Riley is a bubbly, sensitive, and overly naive Ditzy Genius, but her innocence makes her lovable and relatable.
Farkle is a dorky, eccentric Teen Genius like his father in the original series.
Alternate Aesop Interpretation: "Girl Meets Her Monster": Are we actually supposed to root for Riley, whose behavior is discouraged by everyone else and causes her to be (rightfully) grounded for three weeks, or are we supposed to be root for Topanga, who is shown to be clearly overwhelmed at the bakery? Or is there a third side where Riley was wrong in her behavior but Topanga was also wrong about how she handled it? Yes, Riley acted selfish and bratty, but one could argue that Topanga didn't necessarily respond as well as she should have, given that Riley's previous behavior was almost overwhelmingly good. (Or a possible fourth option where Riley and Maya had, in fact, been awake for three straight days and Riley was acting so OOC because of that, while the argument was exacerbated by Topanga's own stress and exhaustion?) There is a lot of room for interpretation in the episode itself.
A common interpretation of the ending to "Girl Meets Farkle" is that Farkle lied about not being autistic, because he knew his friends would treat him differently if his diagnosis was confirmed.
Arc Fatigue: The Riley/Lucas/Maya love triangle. By the time it finally resolves itself in Girl Meets Ski Lodge, Farkle is even lampshading how long it has been drawn out - which reflects how tired of it a fair portion of the audience has been about the whole thing. The way it resolved itself helped little.
"Girl Meets Commonism": Which has a very poorly handled Aesop about communism.
"Girl Meets Bear": While the episode is metaphoric of Riley letting go of her attachment to her childhood teddy bear, it's never explained what actually happened to the dang bear in the first place when options are really limited.
While the series is generally liked for what it is judging from the ratings, fans of the original series, both critics and public alike, can't seem to agree on whether or not Girl Meets World lives up to its predecessor.
The lesson in "Girl Meets Popular". People are very divided on whether Cory's reprimand was okay because he wanted to make Riley realize how far she'd gone in order to be popular, or Cory humiliating his daughter (with the help of her best friend) in front of the whole school for a minor reason.
The Ship Tease between Shawn and Maya's mother Katy. While the majority are excited in regards to the idea of them hooking up, others (particularly Boy Meets World fans) are not happy with this as they feel that Shawn should be with Angela. Angela is married.
The episode "Girl Meets Flaws" and whether or not it was a good look at bullying or just ham-fisted.
The episode "Girl Meets Farkle" has been extremely polarizing among fans and non-fans for its depiction of autism. While some felt seen and appreciated the subject being brought up, others found the portrayal of autism offensive, especially with Riley and Maya reacting to Farkle being tested as if he’s terminally ill and insisting he’s just "different," as if it’s shameful. The fact the episode uses a term that was already outdated at the episode’s airing note Asperger’s Syndrome doesn’t help.
While people are pretty much in agreement that the series is overall of at least decent quality, there are a number of episodes that jump out regarding arguments over quality, including "Flaws," "Girl Meets Crazy Hat," "Girl Meets Friendship," "Girl Meets Demolition," and "Girl Meets the Secret of Life." Interestingly enough most of these episodes including "Flaws" centers around the introduction of a special guest character.
The final episode of the "Girl Meets Texas" three-parter is extremely divisive from both a writing and a shipping standpoint, especially in terms of the latter. With the narrative going against the notion of Riley and Lucas having a sibling-like relationship by showing that her feelings may have a chance of being romantic after all, the shipping war between Riley/Lucas and Maya/Lucas was exacerbated even more.
Shipping in general is becoming this. Half the fanbase is getting annoyed that the show's focusing so much on romantic relationships, though a lot of this can be blamed on the ever-growing amount of Ship-to-Ship Combat.
The show itself respective to the entire network. A lot of people think it's one of the best shows on the network - other people don't like how it feels to be at the expense of all the other shows and the negative attention many of those shows have gotten since Girl Meets World's rise in popularity in comparison and feeling that the show is overrated and overhyped as a result.
And in a curious reversal, the network itself respective to the show. Most people seem perfectly ok with it being on Disney Channel, but there's a very vocal group of people who keep insisting the network itself is holding the show back from its full potential and that it needs to be booted to Freeform tout suite. Nevermind the fact that it was Disney Channel themselves who originally commissioned the show, or that Micheal Jacobs has no problem whatsoever with accommodating the network, or that the network hasn't shied away from dealing with heavy topics in the past despite the Disney reputation.
Maya Hart as a whole, with some fans thinking she's stealing the spotlight away from Riley (And at one point they start calling the show "Maya Meets World" because of this), right down to having moments with Riley's mother Topanga, while Riley gets less to none of that. Others will think of her either good or bad about her.
The ship tease between Josh Matthews (who is 17 in the first season, and as of season 3 is in college) and Maya (who starts the show in junior high, and as of season 3 is only a freshman in high school), especially the reveal that Josh has feelings for Maya. Some people think that it's disgusting and predatory on Josh's part, others think the ship is romantic and since they aren't dating now it's not a problem.
In the third season, fans now debate if it's still the same high-quality show it grew into in Season 2, if it squandered all the crowd-winning moments the show gained during Season 2, and some arguing if it was ever good to begin with.
Missy Bradford in Girl Meets Sneak Attack. Riley and co. disliked her simply because she liked Lucas (Riley's crush) and flirted him. Which... didn't make her bad person. She was only the "antagonist" of the episode simply because she liked the same boy Riley did. Missy had been bold and flirtatious, but that was about it. While they were all 12 at the time, except for Lucas who's a year older than they are, it was really immature of Riley to not want them together simply because she didn't want them to be. In fact, that had been the only reason she had given to Lucas as to why she didn't want him to be alone with Missy. While the moral of the episode had been "Don't be in a rush to grow up.", Missy telling them all to grow up at the end of the episode was pretty understandable.
The cheerleading coach in "Girl Meets Rah-Rah". The audience is supposed to see her as unfair for not allowing to Riley to join the cheerleading team when she has the amount of spirit to be one, but Riley neither has the athletic skills nor the discipline and work dedication also needed to be on the squad, which the coach has to waste time repeatedly telling Riley and Riley repeatedly doesn't listen nor takes any of the coach's advice. Then we're supposed to feel happy when two squad members fake being injured during a game so the coach reluctantly has to let Riley join the team last minute, so Riley basically gets handed a spot on the team without willing to put any effort into the work needed to be a team member.
Diagnosed by the Audience: Farkle is thought by many viewers to be on the autism spectrum, due to his social awkwardness, excitability, and how quickly he learns new things/how much he takes in. He was even tested for it in one episode, though in the end of it he says he was found not to be autistic.
Die for Our Ship: Some fans are really starting to hate Farkle for crushing on Riley and Maya. Not because they care who the girls end up with but because they think Farkle is "gross" and "doesn't deserve a girlfriend". This has faded in Season 2 thanks to Farkle toning down his behaviour towards the girls and getting some character depth.
Just wait for "Girl Meets New Year".
Riley is starting to get this from Lucas/Maya shippers who think she's "too stupid and childish and naive" for Lucas.
Katy (and to a lesser degree Maya) receives this from Shawngela fans. "Girl Meets Hurricane" has only made this worse.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Joshua Matthews became popular with fans after his appearance in "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays". Though some of his popularity squandered after he revealed an interest in Maya, who's only a high school freshman.
Fan-Disliked Explanation: Let's just say that the show's reasoning for Maya's improved grades, (arguably) dressing up nicer, and overall improved behavior was chalked up to her wanting to be like Riley (which the show portrayed as bad) and not Character Development taking place. Saying fans didn't like the explanation would be a major understatement.
Most fans wash their hands the canon Riley/Maya in favor of praying Disney will allow Riley/Maya to become canon. On Archive of Our Own, Riley/Maya actually has the most fics for any ship from the show.
Some Maya/Lucas fans ship (or were at least ok with) Riley getting together with Farkle or Zay so she’d have a boyfriend as well.
For BL fans, (or for fans who need Lucas out of the way for Riley/Maya), Lucas getting together with Farkle or Zay became popular. Heck any combination of the three boys could work as a couple (or you could ship all three of the boys together).
Lucas' sticking up for Farkle (to the point of being willing to fight for him) in "Girl Meets Flaws" is portrayed at the time as a noble thing. However, in "Girl Meets the Secret of Life", we discover that Lucas was kicked out of his old school for actually fighting for his old friend Zay.
In Season One, it was implied that Maya's dad walking out on his family was something that had happened just before the show had started. In Season 2, it's revealed that he left years ago.
Hilarious in Hindsight: The producers of Boy Meets World tried without much success to attract a Periphery Demographic of college aged viewers. Girl Meets World is launching with one built-in, courtesy of the original target audience of Boy Meets World.
Farkle is treated as closed-minded in "Girl Meets Belief" for not believing in God despite him really not doing anything beyond saying "I disagree with you" and having a right to be atheist. However, the whole point was getting him to look at life not just at a logical level, which has always been his struggle throughout the series.
Maya is treated as being wrong in "Girl Meets Texas Part 1" because she didn't believe Lucas could ride the bull, even though A. Bull riding is insanely dangerous, even for highly trained adults, much less Lucas, who has NEVER ridden a bull and B. Lucas is only doing it to gain his grandfather's approval.
One infamous episode lesson is "communism is bad, capitalism is good" in the extremely naive and stereotypical Black-and-White Morality view (essentially, communism is bad because everyone is equal, which means no one can be better than others, while capitalism is good because people get what they worked for), ignoring the greater nuances of the capitalism vs. communism spectrum including how governments can manipulate and rig both systems (for example, capitalism can be bad or can fail if the government makes it so that lower-class/impoverished people can't succeed financially no matter how hard they work).
In one episode, Farkle is getting diagnosed for Asperger's syndrome. His friends are in denial about it and try to assure him that he's "normal" by acting as if his behavior doesn't display symptoms of Asperger's as well as telling him to stop behaving that way. Turns out he’s “normal”, much to everyone's relief and happiness. While Riley and co. are meant to be in the wrong, the episode has been criticized by viewers with (and without) Asperger's for its poor portrayal of support when Riley and the others could have spent most of the episode serving as a straight example to younger viewers of being accepting of others' conditions.
Farkle, if his comments about his parents' marriage are any indication. He also admits to feeling inferior to Lucas, and one episode was all about his being bullied and feeling worthless. His obsession with world domination and bratty behavior may be a coping mechanism.
Ava can be a very bratty and disrespectful child, but when you see how her mother behaves, you can see where she gets it. It's implied her mother's behavior is why her parents are constantly fighting, so when the fighting eventually results in Ava's father walking out on the family, it's not hard to sympathize when she comes to the Matthews' home afterwards sad and heartbroken.
Some fans will only watch the episodes that feature guest appearances from the original show's cast.
Much of the audience that watches this show watches only this show on Disney Channel.
Launcher of a Thousand Ships: As noted in the other shipping-related tropes on this page, Maya has been shipped with Riley, Farkle, Lucas, Joshua, Zay, and even Cory.
OT3: Riley/Maya/Farkle and Riley/Maya/Lucas are both popular. Somewhat behind but not far behind is the OT4 of Farkle/Maya/Riley/Lucas
There are several jokes about the Cory/Shawn/Topanga OT3 in "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays". Punctuated by Topanga's exasperated "My whole life" whenever Cory talks up Shawn over her but also happily calling Shawn "Mr. Cory"
Can’t leave out Lucas/Zay/Farkle
Periphery Demographic: It's the sequel to a popular sitcom from the 90s with several of the cast members from the original series returning to their roles for the first in nearly a decade and a half, complete with the Official Couple from the original series serving as the parents this time out. It's not uncommon to find people in their mid-twenties and thirties looking forward to the show (considering that most of them were Boy Meets World viewers).
The Scrappy: Charlie Gardener. He's a Nice Guy but he seems a bit entitled to go on a date with Riley - especially since his whole shtick amounts to "if you're not dating Lucas, you should date me". It doesn't help they're not really friends, and he doesn't even want to take the time to know her first, nor that it's painfully obvious that Riley isn't interested him - something he chooses to ignore. Fortunately, he isn't really seen that much afterwards.
Ship-to-Ship Combat: There were seeds of it during the first season, but now it's gotten quite ugly. At the forefront of everything is Lucas/Riley vs Lucas/Maya and Lucas/Maya vs Josh/Maya, combined with Die for Our Ship towards Farkle in general. The episode "Girl Meets Yearbook" was most likely taking potshots at this phenomenon, but this fact seems to have gone over the fandom's head as it's only fanned the flames more.
Squick: Josh expressing romantic interest in Maya, yes the 3 year age difference at that age really does matter. The fact they're waiting to go out comes off as The Jailbait Wait.
Strawman Has a Point: In "Girl Meets Rah Rah" the cheerleading coach points out, correctly, that Riley not only lacks the requisite athleticism for the school's cheerleading team but also has not dedicated herself to the sport like the rest of the squad has. The audience is supposed to side with Riley's never-say-die attitude, but it really feels like the episode is advising kids to chase futilely after unattainable goals and expect time and attention to be taken away from those who can attain those goals.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The episode "Girl Meets Farkle" appears at first to be a nice story about Farkle being diagnosed as autistic. Instead, his friends treat the idea that he could be autistic as if he were diagnosed with a terminal illness, and act like him being autistic would be a life-shattering revelation. In the end, Farkle is not diagnosed as autistic despite being clearly coded as such, and this comes with a massive sigh of relief from all involved.
In "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels," we're supposed to feel bad Riley didn't defend Maya after Lucas insulted her. Considering all the insults she's given to Lucas, and the fact this insult was in retaliation for what she's said, it makes Maya look like she can't deal with what she dishes out.
In "Girl Meets Her Monster," Riley is supposed to be the one we root for against Topanga. It didn't work. Topanga needed Riley to help out at the bakery, but Riley wanted to watch the finale of her favorite TV show, having binge watched the previous episodes with Maya. Since the success of the bakery contributes to the income that allows Riley to enjoy whatever she wants in life, that's arguably more important than the finale of a TV show. But Riley just wanted to watch her show, and when she didn't get to, she acted out like a naive entitled child who thinks everything should go her way. The fact that she spoke to her mother as if she was her equal was disrespectful to Topanga.
WTH, Costuming Department?: One can question if the costume designer actually knows what tweens really wear in middle school. Especially when they have Riley and Maya wear outlandish outfits and heels to middle school.
The Woobie: Maya's home life is comparable to Shawn's from the original Boy Meets World, except not played for as many laughs.
Riley herself has shades of this, especially in the second season as her insecurities and I Just Want to Be Special tendencies become more apparent. "Girl Meets Cory and Topanga" and "Girl Meets Creativity" are prime examples of this, and "Girl Meets Rileytown" really drives it home.
As of "Girl Meets High School" part 1, Ava Morgenstern has shot to this status due to her parents' constant fighting taking a toll on her emotional state, and her father walking out on her and her mother near the end of the episode.
