Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: Boy Meets World

Monday, February 22, 2016

TV Show Review: Boy Meets World - Season 7

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Final laughs with these great characters

Cons: Characters acting crazy for laughs at times

The Bottom Line:

Over the top end

Still providing us laughter

As the gang moves on

“She’s Going to be Mrs. Insensitive Jerk.”

Sooner or later, all shows come to an end. Sometimes, the show has lost enough fans that no one cares. And sometimes, fans are heartbroken to hear their favorite show is ending. (And sometimes, a show gets both of those reactions.) I seem to remember not being too upset when it was announced that season 7 of Boy Meets World would be the final season, but having rewatched it now, I find that there is still much to enjoy this season.

This season finds the gang still in college, and Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his fiancée Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel) still reeling from the revelation at the end of season six that Topanga’s parents are getting a divorce. Topanga isn’t sure she believes in love, as a result. Their relationship being on pause is even affecting their best friends, Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong) and Angela Moore (Trina McGee-Davis). And while Cory and Topanga are able to get their relationship back on track, it actually takes Angela’s father to help that second couple along.

There is a wedding this season, and it happens about a third of the way through the season, leaving us plenty of time to watch Cory and Topanga settle into their new lives as a married couple. Meanwhile, the gang plays musical roommates early on before Rachel (Maitland Ward) takes a new job as an RA and Cory and Shawn’s older brothers Eric (Will Friedle) and Jack (Matthew Lawrence) take on jobs working in the student union while preparing to graduate from college.

Which just leaves us with the adults. While Mr. Feeney (William Daniels) is still in most episodes, we actually see less of Cory’s family than we used to. Alan (William Russ), Amy (Betsy Randle), and Morgan (Lindsay Ridgeway) do pop up in many episodes, although the baby brother born last season is almost completely forgotten. (No wonder I didn’t remember he existed until he popped up as a teen on Girl Meets World.)

A couple of my favorite episodes revolve around the older Matthew’s however. When Cory and Topanga arrive back from their honeymoon, they realize they have no place to live, and Alan absolutely refuses to help them. The lesson at the end of that is wonderful and still rings true today.

And that’s what I found while watching this show. Even in season 7, this show could still pack in the laughs along with some good lessons about life and what’s really important. There are several episodes that made me tear up at times. It’s a great balance.

Of course, there are the reasons I was tiring of the show by the end. Some of the characters are completely over the top. Yes, I’m looking at Eric as the worst culprit. At the same time, he can still make me laugh. Cory is also more likely to overreact than he used to be, which is saying something. In both cases, it is the way the characters were written. The cast is still doing good work, but the show was becoming a bit broad.

Plus there’s the fact that a coming of age comedy has to end as the characters get older, and with some of the characters graduating college and getting married, the time had definitely come for everyone to move on.

It was also very interesting watching this season having seen what the original creator has done with the characters on the current spin-off/follow up Girl Meets World. There is an episode that flashes forward to the future and, of course, there’s how they leave the characters. Both give fairly accurate glimpses of what they’ve done with the characters the few times they’ve appeared on the new show.

Speaking of the show ending, be prepared for tears as you watch those lost couple of episodes. It’s always hard to say goodbye to characters you love, and this is really no exception.

This season consisted of 23 episodes, including the two part season finale. All of them are preserved here in full-frame and stereo sound, their native presentation. There is nothing in the way of extras, which isn’t a surprise since there hasn’t been anything in the way of extras since season 2.

It was definitely time for Boy Meets World to end after season 7, but there are still laughs and great moments with these characters we love. If you are a fan, you’ll be happy to relive these moments over and over again.

Season 7 Episodes:

1. Show Me the Love

2. For Love and Apartments

3. Angela’s Men

4. There’s No Such Thing as a Sure Thing

5. You Light Up My Union

6. They’re Killing Us

7. It’s About Time

8. The Honeymooners

9. The Honeymoon is Over

10. Picket Fences

11. What a Drag