Growing up, most TV-addicted kids like myself found a show that reflected (and identified with) their childhood struggles and teenage angst, and they latched onto it. For some, it was Saved by the Bell, Roseanne, or the kids of Home Improvement. For me, that show was Boy Meets World. I learned about dating from Cory and Topanga. Shawn helped me understand how fortunate I was to live in a stable two-parent household. In his more serious storylines in the earlier seasons, Eric taught me that if I didn't keep my grades up, my future prospects as far as college and a career would be severely limited. Mr. Feeny also represented so many teachers that would be mentors and friends to me later in life, and getting to know that character pushed me to think of my teachers as people, not villains out to judge me or punish me with grades. I cannot help but look back on Boy Meets World with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Revisiting the final season was a revealing experience for me. I still adore the last season and the show in general, but having had time to separate myself from the experience of growing up on Boy Meets World, I know that the last season wasn't as strong as some of the show's earlier seasons.
In season 7, Cory (Ben Savage) and the rest of the gang are now in college. Topanga (Danielle Fishel) has broken off her engagement to Cory after her parents announced that they were separating. Shawn (Rider Strong) is also having trouble in his relationship with Angela (Trina McGee) who has never quite gotten over her commitment issues. Eric (Will Friedle) has moved in with Shawn's step-brother Jack (Matthew Lawrence) and Rachel (Maitland Ward). In the midst of season 7, Cory and Topanga break up (again), get back together, and finally get married. Shawn's relationship with Cory is strained to a breaking point. He has to face the fact that he has no family left, and his best friend is getting married. Rachel is trying to find her place in the group, and she increasingly feels like an outsider from the Cory-Shawn-Topanga clique. As Jack becomes better friends with Eric, he worries that Eric is not ready for the harsh realities of the real world. Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) also hangs around to still teach every single class.
Season 7 presented an insurmountable problem for Boy Meets World. The show's core audience loved the show because it did not change. They liked the comfort of seeing these familiar characters act in their usual ways. At the same time, it didn't make sense for Cory and Topanga to keep dating forever. Shawn would eventually have to work past his issues and create his own family or else he would be alone as soon as Cory married Topanga. Eric had to grow up at some point, and Mr. Feeny couldn't be their teacher forever. (It was already enough of a stretch for him to become their college professor.) The show had to change in order to stay anywhere near the realm of reality. Characters hook up. They start to think about their lives past school, and their decisions start to have bigger consequences. Also, they switch roommates quicker than the Friends gang which is quite a feat in itself.
Now, evolving is not a bad thing. Many times, shows have to redefine their central focus like The Office's shift from the Steve Carell Show to the will-they-won't-they love story of Jim and Pam to the ensemble comedy that it is today. Boy Meets World tried to transition from tween dramedy to a comedy more in the style of Friends, but too often, the styles of the old and new clashed. In one episode, Jack and Eric catch a gang breaking into the college's common room and lounge, and they call the cops. When the cops don't arrest the gang, Jack and Eric have to dress up in French girls, playing obvious homage to Some Like It Hot. While this storyline might have fit into the old Boy Meets World, I can't help but think that Jack and Eric are too old for this foolishness.
At the same time, there are some really fun episodes in the final season. The film noir episode is packed full of old-school film references and inside jokes about the characters, feeling more like it belongs in a show like Community. On the other end of the emotional spectrum, there is the wedding episode showdown between Cory and Shawn. The scene reminded me of those really bad fights that everyone gets into at some point with their best friends, and everything bad thought that you ever had about the other person just comes pouring out. Ben Savage and Rider Strong gave surprisingly emotional performances in this scene, and when Cory calls Shawn “trailer trash,” it feels like a punch in the gut.
Boy Meets World is at its strongest as a show when it balances goofy moments with more serious coming-of-age storylines. Unfortunately, that balance wasn't quite right in the final season, and at times, the show feels schizophrenic bouncing between the silly humor that fit better in the early seasons with “very special episodes” about divorce and abandonment issues. Despite my complaints, though, I still have a special place in my heart for Boy Meets World. In the finale's final scene, I was teary-eyed as each character said goodbye to Mr. Feeny because I felt like I was saying goodbye to them too. Boy Meets World had one last lesson to teach me which was the value of change. I learned not to be afraid to grow up and move on, even if it meant leaving people and places I loved behind. Boy Meets World is not a perfect show. It is not likely to hold the same meaning for other people as it does for me, but TV kids who grew up with the show like me will love spending time with Cory and the gang again.
SPECIAL FEATURES
I was kind of shocked that there were no special features. No cast interviews, no blooper reels, not even a look-back at the show. I was hoping that they might include a “Where Are They Now?” featurette about what the cast members have been up to since leaving the show, but no such luck.
"Boy Meets World: The Complete Seventh and Final Season" is on sale October 4, 2011 and is not rated. Comedy, Television. Directed by Jeff McCracken. Written by Jeff Menell, Matthew Nelson, Patricia Carr, Lara Olsen, Barbara Feldman, Gary H. Miller, David Brownfield, Allison M. Gibson, Erica Montolfo, Carlos Aragon. Starring Ben Savage, Danielle Fishel, Maitland Ward, Matthew Lawrence, Rider Strong, Trina Mcgee, Will Friedle, William Daniels.
