Episode 4x20 "Security Guy"

"Sneak Attack", the latest episode of Girl Meets World: Pretty darn good. Farkle got toned down to an appropriate level, the little brother is infinitely superior to Morgan, and Maya kicks ass. And it was funny.

Let's turn our attention back to the Boy. Eric fucked up. Bad. He arranged for a bear that's been on TV to come hang out at the store to draw in customers. Except the customers aren't allowed anywhere near the bear, i.e they can't actually come in the store. So Eric's effectively cost his father $5,000 and gained next to nothing.

That's the same guy that played Mark- sorry, Ranger Mark- in City Slackers. Eric gets fired immediately. The next morning at breakfast, Amy agrees with Alan's decision to fire Eric since he has a history of fucking up. She didn't use those exact words, but you read between the lines. But Eric comes downstairs ready to go to work, clearly oblivious to the fact that he was fired.

Buuuut Alan and Amy make it abundantly clear at this point that he is very much fired, leaving him speechless. This is a nice turn of events. At the height of 4x18, Eric thought he had all his ducks in a row, but then he lost Kelly, and now he's lost his job. Where will he turn next?

After an undisclosed amount of time, Cory, Shawn, and Topanga are in the living room continuing to study for their SATs. Man, 4x19 seems really out of place now. They probably should have switched the order of 18 and 19, so that we get more of a flowing story about the SATs and Eric's life falling apart. Anyway Shawn's talking about how he doesn't want to go to college, but Cory convinces him to take the SAT just to see. Shawn agrees under the impression that the test is only 10 minutes long.

In the kitchen, Amy and Alan are trying to figure out why Eric can't get his shit together. Amy explains that because Eric was their first born, they coddled him and were overprotective of him.

Wuh oh. Alan's in denial. This is interesting though. Usually it's the mother who's sort of overprotective, but Amy is definitely the reasonable one here. In fact, we've seen this dynamic before, back when Eric wanted to be a weather man and drop out of school. Alan was incredibly harsh on him, but Amy was more understanding. She's tried to let Eric find his own way, while Alan continues to think he knows what's best for Eric.

Amy suggests they get a second opinion about Eric from Mr. Feeny, which might be the smartest thing she's done in the series. Feeny comments that Eric could get passing grades in his sleep, and that, in fact, he did, which must be a callback to that sleep study he did back in 3x07.

So they're basically assigning the "lazy but smart" archetype to Eric here, which is probably a long-time coming. He's had a few brilliant schemes in the past, and almost always succeeds when he actually tries at something. And let's not forget the time he rolled over Feeny and Turner at poker.

 But then Eric comes outside dressed as a security guard, his apparent new job. Both of his parents and Mr. Feeny all tell Eric that this stupid job is "the easy way out". Naturally, he doesn't take that very well, and tells his parents he's moving out before storming off to a round of "ooOOOoooo" from the audience.

At school, Cory and Topes fires off some super easy, fake SAT questions when Shawn is nearby to try to boost his confidence and inspire him to attend Feeny's SAT prep/review sessions. They then drag Feeny himself into the mess by convincing him to offer cake and a "carnival-like atmosphere" at his sessions to entice Shawn.

The whole scene is hilarious, and it's really sweet that they're all going the extra mile for Shawn.

Meanwhile, Eric shows up at Alan's store with his security guard partner Ronnie Patel. Ronnie goes to look around while Eric and his father hash things out. Alan tells the story of putting on these rubber gloves for safety purposes in the delivery room when Eric was born. And now, twenty years later, he's realized that he never took off those gloves.

Look at both of these actors. The scene is beautifully performed, and it's really powerful. Alan has pulled off those gloves and slapped Eric right across the face with them. We're getting down to the meat and potatoes of this father-son relationship and it's awesome.

Eric is left speechless, and the next scene fades in outside John Adams High, where Eric and Ronnie have been conveniently stationed this evening. Where were the security guys last season when this place got vandalized like twenty times? Maybe that's why they got security guards. Anyway, to pass the time, Ronnie asks Eric for help studying for the SAT, and pulls out a little study booklet. See, back in India Ronnie was an engineer, but America doesn't give a shit and so he has to start over. And he's willing to, saying that anything worth having is worth working hard for. He then comments how the US is full of opportunities to live out dreams, like how Eric is living his dream of being a "security guy".

OH SHIT!

OHHHHHH SHITTTTT!!!!!!!!

Damn son. What a great line. Eric tries to turn it back on him, but Ronnie's just like "Nah, I'm an engineer. And soon, they will know it." Ronnie is a fucking boss, you guys. I love this guy. And I think Eric is here like "holy shit, hard work really can get you pretty far". But before he has time to say it, they spy someone trying to break in to the school, but it's just Mr. Feeny. Feeny suggests Eric come inside for the SAT prep course, but Eric's like "come on man maybe I'm not someone who's supposed to go to college", and Feeny fires back with "Maybe you're someone who gives up too easily," and heads inside with a solemn "Who are you?" That line calls back what Ronnie said earlier, when he so energetically declared he is an engineer. And it's a good opportunity for the viewers to bring themselves in, and wonder if they can answer that question. 

Time jumps forward to Eric wandering in front of the window to the classroom with Feeny's prep session. Some sensitive clarinet and guitar music plays as Eric looks in and pulls out the SAT booklet Ronnie was using, and starts to study in tandem with the class. 

Ah, the well placed, appropriate humor in the heat of seriousness. That's basically this show's trademark. 

Heads up, the show is about to start raining emotion on us. Like, three of the biggest bombs in the series are about to drop. First, after a 3-week time skip, Shawn, Cory, and Topanga arrive at Feeny's door having just taken the SAT. It sounds like they're angry with him, having made them work so incredibly hard for this one little test, and then...

Did anyone else's heart just grow three sizes?

Next, we're at Alan's store and Eric has another heart-to-heart with his father. Alan says that he still believes Eric can be whoever he wants to be if he works hard and doesn't take the easy way out. Eric replies that he tried as hard as he could and slaps the sealed envelope containing his SAT scores down on the counter top. Amy opens it up, and excitedly informs her son that he scored 200 points higher than the last time he took the test. Bomb number 2.

That shit chokes me up every single time. The gif doesn't do it justice, William Russ absolutely nails that line, it's completely perfect and all you want in the world is for Alan to be proud of you too. Eric finally sees what can happen when he tries as hard as he can. And it's a realistic score for him too, it was like 1120 or something (back when the test was out of 1600). Absolutely beautiful. It's a Top 5 scene, no question about it. Alan follows that up with "I knew you could do it" and Eric spills out "I knew I could do it too." 

During the credits, Eric does the Feeny Call in the middle of the night. He wants his mentor's help choosing a college, and eventually Feeny caves and tells Eric to go put on some coffee. Bomb number three.

Jesus Christ. The staff were well aware of how powerful this, they made sure there wouldn't be any credits while Eric was saying that last line.

You really need to watch the last five minutes of this episode on your own, if not the whole thing. I can't even convey how incredibly powerful the end of this episode was.

Plot: 1.0 - It was wonderful. Convincing Shawn to come to the prep course was a great sub plot, and watching Eric struggle to tread water and find his way was fantastic. I honestly loved every minute of it. 

Character Development: 2.0 - Fuck you, Eric deserves 2 points. "I knew I could do it too." And our gang of three heroes came to appreciate Feeny's teaching methods. It's all fantastic.

Humor: 1.0 - The subplot with Shawn and his cake was hysterical. Eric was mostly serious but funny sometimes too.

Life Lesson: 1.0 - Don't take the easy way out. Be Ronnie Patel.

5.0 out of 4.0. The highest score yet. This might be my favorite episode in the series. This and City Slackers are definitely top 3. If you haven't caught on yet, Eric is the best character this season. By far. I've seen this episode many times, and it never loses the charm. This is everything Mr. Feeny has been working toward. This is the payoff. Everyone blossomed in this episode, even Alan. It's the perfect episode. It's perfect.

THANK YOU FOR READING. I LOVE THIS EPISODE. SEE YOU WEDNESDAY FOR A VERY DIFFERENT SORT OF EPISODE.

All images used under Fair Use.