is painting the rest of the fence for him, even after tirelessly working all day. Cory's older brother Eric comments that he doesn't know how their father can work so hard every day. Cory grins, saying "It's like he's Superman. Superman's my dad," and some touching clarinet music plays. It ties a nice sentiment into the super hero conversation from the opening segment, and the part about Cory appreciating his youth is always valid, so I'm gonna go ahead and throw down a Life Lesson Badge for this episode. The episode ends with some funny water gun antics at the dinner table, but also a lot of unfunnyness from Morgan, so no Humor Badge today.

So we still don't know Good-Hair's name, we probably won't see Black-Hair again, Minkus is awesome, and Pavlov would be interested in how the "studio audience" reacts to Morgan's lines.

0 points for plot, 0.5 points for humor, 1 point for character development, and 1 point for the life lesson. That's 2.5/4 with the Character Development and Life Lesson Badges, as well as the Not Being a Predictable, Shitty Sitcom Bonus Badge. 

Thanks for reading, see you Friday. #MinkusLyfe