Of Life, Growing Up, and Far Too Much Television

By Matthew Patterson

I suppose it was really inevitable. On September 8th, 2000, the ABC network reran the series finale of their hit show, “Boy Meets World.” For whatever reason, I had missed the original broadcast back in May, and this was the first time I’d been able to see the farewell episode of what was once one of my favorite television shows. As it turns out, I shouldn’t have bothered.

Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’ve seen the decline of the show in years past. I’ve seen the writers sink to lower and lower depths of camp in an attempt to draw in new viewers in their intended target audience. The problem was, the original intended audience was sixth graders. This was all fine and good, but the problem with sixth graders is, they grow up. The show's original audience is now in college, just like their beloved Cory and Topanga. Problem is, the show only grew with them part of the way.

Examples? Too numerous to count. The early episodes stuck to simple, family-based comedy. It was a solid enough show, and did well enough in the ratings to where ABC didn't cancel it. (In fact, it's been the one constant in the TGIF lineup since around 1992.) As the show progressed and the characters grew up, the new situations they were thrust into gave the writers a chance to do some real dramatic, character-building stories. Cory and Topanga's relationship slowly deepened, Shawn's troubled family life was explored and angsted over, even the idiot older brother Eric appeared to be getting some development as he reached college age and tried to decide if that was what he really wanted out of life.

Most of the best, most dramatic episodes occurred during this period. My personal favorite is the one where Shawn encountered a group that called itself "The Centre," which offered love and kindness to any who would ask, greeting all with deep hugs and supposedly does not judge anyone. But as the half hour progressed, we learned that the group's founder, Mr. Mack, wasn't all that he seemed to be, and that his Centre was, in fact, no better than a cult. Because Shawn, at this point, believed that nobody in his life had truly cared about him or believed in him, he proved to be easy prey for this insidious group. The climax came when the group's beloved teacher, Jonathan Turner, was gravely injured in a motorcycle accident. At his bedside, Shawn realized that the only thing the Centre really offered was control over him and that as long as he was with them, he was powerless to act on his own. Through an emotional soliloquy that eventually included shouting at God Himself, Shawn finally figured out that he was never alone, for his friends were always with him.

How could one fail to be affected by that? Even now, several years and several dozen viewings after I originally saw it, I am still moved by the wonderful performances and excellent writing. I think at that point, the show hit its emotional high point, and has never been the same since.

To be fair, though, later episodes have had their good points. There's one that happened in the cast's senior year in high school, when Cory and Topanga have temporarily broken up because Topanga thinks that she can't trust Cory any more. They eventually reconcile, but what affected me the most was an argument the two had over the Van Gogh painting, "Starry Night." That episode actually changed the way I look at this painting.

Of course, there were still lighter moments. Once, after reading Black Like Me, Cory got the idea to write an article for the school newspaper entitled "Chick Like Me," in which he would dress up in drag and report about the difference in the treatment of women and men. (As Dave Barry likes to say, I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.) Cory can't pull it off, so Shawn "volunteers" to be the subject of the article, pulling off a good female performance and eventually even getting a date with a guy from their school. The date showcased an important issue in teenage relationships that, at the time, really hadn't been touched on in shows aimed at that particular age group. This episode proved that it was possible to be serious and have fun in the same half hour.

Later seasons threw this concept out the window. In fact, they threw it out the window, stomped on it, buried it, and built a bank vault on top of it. After the characters went to college, the show went to hell. Cory and Topanga married, but their relationship didn't change one bit. Shawn and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Angela never resolved their relationship to any satisfactory degree. Eric lost all the characterization he'd gained from his search for a meaningful future and returned to the bumbling idiot he started out as. In a desperate attempt to maintain continuity, Mr. Feeny became a professor at the college where, naturally, all the rest of the cast went. Two new characters were added, both Eric's age: Jack, Shawn's previously unmentioned half-brother, and Rachel, a young woman who literally came in off the street to Jack and Eric's apartment needing a place to stay after a fight with her boyfriend. Jack and Rachel eventually wound up together, but this was done without any real drama.

This brings us to the finale. Topanga got a job offer in New York City and she and Cory have to decide whether or not to move there. Through a series of flashbacks to earlier episodes, they recall all the events that have brought them to where they are. This was almost physically painful to me, because the clips from earlier episodes were just so much better than those from later ones. Eventually, every character is showcased in flashbacks, and it's time for them to leave. The final scene takes place in the sixth-grade classroom where it all began. Cory, Topanga, and Shawn take their old seats and tell Mr. Feeny how much he meant to them. They individually say emotion-packed goodbyes and then flee the room. In the end, Feeny says, "I love you all. Class dismissed," and the show is over.

I will admit, the last scene did hit me hard. But... what happened to the characters? Absolutely nothing! Cory and Topanga were off together, like they always were, and Shawn was with them. Eric tagged along with them in that slightly puppy-like manner the writers had perfected for him over the past few seasons. Jack and Rachel join the Peace Corps together, returning to the void of mid-series additions from whence they came. In the end, nothing has changed from the first episode of the show! Cory and Topanga and Shawn still move through life together, and Eric is with them, welcome or not. The only real change was in Mr. Feeny, because finally, the writers ran out of excuses to keep him with the rest of the cast. (I really did feel sorry for him, because in the end, he lost seemingly everything that he cared about.)

I really shouldn't have watched that final episode. It was like a parody of the show I had grown up with and learned to love. They had a chance to do so much with it. What if Cory and Topanga had moved to, say, Utah? What if Shawn couldn't have come with them, or had chosen not to? What if Eric had decided, for good, that his brother's path was not his, and sought his own destiny? What if Jack and Rachel had never existed? (Sorry, but I never really liked them.) This show had the chance to become so much more than it was when the characters hit college. But the writers missed their chance, decided to take the boring path of slapstick humor and character stagnation, and thus a good TV show died, mourned by many, haunted by the memories of what was and the glimmerings of what could have been.

(Yes, I know it's just a TV show and I really should relax. But for a long time, it was one of my favorites, and I never miss a chance to editorialize on something.)

Talkback: Post Reply | View replies (1)