Disney+ Halloween Review: Girl Meets World
Disney+ has once again added a Halloween collection to its streaming service as we get closer to the spooky holiday. Part of that collection includes Halloween episodes of series that appeared on Disney’s family of networks and Disney+ Original Series. So, I thought I would take time to review some of the individual episodes from the collection as part of the “Hallowstream.” First up is the Halloween episode of “Girls Meets World” from the first season of the show.
Disney had a habit on their shows of making Halloween episodes that have little to nothing to do with the regular story arcs of their shows. That was true of the original “Boy Meets World” series on ABC and that continues on the “Girl Meets World” series on Disney Channel. In this episode, Augie is telling three “scary” stories; one about Farkle being scared of the softball in gym class, one about Riley being afraid to spend the night at Maya’s house, and one about Augie afraid to go to sleep by himself because of a monster under the bed. These storylines have no introduction prior to this episode, and never appear again after it in the course of the series. Everything here is self-contained to give a spooky, but not truly scary Halloween episode that is kid-friendly. Being this is a Disney Channel Original Series, it was clearly trying to target that audience and probably did a fine job of it. But, “Girl Meets World” had a built in audience of adults who loved “Boy Meets World,” and this episode will take them out of the series. It’s not bad. It’s different.
There is a little bit of continuity from the season in the episode, but not enough to build on. Riley has a crush on Lucas and finds a way to get spend some quality time with him when she pretends like she doesn’t know which hand her glove goes on during the softball game. Lucas gives her hand and it’s a nice nod to a girl getting some time alone with her crush. Farkle is not very athletic, and it shows while he’s afraid of the ball. And, Lucas, the consummate good guy is there to help Farkle realize he’s got nothing to be afraid of by hitting him with the softball on purpose. There are very few new character traits introduced in this episode, and they all seem to disappear by the end of the episode.
Overall, this is a cute episode that will probably entertain kids watching. It will not keep an adult entertained, but it was a Disney Channel show. It was never meant to tackle more mature plotlines. That may be why it was canceled after three season instead of getting to continuing building as the kids transitioned to high school. It’s fine, but nothing to build on.
Ranking: 2 stars out of 5
What did you think of the Halloween episode of “Girl Meets World?”