Written by Marley Ghizzone
Girl Meets Gravity Plot Summary:
Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and Maya (Sabrina Carpenter) start eighth grade with the intention of breaking free from their families and becoming “kings of the school.” Meanwhile, Mrs. Svorski (Cloris Leachman) persuades Topanga (Danielle Fishel) to take over the bakery.
I love Disney Channel. The Disney Channel was like a gateway drug to pre-teen to me. That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, Kim Possible, even Hannah Montana are held in the highest regard. So when I come to Disney now with Shake It Up or Dog With A Blog, I shed a tear for the corny yet insightful television of my youth. Girl Meets World feels a little bit like old Disney.
The Season Two premiere was a very uncomfortable half hour of television. I felt pulled back into the woes of middle school which is never fun. But also watching as an adult, heard the over the topness of the lines and jokes. I think though, that it is a great show for kids to watch.
‘Girl Meets Gravity’ sees Riley (Blanchard) and Maya (Carpenter) trying to find a new spot in school. They don’t want to be taught by Mr. Matthews (Ben Savage) for another year because as they see it, he will hold them back from becoming kings of the school.
They try and fail to fit into another classroom, but soon realize they are not always going to be the center of everyone’s universe. The duo slips back into their original history class, with Mr. Matthews (Savage) and their old group of friends, but the girls still feel trapped. Especially so when their mothers both show up at their hangout, Mrs. Svorski’s bakery. They are adults, now!
Eventually they realize, that just like the planets, you will always be circling your family. It was a cute and poignant episode that, though a little heavy handed, sold a good message. Blanchard and Carpenter have a good onscreen chemistry which is interesting to watch.
My favorite joke of the whole episode, though, was between Topanga and Cory. Meta to the extreme, they promise Cory won’t be Riley and Maya’s teacher two years in a row because they don’t want another Mr. Feeney situation. They quip back and forth about the unlikeliness of a teacher following you from sixth grade all the way to college. Meta humor always gets me.
The sophomore season premiere for Girl Meets World was strong. It set up conflicts for coming episodes and was an excellent stand alone episode. It even made me truly laugh out loud at one point, “It’s not my-krainian bakery, I’m dead.”
Rating: 7 out of 10
