Episode 2x07 "Wake Up, Little Cory"

After fiddling with Google Analytics and stuff for a few days, you can FINALLY find this blog by Googling "boy meets world reviewed blogspot". Somehow Google still thinks this

http://boymeetsworldmeetsweed.wordpress.com/

is a better match for that query, and anything less specific doesn't really work. But hey, give it some time.

That poor guy quit after only 3 episodes. Maybe he got busted for possession. Good for him for trying though.

This episode jumps straight into the meat and potatoes. Mr. Turner is explaining to the class why Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is an amazing play, and doing so quite passionately. The students have a slightly different opinion.

The students raise the very valid point that "love, sex and slander" just aren't as shocking now as they were back in Shakespeare's days, what with tabloids and reality tv. Holy god damn dammit this show is so good. How fuckin real is that? Not two minutes into the episode and we're faced with this powerful social commentary. It's... it's an explosion. Of commentary.

In response, the curly mullet English teacher assigns them to use the school's video equipment to interview their families and friends about love and sex, and then they can all see if people today really are more mature than the folks in Much Ado. If the video equipment is anything like their classroom's computer rig, I don't see what could possibly go wrong.

"Quick! Google how to put out a fire!" 

Except in '94 they used like, Infoseek, or Altavista. I doubt those ever became verbs.

This scene is fantastic. And really funny. This is the essence of why I love Mr. Turner. Instead of giving all the students detention, *cough*, he actually engages them and listens to what they have to say. The kids are genuinely excited about this assignment because it was tailored to fit their educational needs. It's wonderful. Dollars to donuts, Mr. Feeny will have a word or two to say about all this.

Called it.

                                     

Remember what I was saying back in 2x01 about opposing reference frames for education themes? THERE YOU GO. THERE IT IS. That's one of the best exchanges so far in the series. Do you see how meta this is? Turner represents Boy Meets World in Feeny-Hollywood. He's trying to be progressive and treat young adults like young adults, the same way the show wants to respect the maturity of its audience. I'm willing to bet that a very similar conversation went down between Michael Jacobs and whoever was in charge of ABC. It's genius. It's unheard of. This might be THE episode where everyone thought "shit, this show is FOR REAL." 

I need to calm down. I seriously love this show, you guys. 

Cory and Topanga are working on their project (they're partners). From the POV of Cory's camera we get to see various opinions on sex and love, including a romantic Topanga, Shawn the Lothario, and a caught-in-hypocrisy Mr. Turner. Cory's been using the word "sex" up to this point, but I guess it would have been weird for him to say it to his teacher.

                                   

It just doesn't get better than this, folks. Cory also interviews Joey the Rat, Harley Keiner, Eric, and his parents, and they're all hilarious. No mention of abstinence, no STD fear-mongering, just realistic characters sharing their legitimate, believable opinions. 

I.

Love.

This.

Show.

School's over, but Cory and Topanga have stuck around to finish working on their project. Look at this behemoth editing hardware.

It gets late so they use that extremely convenient phone on the table there to tell their respective parents that they're eating dinner at the other's house. Pretty sneaky sis. Remember that pay phone out in the hallway? Why bother when there's a free phone in the video editing closet? Anyway, it gets really late and they accidentally fall asleep on the floor when "I'm just gonna rest for 10 minutes" goes awry. We've all been there. I'm there on a daily basis. "Just ONE more snooze. Just one more. That's it." 

... 

"Actually, okay, I can do another, I just won't brush my teeth." 

... 

"I'm really not even hungry, I can do a few more instead of breakfast."

What a scandal! The rest of the school finds out, so I guess that bitchass janitor spilled the beans. Which is weird because janitors are supposed to clean up spilled beans. 

I'm allowed one bad joke per review okay? This is hard work.

Anyway, all the guys in school are like "wooo statutory rape, Cory's the man", even Harley Keiner and some guy in the back ground who looks like he's 30 have a new respect for the little Matthews boy.

It's high school, so Cory lies, sullying Topanga's reputation. It's not quite the same as Much Ado About Nothing, which looks more at infidelity than the general promiscuity being examined here, but it still ties back to the earlier discussion in Turner's class about how rumors can warp our perception of women and the effects of those perceptions on those women. Awesome. Turner and Feeny are privy to these events, resulting in another fantastic dialogue between the two teachers.

                                      

Excellent writing once again. Not much more to say than what I've already covered. I really hate to throw a wrench in this amazing episode, but the board says "projects due tomorrow", so there was no reason why Cory and Topanga had to stay late the night before to finish. Minor detail, who cares.

Later, Topanga comes over to the Matthews house to have a little chat with the newly crowned Vagina Master of John Adams High. I've gotta say, I really like how Topanga handles this situation. She's not crying or breaking down, she's just pissed. It's not "wahhh you ruined everything, how could you wahh", but rather "you are literal human filth, go to hell", you know what I mean? Anger is a much stronger emotion than sadness. Anger gives you motivation and energy and drive, while sadness just drains you. So yeah, I think it's the mark of a strong character to be angry instead of upset and I'm really glad they made that decision.

She leaves Cory speechless and the scene fades into Mr. Turner's class the next day. It's time to watch the finished projects. Cory edited a pretty grand apology and clarification of events into the end of their video. That smooths things over between him and Topanga, and chalks one up for Mr. Turner on the Turner-Feeny War Scwarbward. ...War Scwarboard? Sc.. Scw.. Score... Whatever. Counting the battle over Grapes of Wrath as a point for Feeny, we're currently tied.

I'll definitely keep updating this.

So that's the end, and it's a good ending except that I would have liked to see more people call out Cory for being a dick.

Plot: 1.0 - The entire review is the explanation for this. I loved every minute of this episode.

Character Development: 1.0 - 0.9 of this is due to Topanga showing us what she's made of. (Nails, if that wasn't clear.) The other 0.1 is due to the Turner-Feeny War, in particular when Feeny says "Well, perhaps this project is going to serve some purpose after all." The man does not often admit he is wrong, so Turner definitely deserves a victory lap for this one.

Humor: 1.0 - I'm starting to realize that this category is hard to explain. There was just a lot of that clever, classic Boy Meets World humor all throughout this one. What's better is that it came from pretty much every character, including Joey, Harley, and the Matthews parents. Morgan was absent from this episode, and that's always conducive to a good humor score.

Life Lesson: 1.0 - Let's go ahead and count the progressive elements as life lessons. Everything Turner says in his arguments with Feeny about open dialogue and trust is spot on. 

4.0 out of 4.0 with all four Badges. I absolutely love how I feel after reviewing a great episode. I love this show, and I love talking about it. Love everywhere, it's goddamn Woodstock in my bedroom right now.

Thanks for reading, see you Friday!

Clips and images used under Fair Use.