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Riley: How long do I have to live in my father's world?
Cory: Until you make it yours.

Girl Meets World is a Sequel Series to Boy Meets World, produced by Disney and original creator Michael Jacobs, which premiered on June 27, 2014. Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel reprise their roles as Cory and Topanga, with 13-year-old Rowan Blanchard playing their daughter Riley—and the namesake girl who will, presumably, meet the world. Completing the family is August Maturo as Riley's younger brother, Auggie.

Riley is accompanied by her best friend Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter), the Love Interest Pretty Boy Lucas Friar (Peyton Meyer), as well as the quirky and nerdy Farkle (Corey Fogelmanis) who has an open crush on both Riley and Maya.

The show's second season premiered on May 11, 2015, and the third premiered on June 3, 2016. It is connected to the rest of the Disney Channel Live-Action Universe through the 2015 "Monstober" Mega-Crossover Event, specifically in the episode "Girl Meets World of Terror 2" featuring the title characters of Austin & Ally.

On January 4, 2017, it was announced that the show wouldn't be getting a fourth season and had been cancelled. The final episode aired on January 20 of that year.


The show provides examples of:

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  • 419 Scam: Auggie gets an email from a prince in Nairobi. Topanga catches on very quickly.
    • He also gets an email claiming to be from Ava who lost her wallet in London and needs a wire transfer. This is another common scam, given it requires the scammer to learn a bit of info to pull it off - someone, likely a stranger, learned a bit about Auggie. This goes a bit into dark territory for a kid's show, though it doesn't bring it up.
  • Abhorrent Admirer: Played with in that Riley is so openly infatuated and obsessed with Lucas to the point of drawing him multiple times, smelling him and clinching his shoe after her dad Cory takes it from him, but Lucas clearly returns Riley’s affections.
    • Played for Laughs with Farkle. He is their oldest friend besides each other, and constantly declares his intent to marry one or the other (and fake marries both of them by mid season 2) to which they brush off. But they all three know it's just a game that's all make believe, and platonically love each other as dear friends.
    • Subverted with Smackle to Farkle. They're Archenemies and he dislikes her as a true nemesis until their Relationship Upgrade.
    • Maya towards Josh. Justified because he's a college student and she's still in middle school.
  • Accidental Misnaming: Eric calls Maya a number of names including Moesha, Margie, Malala, and Mordecai. He also called Topanga a number of names like Tomato.
    • The latter is probably Eric's Obfuscating Stupidity, since he never got Topanga's name wrong in Boy Meets World.
    • The former is Eric's Obfuscating Stupidity as well, as it's revealed in "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes to Washington" that, to Maya's surprise, Eric knows exactly what her name is and was only acting like he didn't. Like in many instances, it seems Eric's "stupidity" is often him just entertaining himself.
  • Adults Are Useless: Subverted. Cory has his own moments of stupidity but he and Topanga are capable of handling most any problems Riley faces in a calm, understanding fashion. That includes knowing when to let the kids fight their own battles. Amusingly, they sometimes give one of the group a time limit to figure things out before they handle things, aware that having parents fix the problem isn't always the best solution.
  • Aerith and Bob:
  • An Aesop: Every episode has one. Typically, a lesson is taught in class, then the lesson serves as a metaphor for the main theme of the plot.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Just one episode after being reminded of the importance of listening in class, Maya carries on a conversation with Riley during Cory's lesson, just the same as she always does. (Though Riley did start the conversation, Maya showed no problem continuing it.)
  • All-Natural Snake Oil: In "Girl Meets Crazy Hat", Farkle is able to get away with saying his muffins are made out of all organic ingredients because they are made entirely out of sugar.
  • Almighty Mom: Topanga - firmly welded in by Rule of Funny.
  • Almost Kiss: Lucas and Maya in "Girl Meets Texas". This is what kickstarts the Lucas/Maya/Riley Love Triangle.
  • Alpha Bitch: "Girl Meets Sneak Attack" has Missy, who really goes out of her way to antagonize Riley over Lucas. Granted, any girl has a right to chase after any boy, but Missy earns her cred by openly flirting with Lucas right in front of Riley and Cory - and later, seeking Riley out to rub her nose in it right in front of Maya. What really caps off Missy's ascendance to Alpha Bitch status is Maya's response after her Naughty Gloating:
    Maya: "I loathe you."
  • Always in Class One: Each year (7th, 8th, and 9th grade), the main four characters are always together in Riley’s dad’s history class, where each lesson connects to their real lives (though Corey does this on purpose). The class also seems to be the location of many of the character’s antics (including the running gag of “Farkle Time”).
    • This trope was briefly subverted in the season 2 premiere, Girl Meets Gravity, where Riley and Maya choose to transfer out of Corey’s class into a different history class. However, this class has a strict teacher who tells them to sit nearer to the back, where they are no longer the center of attention (they notice that the cameras no longer center on them). They instead find unusual, parallel versions of themselves, Lucas, and Farkle, to be the focus of this new class; it is even revealed that this new teacher is Parallel Riley’s mom. Later in this episode, however, Riley and Maya eventually return to Corey’s history class, thus returning to the original Always in Class One trope of the series.
  • Always Someone Better: Riley gets this in "Girl Meets Maya's Mother", big time. Maya is a better artist, Lucas is fluent in French, Farkle is smarter and has a billionaire for a father, and Auggie is a seeming Child Prodigy who also speaks (and sings!) in French and Italian. It doesn't help that Cory is a pretty good amateur magician and Topanga is a world-class attorney 'whose hips don't lie!' Even the mashed potatoes are better than her at what they do!
    • Smackle defeats Farkle at every debate tournament they have. Unusual for this trope, it doesn't seem to bother him. In fact, he doesn't want to win unless his opponent is at their best.
  • Amicable Exes: Upon their reunion Shawn and Angela have nothing but admiration for each other. Angela asks Shawn if she should have children. Shawn replies that the world needs more of her.
  • Amoral Attorney: The B plot for "Girl Meets Popular" involves Topanga struggling with the question of which side of this line she's going to be on, when the law firm she works for is trying to force the local neighborhod Ukranian bakery out so a soulless froyo franchise can move in.
  • Anchored Ship:
    • Shawn and Katy, they're getting married. Warning: Ending scene of Season 3 Episode 6 will give you the feels.
    • As of "Girl Meets Ski Lodge," Josh and Maya. "Someday..."
  • And Starring: Danielle Fishel receives a "With" credit. Whilst Ben Savage doesn't receive an And Starring of his own, he instead takes second billing in the credits, much like William Daniels did as Mr. Feeny throughout Boy Meets World.
  • Angry Collar Grab: Done by Maya a number of times to Farkle and Lucas, and twice to Riley in "Girl Meets Word of Terror 3".
    Riley: HELLO!
  • Arc Words:
    • "People change people" - the ultimate moral or "lesson" of Girl Meets World. Introduced in "Girl Meets the Secret of Life" (where it is revealed as the eponymous secret) and reused in "Girl Meets I Am Farkle".
    • "Dream. Try. Do good." - the last lecture of Feeny in Boy Meets World. This sums up the first three seasons very well.
    • "Be ready for better things to come." - Especially done with the old cast, who have let their past pains define them and prevent them from being happy in the present.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: From "Girl Meets Popular":
    Riley: (dressed up in a way-overdone geek girl outfit): I'm extremely popular with five people.
    Topanga: Is one of them you?
    • From "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays":
    Riley: Is it okay if I say something scary?
    Riley: Every time you see me, does it remind you of what you don't have?
    Shawn: (cracking voice) Check!
    • Cory invited the class to think of someone who had wronged you and find some way to forgive them. He didn't intend for the exercise to involve Maya reaching out to her deadbeat dad, and the group tries to offer a buffer so she can actually ask him those hard questions, the reasons why he left.
      Maya: I'm sorry, I failed. I know you wanted me to forgive him, but I didn't, couldn't do it. You were wrong about this one Mr. Matthews.
      Cory: I never expected that, Maya. That kind of forgiveness...it doesn't come so easy. But life is a long time, and I hope you get there someday. But that's never what I was looking for right now.
      Maya: What did you want from me?
      [she breaks down crying and they hug]
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking
    Zay: Awh, they came to cook us up in these little beakers and eat us and talk about us. [beat] And I do not like to be talked about.
  • Artistic License – Law: Just because a loophole exists in the bakery's rental contract that would allow the rent to be raised (see "Friends" Rent Control below), that doesn't give the invading frozen yogurt chain the authority to do so (unless they are the owners of the building, but they would probably already have a store there if that were the case.) Now, that doesn't stop them from making an offer on the place, but it does mean that coming from anyone other than the building owner, the threat of raising the rent is empty.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Shown between Maya and Lucas in "Girl Meets Creativity". When the kids find out that art classes are being cut, Maya is most upset about it, leading Lucas to proclaim in front of the whole class that he wanted Maya to be happy and that she was a great artist.
  • Bad Mood Retreat: Riley and Maya always retreat to Riley's bay window to sort out their emotional baggage with each other. Because it lets them open up about their emotions, the two consider it almost magical.
  • Bag of Holding: Maya's tiny middle school locker can apparently hold all her books, a guitar, and a cotton candy machine... somehow.
    • Don't forget that Riley can fit comfortably inside her own locker, as well.
  • Bait-and-Switch: The episode Girl Meets Farkle was one that dealt with Asperger Syndrome and autism, and as the episode progressed, it would look as if it would be about Farkle having to deal with Asperger Syndrome. The switch comes when it's revealed that Smackle is the one with Asperger Syndrome.
  • Batty Lip Burbling: In "Girl Meets Secret Santa", Ava eats too many Christmas cookies and gets a sugar rush. She runs around the room as Riley and Maya talk, and just as it's claimed that Christmas makes people crazy, Ava stops in front of them, motorboats her lips, and then runs away.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Lucas and Maya. Maya would frequently tease Lucas, even though she encouraged Riley to chase after him. Then, in Season 2, they start to grow a bit closer. Downplayed due to Girl Meets World being a children's show.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Pointing out Topanga's Lethal Chef status is a very stupid thing to do, as Cory learned when she exiled him from the house.
    • Parental Abandonment is one for Shawn Hunter - when he finds out about Maya's home situation in "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays", his response is a simple "I'd never let a kid grow up like that" tinged with both disgust & Tranquil Fury.
    • Humorously done with Dewey; anyone who refuses to call him "Doy" causes him to flip out.
  • Beta Couple:
    • Darby and Yogi in "Girl Meets The New World", also doubling as Tiny Guy, Huge Girl.
    • Farkle and Smackle count as well. Lampshaded by Zay in "Girl Meets Ski Lodge" part 2.
  • Better as Friends: Riley and Lucas ultimately decide this about their relationship in "Girl Meets the New World".
  • Betty and Veronica: After being given a copy of Archie Comics, Auggie starts talking about this trope with Riley and Maya without explicitly naming the characters (though he did mention their hair color and character dynamic). This show has a few sets, actually:
    • Riley's Betty and Maya's Veronica to...
      • ... Lucas's Archie, and...
      • ... Farkle's Archie too
    • Farkle's Betty and Lucas's Veronica to Riley's Archie
    • Riley's Betty, Maya's Veronica and Isadora Smackle's Cheryl Blossom to Farkle's Archie, in later episodes.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Lucas is probably the most level headed kid on the show, but it's revealed he was expelled from his school in Texas for fighting. His Berserk Button is someone harassing a friend, and that's when he becomes surprisingly cold and scary, and his natural strength becomes more evident.
  • Be Yourself: A recurring lesson throughout the series.
  • The B Grade: Topanga's tendency of being this came back full force when she met Turner again, and despite Cory setting up a speed bump she went ahead and asked Turner to change her grade despite all the years past.
    • It wasn't even a B. It was an A- she was upset about.
    • And Riley's got this too.
  • Big "NO!":
    • How Cory reacts in "Girl Meets Boy", when Riley and Lucas end up as partners on their assignment.
    • This is how Riley and Maya react in "Girl Meets Maya's Mother", when Farkle begins to take off his bathrobe during art class (where he's modeling for the students).
    • In "Girl Meets First Date", this refers to Farkle as Cory erases something educational on the board. (The scream eventually fades out.)
  • Black Comedy:
    • When Cory makes fun of Shawn's deadbeat mom without knowing Shawn is in the room.
    • Farkle's mom apparently throws her $78,000 wedding ring back at Minkus every week.
    • Eric's explanation for how he got elected as a mayor.
    • Every week, a different student in Cory's class is responsible for looking after Chelsea the class fish. Turns out that every one them accidentally killed her so brought another fish to hide their shame.
  • Bland-Name Product: A local clothing store "Demolition" is a stand in for a number of trendy clothing stores like Hot Topic, Pacsun or Buckle.
  • Book Ends: In "Girl Meets The Truth", how Riley and Maya 'always end up in situations like this'.
    • Lampshaded in "Girl Meets First Date", when Maya makes Riley fall on Lucas's lap, Riley tells her to do it again. (Not the exact words.) This goes back to the first episode, when Maya did it the first time.
  • Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Cory goes into fits anytime Riley so much as looks at Lucas. Thankfully he avoids a Double Standard by freaking out over Auggie and Ava's "wedding" and not being able to stop it.
    • Topanga is a Distaff Counterpart when it comes to Auggie and Ava. Luckily, she likes Ava and Cory likes Lucas enough to prevent this trope from being a huge problem.
  • Brainy Brunette: Both Topanga and Riley fit this trope. Farkle and his father, Stuart Minkus (of today, BMW Minkus was more of a blond), are male versions of this trope, as well.
  • Break His Heart to Save Him: The essence of Katy Hart's parenting, as she wants Maya to be a better person than she and is trying to push her away so that she'll better herself through her art, rather than stay around Katy and end up at the same social level.
  • Brick Joke: Riley tells Evelyn Rand (in "Girl Meets Crazy Hat") that she puts holes in the garbage bag she wears so that she won't be tossed into the trash (and Maya mentions that its happened once already). A couple of minutes later, as the kids are about to leave, a sanitation worker walks by the bench they're sitting on and tosses Riley into his garbage bin without a second glance.
    • One that originated way back in BMW days- Eric still confuses the words 'niche' and 'niece'.
  • Broken Aesop: The series finale breaks the aesop from the BMW finale, that you need to take on new challenges in life in order to grow as a person, by having Topanga reject a transfer to UK so Riley can stay close to Maya.
  • Broken Bird: Shawn has remained this, his first episode revealing that while he still adores Cory, Topanga and their kids he's let the abandonment complex get to him. He hates the way he grew up and is still hurting after Angela left him. He starts connecting with Maya, noticing he has a chance to mitigate her issues as a Parental Substitute before she turns out like him.
  • Brutal Honesty:
    • The subject of "Girl Meets The Truth" is whether or not it's good to tell the truth even when it may hurt the person you tell it to.
    • Katy Hart's admission to Riley as to how she's not going to shade Maya from the truth about who she (Katy) is as a person, because she loves her too much to lie and get her hopes up.
  • The Bus Came Back:
    • Harley, the leader of the bullies from season 2 of Boy Meets World, whose last appearance was an extremely brief cameo in its third season, returns in this series as the janitor who has made amends with Cory for tormenting him in the 7th grade.
    • Stuart Minkus, who seemingly disappeared after BMW's first season (outside of a cameo at the end of the fifth), is Farkle's father.
    • Jonathan Turner, the cool younger teacher who took Shawn in & was last seen in a full body cast following a motorcycle accident in BMW's fourth season, shows up in the second season as the Superintendent of Schools for the district Cory works in.
  • Butt-Monkey: This happens to be the tendency of Yogi, a Recurring Extra. There's almost always a random scene where something comical is about to happen to him. Considering that he's also had a steady, and very voluptuous, girlfriend since middle school, he's got it pretty good everything being taken together.
  • Call-Back:
    • The school Cory and co. attended was John Adams High. Now Riley and co. attend John Quincy Adams Middle.
    • "Girl Meets Popular" gives us this exchange that serves as a Call-Back to Mr. Feeny's speech from the finale of Boy Meets World:
      Cory: Topanga succeeds at anything she puts her mind to. And, I'm here with our checkbook.
      Ms. Svorski: (To Cory) What you do for a living?
      Cory: I'm a middle school teacher.
      (Ms. Svorski laughs)
      Topanga: He's always been my partner and we've always done well together. But now, it's time to do good.
    • "Girl Meets Maya's Mother" shows that Cory still takes his mashed potatoes far too seriously, as seen in "Fishing For Virna".
    • "Girl Meets The Forgotten" shows that Lunchlady Geralyn & Janitor Harley know the kids who attend the school & consider them to be "their" kids, just as Lunchlady Brenda was shown to in "Fishing For Virna".
    • The awards given to Maya and Farkle in "Girl Meets Flaws" were named the "Griff Hawkins Totally Cool Award" and the "Joseph T.R. Epstein (Joey the Rat) Confidence Award."
    • "Girl Meets the Truth" revolves around Maya holding onto a locket that doesn't belong to her. Her mother is working overtime to buy Maya a locket of her own in "Girl Meets Master Plan."
    • In "Girl Meets First Date", Maya drops Riley onto Lucas's lap on the subway, which was a call back to the first episode.
    • In "Girl Meets The Secret Of Life", Cory uses the same math problem about how long it would take two people to wash a car together that Mr. Feeny used in Boy Meets World season one episode "Once In Love With Amy", and Farkle (like his dad) gets it wrong. However, unlike in that episode, we learn what the actual answer is through Cory (3 minutes, 25.7 seconds).
    • In "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes to Washington", Farkle reveals he's still looking for his birth certificate after realizing he's never seen it in "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays".
      • Finally resolved in "Girl Meets I Am Farkle" where his mother shows everyone his birth certificate. Verdict: Real Boy.
    • In "Girl Meets New Teacher" Turner came back as superintendent, mentioning his being teacher to Cory and Topanga, taking care of Shawn, and wondering the origin of Farkle as Stuart Minkus's son.
    • In "Girl Meets the Tell-Tale Tot," the day Riley has to cover for Maya by pretending they're having a sleepover, when in reality they're sneaking off to go to a college party, Cory reads "The Tell-Tale Heart," which only serves to aggravate Riley's guilt. In the BMW episode "The Fugitive," Mr. Feeny reads the same story the day after Cory hides Shawn in his room and lies on his behalf.
    • In "Girl Meets Ski Lodge", they visit Mount Sun Ski Lodge, the one place Cory did not want to return to because it's where he and Topanga broke up.
    • In "Girl Meets Bear", Augie finds a necklace with "silver mittens" on them. Cory mentioned that they are silver boxing gloves, given to him by his dad who won it in a boxing tournament when he was in the navy. He mentions the events of "Kid Gloves" where the first thing he did was lose them.
    • In "Girl Meets She Don't Like Me," the class, especially Farkle, is freaked out when they are told to turn to page 73 in their health textbook, a reference to "Girl Meets the New World" when Riley, wanting to keep the day moving, accidentally reads from her health textbook. This, in turn, causes Farkle to spout "word of advice, page 73. I don't understand, it looks impossible."
  • Call-Forward: "Girl Meets 1961" reveals that Riley, Maya, Lucas & Farkle all had a great-grandparent living in New York in 1961, and that they all met on December 14, 1961. Whilst they didn't stay connected, Maya's great-grandmother May Clutterbucket is revealed to be the explanation for the name of Riley's mother, Topanga; and Riley's great-grandmother Rosie McGee had a similar "Chick. Down here I'm a chick" exchange with Farkle's great-grandfather Ginsburg to one Riley had in the pilot.
  • The Cameo: In the pilot, posters of Mr. Feeny are seen in the New York subway. At the end of the episode Cory imagines him next to one saying "Well done, Mr. Matthews".
    • "Girl Meets Brother" features an inexplicable one by Herbie Hancock.
    • Chet Hunter (Blake Clark) shows up in one scene as a Spirit Advisor for Shawn, like what happened in the original show after he died.
  • Cannot Spit It Out:
    • This trope drives "Girl Meets Boy", in that Riley can't really talk to Lucas (they text constantly) and has to learn how to actually work past the barrier of her own insecurity in order to have an actual conversation.
    • A very different version occurs later in the series, when we find out that that Maya's also fallen for Lucas and now no one can spit what anyone thinks.
  • Catchphrase:
    • "How ya' doin'?" by pretty much everyone.
    • "Yeah, okay." Again, by pretty much everyone.
    • Farkle's is "Ladies" or some variation thereof. Particularly whenever he appears in front of Maya and Riley through the latter's bedroom window.
  • Character Death: Farewell, Mrs. Svorski.
  • Character Development: Shawn Hunter, who used to believe that reality was just like TV in the middle seasons of Boy Meets World, dismisses the idea of moving into the apartment above Cory & Topanga's since they live in reality & not a sitcom where he's Cory's wacky neighbour.
  • Chekhov's Classroom: Almost every episode a teacher, usually Cory, offers instruction that is handily connected to the dilemma. This is typically without regard to what subject they are actually studying. By the second season it is lampshaded constantly, as the science teacher ended up teaching them a lesson rooted in social studies.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: The Generation Xerox vibe is in full force for Cory, who can see this already in a possible future for Riley and Lucas. What really sells this is how he laughs off Farkle's crush on Riley, but (in "Girl Meets Boy") he gets visibly flustered when Lucas gets paired with Riley on an assignment, and he alludes to his own story with Topanga as he talks to Maya about watching over her.
  • Cloud Cuckooland: St. Upidtown, of which Eric is mayor, and which seems to rival St. Olaf in eccentricities.
  • Coming of Age Story: The pilot makes several allusions to Boy Meets World being one, and seems to set up "Girl Meets World" to do the same thing.
    Riley: How long do I have to live in my father's world?
    Cory: Until you make it yours.
  • Complexity Addiction: As Shawn points out, Cory didn't need to text him to get him to go meet in Manhattan so they could drive back into Philadelphia in "Girl Meets Pluto" because Shawn was already in Philadelphia.
  • Composite Character: Cory combines the roles of his father, Mr Feeny & Mr Turner from the original series (father, mentor to the kids, and young teacher still learning his craft) with his own Character Development from Boy Meets World.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • The show's set in New York rather than Philadelphia like the original, as the original show ended with Cory & Topanga moving there.
    • Topanga is now a lawyer, having graduated from NYU Law School after her getting a scholarship there was the impetus for the move to New York.
    • In "Girl Meets Boy", Cory tells Maya to keep on eye on Riley and Lucas. When Maya tells him they're just friends, Cory tells her "Yeah I know that story. I lived that story."
    • In "Girl Meets the Forgotten", Harley Keiner (now the janitor at John Quincy Adams) refers to Cory as "Baboon" at the end of the episode.
    • In "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays", it's revealed that Shawn Hunter travels the country & writes for a living (See Discontinuity Nod below), and that he takes the accompanying pictures for his articles - Shawn displayed a knack for photography in season 5 of Boy Meets World.
    • In "Girl Meets Master Plan", Shawn, Cory, and Topanga tell Riley and Maya about Angela, Shawn's girlfriend from BMW, including how Shawn fell in love with her by going through her purse and that she was the one who ended things.
    • In "Girl Meets Pluto", all the items removed from the original time capsule have special significance from BMW. Cory put in the jean jacket from the first time he said "I love you," to Topanga, Topanga put in the letter from Lauren that almost ended their relationship forever, and Shawn put in all the stuff he found in Angela's purse when he realized he felt different about her than other girls he'd dated.
    • Since the Feeny's Lawn scene in "Girl Meets Pluto" a transition in the style of later seasons of the parent show (if not come directly from the parent show soundboard) is used very liberally throughout the episodes.
  • Continuity Porn:
    • Save for the two Shawn Hunter-focused episodes, Season 1 mostly limited the Boy Meets World references to a few Continuity Nods and a few cameos. Season 2, on the other hand, falls under this trope. It features a revolving door of guest stars from the original series, several of them specifically included to tie up loose ends plotwise, and blatant references to several of the original's most famous lines/gags. Even viewers who are familiar with the original series might have had trouble remembering who Tommy or Jennifer Bassett were.
    • The show also made a sport out of bringing back several characters from the original series who infamously underwent the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Minkus, Mr. Turner, Harley, and the aforementioned Tommy and Jennifer. Even Cory's little sister returned for the series finale; both of them.
  • Continuity Snarl: In "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays," Josh is receptive to Maya's crush on him and even states his own attraction to her. In the very next episode, "Girl Meets Game Night," Josh is clearly not receptive to the idea and tries to let her down gently.
  • Cool Teacher: Cory is well liked but seen as more of a dorky teacher instead of a cool one. But a new English teacher Harper Burgess is the Expy to Mr. Turner of the original series, motorcycle riding, leather jacket wearing and hip with the times. The first book she offers the kids to read is Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, mirroring Mr. Turner's own way of teaching the kids with X-Men stories. It's no surprise her introductory episode came with The Reveal that Mr. Turner is the School District Superintendent and was the one to hire Cory.
  • Cool Uncle: Josh Matthews, Cory's younger brother. It probably helps that he's only a few years older than his niece.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Farkle in "Girl Meets Crazy Hat", but played (somewhat) under Rule of Funny.
  • Crazy-Prepared: In "Girl Meets Rileytown", the kids have to take Lucas out of the room before talking to Riley about her being bullied, and then restrain him. Why? Because they know (and remember) that if one of them gets bullied, Lucas will unleash his "Texas Fury" on said bully. As Zay points out, it will never work.
  • Credit Card Plot: "Girl Meets Demolition": Topanga gives Riley her credit card for emergency use, and a saleswoman coerces them into using it on vintage clothes.
  • Crossover: Austin & Ally guest star in "Girl Meets World: Of Terror 2" as part of Disney Channel's Monstober Spooktacular. Riley and Lucas would later make an appearance on Best Friends Whenever.
  • Cruel to Be Kind: Lucas initially refused to join Farkle's muffin business where they sold muffins made of pure sugar, but then agreed when Maya reminded him he owed his mom $100 for the money she paid to make his (Lucas's) organic muffins.
  • Dean Bitterman: Principal Yancy. He doesn't think much of the students claiming "kids come and go". Mr. Turner lets him go because of it.
  • Darker and Edgier: Compared to the other tween coms on the channel, yes.
  • Declaration of Protection: If Riley is Maya's Morality Chain, then Maya is Riley's guardian. Messing with Riley means that you will have to answer to Maya. Best demonstrated in "Girl Meets Popular", when Maya is worried about what happened to Riley at Farkle's party:
    Maya: (in barely contained Tranquil Fury) What'd you do with my girl?
  • Delayed Diagnosis: Subverted in "Girl Meets Farkle". Farkle learns about Autism and believes that he might have it due to his quirks matching up with some of its symptoms. He gets tested for it, but it's revealed that he doesn't have it after all.
  • Delayed Reaction: In "Girl Meets Flaws", Cory finds Riley, Maya, and Lucas at Riley's window and kindly encourages them to come to an adult if they can't get to the bottom of Farkle's bully troubles within a day. Several minutes later, he returns in a rage, having evidently just realized that Lucas is in Riley's room.
  • Disappeared Dad:
    • In "Girl Meets Father", Maya says that her father has a new family. "Girl Meets The Truth" shows that this has affected her deeply (to the point where she comes over and cries to Riley because her dad doesn't send her things). "Girl Meets Maya's Mother" also shows how this has sharply affected the relationship between Maya and her mother. And it all comes to a head in "Girl Meets the Forgiveness Project," when we see him for the first time after Maya writes him asking why he left.
    • Played with in regards to Farkle. Minkus and Farkle visibly care deeply for each other. But due to Minkus's dedication to running his multi-million dollar company, they hardly spend any time together. It doesn't help that they live in a skyscraper that Farkle claims he hasn't explored completely yet.
  • Discontinuity Nod: Several to Boy Meets World episode "Seven The Hard Way".
    • In "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays", it's revealed that Shawn Hunter is still a bachelor and now travels the country & writes for a living - the same path his life took in the Bad Future.
    • In "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels", Eric Matthews first appears dressed in a way similar to "Plays With Squirrels" due to him being mayor of St. Upidtown.
    • In "Girl Meets Semi-Formal", Jack Hunter is revealed to have taken a high paying job at a soulless corporation & has lost contact with his friends. The difference being that here, Jack shows regret over drifting away from his friends as opposed to willingly doing so in the Bad Future.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Someone doesn't like her daughter at school, what was Topanga's reaction? She has the kid's family arrested for tax fraud. While Cory may have somewhat mellowed with age, it seems Topanga has only gotten more extreme.
  • Distaff Counterpart: Smackle to Farkle, even if she one-ups him every time.
  • "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: "Take on the World", performed by Sabrina Carpenter (Maya) and Rowan Blanchard (Riley).
  • Drop-In Character: It's not his main role, but Farkle fulfills this when he scales the fire escape to Riley's room, opens the window, and announces his presence with "Ladies..."
  • Egg Sitting: Played With in "Girl Meets Brother." Before Cory and Topanga leave Riley to babysit Auggie, they give her an egg. Riley assumes it's going to play out the typical way with her having to take care of it to prove she's responsible. Instead, Cory has Riley give the egg a name, face, and personality so Riley will become emotionally attached to it. Once she does, Topanga smashes the egg, to Riley's horror. Cory then tells her that if she's that upset over the egg, she should have an idea of how upset Cory and Topanga will be if something happens to Auggie on her watch.
  • Embarrassing First Name: It's revealed that Maya's absent father's name was Kermit. Riley starts ribbing her about it and all Maya had to say was "Topanga."
  • Embarrassing Last Name: Maya's ancestors' name was Clutterbucket. Lucas, whom Maya constantly mocks for his Texas heritage, is very pleased by this.
  • Embarrassing Relative Teacher: Cory is both Riley's history teacher and father. He goes out of his way to be a Boyfriend-Blocking Dad and ward off the budding romantic relationship between Riley and her crush, among other things Riley finds embarrassing.
  • End-of-Series Awareness: The final episode is appropriately titled "Girl Meets Goodbye".
  • Enter Stage Window: Farkle usually enters Riley's room this way early on in the series, and so do the rest of the main teen cast (aside from Riley herself) as the series goes on. This gets lampshaded in "Girl Meets Rileytown" and "Girl Meets Rah Rah" by Zay, who comments on how casually they break into Riley's apartment this way.
    Zay:note  So what? You guys just come through the window and that's okay? I don't like it. Impolite. Oh, and I took some cereal. You're out of milk... now.
  • Epic Fail: Riley rehearses the morning announcements so she doesn't mess up, but as soon as the camera is on she delivers the announcements in almost-unintelligible gibberish. It's so bad that Maya (who is sitting next to her) cracks up hard every time. Truth in Television as Word of God says that was really Sabrina Carpenter losing it on every take.
  • Establishing Character Moment:
    • Maya has a classic ECM in the cafeteria, when Cory shows up to play Papa Wolf after he sees Lucas take a seat next to the girls.
    Riley: Dad, you have a choice here. You can either understand that this is just a boy talking to me in the cafeteria-
    Cory: I'm going to do whatever you say next.
    Riley: This is so innocent-
    Cory: Honey - fathers don't see anything as innocent! We see it as - what's the opposite of 'innocent'?
    Maya: (waves her hand) Right here!
    (Cory grimaces as he waves back)
    • A sadder ECM for Maya occurs when Maya tearfully admits to Cory she doesn't have anyone to help her with homework.
    • This also foreshadows Katy Hart's's ECM (during the events of "Girl Meets Maya's Mother"), when she tells Riley that she wants more for Maya than to be just the daughter of a waitress, because people (in her view) usually stay at the same level as their parents.
    • Cory gets his ECM for the series as soon as he appears: Riley and Maya try to sneak out through the window - and Cory, knowing that they'd try it, is waiting to corral them right back inside. The ECM comes not from corralling them back inside, but from Cory's wanting Riley to go ahead and take her first steps into the world with his blessing, instead of trying to sneak out before she's ready.
    • Topanga's ECM for the series (which establishes her as an Almighty Mom) comes in "Girl Meets Sneak Attack", when Maya and Farkle arrive for school:
    Topanga: (sets a bowl on the table) "Maya - oatmeal."
    Maya: "No, thanks, Mrs. Matthews."
    Topanga: "Oh - I wasn't asking."
    Maya: "Yeow."
    (Maya heads for the table and sits down)
    • Missy's ECM is in her conversation with Riley and Maya at Riley's locker, where she deliberately tries to hurt Riley by waving a potential relationship with Lucas in her face - and shows off her fearlessness of Maya by doing it right in front of her.
    • Lucas's ECM seems to be the way he blows off Missy in "Girl Meets Sneak Attack". He's a gentleman towards Missy, but doesn't put up with her bad attitude, doesn't want to grow up too fast... and more than anything else, is aware of Riley's feelings. No wonder you can see Maya warm to him in that scene.
  • Even Nerds Have Standards: Farkle, the class nerd, reacts with disdain when Riley brings up that she thought that he would end up with Back-of-the-Class Brenda, a girl with an antiquated sense of fashion. (Brenda is played by Corey Fogelmanis himself in a ridiculous "drag" getup.)
  • Exact Words:
    • Knowing Maya's feelings about not having a father and wanting the locket because of the photo of a family (mother, father and daughter) inside, her words to the little girl she returns the locket to reach Tear Jerker levels:
    Maya: "Never lose this."
    • Maya promises to stop calling Lucas "Ranger Rick" for a week. She immediately starts calling him "Ranger Roy":
    Lucas: Let me guess... "Ranger Roy" is filling in for "Ranger Rick"?
    Maya: All week.
  • Everything is Big in Texas: While Lucas and Zay are not examples, Girl Meets Texas seems to have the group in a Texas where all people wear cowboy hats, boots, and speak in Texan accented drawl, with at least one character speaking nothing but gibberish.
  • Expy: The school's mean, hard-driving cheerleading coach comes off a lot like Sue Sylvester.
  • Fake Guest Star: Corey Fogelmanis as Farkle, for the first few episodes. He was then given an "Also Starring" credit after the opening titles. He wound up appearing in every episode of Season 1 except for "Girl Meets Demolition", which was produced as part of season 1 but aired "in between" seasons as part of a special event night[[/note]], which is more than "actual" main cast members Peyton Meyer and August Maturo can say. Both missed a handful of episodes each. Fogelmanis was promoted to the opening credits in Season 2.
  • Fiction 500: Stuart Minkus (through his company, Minkus International) fits the trope, as does the law firm that Topanga works for. Also billionaire Evelyn Rand.
  • Finishing Each Other's Sentences: In "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays", Cory and Shawn are debating Riley and Maya about which is the closer pair of friends:
    Shawn: Cory and I finish each other's...
    Cory: ...sentences!
    Maya: Yeah? That all you do? Because Maya...
    Riley: ...and I...
    Maya: ...can read...
    Riley: ...each other's...
    Maya: ...minds!
  • First Kiss: In "Girl Meets The Truth", Riley gets hers from Farkle. She was not very happy about it. But don't worry, she gets one from Lucas in the Season 1 finale.
  • Flanderization: Eric is nearly insane in this series, while mostly harmless he has only a few moments of normality. Eric in the original show was also Flanderized from a girl crazy ditz into someone more goofy, and the famous "Plays with Squirrels" was largely a parody of what he had become near the end. This series takes "Mr. Squirrels" and makes him the dominant Eric personality.
  • Flashback Cut: Used occasionally, always featuring clips from the mothership:
    • In "Girl Meets Popular", we flash back to "Cory's Alternative Friends" to help Topanga get back in touch with her "weird" inner self. Notably,Rider Strong appears as Shawn in the flashback (making it his first appearance in the new series) but has no dialogue and is uncredited.
    • In "Girl Meets Brother", we flash back to the First Kiss from "Cory's Alternative Friends" and the wedding proposal from "Graduation" as Cory and Topanga reflect on their past on their fifteenth wedding anniversary.
    • In "Girl Meets Pluto", we get a quick montage of clips of Cory and Shawn doing the Feeny gasp in the old show before they do it in the present when Feeny confronts them for digging up his yard.
    • In "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes To Washington", a montage of key scenes from the Tommy arc is played after The Reveal that blogger T.J. Murphy is Eric's "little brother" Tommy.
  • For Want Of A Nail: "Girl Meets World: Of Terror 3" shows what things would have been like if Riley and Maya hadn't met by chance when they were young. It results in a world where their tight group of friends never forms, and without each other's friendship and influence, they've each ended up as stunted, exaggerated versions of themselves who are failing to live up their true potential. And poor Auggie (for reasons unexplored) was never born at all.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble:
    • Sanguine: Farkle.
    • Choleric: Maya.
    • Melancholic: Lucas.
    • Phlegmatic: Zay.
    • Eclectic: Riley.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: A young woman in the background during Shawn and Angela's conversation in "Girl Meets Hurricane" is wearing a sweatshirt from Julliard.
  • Freshman Fears: There's an arc focusing on the kids' first days in high school. They struggle to adjust because everyone is so much bigger and more prepared than they are, and can't fit in the way they did in middle school. They even end up hazed, as some seniors force them to stay in a spot under the stairs, which convinces everyone but Riley to say Screw This, I'm Outta Here, temporarily ditching her to try and survive high-school. However, they eventually manage to reconnect and learn An Aesop about sticking together even as they grow and change.
  • "Friends" Rent Control: The Matthews apartment has a nice-sized living room, the kids each have their own bedroom as well as the parents'. Since the nearest subway station is Bleecker St., it's in one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Manhattan. This is justified by both parents being full time career professionals, Topanga a lawyer. Though it is unlikely that both the poor Maya and the extremely wealthy Farkle all attend the same school.
    • In "Girl Meets Popular" it's said there is rent control in their building: the nice bakery downstairs has a contract that says the rent will not be raised... until a froyo shop that wants to move in finds a loophole in the contract to try and raise the rent to unaffordable levels to force them out.
  • Funny Background Event:
    • Riley and Maya frantically piling mats to cushion Farkle's eventual fall while Lucas and Billy argue in the foreground.
    • A subtle one at the end of "Girl Meets the New World". After Maya throws her bouquet and Riley catches it, she passes it to the couple behind her, which happen to be Yogi and Darby. They both look really excited to get it.
  • Future Loser: A non-vindictive version; Harley Keiner, Cory's old Bully from the original series, ended up growing up to become the school's Janitor (which, granted, is a union job with decent pay and benefits - but it's not something you brag about at cocktail parties). Harley himself reflects that spending his youth screwing around and alienating everyone didn't leave him with many options as an adult. On the more positive side, he and Cory have actually become good friends into adulthood; Cory was the one who got him the job, and Harley is grateful.
    • He's also shown to take pride in doing his job well and feels he's playing his part in educating the students by giving them a clean place to learn in.

    G-L 
  • Generation Xerox:
    • Riley is essentially a gender-flipped version of Cory, down to having a best friend very similar to her father's.
    • Riley's younger brother Auggie appears to be a mix of the older three Matthews siblings - he has Eric's Cloud Cuckoolander statements, Morgan's bright eyed outlook & innocence from when she was little, and a young female friend like Cory did with Topanga.
    • Josh Matthews has grown up to be very similar to Eric prior to his becoming the Plucky Comic Relief in the latter seasons of the original show, and just like Eric, has a great relationship with younger kids.
    • Farkle is a less dorky-looking Minkus, right down to having crushes on Riley & Maya that mirror his father's own crush on Topanga.
  • Genre Savvy: All the characters seem aware of the fact that they're in a young-adult-coming-of-age sitcom. Riley is often annoyed how her dad's history lessons seem to be a metaphor for each episode's dilemma.
    Cory: Listen guys, not everything I teach you in class applies to our lives!
    Lucas: It does. Every time, sir.
    • Hilariously subverted in "Girl Meets Crazy Hat", where for once Cory's history lesson has nothing to do with Riley's personal problems.
  • The Ghost:
    • Shawn Hunter had a reputation as such, to the point that Maya teases Cory at one point by saying she doesn't think he actually exists.
    • Riley's bully in "Girl Meets Rileytown". In stark contrast to Farkle's bully, she is never seen, never speaks, and at most communicates through texts which aren't even read aloud.
  • Ghost Extras: In the first season, you could count the times a character other than the main four spoke up in Cory's class on one hand. The casting budget must have gone up for season 2 however, because we now have recurring students who actually talk, a couple of which were seen mute in the first season. In "Girl Meets Rileytown", Cory even names every single one of the side students as they each get a close-up from the camera, and their names are the names of the actors who portray them.
  • Giftedly Bad: Riley. She pretty much paints purple cats in a style one might get from a kindergarten student, no matter what the assignment. But despite being constantly frustrated by Riley's artwork, the art teacher still encourages her to do art because Riley enjoys it so much.
    Riley: I’m a happy artist...This is why I stink.
  • Gilligan Cut: In "Girl Meets She Don't Like Me", Riley wants Cory to ask the health teacher to be more sensitive. Cory tried to warn her that "when you try to control things, they usually end up worse." Riley wonders what could be worse. Cue Cory being the new health teacher.
  • Glasses Curiosity: As part of the makeover Smackle requests in "Girl Meets Smackle," Riley and Maya remove her glasses. Later on in the episode, Maya is seen wearing them briefly, likely to prevent Smackle herself from doing so.
  • Granola Girl: Topanga temporarily goes back to her Granola Girl roots in "Girl meets Popular". Bonus point for a Boy Meets World clip with Cory and Topanga's first scene.
  • G-Rated Drug: Farkle's muffins. They're bleach-white in color, and the students who try them are desperate for more and become extremely jittery. Prior to the reveal that they're made of pure sugar, one could be forgiven for thinking there's a more nefarious ingredient to blame.
  • Growing Up Sucks: Maya is despondent about this throughout "Girl Meets The Bay Window". Riley and the others eventually get her to accept that change is inevitable, but she's still not happy about it.
  • Handing Over the Crap Sack: Subverted in the Secret Santa episode. Riley and her friends gift each other things all the recipients hate- a broken clock for Maya, an etiquette book for the Autistic Smackle, a Tabletop RPG for Zay, and a Menorah for Farkle. Everyone is furious and hurt by their gifts and bitter at the friends who gave them, until Riley sits them all down again and makes them explain the meaning of each gift. As it turns out, all the gifts had a lot of thought put into them (for example, the etiquette book was heavily edited to praise all of Smackle's quirks), and everyone accepts them in the end.
  • Happy Birthday to You!: They go the substitute song route, particularly wincingly since the kids come together spontaneously to sing it with no Lampshade Hanging at all, and it's not even the usual Disney one that they might conceivably have all heard.
  • Happily Married: Cory and Topanga Matthews are actually a fairly realistic portrayal of how a happy marriage isn't a perfect one. Of course, they've been through several breakups over their teen years, and that's made them stronger as a couple.
  • Hard Truth Aesop: Sometimes priorities change when someone becomes a parent.
  • Height Angst: Maya experiences this in "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels", getting upset when Lucas calls her "a short stack of pancakes." She feels better after learning that Topanga - someone she looks up to - is not much taller than she is.
  • Held Gaze: Strongly and hilariously averted by Maya in "Girl Meets Boy", when she repeatedly resists Farkle's attempts to get her to look into his eyes as she reads aloud from a book on human interaction while - in another part of the library - Riley and Lucas have their first real conversation.
  • Hello, Attorney!: Remember how hot Topanga was by the end of Boy Meets World? Yep, she's still got it.
  • Henpecked Husband: Cory to Topanga, downplayed under Rule of Funny and the fact they absolutely adore each other.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • In "Girl Meets Boy," Maya turns out to be a pretty talented artist, something that surprises both herself and Farkle.
    • The fact that Maya shares that moment of discovering her artistic talent with Farkle also may foreshadow deeper feelings for him, as does her actually making an drawing that focuses on her immediate feelings towards him (that he needs to be protected).
    • Lucas's love for animals and the realization that he might want to become a veterinarian (as shown in "Girl Meets Boy"). There's also the wonderfully subtle manner, in "Girl Meets The Truth," that Lucas is shown to have a belief in God.
    • There's also the way that Cory and Topanga's relationship hasn't really changed from their Boy Meets World days - especially since it's outright stated that Topanga makes far more money than he does, and the way Topanga talks to both her boss and Minkus shows that she has serious clout, as well. It says a lot about the depths of their love and respect for one another, and the environment that their children are growing up in.
    • While Farkle is shown to be fairly nice on the surface he was shown in "Girl Meets Crazy Hat" that when it comes to business he values profits over everything else including quality control.
      • They haven't made a point of it yet, but Farkle's a good climber - he was able to get to the top of the rope in the gym and stay up there for an unspecified (but long) stretch of time, and having appeared at Riley's window means he has to have gotten up the fire escape which typically ends one story above ground level. He's more athletic than you'd think for a nerd.
    • Geralyn & Harley's entire appearance in "Girl Meets The Forgotten" - particularly in how they both illustrate that even though the kids may not notice them or appreciate their work as the Lunch Lady or Janitor, they know all the kids and take pride in their work.
    • In "Girl Meets the New World" near the end of the episode Riley goes off on a rant about the state of the New York Knicks that wouldn't be out of place on ESPN.
    • In "Girl Meets The Secret Of Life" , it's implied that Lucas was more aggressive back in Texas.
  • Honorary Uncle: Shawn Hunter to Riley & Auggie, as one would expect. "Girl Meets The New Teacher" reveals that Jonathan Turner is also "Uncle John" to them.
  • Hypocrite: Riley and Maya both in "Girl Meets the Truth"; Maya won't tell the truth about where she got a locket she's wearing and Riley lets Farkle believe he's a good actor when he's really not. Each girl calls the other out on this a few times.
  • I Am What I Am: The lesson of a few episodes, including "Girl Meets Flaws" ("When I own it, it doesn't make me feel so bad"), "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels" ("Well, what a bunch of weirdos we are"), and "Girl Meets I Am Farkle" ("Who here is normal? And who here wants to be?").
  • I Hate Past Me: Harley has this attitude regarding his behavior as a teenager.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
    • Farkle displays this surprisingly mature attitude in "Girl Meets Sneak Attack."
    • Katy Hart uses this as an excuse to justify her behavior towards Maya in Season 1.
    • Riley displays this towards both Maya and Lucas in "Girl Meets Texas" part 3.
    • It's been revealed that Maya has been covering up her feelings for Lucas for Riley's sake in "Girl Meets Texas" part 2
    Riley: (to Maya) You stepped back. I know you stepped back.
  • I'm Standing Right Here: Amy has no faith in Topanga's ability to cook a holiday meal. Unfortunately, she keeps saying so right in front of her.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Eric, naturally, employs this.
    Riley: Adults have it easy, Dad. All you have to decide is what's for dinner and what to put the thermostat at.
    Eric: 92! That's why all the polar bears left. I'm the one who global warmed them.
  • Identical Grandson: Used and then subverted in "Girl Meets 1961". Riley's great-grandmother, Maya's great-grandmother, Lucas's great-grandfather and Farkle's great-grandfather are all played by the same actors as their descendants during the 1961 scenes, but a present-day shot of their 1961 group photo at the end of the episode shows that this was for the audience's benefit and they actually looked different.
  • Identical Stranger: In "Girl Meets The Great Lady of New York", Auggie's new friend knows a girl named Marisol who behaves exactly like Ava. She's played by the same actress.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: So far, every episode title begins with "Girl Meets...".
  • Idiot Ball: Cory was swinging one around over the chicken dinner in "Girl Meets The Truth".
  • Inadvertent Entrance Cue:
    • In "Girl Meets Sneak Attack"
    Riley: Teach me how to flirt.
    Maya: Not gonna do that. I don't even know how to flirt. Who our age knows how to flirt?
    Farkle: (showing up out of nowhere) He-llo ladies!
    • In "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays"
    Alan Matthews: Huh, wow - Look at all these kids. It wasn't that long ago that I had kids around the house.
    Josh Matthews: [Walking in through the Matthews' apartment door] Yeah, it was just this morning, wasn't it, Dad?
    • In "Girl Meets Yearbook":
    Topanga: (to "Morotia"/Riley): Is there anyone more ridiculous than you?
    Farkle: (as "Donnie Barnes", suddenly showing up out of nowhere) Knock knock.
  • Insult Backfire:
    • Maya's consistently failing attempts to mock Lucas's Texas background are rapidly approaching Running Gag status. For example, in "Girl Meets Boy", Maya tries to insult Lucas about his rural background, but he brushes it off with a touch of cowboy charm - and from Maya's reaction, he slightly annoys her Snark Knight leanings.
    Maya: "It kills me that I can't get to you."
    Lucas: (smiles; tips imaginary hat) "Sorry, ma'am."
    • There's also the dance in "Girl Meets Father", when Lucas wears a Western-styled outfit (complete with cowboy hat) and Maya comments on it:
    Maya: (looking up at Lucas as Farkle dips her on the dance floor) "The hat's just for me, isn't it? You actually put thought into our little game, don't you?"
    (Lucas takes off his hat, and draws a flower from within)
    Lucas: "I actually do."
    (Maya shudders as Lucas places the flower in her mouth)
    • A beautiful IB comes at the end of "Girl Meets Sneak Attack":
    Missy: "Grow up."
    Riley: "Not..." (smiles at her friends) "...yet."
    • Topanga's boss manages to pull this off when Auggie insults him at the end of "Girl Meets Popular":
    Auggie: "You're still mean."
    Mr. Miller "Don't try to cheer me up, kid."
    • Farkle isn't the least bit bothered by the art teacher's less-than-flattering comparison of him to Lucas in "Girl Meets Maya's Mother."
    Art teacher: "Well!" (chuckles) "Looky here. The male ...physique. "
    Farkle: "Why, thank you, art lady."
  • Intangible Time Travel: In Girl Meets Cory and Topanga, when Riley tells Maya her dad's stories, it creates this effect. Even if Riley heard these stories second hand, she and Maya relive Cory and Topanga's memories, clear as day.
  • In the Blood:
    • Riley seems to have inherited Cory's compassionate nature, and Topanga's fiery tendencies - but only when she feels that she has something to fight for.
    • "Girl Meets 1961" also shows that Riley looks remarkably like her maternal grandmother, and has the exact same outlook on life (in that she also believes there's good in everyone).
  • I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Beautifully subverted by Lucas in "Girl Meets Sneak Attack", when he tells Missy that he can't go on a date with her - but thanks her for showing him her leg.
  • Ironic Echo: In spades.
  • Ironic Echo Cut: Shawn/Maya failing to see any commonalities in their respective relationships with Cory/Riley.
  • It Amused Me: The reason why Josh allows Ava to break The Family Game rules despite Topanga's objections.
  • It Makes Sense in Context: Topanga's longing for 'California'.
  • It's a Wonderful Plot: The episode "Girl Meets World of Terror 3" has Auggie narrate a story of what would've happened if Riley and Maya never met in the bay window.
  • Jail Bait Wait: Josh essentially agrees to this with Maya, promising that someday when she gets older they can give a relationship a chance.
  • Jerkass Ball: Farkle holds it in "Girl Meets Crazy Hat" during the business assignment.
  • Jerkass Realization: Riley in the climax of "Girl Meets Popular". When it's her turn to qualify for the Spelling Bee, Maya gives Cory a different word to spell: "Harajuku", which in turn causes her to realize how stuck-up she's become to be popular and quits the team.
  • Karma Houdini: Riley's bully in "Girl Meets Rileytown". While Riley is able to drive off the bully by showing her entire class loves and accepts her for who she is, the bully is never caught nor punished by Cory or any of the other other teachers. To be fair, the episode would not have otherwise gotten its message across.
  • Killed Off for Real: As of "Girl Meets Gravity", Mrs. Svorski has passed away.
  • Large Ham: After 15 years, it's seems Ben Savage hasn't missed a beat.
    • He also has some serious (albeit pint-sized) competition in that department from Farkle:
    Farkle:"The future - you can't escape it. (throws arms into the air) "I am Farkle!"
  • Lampshade Hanging:
    • A couple in "Girl Meets Game Night"
      • When Cory's objections to Lucas & Farkle joining the Matthews family for Game Night are compared to his lesson earlier in the day about the American Revolution, Cory protests that not everything he teaches should be taken & applied to life so literally. Lucas then points out it's literally always the case, lampshading the relevance Cory's lessons usually serve to the A-plots.
      • After Cory points out that he's going to be the kids' teacher next year too, Riley points out that doesn't make any sense. This is, of course, a joke about how in Boy Meets World, Mr. Feeny was the group's teacher for pretty much every year they were in school, including two years of college.
      • In "Girl Meets Rileytown" Cory spends most of his lessons advising Riley and her friends on their problems...then turns to all the other students and says he knows they have their own issues, but he's sure the math teacher helps them out.
    • Done so strongly in "Girl Meets the New World" that it borders on Breaking the Fourth Wall. As Riley is desperately trying to avoid discussing her kiss with Lucas from "Girl Meets First Date" she throws out every sitcom staple plot that might come along to distract from the conversation. When something comes up with Auggie, Maya waves it off: "We'll hear about it twice more." (It's the episode's B-plot.) They even start calling the scene transitions.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: After mocking Lucas about his Texas heritage, Maya finds out that she descended from a long line of "Clutterbuckets" as part of a class project. Lucas is very pleased by this.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: Major changes and spoilers that have happened in Boy Meets World are off-handedly mentioned throughout this series.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
    • Again, this show's characters aren't shy about embracing its rich history. One good example is Cory yelling "Shawn's coming!" loudly and to no one in particular.
    • Outside of fourth-wall leaning references toward its parent series, the show has also made some regarding its own characters and their roles in the story. In Girl Meets Brother, Farkle makes a comment on how when the cast is not in school, he feels like he's "not even part of the story."
    • "Girl Meets Gravity" bends it almost to the breaking point with the "clone classroom". The camera doesn't even let Riley and Maya be in the picture, and when the teacher tosses them out, the camera doesn't follow them out...leading Riley to come back to the camera and yell "Oh, come on!" at it.
    • In "Girl Meets Cory and Topanga", Riley tells Maya to close her eyes and picture her parents when they were younger. Maya retorts, "How can we do that? It's not like they had camera crews following them around, recording every part of their lives."
      • This may also count as Tempting Fate, because the very next scene is them digitally inserted in a scene from BMW.
    • In "Girl Meets Rileytown", Riley confesses that she gives herself an award ceremony once a week on Fridays. Girl Meets World airs on Fridays.
  • Lethal Chef: Topanga - and don't make fun of her about it.
  • Let Her Grow Up, Dear: Handled nicely by Topanga in "Girl Meets The Truth", as she makes sure that both Cory and Riley understand what her growing up entails for both. Also doubles for a Funny Moment in "Girl Meets Popular", when Maya takes Topanga's place over the issue of Riley going to her first 'boy/girl party'.
  • Lighter and Softer: In a way - whilst the show is definitely not as serious as the later seasons of Boy Meets World, it is more in-line with the tone of the show's early seasons. However, being a Disney Channel show, they can't be as explicit about things like sex which were regular topics in the old show even in the early seasons. The show however, doesn't shy away from episodes dealing with serious, yet relevant issues such as bullying (Girl Meets Flaws, and Girl Meets Rileytown) and insecurities (''Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels). There episodes were played rather seriously.
  • Like Brother and Sister: In the "Girl Meets Texas" three-parter Riley attempts to step back in favor of Maya when she realizes the latter may have feelings for Lucas and loudly and happily invokes this trope as justification, saying she finally feels comfortable around Lucas now that he's her "brother." The others call her out on how obviously forced it is in the third episode and question if she really believes it deep down.
  • Local Hangout: The Ukrainian bakery on the ground floor of the Matthews' apartment building, though only after Topanga buys into the place a few episodes into the first season. In season 2, it's renamed "Topanga's."
  • Long Last Look: May Clutterbucket gives one towards Rosie McGee as she surreptitiously leaves in "Girl Meets 1961".
  • Love Triangle: Farkle has unrequited love for both Riley and Maya. When he finally decides to choose between them in "Girl Meets Farkle's Choice" the girls each have a Green-Eyed Epiphany and start fighting over him. This leads Farkle to decide they're all Better as Friends since he could never be the cause of a rift in their friendship. Lucas is conspicuously absent and unmentioned in this episode.

    M-R 
  • Magic Realism: The show plays with this at times, along the same lines as the original series. Every so often there is a bizarre event that's treated as relatively normal. In one episode Riley feels she can't live up to her parents and considers becoming a nun or joining the circus. At both places she finds her parents "saving the world" by helping them out and accompanied by heroic lighting and dramatic exits.
  • Malicious Misnaming: In "Girl Meets True Maya", one of Maya's delinquent ex-acquaintances insists on calling Riley "Dorothy". Maya corrects her every time, with increasing sternness.
  • Mandatory Line: The brief (though heartwarming) scene of Riley showing Topanga the origins of her name in "Girl Meets 1961" was definitely one of these for Danielle Fishel - it was her only scene in the episode.
  • Master-Apprentice Chain: Feeny —> Cory —> Riley
  • Meaningful Echo: Done beautifully in "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays":
    Cory: (answering the speaker box) Shawn?!
    Maya: Maya.
    Cory: (without any change in expression) Shawn?!
    Maya: Aw, what's the matter? Your boyfriend's not here yet?
    Cory: He's not my boyfriend!
    Topanga: Oh, then what are we gonna do with this "Cory and Shawn 4-Evah" ornament?
    Cory: Oh, that! That goes right in front of the Cory and Topanga wedding ornament!
    Topanga: (annoyed, aside to Riley) My whole life.
    [...]
    Cory: You're everything to me. Am I everything to you?
    Topanga:: [tenderly] My whole life.
  • Meet Cute: Riley and Lucas's meeting on the subway train. Full stop.
  • Metaphorgotten: Farkle, while explaining how he could possibly like Riley and Maya at once.
    Farkle: Maya is the night, dark and mysterious. The night has always been a mystery to me... because I go to bed at 7:30.
  • Morality Chain: The role that Riley tells her parents that she's going to have in Maya's life. Cory also acts as this (in a lesser manner) for Maya.
    • As the series progresses, it seems that Maya is also acting as this for Riley.
  • Morality Pet: As of "Girl Meets True Maya", Maya believes that Riley's influence has permanently made her a better person.
    Maya: As much as I wanted to throw a brick through a window, I know that if I did that, that's what would make me weak. I'm strong because there's something inside me that stops me now. It knows how important you've been in my life and it'll never let me do any real damage as long as I live.
  • My God, You Are Serious!: Principal Yancy wants to fire Lee for teaching the kids comic books. When Superintendant Turner relates he did the very same thing on his first day teaching, Yancy laughs...then sees Turner's dead-serious face and groans "oh, no...."
  • My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Riley's Spanish in "Girl Meets Permanent Record" needs... work. She tells the Spanish teacher that she aims to raise her avocados from a "D" to an "A" (when she actually meant "grade"). For bonus marks, Riley also says "the potato am good sailboat."
  • My Nayme Is: Why does Dewey call himself "Doy"? He says the "W" is silent.
  • My New Gift Is Lame: In "Girl Meets A Christmas Maya", Riley presides over a Secret Santa that results in all of her friends getting gifts they hate . . . until the gift-givers explain the earnest intentions behind each of the presents, after which they're all more appreciative.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • A poster of Mr. Feeny is seen in the New York subway with the phrase "It's cool to stay in school". This mimics one seen in the season 3 BMW episode Train Of Fools, where a similar poster of Feeny is seen on a Philadelphia subway car with the phrase "I want you to stay in school".
    • Riley attends John Quincy Adams Middle School; Cory and Topanga's high school was named for John Quincy's father, John. This gets lampshaded in "Girl Meets Game Night".
    Riley: Here I am! John Quincy Adams.
    Cory: Riley, uh, you're actually John Adams.
    Riley: Who's that?
    Cory: John Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams.
    Riley: But our school is John Quincy Adams.
    Cory: My school was John Adams.
    Riley: Your school was the father of my school?
    Cory: Does that make sense to you?
    Riley: None of this does.
    • The plot of the pilot is fairly similar to the Boy Meets World episode, "Me and Mr. Joad," but with the Civil War instead of The Grapes of Wrath.
    • Cory is cast in Hamlet and Farkle in Romeo and Juliet, both in non-speaking roles as spear-carriers.
    • The classroom, hallway, and lunchroom sets are nearly exactly the same as the ones on BMW.
    • In "Girl Meets Popular", Topanga said that it's time to "do good". Seems like she remembered Mr. Feeny's last lesson.
    • Cory, trying to get Auggie to go to bed, ends up watching a baseball game between the Phillies and the Mets. New York is the setting of the series while Philadelphia was the setting for Boy Meets World.
    • In "Girl Meets Pluto", when they meet Mr. Feeny, Riley and Maya imitate one of Eric's Feeny calls almost shot-for-shot...including the bored "Okay let's go" at the very end.
    • The opening credits features a paper plane flying around the characters, referencing the opening credits of the first season of Boy Meets World as well as later iterations of its logo.
    • Season 3's opening credits are done in the "neighborhood" style of the later seasons of BMW, including gags like pouring water from the fire escape.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: In the Halloween Episode, the monster under Auggie's bed introduces himself as Simon P. Littleboyeater.
    • Topanga Matthews would count too. If she's against you, god help you...
  • New Year's Kiss: Played With in "Girl Meets the New Year". Riley's big conflict is her Love Triangle with Lucas and Charlie. She debates during the episode who she wants to be with when the countdown ends, believing who she's with will be who she's with for the rest of the year. Though her issues are romantic in nature, kisses are never mentioned, and the concern is who everyone will be next to at the time- Farkle openly announces he'll be with Smackle, and nobody else is able to answer who they'll be with. This superstition mirrors the traditional superstition of the New Year's kiss.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Maya & Shawn to come this realization by the end of "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays" after both scoffing at the possibility that they're alike when Cory & Riley make the comparison.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Eric. Jack even lampshades it, saying, "You're still an idiot genius, aren't you?"
  • Official Couple: Technically Riley/Lucas, but for all intents and purposes Riley/Maya.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Riley's response to Maya & Josh's mutual attraction in "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays". Note that Josh is, despite the small age gap, Riley's uncle.
    • Maya's reaction in "Girl Meets Yearbook" while she's acting like Riley and has a revelation about Riley's and Lucas' relationship.
    • When Principal Yancy has a dispute with the new English teacher who was teaching comic books and riding a motorcycle, he initially fires both her, and Cory after he objects, leading Cory to challenge it with the superintendent. Yancy initially thinks the superintendent will side with him, but the superintendent turns out to be Mr. Turner, Cory's old teacher who taught an X-men comic on his first day, rode a motorcycle, and has dinner at the Matthews house all the time to the point where Riley calls him "Uncle Jon". Yancy pretty much has this reaction after each of these revelations is made.
  • The Other Darrin: Invoked. In the Grand Finale, all the old Matthews family members are brought back to advise Topanga on whether she should move to England or not. Since there were two actresses who played Morgan, rather than having to pick one, both were brought back. Tons of metahumor ensued.
  • Out of Focus: Lampshaded in "Girl Meets Brother" as Farkle notes that whenever they're not at school, he doesn't feel like he's actually part of events.
  • Parental Abandonment: Maya's father divorced her mom Katy and now basically ignores her for his new family. Katy has to work hard as a waitress in order to support Maya, still tries to realize her dream of acting, and pushes Maya away in an attempt to make her become a better person than she (Katy) is.
    • Lessened in Katy's case with season 2. She's now working as manager of Topanga's which gives her more time to spend with Maya and probably better pay.
  • Parental Substitute:
    • Cory and to a lesser extent Topanga for Maya. Possibly for Ava as well, given Ava's reveal of how her own home situation is less than ideal.
    • Maya is hoping Shawn will become this for her and he's open to the idea. As of "Girl Meets Goodbye" he's now married to her mother and has the paperwork to legally adopt her.
    • Mr. Turner confirms he loves Shawn like a son.
  • Papa Wolf: A Lighter and Softer version that Cory pulls off in a hilarious manner (but not as far as Riley is concerned).
  • Poke the Poodle: Riley's idea of teenage rebellion is coming home seven minutes after her curfew and buying a shirt that has "Bleh!" written on the front. Cory and Topanga, who at her age did things like sleep in the school overnight and lead a classroom walk out, laugh at her.
  • Phrase Catcher: "You did this" is starting to become one for Riley and Maya whenever one or both cause an unfavorable event to happen to someone.
  • Proscenium Reveal: Riley's narration throughout "Girl Meets Gravity" is revealed to be a speech at Mrs. Svorski's funeral at the end of the episode.
  • Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Maya and Riley in spades. Not only do they act Like an Old Married Couple but they address each other in terms of endearment like "pumpkin", "honey", "cupcake", and "peaches" in casual conversation, and naturally act like a couple of Cuddle Bugs when they're alone.
  • Recurrer: Shawn Hunter appears in two of the first season's 21 episodes and at least three in season 2. Reports indicate that Cory's youngest brother (and Riley's uncle) Josh will appear in several episodes. Harley Keiner was also confirmed to appear in two episodes with an unspecified number of episodes in season 2. Writers also confirmed Cory's older brother Eric would be a recurring character starting in season 2.
  • Recurring Extra: Particularly, some of the students in the class Cory teaches, especially two female students (one of which is played by Sabrina's real-life sister).
  • Production Foreshadowing: The Boy Meets World episode, "Seven the Hard Way", hinted at a number of elements in this series, including Cory and Topanga's firstborn being a daughter (except with a different name), Shawn being a writer on the road, and Eric going by "Plays with Squirrels".
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: Angela mentions her father doesn't visit her as a ghost. The actor who played him died in 2008.
  • "Reason You Suck" Speech:
    • Cory gives one to Riley in the pilot, after she asks to be given detention along with Maya who set the sprinklers off.
    Cory: You didn't do anything, and because you didn't do anything your best friend is now in very deep trouble.
    • Harley gives a short one to Billy when he has taken to bullying Farkle.
    Harley: Nice, that's exactly the way I use to think. Now here I am with a mop.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure:
    • Cory doesn't rail against the eccentricities of his students, he just goes with it and incorporates them into the lesson plan. He is, however, not a pushover. When Maya accidentally sets off the sprinklers he gives her detention like any teacher, leaving it up to the principal for any further discipline: however he does note that Riley should've stopped Maya from doing so, but he can't punish her for that.
    • Eric of all people. He was elected mayor of a small eccentric town on the New York/Quebec border ("St. Upid Town") because of his people skills. He took up his "Plays With Squirrels" persona because the people there find it relatable. Cory considers him the best mediator he knows.
    Eric: I won in a landslide. After the landslide, everybody who wasn't dead voted for me.
  • Remember the New Guy?. Mr. Turner. Riley states that "Uncle John" comes to dinner quite frequently. Seems odd we haven't seen him until well into the second season.
  • Retirony: While it's not outright said he was retired, Angela's father, a military man and War veteran, died fishing. Angela points out the irony in that.
  • The Reveal: T.J. Murphy, the blogger who helps Eric with his election campaign, is actually Tommy, the orphan Eric was a big brother to in the original series.
  • Rewatch Bonus: In "Girl Meets Semiformal", watch the background during the Cold Opening. Charlie can be seen going to his locker and watching Riley and Maya talk.
  • Right Behind Me: In "Girl Meets Master Plan", Cory backs into the apartment with Maya's birthday cake discussing with Topanga where they should hide it...not knowing that Maya's behind him. With Topanga trying to warn him, he talks about how he got one in case Maya's mother wouldn't forget. When he finally realizes, he says hi to Maya without turning to her and proceeds to praise her mother, being grateful that she's not like Shawn's mother, and how she popped out on random Tuesdays and forgot where she lived...not knowing that Shawn is also behind him.
    Topanga: Do you wanna turn around or do you want me to turn you around?
    Cory (without turning): How ya doin', Shawn?
    Shawn: Well, it ain't Tuesday, so pretty good!
  • Rule of Funny: Invoked In-Universe in Girl Meets Game Night by Josh, who self-appoints himself the judge of the titular game then lets Ava get away with blatant rule breaking because he thinks it's hilarious
    Ava: My turn! I pick 6.
    Topanga: Uh, Ava, you need to role the d-
    Ava: One, Two, Threefourfivesix!
    Topanga: Josh, objection!
    Josh: I'm going to allow it.
    Topanga: Why?
    Josh: Because she cracks me up. [Breaks in laughter]
  • Running Gag:
    • Farkle taking over Cory's class to offer his thoughts on the current discussion.
    • When something unpleasant is about to be discussed in the Matthews household, the person on the receiving end is told 'Good luck'.
    • Boy Meets World alumni speculating that Farkle may be a clone or a robot instead of Minkus' son. Made even better by the fact that Farkle's never really seen his birth certificate. Gets a Call-Back in "Girl Meets I Am Farkle" when Farkle's mom finally shows him the birth certificate as a reward for IQ testing in the genius range; upon confirmation that he's "a real, live boy" Maya pays off a bet with Lucas.
    • The window in Riley's room basically acting as another doorway for the Matthews' apartment.
    • Maya's constant attempts to mock Lucas over his Texas heritage and trappings - and the way those attempts constantly fail (to Lucas's amusement and Maya's annoyance).
    • Belgium, 1831. This is the lesson plan that Cory first tried to teach in "Girl Meets Crazy Hat", and then repeatedly tries to teach for the first four episodes of season 2. The gang's personal issues have derailed it every time, much to Farkle's immense frustration. (In "Girl Meets Farkle", he claims he knows everything except Belgium 1831.) Lampshaded in "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels" when upon entering the classroom, Farkle erases "Belgium 1831" from the the board knowing that they wouldn't be getting to it that day.
      • And what was happening in Belgium in 1831? A revolution, for anyone who cares.
    • A non-violent version of the Uncle Phil/Jazz Running Gag: Ava's appearances usually end with Topanga "throwing" her out of the apartment (actually just picking her up, running and placing her outside the door). It's accompanied by Ava going "WEEEEEE!" the entire time until the door slams in her face.

    S-W 
  • Santa Clausmas: In "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays", the cast stops just short of using the word "Christmas", despite the Matthews' ornate Christmas tree.
  • Sassy Black Woman: Evelyn Rand (The woman on the subway in the pilot and "Girl Meets Crazy Hat") who has running commentary both times we see her. Since this is Jackee Harry, this is to be expected. The art teacher (from "Girl Meets Maya's Mother") and Geralyn (from "Girl Meets The Forgotten") also fit here, as well. Man, the show just loves this trope.
  • Satellite Love Interest: Charlie seems to have little character besides being a nice guy and liking Riley.
  • Say My Name: "MAAY-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
  • Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: Averted with Harley Keiner, former tormentor of Cory during his time at John Adams High. Harley's since become a kindly janitor, and holds Cory in much higher esteem than he did when they were teenagers.
  • Self-Demonstrating Song: In-universe, with Ava's little ditty to announce herself.
  • Sensei-chan:
    • Maya treats Cory a lot like a peer when he's off the clock.
    • Principal Yancey is furious upon discovering that, among other things, new English teacher Harper Burgess allows students to call her by her first name. He says it's against the Board of Education's policy.
  • She Is All Grown Up: Maya & Josh have this mutual reaction in "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays".
  • Shout-Out:
    • A Disney series example, Farkle's angle calculation vision is very similar to Chase's bionic vision.
    • The way Eric was elected mayor of St. Upidtown sounds a lot like how Quentin Tremblay got elected as President.
  • Smug Snake:
    • Missy has the (dis)honor of being the very first one of the series.
    • Riley edges close to this in the first part of "Girl Meets Popular", but she never crosses over fully into this trope.
  • The Snark Knight: Maya (due to her home life, including divorced parents and issues with her father ignoring her for his new family).
  • Spin-Offspring: From both major and minor character of the previous series.
    • Riley & Auggie Matthews, the children of the Official Couple from Boy Meets World.
    • Farkle Minkus is the son of Stuart Minkus, a character from the first season of the original. Farkle's mother is Jennifer Bassett, a two-shot villain character (appearing in the fourth and fifth seasons) memorable for forcing Shawn to break off his friendship with Cory (it didn't last, obviously), and later kidnapping and imprisoning Shawn as payback for his Casanova ways.
    • Finally, "Girl Meets Ski Lodge" introduces Evan, the son of Lauren, the girl who inadvertantly got between Cory and Topanga.
  • Sequel Series
  • Ship Sinking:
    • "Girl Meets Master Plan" establishes that Shawn and Angela didn't work out in between the two series. Revisited briefly in "Girl Meets Pluto". "Girl Meets Hurricane" establishes that Angela got married 4 years earlier and, although she still doesn't feel ready to have kids, she is considering having a child with her husband at his request.
    • "Girl Meets Yearbook" has Maya realize that Riley's feelings for Lucas may be platonic. along with Lucas and Riley earlier realizing they are better off as friends this ship has likely sprung a leak. Maya keeps this revelation to herself for now.
      • The three part "Girl Meets Texas" makes it plain that things are a lot more complicated. There are two ships, each with holes, and one sailor stuck between them.
      • And then Season Three becomes all about the "triangle": Every time Lucas is ready to choose, some new development comes up, like Maya realizing she's lost her edge by hanging around Riley, and that Lucas is essentially choosing between Riley and Riley. Eventually, Maya reveals that she never actually liked Lucas that way but was feeling protective of Riley, wanting to make sure she knew what Riley saw in Lucas and that he'd be good enough for her. Her feelings lay with Josh and always will, and she encourages Lucas to go to Riley.
    • Both Farkle/Riley and Farkle/Maya were sunk when Farkle pursued his relationship with Smackle.
  • Shipper on Deck:
    • "Girl Meets Master Plan" also reveals that the Matthews, Farkle and Lucas ship Shawn/Katy pairing, trying to play matchmaker between the two lonely, loveless adults.
    • Since their first encounter, Shawn and Katy has had plenty of Ship Tease, although not enough to truly confirm a relationship until he eventually proposes.
    • Apparently the entire school ships Maya and Lucas, going so far as to name the Best Couple in the yearbook, despite them not actually being a couple or having ever considered it.
    • Maya eventually becomes this for Lucas and Riley, after realizing that her "feelings for Lucas" were her way of testing whether or not Lucas was worthy of her best friend. When she realizes he is, she tells Lucas to go confess to Riley.
    • Riley and Maya played this for Smackle and Farkle during "Girl Meets I Am Farkle", encouraging the growing connection between the two.
  • Squee: In the pilot, when Lucas decides to join the lunch table they're sitting at, Riley and Maya do a rather... interesting variant of one that's condensed into half a second.
  • Stealth Pun:
    • Riley and Maya's middle school is named after John Quincy Adams the son of John Adams, with John Adams High being the high school Cory & Topanga attended.
    • In "Girl Meets The Truth", Cory's joke that the chicken in Topanga's dinner came from Auggie's dinosaur book fits current scientific belief that the descendants of the dinosaurs that survived the Yucatan asteroid strike are avian creatures - birds.note 
  • Stepford Smiler: When Topanga starts to do this... things are about to get unpleasant. Just to warn you, the sentence you have just read is a massive understatement... You have been warned.
  • Stern Teacher: When the kids get a new teacher in the Season 2 premiere, the kids are shocked that he disapproves of their antics like Farkle taking over the class, the kids talking without raising their hand, and Maya and Riley doing whatever they want. In a subversion, he quits and Cory comes to take his place.
  • Studio Audience: Some episodes have them, and some use a Laugh Track. The difference is very noticeable, largely because the audience is very excitable in the Saved by the Bell vein, since it consists largely of hardcore Boy Meets World fans who went out of their way to get tickets. The first act of "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays" was punctuated with constant cheers and applause from the audience. By contrast, the Laugh Track on the show is fairly sedate and tends to avoid the stock guffaws and chuckles heard on other Disney Channel shows.
  • Stylistic Suck: Riley is NOT good at painting.
  • Suddenly Always Knew That: The plot of "Girl Meets Permanent Record" required Maya to outperform Riley in some school subject, so she's suddenly shown to be proficient in Spanish. Hand Waved with her saying that the poor neighborhood she lives in has a lot of Spanish speakers.
  • Teens Are Monsters: The upperclassmen at Abigail Adams High treat the freshmen like dirt.
  • Technology Marches On: Invoked. The aesop of "Girl Meets Boy" is that whilst technology will continue to advance and make communicating easier, we shouldn't forget about actually interracting with people. Cory even lampshades how much technology has advanced since he was a kid in the early seasons, pointing out to the class that social media and smart phones are still new inventions, despite being around for the majority of the kids' lives.
  • Tempting Fate:
    • Riley starts the morning in "Girl Meets Sneak Attack" with a saccharine disposition - no wonder the bulldozer in the pink sweater was waiting for her at school.
    • This is what happens in "Girl Meets the Truth" when Cory makes fun of Topanga's chicken dinner, then ups the ante later that evening by bringing out a cookbook, and then snarks that an extinct pterodactyl in Auggie's picture book is the chicken from Topanga's dinner, which explains why it was so dry. This was not a good idea.
    • When Riley gets invited to a party in "Girl Meets Popular" she proceeds to rub it in Maya & Cory's face, and refuses to acknowledge the relevance of Cory's class discussing the Sword of Damocles to her current situation. Not only does it blow up in her face, both Cory & Maya are witness to it & take great pleasure in seeing it happen.
    • In "Girl Meets the Forgotten", features two in one scene: Riley and Maya after getting their lunches say that cafeteria and janitorial duties are the worst electives. After Maya causes Lucas and Farkle's mash potato volcano to go off, Cory chastises them for the mess, then assigns Maya and Riley to work with lunch lady Geralyn Thompson for their elective, and Lucas and Farkle proceed to have a laugh at their expense. Cue Harley walking up behind them and informing them that they're going to work with him for theirs.
  • That Makes Me Feel Angry: Smackle smacks of this, at least at the start of "Girl Meets Smackle". She says both "I am sad" and makes crying noises while retaining an entirely neutral expression in her entire first scene.
  • That Wasn't a Request: Topanga is prone to these, thanks to her shark lawyer personality.
    • The most serious example occurs in "Girl Meets Her Monster", where Riley decides to defy Topanga even after the following exchange:
    Topanga: I told you I need your help at the bakery after school.
    Riley: Well, I'm sorry, but we are unavailable.
    Topanga: Well, that would be a problem if I were asking you, but I'm not asking you, I'm telling you that you will be at the bakery immediately after school, end of conversation.
    • A less serious example occurs in "Girl Meets Sneak Attack", when Maya shows up at the Matthews house as they're eating breakfast:
    Topanga: Maya, oatmeal.
    Maya: No thanks, Mrs. Matthews.
    Topanga: Oh, I wasn't asking.
    Maya: Yeow.
  • Third-Person Person: Farkle, on occasion. Seems to come with the ego.
  • This Is Reality:
    • In "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays", Cory suggests Shawn move into the apartment above where the Matthews' family live. Shawn dismisses this by noting it's real life, and not a sitcom where he'll become Cory's wacky neighbor.
    • When the main characters go to high school, they're all in for a nasty schock because as freshmen they're at the bottom of the pyramid, and they don't take it well.
  • Threesome Subtext: Played for Laughs when Topanga calls Shawn "Mr. Cory" after he greets her with "Mrs. Cory."
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: The relationship between two background characters: Darby and Yogi. Yogi looks like a little kid; that's because he's played by 10-year-old actor Nicholas Jabonero, while Darby is played by Darby Walker, who looks to be at least 16.
    • When we see Stuart Minkus and Jennifer Bassett-Minkus in scenes together they're staged to make Jennifer seem to tower over Stuart. In reality, Kristanna Loken is only a quarter-inch taller than Lee Norris (plus heels).
  • Took a Level in Kindness:
    • Harley has come a long way since high school bully. He's now a humble school janitor who takes his job very seriously and looks out for the students at his school, especially those who get bullied. Cory was the one who got him the job and he holds Cory in much higher esteem than he did in high school.
    • Jennifer Bassett, the girl who tried to break Cory and Shawn's friendship up and who (with two of Shawn's ex-girlfriends) handcuffed Shawn to a boathouse so he'd ruin his relationship with Angela, returns not only much nicer and Happily Married to Stuart Minkus but has been close friendsnote  with Cory and Topanga for some time.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: In "Girl Meets Sneak Attack", Auggie (who's 5) makes friends with a girl Ava (who's 6) who makes it clear she only wants to be friends with him solely so she can tell him what to do. Claiming "This many (holds up 6 fingers) Gets to tell this many (holds up 5 fingers) what to do."
    • She takes it up a notch in "Girl Meets Farkle's Choice," stating right in front of Topanga that she doesn't like Auggie for his brains, but because he's got a great tush.
  • True Art Is Angsty: Maya notably is very artistic and also has a difficult life living borderline poverty with her single mother and a dad that left when she was 6 years old. In contrast, Riley has a fairly sheltered life in comparison with a nuclear middle-class family and her art skills consist of purple cats painted in a style one might get from a kindergarten student, no matter what the assignment. Lampshaded by Riley when the art teacher still encourages her to continue doing art because she enjoys it.
    Riley: I’m a happy artist...This is why I stink.
  • True Companions: Riley and her family are this to Maya, whose own family is in shambles.
  • Truth in Television: Both Cory and Topanga working full time in order to make ends meet for a family living in NYC. Also, Topanga's wistful desire for a little bit more 'alone time'...
    • The independent, 'latchkey kid' vibe that Maya has, along with the willingness to give up and move on easily when she feels that things are about to go bad for her. Both are consistent with kids of a bitter divorce who live with a single parent that now has to struggle to make ends meet. This was confirmed in "Girl Meets Maya's Mother", which introduced Katy Hart as a failed actress & struggling waitress who is having a difficult time connecting with Maya.
    • It is impossible for someone to spend a weekend in NYC for under $100 unless they find someplace to stay for free, like Shawn explains (and has to do) in "Girl Meets Master Plan".
    • Darby and Yogi. Middle school is definitely a place where you'll see people who are the same age, but don't look it - puberty hits everybody differently. Yogi's actor is 10 while Darby's is much older, but it's quite plausible to see two 13-year-olds who look like that.
    • Parents finding young teenagers already taller and stronger than them. Cory invited Riley to playfully punch him and she knocked him out of his chair, repeatedly. In another episode Maya expresses insecurity about her height, and is consoled when Topanga points out they are almost the same height. (In other words, a refreshing subversion of Short Teens, Tall Adults.)
  • Two Lines, No Waiting:
    • In the first season, the typical paradigm was a "Cory and the kids at school" A plot alongside a "Topanga and Auggie at home" B plot.
    • In the second season, another common scenario is playing out two different perspectives (the kids in the A plot and Cory and Topanga in the B plot) of the same situation.
  • Two Scenes, One Dialogue: The final scene of season one (not counting "Girl Meets Demolition") switches back and forth between Cory & Topanga and Riley & Maya as they have the same conversation regarding the uncertainty of their futures but the certainty of their support for each other.
  • Two-Teacher School: Cory teaches History, but also seems to run every club and extracurricular activity at the school. Miss Kossal, the art teacher, and Coach Gleason, the PE teacher, have each only been seen once. But then, this is true to the spirit of Boy Meets World & it would be stranger if this didn't apply.
    • In the 2nd season premiere, the show teases subverting this twice. First, Cory gleefully says that he won't be Riley and Maya's teacher this year...but they chase the new guy out within 5 minutes, leaving Cory to fill in again. Angry at this development, the girls transfer to a new classroom...with disturbingly familiar students, and a teacher that won't let them pull their usual antics and kicks them out within 5 minutes, sending them scurrying back to Cory's class. Two other teachers are introduced, namely English Teacher Harper Burgess and Science teacher Mr. Norton, both of whom also taught lessons relevant to the episodes they appeared in.
  • Very Special Episode: "Girl Meets I Am Farkle" deals with Asperger's Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Farkle gets tested for Asperger's during aptitude testing and so the gang discusses it. He tests negative but it turns out that Smackle was diagnosed when she was five.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: One-sided between Maya and Lucas: She regularly snarks at him and makes fun of his Texan heritage. He usually just takes it with a smile and will sometimes even play-up his "cowboy" image to show her that it doesn't bother him. Despite this, they are friends and Maya even describes this aspect of their friendship as "our little game."
    • Between Topanga abs Shawn too; Topanga snarks that Cory prefers Shawn to her, but the two adore one another in all other respects and whenever Cory decides to help Shawn Topanga is on her husband's side every time.
  • Wham Line: From "Girl Meets Master Plan":
    Riley: I want Shawn to be Maya's dad.
    • During "Girl Meets Gravity", Riley delivers small monologues with a starry backdrop throughout the episode. In the fourth monologue, she isn't looking at the camera, but as if she's addressing a crowd. Then the stardrop goes black and she moves towards a picture of Mrs. Svorski, the bakery owner. It's at this point the viewer realizes that it wasn't a monologue, but a eulogy.
      Riley: I wasn't in Mrs. Svorski's orbit for very long...
    • From "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes to Washington":
      T.J.: My name is T.J. Murphy. Thomas Jonathan Murphy. Eric Matthews once knew me as-
      Eric: (awe-struck) Tommy?
    • From "Girl Meets the New Year"
      Farkle: Riley still loves Lucas. …I did the right thing, Riley. I hope one day you can forgive me.
    • From "Girl Meets Upstate"
      Shawn: (to Katy) Do you wanna get married?
  • Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Lucas reacts as such when he learns Farkle's full name in "Girl Meets Maya's Mother":
    Lucas: Your name is "Farkle Minkus?"
    Farkle: Don't wear it out.
    Lucas: I don't know how you could.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Played with in "Girl Meets The Truth". Auggie points out that Cory should have been nice to Topanga despite his feelings about the chicken dinner - but when Cory, Riley and Maya all ask him questions relating to their current problems, he reminds them that he's only five years old.
  • World of Ham: Does the main character, her father, and one of her best friends who appears in a lot of scenes being colossal hams count?
  • Writers Cannot Do Math: Possibly in Girl meets 1961. There's the questions of whether Topanga's mother should have been born at this point. It's implied that the great grandparents are young adults (despite being played by the principle actors) with Ginsberg sporting facial hair and running a business. This makes it a little more plausible, however of all the actors that played both Cory and Topanga's parents only Marcia Cross who played the second version of Topnaga's mother was born after 1961 with Peter Tork who played the first iteration of Topanga's father being in his early twenties at that point.
  • Writing Around Trademarks: A Metrocard appears in the pilot, but the term is trademarked; Cory however calls it a New York City subway pass instead.
  • You Are Grounded!: In "Girl Meets Her Monster", Riley and Maya incur Topanga's wrath by binge-watching their favorite TV show instead of helping at the bakery. Riley's phone and computer are taken away for three weeks, while Maya is ordered to return to her actual house for a change.

Riley: Time and distance have no power over us. You and I are together for as long as we live.
Maya: Thunder?
Riley: Lightning.
Maya: Done.

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