Warning: Fullfrom the episode follow.

affectionate

Tonight's fifth and final "Premiere Week" episode was one to watch, as it featured the highly anticipated return of Eric Matthews! And while it was definitely good to see actor Will Friedle pop up on Girl Meets World , I have to admit that he was "summoned" under rather disappointing circumstances -- namely, a dispute between Riley and Maya over... well, aninsulting nickname. The results here offered a diverting half-hour of television, but not quite the non-stop hilarity many of us were hoping for.I think the biggest problem with "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels" was that it started off on such a sour note, for no other reason than Lucas finally shot back a clever moniker at Maya, and Riley didn't back her up. For the umpteenth time, the kids' dilemma was brought into the classroom, where Cory's four -- make that five -- golden students literally yelled at one another for minutes on end. As Farkle lamented, "Yeah, no chance," as he erased "Belgium: 1831" from the chalk board yet again.But as utterly strained as the classroom scenes were, Eric's arrival quickly steered the episode in a much happier, carefree direction, as he came fully dressed in Plays with Squirrels garb. This included several classic Eric bits, like referring to Riley as his "niche" and trading jabs with "Pangers." ("The Jeopardy guy?" "No." "Who is the Jeopardy guy?") We also learned that Eric is now the mayor of his own town (hence his "mayoral" outfit), which I thought was oddly fitting.Additionally, Eric brought with him his mediation skills to sort out Riley and Maya's feud -- or " war ," as Cory overstated it (a callback to the Boy Meets World two-parter "The War" and "Seven the Hard Way"). This inexplicably brought the conflict back to the classroom, where Cory encouraged Eric to sort out Riley and Maya's personal problems in a more public setting (for some reason). Here, we learned the true extent of the issue for Riley, Maya, Lucas, Farkle and Isaiah, while the rest of the class looked on in silence.Logic aside, this storyline did include some solid character moments, like Eric thanking Cory for believing in him. That said, the kids admitting their own insecurities was kind of an anticlimactic note to end on. When Eric mentioned that the issue went "deeper," I suspected the real cause of Maya's frustration was that she had a crush on Lucas, which would explain why she was taking his nickname for her so hard. Alas, no such depth.Also, it seemed to me like Topanga was the voice of reason here, not Eric. By showing Maya that she too was a "short stack of pancakes" -- as well as a powerful, dignified woman -- I think Topanga did more in her one-minute talk with Maya than Eric did in the whole episode. Nevertheless, it was fun getting to see Eric again, and, as expected, he made a great uncle (although I'd be curious to know more about his personal life, beyond his budding career in politics.) Let's just hope his next appearance isn't the product of another trivial spat between friends.