Episode 4x18 "Uncle Daddy"

Oh cool it's an Eric episode.

The long-haired Matthews brother is on a date with an attractive woman at Chubbie's. It's established pretty quickly that she's a few years older than Eric, a fact complemented by her slightly-deeper-than-average, mature sounding voice. Thumbs up to the casting director. Eric starts to try to plan a date for the next day, which will be the third day in row they've done stuff, and she says "that's starting to sound kind of serious, how well do we really know each other?"

I'm sold.

Anyway, Eric says he wants to know everything about her, and she responds with an invitation back to her apartment. Eric is indeed a heterosexual male, so the scene jumps to the couple about to enter her front door (her apartment's front door, you animals). She (I still haven't heard her name yet) informs Eric that if he wants to have a relationship with her, he has to have a relationship with someone else as well. When she opens the door we see another very attractive woman waiting on the couch. All signs point to... the menage... Seinfeld? Anybody? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6_pv_vRHKI

Unlike Jerry, Eric is gung ho for the menage, but his dreams are crushed. The other woman is in fact the babysitter, and the woman's son runs out into the living room right on cue.

Every male child actor in Hollywood has this haircut, the Zack and Cody hair, and it pisses me off, I fuckin hate looking at it, I don't know why. The kid's name is Ryan, and he's played by Justin Cooper. Cooper was in Liar Liar the same year that this episode aired, but that's about it. As far as child actors go though, I'm super impressed, he's doing a great job. We still haven't heard his mom's name, but I skipped ahead and it's Kelly, and she's played by Brittney Powell. Powell was on 78 episodes of General Hospital and a lot of small one-time roles, but nothing jumps out at me. Well, except a movie titled Stacy's Mom from 2010, which I have not seen, but from the name I can guess what it's about. And that is exactly what it's about. Powell plays "Stacy's Mom", the main character, and it looks like the plot is that some teenage guys wanna sleep with her. So it's basically the same role. That's kinda funny.

Eric doesn't quite know what to say to this news, and the scene fades out and back in at Cory's room. Here, Cory and Shawn are doing some practice SATs. Shawn has a seizure after a tough question and flees through the window. Eric comes in and Cory asks him how his date with Kelly went.

But Eric comments that he thinks he's ready for an adult relationship, and wants to continue seeing Kelly. On that note, the scene fades to Kelly's living room. There's a knock at the door, and it's none other than Eric Matthews with a bouquet of tulips or some shit, I don't know fuckin flowers, what do you think this is? Boy Meets Flowers Reviewed? Written by ConfidenceFlowers? Nuh uh.

Eric says THE most romantic shit I've ever heard, and it's not even cheesy or anything. Kelly gets about as starry-eyed as I did after that, but Ryan "The Human Cockblock" runs in like "yo sup guys". He's nervous about Eric at first, but Eric buddies up to him like a god damn pro almost immediately.

I always have a giant smile during this part. It's incredibly sweet, and genuine. This script was written by a guy named Steve Young, who didn't write any other episodes of this show, but he currently writes for The Late Show, and he's a Harvard grad, so this guy is definitely a quality writer.

 Eric takes them off to dinner at Chubbie's. They've just finished eating, and Eric gives Ryan some quarters to go play pinball. What's crazy is that the pinball machine has actually been there in past episodes, giving us a rare instance of background-continuity.

No, not the quarters. To paraphrase, she wants to know how Eric can be completely perfect, a total fucking catch, and not be scared off by Ryan. Eric says her maturity and life experience are appealing, and that he enjoys palling around with Ryan. Cory and Shawn show up and Shawn keeps referring to Ryan as "the baby". Cory invites his older brother to see a movie with them, and Eric wants to go, but Kelly and Ryan have to get home. So Eric declines, and offers to read Ryan a bedtime story back at Kelly's place.

OKAY LISTEN UP. If you are currently dating or are interested in dating a single mother, watch this episode of Boy Meets World and TAKE SOME GODDAMN NOTES. Holy CRAP he is on FIRE.

 Kelly is extremely pleased with this offer, but Cory looks a little concerned. We're in the living room at the Matthews house now, so it must be the next day, and Topanga has joined the boys for SAT prep. She asks Shawn a trigonometry question to induce a stroke, since she wants to be alone with Cory.

Eric comes downstairs and talks about how his life is coming together. Cory suggests that Eric take the SAT again and try for a better score so he can get into college, but Eric's not too concerned about college now that he's got this steady, adult relationship.

I guess I haven't done a lot of reviewing so far, but this episode is amazing. Eric has spent a lot of time searching for fulfillment, and it seems like he might have found it (without Feeny's help, I might add). He's got great chemistry with Kelly while also being hilarious, Ryan is significantly better than most child actors, and we're even having fun with this SAT sub plot. Overall it's been an absolute joy to watch the first half.

So now Alan and Amy come home, and they're lookin pissed. Apparently Cory was the last to use the family car, and brought it back with almost no gas. His parents got about 3 blocks before it ran out, so Alan takes away Cory's car privileges for the next week. Eric follows his parents into the kitchen, and just then Kelly arrives outside, signaled by a honk of her car's horn. Amy invites her inside since her and Alan still haven't met this girl that Eric's so interested in.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut then they meet Ryan.

Morgan comes in trying to go play Laser Tag with Eric, Kelly, and Ryan, thinking that Ryan is Kelly's little brother. Awkward, but she's just sayin what everybody else is thinkin. She even apologizes, and ultimately goes with them.

Later, the date is over and Eric is in his room trying on a tuxedo in the same way that young girls wear princess dresses and imagine fairy tale weddings. Also in the room is Cory prepping for the SAT. I don't know where this work ethic suddenly came from, but here it is. Cory suggests once again that Eric retake the test and try to get into college, but Eric says he'll just skip college and jump to what the job he wanted to do after college.

One of the funniest lines in the series, and it's a lot better if you actually hear it. This is great! Usually we've got Alan or Feeny looking out for Eric's future, making sure he doesn't do something stupid, but this time it's his brother. Actually, now that I think about it, it's almost like Shawn and Eric have switched places for this episode. Shawn is being silly and dopey and inconsequential, while Cory tries to help Eric make a tough decision. We've got brotherhood rather than bromance, and it's pretty awesome.

Now Eric is in the back room at Chubbie's with Ryan, after evidently spending the whole day together. This kid is not getting a balanced diet. Cory, Shawn, and Topanga arrive because FUCK ME, I GUESS. I can't explain it anymore. Shawn still calls Ryan "the baby". They ask Eric to join them for some 2v2 billiards, which may or may not actually be a thing, and Ryan reluctantly tells Eric it's okay, even though he'll only be like 2 feet away. Ryan asks Eric for some ice cream money, which he gives him, and then Ryan runs off toward the register. However, a few seconds later, he is nowhere to be seen.

It jumps to Kelly's apartment, where the dialogue informs us that Eric found Ryan pretty quickly at the curb outside, but then "flipped out" and yelled at him for running off. Kelly is totally cool about it though, saying that Ryan won't hold a grudge or anything, and she's definitely understanding toward Eric. She doesn't say it but she probably would have done the same thing.

Eric comments that Ryan needs so much, and wonders how Kelly can take care of him every day. She gives Eric a very explicit, wide open escape route, saying that he still has a lot of options in life and that he should take advantage of those options, instead of trying to be a dad before he's ready. Eric insists that he's not "looking to get out of this".

Seriously, this is the most compelling romance in the series. I dream of a future where these two are reunited. Every single scene is absolutely adorable. After the line in that gif, Ryan calls for his mother, and she heads to his bedroom after saying goodbye to Eric. Eric sullenly and slowly heads out the door. It is heartbreaking.

At home, Amy and Alan are watching TV when Cory tries to sneak in through the front door. They know Cory took the car and raise his punishment to two weeks. Cory thinks his dad is being intentionally harsh on him, but Eric has also just come home and interjects. With what he learned from the crisis with Ryan, Eric explains to Cory that their father hates getting angry at him, and punishing him, but it's part of the job of fatherhood. Alan is impressed with Eric's insight, and comments that he might be ready to be a dad after all.

I think that might be a quick conclusion to jump to there Alan, but I love what they were going for there.

During the credits some bull shit happens, whatever.

Plot: 1.0 - Eaaaaaaaaasy point. This story was wonderful. It flowed so well, there were no slow points, and I had trouble writing this review because I never wanted to pause it. Compelling, interesting, and exciting. An awesome take on a very realistic scenario.

Character Development: 1.0 - Eric's been getting a little too complacent this season! Working at his dad's store has been comfortable and easy, he hasn't had any challenges for the most part. Just when he starts to think he's ready to be a full fledged adult, he gets a tough reminder of just how unready he is.

Humor: 1.0 - Only Eric can single handedly pull in the plot and humor badges. If Cory's the main character, Shawn (or Eric) has to bring in the humor. If Shawn's in charge, Cory brings the humor (I know I've talked about that a lot). But Eric carried everything in this show. Shawn was funny too, but that's just an added bonus.

Life Lesson: 0.5 - This one was tough. There's no single lesson that really got focused on. There are bits of "don't grow up too fast", "go to college", "dating a single parent and being a single parent are different", "being a father means being there for the good and the bad", and maybe some others, but I can't really say that any one of them was built up enough for the point. Maybe the last one. I don't know, who the hell cares about the scores anyway.

3.5 out of 4.0. Seen it a hundred times, will continue to see it a hundred more times. It's great. It has no faults from start to finish. Except eating at Chubbie's five times a week. A fantastic look at an adult relationship after the romantic train wreck in Long Walk Part 2. Eric and Kelly didn't try to "Romeo and Juliet" their way through their problem like Corpanga did. They acknowledged the problem for what it was, and dealt with it in the most responsible way, even though it hurt both of them. THIS is Boy Meets World. Eric is the best character.

Thanks for reading! 4x19 will be posted tomorrow (Friday).

All images used under Fair Use.