If you are a Boy Meets World fan, I hope that you have been indulging down memory lane with Girl Meets World. What I have loved so much about this show is that since it began it has not conformed to the white noise and fast paced young comedy of the present. Rather, it has lassoed into the 90’s to bring back powerful and truthful messages to young people while still being charming and comedic.

Though it beats with a similar heart, Girl Meets World most certainly has changed up the character dynamic that catapulted its predecessor. The biggest shift I have noticed is within the present female version of Corey and Shawn where Riley, who once was our Corey (protagonist), has stepped back for Maya to be lead.

Riley Has Become A Caricature- She started as our naive main character who was taking her first steps into the big world. There was innocence and goofiness to her (much like Corey) but as we sit about halfway through season two we find that everything that comes out of her mouth focuses around being cute, unaware, or dazed. Does she need to be a brooding troubled teen at the age of fourteen? Not at all, but what is happening to Riley is what happened to Chelsea on That’s So Raven. Seriously, take a look at the character from the first season to what she was in the final season. She was a hollow shell contributing very little to what was happening. Something that is almost forgiven considering she was the standard “sidekick” of the series, but that can’t be said for what is happening here.

2. Hasn’t it been Maya All Along?- If we really look back, yes, the show starts us with Riley because we want to step back into the lives of Corey and Topanga and where they are all these years later. Since season one however, the biggest plot points have focused around Maya. Her broken relationship with her mother, her trouble to care about school, her need for her friend to keep her grounded, her forbidden crush on a much older boy, the guidance from her teacher and his family that has served in many ways as a surrogate, the finding of a man that could fulfill her wish and need for a father, and her journey towards finding hope and happiness. Though she has stood as the supporting character, the central plots have focused around her. Riley has only really had to deal with her crush on Lucas and even that is beginning to fade….

3. The Corey and Topanga That Won’t- Since the beginning we got Riley and Maya as our Corey and Shawn and we assumed that Lucas would be Riley’s Topanga. Unfortunately, that seems to no longer be the case. The thing is that the actor who plays Lucas is considerably older than the actress playing Riley. This translates on screen into a very strong lack of chemistry between the two. It’s so much so that it could be why they have pushed Riley deeper into a corner of naïveté and have gone as far as to tell the audience that her feelings for Lucas are completely misunderstood! She sees him only as a brother! Finding that truth simultaneously seemed to push the theory that there is more between Lucas and Maya than we think. Therefore, even the leading love story could be going to Maya. The two actors are closer in age and seem to interact easier with one another on screen. It’s understandable why this approach would be taken but the undesired consequence is that it leaves Riley with less of a pull.

3. Worried About What They’re Going to Do- The tricky thing about creating shows with young actors that grow up during the run is that who you cast at the beginning might not have the same strengths as they mature. This is being seen clearly with Farkle. In fact, the same thing happened to his father’s character Minkus! Once he reached a certain age he no longer fit into the mold that they were creating leading to him ultimately vanishing off the face of the earth.

I’m happy that instead of phasing him out, they chose to show this character evolve and begin his transition into a young man; a transition that Topanga was given the opportunity to go through. The concern is, as he grows up, so must the vision for the character because it can no longer stay on the attributes that defined him. I hope they get him on track and find how he can continue to mesh with the dynamic but my concern is also on Riley.

Where Farkle is becoming very much the standard side character with little idea for navigaton, Riley has shifted away from the lead to Maya’s comic relief sidekick. Yes, I believe the show still has at least a few seasons to come and as Riley and Farkle grow up, phasing them into more mature plot points can become easier but right now it is very much the Maya show.

She even sings the theme song for crying out loud…

UPDATE: Latest episode titled “Girl Meets Creativity” vividly highlights the above points.