This week, Maya gets a chance to change history.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
The Forgiveness Project was one of those rare cases where Cory’s lesson was not only pertinent, but effective — so much so that even Topanga had to admit, “Oh… That’s pretty good!” And good it was, as the class was assigned to forgive someone for something they’d done in the past — a chance to change history, as it were. And while most of the gang’s chosen incidents were inconsequential (ruined movies, ruined teddybears, etc.), they kind of had to be since Maya’s piece was so weighty: forgiving her father (played by David Thomas Jenkins) for running out on her and Katy.
Naturally, the strongest scenes here were at Topanga’s, as Kermit (who I’d totally forgotten was named Kermit) arrived in response to Maya’s letter. Katy in particular had some humorous moments here early on, and actress Cheryl Texiera always does a good job infusing comedy into the unexpected turns she so often takes with Maya. I especially got a good laugh when Katy corrected Maya, “No, no, no, Maya, that was a long time ago. We’re over it — why were we not good enough!?”
At the same time, Texiera and Sabrina Carpenter both did a good job playing against the calm, cool and collected Kermit, who wasn’t really the “monster” we’d expected. In fact, he didn’t have much of a personality at all, which was slightly disappointing. He was mostly just a sounding board for Katy and Maya, who were the real stars of this episode anyway. Maya’s story about the aurora borealis, for instance, was especially potent and proved that Katy had been much more of a mother than she was given credit for in Season 1. I also thought it was nice how, later, Cory stood behind his lesson plan, noting how forgiveness is one of humanity’s finest qualities. (Not bad, Matthews!)
Of course, the crux of “Girl Meets the Forgiveness Project” was Maya’s final talk with her father, and I was really glad it didn’t end in Maya forgiving him for what he had done. It would have been all too easy to wrap that scene up in a neat little bow, with Maya and Kermit parting ways amicably. But the truth of the matter is, that dude left his wife and daughter to start a new family. Regardless of how nice and understanding he is now, that’s something that takes time to heal — more than just a day’s encounter.
Such as it was, I thought Maya forgiving herself was a solid way to end this one — and the fact that Cory knew all along that that’s what he wanted for Maya. I nearly choked up myself watching Maya break down and give Cory a hug for giving her that peace. A great lesson indeed.
On the lighter side of things, I thought Riley’s confrontation with Auggie was sweet but a little too on-the-nose in terms of Auggie explaining his “deep-seated” reason for biting off the head of a teddybear when he was three. Same goes for Farkle realizing why he liked to ruin movies for his friends, although that one seemed a little more plausible than Auggie’s thing. Overall, the rest of the gang’s stuff was pretty standard compared to Maya’s, which was the real meat of the this episode. Meanwhile, I’m guessing at least one of Topanga’s notes to Cory had the name “Lauren” written in it.
“Girl Meets the Forgiveness Project” offered a surprisingly strong setup from Cory, who assigned the class to forgive someone for something in the past. This episode was a particularly good one for Maya, who confronted her wayward father at long last. While Kermit himself didn’t project much of a personality beyond “nice,” both Katy and Maya had plenty to work with on backstory alone. The resolution here was also emotionally impactful, particularly for Maya. Granted, the other kids’ storylines weren’t nearly as meaningful, but they were fine for what they were.
