Maya shows Farkle that you can’t put a price on friendship.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
Girl Meets World seems to have put a lot of thought into picking its issue-based episodes, especially this season. However, the execution of tackling those issues has been kind of all over the map. Sometimes the show gets it right, striking a balance between character and commentary. Other times, it’s too heavy-handed and gets carried away with conveying a message rather than connecting it with its characters.
For the most part, “Girl Meets Money” did a good job of relating wealth inequality to its two most disparate characters (both in terms of affluence and personality): Farkle and Maya. It also presented a good opportunity to bring Lee Norris back for a guest appearance as Minkus. That said, the message did get a little lost in the end.
It is interesting how we’d never seen Farkle’s place until now, and it turns out that’s because it’s ginormous. The sheer ridiculousness of it got a little cartoony (I could have done without the train going from place to place, and Maya’s visit to the “gift shop”), but it was fun to see the gang indulge in Farkle’s many toys, as Maya showed Farkle the ropes of living under tight money constraints.
Cory’s lesson was also on-point this week (though, once again, it had absolutely nothing to do with history), and I liked how Minkus came into it, by trying to see things from Farkle’s point of view. Their father-son conversation towards the end was particularly touching. I even enjoyed Mark Cuban’s guest appearance near the end, as he heard foundation pitches from all the kids.
“Go Knicks.”
“Yeah, we’ll see how that works for you.”
That said, the conclusion here left something to be desired. It seemed a little weird to me that Minkus and Cuban decided to give Maya money to “fix somebody else’s roof,” without actually explaining what that meant. Like, a neighborhood outreach program, or literally just fix one other person’s roof? It was unclear, to say the least. I guess they maybe got Mrs. Abruzzo that new coat?
And instead of ending with the kids doing charity work or helping Minkus set up the foundation, Farkle spent even more money to make his room look exactly like Maya’s, which was basically the opposite of what this episode stood for. Ultimately, they kind of dropped the ball on this one, in terms of the message.
On a more positive note, Auggie’s B story was actually entertaining this week, if only because it featured both Cory and Topanga. In fact, some of the biggest laughs of this episode came from Cory not being able to give Auggie his allowance. (“It didn’t have to come to this!”) This subplot also had its own message, that “more money” doesn’t necessarily equate to “more value,” specifically when it comes to teachers’ salaries (e.g. Cory’s).
This week’s Girl Meets World had a good message and some solid character moments — including a fun subplot for Auggie — but it didn’t quite stick the landing. Regardless, “Girl Meets Money” was still enjoyable, thanks in part to special guests Lee Norris and Mark Cuban.
