“Face your fears. Either you ride them, or they ride you.”
Warning: Full spoilers from the episode follow.
As part of a three-day event, “Girl Meets Texas: Part 1” kicked off Girl Meets World’s biggest arc yet, centered around Lucas’s return home to compete in a mutton busting tournament. Of course, the underlying storyline here was Riley, Maya and Lucas settling their love triangle, which is where this first installment really shined.
Honestly, though, this episode got off to a bit of a clunky start, as Riley and Maya told Lucas they’d signed him for a competition without his consent. It was also a little weird how Lucas’s Pappy Joe showed up out of nowhere to pull him and Zay out of school to promptly leave for Texas. That’s not to mention the bizarre travel interlude with voiceover telling us that Riley, Maya and Farkle were also tagging along on the trip.
The gang’s arrival at Pappy Joe’s homestead was a little better, but only just. I did like how they all immediately switched to rancher garb, with Riley and Maya spending all their vacation money on their new outfits. However, Pappy Joe’s hillbilly friend Cletus was absolutely insufferable — a “Disney Channel” stereotype if I’ve ever seen one. (Whatever happened to brilliant one-off characters like “That Farmhouse, There” guy?)
You know what this place needs? A bay window.
Past that, though, this episode was actually pretty great. With the exposition out of the way, I was delighted to see the group at an actual location outside the studio. (Clearly not Texas, but still.) I got a kick out of the fact that Lucas’s “arch rival” was a young boy named Timmy, who was set to ride the bane of Lucas’s existence, Judy the Sheep. (“You leave me alone!”) And I like how Lucas cheered Timmy up after facing defeat.
Maya’s ultimatum to Lucas was also well-placed, leading up to the latter’s confrontation with Tombstone. Not only did this show Maya’s true feelings for Lucas, but it also gave Riley a chance to give Lucas the encouragement he needed to face his fears. (“I’m going to be a veterinarian — HE DOESN’T CARE!”) Meanwhile, the bull ride itself was exciting to watch, although, considering this was a three-parter, I was half expecting for Lucas to end up in a hospital or something. But all’s well that ends well, I guess.
Riley coming to terms with her relationship with Lucas went surprisingly well, too. After getting the setup in previous episodes, I wasn’t sure how Riley would react, but it seemed like she was totally fine with Maya having feelings for Lucas. Personally, I would have liked to see a little more conflict arise there — after all, this is Riley’s first crush we’re talking about — but on the other hand that scene was a long time coming, for both Riley and fans alike.
I’ll be curious to see where things go from here, in “Girl Meets Texas: Part 2.” Obviously, Maya’s feelings for Lucas need to be resolved, but what that means for the rest of the group remains to be seen. I also have a hunch that Zay may still have his own demons to face while in his hometown.
The first part of Girl Meets World’s three-day “Texas” trilogy started off with some rough patches but got better as it went along. Suffice to say, this was a very different kind of episode, if only for the change of scenery. However, the highlight of “Girl Meets Texas: Part 1” was Riley and Maya settling their differences over Lucas. Granted, that never really hit an emotional peak — specifically with Riley — but it did pave the way for Maya to confront Lucas about her feelings for him in the next episode, coming off Lucas facing his biggest fear.
