Girl Meets - Episode 105

Pod Meets World

The hosts of Pod Meets World return to recap the fifth episode of Girl Meets World, titled 'Girl Meets Truth.' They begin with personal anec

Key takeaways

• Danielle shares a story about her cat Bill clawing her during a fall down the stairs.
• Ryder recounts a traumatic incident where his toenail popped off in the shower.
• The hosts critique the episode for being 'overwritten' and lacking the simple sitcom logic of Boy Meets World.
• They discuss the guest appearance of Whitney Avalon, known for her YouTube series Princess Rap Battle.
• A debate ensues regarding whether the show's focus on truth-telling is too heavy-handed for a Disney Channel audience.

Main topics

• Personal injury anecdotes
• Girl Meets World recap
• Truth vs. White Lies

Notable quotes

Every man for yourself.

Conclusion

The episode offers a nostalgic yet critical look at the evolution of D

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Speaker 1 (0:22) Can I tell you something that happened to me yesterday that I didn't even tell Jensen happened? Speaker 2 (0:28) Yes. Are we doing this as pre-show chatter? So you're telling the world? I'm Speaker 3 (0:32) telling the whole world at Speaker 1 (0:33) the same time. And I'm dying to know what, you know, you know how sometimes you read a story and you think, what would I do in that situation? Like a home invasion and you hear what the people did and, and like, you think, what would, what would I do? So. I am wanting to know what your guy's response is, like physical response to almost fully injuring yourself. Speaker 3 (0:59) What happened? So Speaker 1 (1:01) my first version of this is that right before Jensen and I got married, Bill woke us up in the middle of the night to eat and he used to eat downstairs. Bill Daniels? Yes, Bill Daniels. He Speaker 3 (1:13) sleeps curled up in a ball at the bottom of your bed. Speaker 1 (1:16) He does. And he eats downstairs. Well, I was thinking of him Speaker 2 (1:20) because you remember he did like have home invasions. Yeah. Speaker 3 (1:24) Yeah. Yeah. I Speaker 1 (1:26) don't know if it was a plural home invasions. Yeah. I think it was one. I don't think he was like targeted multiple times. Just see Speaker 3 (1:36) Bill with a bow and arrow. No, I have Speaker 1 (1:37) a cat named Bill. And Bill woke up in the middle of the night, wanted to eat. I decided to carry him down the stairs and it was pitch black. I tripped on the stair, started to fall down and Bill put all his claws out and literally clawed my neck and my arm to jump off of me. Like every man for yourself. Cause he didn't want me going down with him. So he landed on his feet and I fully tumbled down the stairs. And do you know, I did not. Make one sound. Oh my God. If Speaker 3 (2:13) a Speaker 1 (2:13) deer fell Speaker 3 (2:13) in the forest, do you hear it? Speaker 1 (2:14) Because Jensen was sleeping. And so as I was falling. You're like insanely Speaker 2 (2:20) considerate. Don't wake up Speaker 1 (2:22) Jensen. Do you know what my Speaker 2 (2:24) honest reaction to getting hurt is? Always embarrassment. Like I just, I immediately laugh. Like how stupid I am. And then I try and play it off like I'm not hurt, Speaker 3 (2:35) even if no one's around. Like, you know what I mean? Like I will laugh. Speaker 2 (2:38) I will be shaking my head like what an idiot. I'm okay. Meanwhile, crying inside. I'm okay. Meanwhile, like, limping, bleeding. Like, it's, I know this about myself now. Like, it's pure embarrassment. It's like, oh, no one saw that, right? Speaker 3 (2:51) I'm okay. I'm okay. Speaker 2 (2:52) It's so stupid. I know it's the dumbest reaction in the world. But I always laugh. I immediately laugh. I'm the same way with conflict. Like, if somebody yells at me, I'm like, well, you can't be serious. You got it. You're not really that Speaker 3 (3:03) bad. Speaker 2 (3:03) We're Speaker 3 (3:04) not Speaker 2 (3:04) really having a confrontation right now, are we? I'm 50 Speaker 3 (3:06) now. I'm to the point of nobody laughs anymore. They come over and they go, are you okay? It's no longer funny. Speaker 1 (3:12) When you fall? Speaker 3 (3:13) Yeah, when I fall. Like, sir, are you all right? So wait, did you literally roll down the stairs? Wait, the first time, did you roll down the stairs? Speaker 1 (3:21) I didn't roll like head first, but I tumbled and then boom, boom, boom, down the stairs. And by the way, I had a bloody scratch on my arm for our wedding. And I had marks on my neck that we had to cover because the cat literally was like. every man for himself just claws out, leapt off, like pushed off of me to get away from me. So yesterday, so Keaton turned five this past weekend. We had a little, you know, birthday party for the Keeks. And one of the things that we put out for outdoor parties are these little fans that spin to keep flies away from the food. They go in the uppermost cabinet in the corner. In the, in one of the kitchen cabinets. Right. Speaker 2 (4:00) Hardest place for you to reach. Hardest place for me to reach. Speaker 1 (4:02) I can't actually reach them without jumping onto the counter. So I didn't put them away the day after the party. I put them away yesterday. And so I jumped up on the counter, opened up the cabinet, put all the things away. And then on my way down, I turned to face the kitchen. My kitchen island is in front of me. And I, instead of just jumping off, I thought I would do it a little safer. And I squatted down and went to go get off one leg at a time. Speaker 1 (4:36) My toes got stuck in the handle. Speaker 2 (4:43) No. Speaker 1 (4:43) Of the trash can. No. Right below me. And so one foot went down. Oh, no. The other foot. And I almost face planted. Into the Speaker 2 (4:54) island. Oh, my God. Into Speaker 1 (4:55) the island in front of me. Oh, my God. And Speaker 2 (4:58) do Speaker 1 (4:58) you know, I did not make a peep. lest I bother the children that were watching the television in the other room. Oh Speaker 3 (5:08) my God. I literally Speaker 1 (5:10) thought, don't, don't let anyone, do not ask for help. Did you hit anything? No. Thankfully I, you know, could have broken my wrists, but no, I hit, I hit my, I stopped myself. Oh my God. My toe is black and blue and, and also cut. Wait, so how long does this like, Speaker 2 (5:28) prohibition on making noise last. Do Speaker 1 (5:29) you Speaker 2 (5:29) then say, do you then like get snap out of it? And Speaker 3 (5:33) you're Speaker 2 (5:33) like, Oh my God, that hurts so bad. I Speaker 1 (5:34) didn't even tell the soul. I just went, went about my Speaker 2 (5:36) life. Speaker 1 (5:37) I didn't even tell Jensen. This is the first time anybody's hearing this story. And, and I told Jensen the next day with the cat, I was like, look at my, I'm all bloody. He's like, what the heck happened? I was like, Oh, well last night I fell down the stairs. He's like, what? How come I didn't hear you? I was like, of course you wouldn't. I was a ninja. Speaker 3 (5:55) Yeah. Well, I want you to know that if I was there for either one of those, I would have laughed my ass off. Just so you know. Just for the record. Speaker 1 (6:02) Thank you. That is what I was missing, is somebody to really laugh. Speaker 3 (6:06) Pointing and laughing. At my Speaker 1 (6:07) pain. Speaker 3 (6:07) Yeah, no, so to answer your question, I think I do, Danielle, what you do, which is, so I had one where I have a step down into the theater. Speaker 1 (6:17) Yes. It's Speaker 3 (6:17) just two little stairs, that's it. And there's a separate light there in the hallway. And so. Years ago, I think Sue and I were dating at the time. So this is 12 whatever years ago. I stepped down. I missed the step. And I had Jason Marsden had given me an antique popcorn machine that I had in the corner there. And I stumbled forward and I hit it mouth first, face and mouth first. It like it bleeding everywhere, that kind of thing. But the first thing I did was I was like, oh, my God, I just knocked my teeth out. I just knocked my teeth out. I just knocked my teeth. Like you go through this. What did I just do? What did I just do? Right. And so I've had more weird kind of injuries like that. I had another when I was in the shower. Again, I have a step down shower like the night we did your steps. Yeah. And I, you know, have this had the two sliding glass doors in the shower. I pulled one to the side to close it. It fell off the hinge and landed on my big toe. Speaker 2 (7:17) In the shower? In the shower. I'm naked in the shower. Again, Speaker 3 (7:21) as Daniel likes me to say, soap in my nethers. I do not like Speaker 1 (7:25) that. Speaker 3 (7:26) No. It falls on my toe and it explodes. Soaping a Speaker 2 (7:30) stinkle. Soaking Speaker 3 (7:31) a Speaker 2 (7:31) stinkle. Taking care of his tushy. Speaker 3 (7:35) Making sure he doesn't have a stomach ache. Making sure his Speaker 2 (7:41) nippies are clean. My Speaker 3 (7:42) nippies is clean. And the dingles is washed. So Speaker 2 (7:45) he Speaker 3 (7:45) cannot be ready for the pookie pook. No. Speaker 3 (7:49) Full chills. Speaker 1 (7:49) Full chills. No, Speaker 3 (7:52) the thing falls in my toe. It explodes in the shower. So I literally think I've cut my toe off. No, my toe. Speaker 2 (7:59) Blood sprays like it's like an Speaker 3 (8:02) explosion. Speaker 2 (8:03) And my entire Speaker 3 (8:04) toenail comes off in one piece. I still have it. Do you Speaker 1 (8:09) kept it? We're losing listeners actively. No, we're not. People right now are literally like, no, we're not. Speaker 3 (8:15) They are thinking about their own stummies. If they are stuck Speaker 1 (8:17) around for Girl Meets World. They're here for this. Toenail Speaker 3 (8:22) popping off. But again, I go through that, what I think I just did. I was like, I just cut off my toe. I just cut off my toe. So I go instantly to the bad part. So did you think you had, you stopped yourself. So you weren't like, I just knocked my teeth out. Okay. No, Speaker 1 (8:35) as a matter of fact, I, I always think. Nothing's wrong. I mean, that's what happened with my finger when I broke my finger years ago. I was like, it's fine. It's just jammed. Speaker 2 (8:43) This is like some toxic caretakerism or what's the word I'm looking for? Like, you know, like you've internalized this desire to like keep everything fine and to like that to a degree that it's actually hurting you and you're not allowed to feel pain or to have any or wake up any. You can't inconvenience anybody else even. That's toxic caretakerism. I'm going to coin it now. I Speaker 3 (9:05) set my own arm. I wrapped it. It Speaker 2 (9:08) was Speaker 3 (9:08) fine. I didn't want to wake my kids up. I used one hand to make their lunches. I Speaker 1 (9:13) don't have Speaker 3 (9:13) any needs. I have no needs. I'm totally fine. No, it's Speaker 1 (9:19) terrible. But anyway, I did just, I thought, well, I'm going to have to tell the guys that I almost died. I mean, I'm not just toes in a drawer. Oh, gosh. Just really bad. Anyway. Woo! You're alive. You're alive. I'm alive. I'm alive. And we're good. Speaker 2 (9:34) You're alright. Welcome Speaker 1 (9:34) to Pod Meets World. I'm Danielle Fishel. I'm Speaker 3 (9:36) Ryder Strong. And I'm soaping my nethers. Speaker 1 (9:38) No. Speaker 3 (9:39) I'm Will Friedle. Speaker 1 (9:54) Welcome to today's episode. We are recapping season one, episode five of Girl Meets World. This is Girl Meets Truth. It originally aired August 1st, 2014. The synopsis, Riley struggles with the consequences of telling the truth after hurting Farkle's feelings, while Maya faces her own dilemma over a locket. It was directed by Joel Zwick. It was written by Matthew Nelson, one of our favorite writers from Boy Meets World. May he rest in peace. Do we want to talk at all about it? We go back and forth. I know we have kind of decided you want to do it. Speaker 2 (10:31) I'm starting to feel better about Girl Meets World, guys. I feel like, you know, we're still in this like universe truth, you know, very abstract, all the things, all the things. But I felt like this had a clear A and B storyline. Yeah. Speaker 1 (10:48) You Speaker 2 (10:48) know, that it didn't have. a C through Z storyline, like the last or the pilot last couple. I feel like there's a there's a there's something focusing here. And I feel like they're hitting their stride as a as a writing staff, as a team. I don't know. I was just like, you know, I still didn't like laugh out loud and like I still wish it had just a little more of the simple hijink stuff or like simple, simple sitcom stuff. But I don't know, like this felt better to me. This felt like we're easing into, you know, I mean, I think the the the. The key to Girl Meets World is just, it is very sentimental. It's very sentimental. And that makes it younger in a way. It makes it less, it's sophisticated in the terms of the way they're talking about like the language they're using, but it's actually very unsophisticated in its heavy handedness. Do you know what I mean? So it's like, I don't know. I just like, I'm just, I guess I'm reaching a point of acceptance with Girl Meets World that is making me appreciate it a little bit more. Speaker 1 (11:47) Great. Speaker 3 (11:48) Will? You got to the acceptance faster than I did. Yeah, again, a couple things this episode taught me. One, I love Corey as Alan so much more than I love him as the teacher. Keep him at home. Keep him with Topanga. Keep him in the family. Speaker 1 (12:06) Keep him with Speaker 3 (12:07) Augie. Yeah, I thought there was times that Ben in this episode was very funny as dad, as Disney dad, like that I really loved. I get what they're doing, but I see, for lack of a better term, and I'm not trying to pick on anybody, but the Michael Jacobs-isms of it in that we're going to take a very simple concept and make it as convoluted as possible. Speaker 1 (12:28) Yeah. Speaker 3 (12:29) And so it's, don't lie. Great concept and a good idea for a kid's show. I get that, totally. But now let's make it as weirdly, again, sentimental, but also white lies versus it where it's like. Of course, White Light. I mean, it's still muddled to me. I'm trying to get there because, again, it's a Disney Channel show. And I think one of the problems is it's missing the Disney Channel-ness of it all. It's a Disney Channel show that Michael is trying desperately to elevate what's on the Disney Channel. And the fact remains, if you watch some really good stuff on the Disney Channel, it's really good stuff on the Disney Channel. Disney Channel didn't need to be fixed. And it feels like Michael came in going like, well, I can show you what your network really should be. And it's like, obviously, you didn't watch a whole lot of Disney Channel, which I do for my job, my other job and all the kind of stuff. Yeah, there's some young young people's television. That's really good. It didn't need. And that's why certain things like Farkle when when he gets on. Yes, the characters a lot and it's very broad, but that's the point. That's Disney Channel. And you get some of these younger actors from some of these other Disney Channel shows that had characters like that, that were big and broad and crazy. And that's exactly what the Disney Channel should be. So I'd love to lean more into that as opposed to the like, let me let me write for Disney Channel. It's like, OK, it's Disney Channel. So I'm not quite there yet. Again, I will say this every week. The actors, the cast is way better than we were, especially during season one. Love watching them. Very happy Ben was in the house. So, yeah, it's it's getting better. But this again, I think they're taking very simple concepts that are important. Yeah. Just overriding them. Yeah. Speaker 1 (14:13) I agree. It's overwritten, but I appreciate that at least there's a clear A to B storyline. It's a story. And Speaker 2 (14:20) they are connected, right? With like one clear thematic. Oh, it's about lying. And we were going to discuss whether it's good or bad to lie at different times. Yep. Speaker 1 (14:30) And... I like the fact that this episode opens. Don't know if either one of you guys will remember this, but do you remember the Hamlet storyline where Topanga and Minkus? Of course. This is the right kind of callback to Boy Meets World, in my opinion, where it's not a matter of bringing back an old character and having them be exactly the same person. It's like, it's an homage. It's a real, like, if you're watching with your kids now, you might remember this. similar play situation with other characters. It's in Speaker 2 (15:05) the pilot, I believe. Yeah. I'm pretty. Is it? There's Speaker 3 (15:09) a Speaker 2 (15:09) Boy Meets World. A Boy Meets World. There's a girl lying on the desk. Yeah, if you touch me with this knife, you better kill me the first time. You Speaker 3 (15:14) better Speaker 2 (15:14) kill me the first time. It's Speaker 3 (15:16) in Speaker 2 (15:16) the opening of the show is this scene where it's Romeo and Juliet and Corey's. Yeah. Opening of this Speaker 1 (15:23) show. That's what I'm saying. Oh, yeah. Speaker 2 (15:24) Yeah. Yeah. I Speaker 1 (15:25) feel like this little way of doing homages to Boy Meets World is better than some of the other, you know. Speaker 2 (15:34) Very heavy. Very, Speaker 1 (15:36) very obvious, you know, tying in of the two worlds. To me, I like the feeling of just like because this is what I was hoping the show would do is that it was going to be like if you liked Boy Meets World. when you were a kid and now you have kids of your own and you're going to watch this with them, you're just going to get a little smile on your face when you're going to remember, oh, I remember when Minkus and that was Topanga on the table and now it's Riley and that, oh, cute, cute, how they're able to, you know, Speaker 3 (16:02) that Speaker 1 (16:04) felt good to me. There's also Speaker 3 (16:05) something which is lovely, which is it's generational. Everybody, it doesn't matter what generation you are, my dad's generation, our generation, whatever you want, everybody had a fourth, fifth, sixth grade play. Speaker 1 (16:18) Everybody Speaker 3 (16:18) can relate to things like this. And then certain things change. Our generation didn't have to worry about technology. So you get to add that stuff. So there is something timeless about storylines like this, which is great. And so, yeah, in that sense, they are hitting their stride in that. Again, you can see the Matt Nelson of it where Matt could put a story together. You know, there was always an A story and a B story and they connected well and that kind of stuff. But then you can also see other people's hands in it that. where it's like, but then we're going to add this message and that message and this message. And it's like, okay. Speaker 2 (16:47) By the end, I am very confused as to the values of lying or not lying. It becomes... White Speaker 3 (16:54) lie versus the other. And it's like, do you lie to save somebody's feelings? Yeah. Again, interesting conversation. Speaker 1 (17:02) Well, this episode is guest starring Whitney Avalon as Mom in the Locket. Whitney first broke on YouTube as the creator of the Princess Rap Battle series with a channel that has over 775 million views. My God. Speaker 3 (17:15) She has Speaker 1 (17:16) written songs for Phineas and Ferb on the Disney Channel and has appeared on St. Dennis Medical and The Big Bang Theory. Also starring Ashlyn Faith Williams as Little Girl in the Locket. This was her first job ever, and she would later appear on Modern Family, Live in Maddie, and School of Rock. Her last acting credit was in 2018 and is now a college student. The dad in the locket was not listed, so let's assume he was a ghost. Speaker 3 (17:43) Okay. That works. Speaker 1 (17:57) Jumping into the recap, in the packed school theater on stage, Riley is lying down in a red dress on a stone bed when Lucas walks up behind her wearing medieval armor. Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips, oh, you, the doors of breath, seal with the righteous kiss. As he leans in to kiss Riley, Farkle creeps out in a similar costume and points a rubber sword at Lucas. Back off. Lucas is confused. What meanest thou, spear carrier? Who haven't no lines? Farkle angrily whispers, you tried to kiss my woman. This I cannot allow. Prepare to die. Riley giggles while still on her back. But Lucas is annoyed. Farkle, what are you doing? It's Romeo and Juliet. Farkle demands, now it's Romeo and Juliet and Farkle. I play Farkle. Not amused, Lucas explains, dude, I'm supposed to kiss the girl. Shakespeare said. Farkle turns to the audience and yells, who thinks the spear carrier should finally get to kiss Juliet? The whole crowd cheers and we see Maya enthusiastically stand up. Yeah, you kiss that girl, you crazy spear carrier. Farkle yells back at her, hark, you cometh upeth here and getteth kissed too. The audience cheers again as Maya walks up to the stage and lies down next to Riley. How you doing? Riley shrugs. I just don't understand how we end up in situations like this. We Speaker 2 (19:19) should Speaker 1 (19:19) keep Speaker 2 (19:19) a how you doing meter going. Yeah. Speaker 1 (19:21) It Speaker 2 (19:21) said every episode. It's like the button to every little beat. It's like, how you doing? Why is she coming on stage? Speaker 1 (19:31) Because Farkle told her. Speaker 2 (19:34) See, I thought this was great. I was loving this. But in retrospect, like, why is the audience cheering and like and Maya's like cool with and getting on stage? Like, Speaker 3 (19:46) yeah, it seemed like Speaker 2 (19:46) this was all cool. Like I was like, this is fun. Everyone's having a good time. So then when it's like for the rest of the episode, Farkle ruined the show. All Speaker 3 (19:54) you have to do is very simply the easiest change in the world is that this is a rehearsal. Speaker 1 (20:00) Yeah. Speaker 3 (20:01) It's like they made it the actual play. If it's Speaker 1 (20:02) a Speaker 3 (20:02) rehearsal, then some people in the audience cheer. Like you have people there that have classmates cheering. Maya goes on stage, but Maya ruins the play. Right. First of all. She breaks the wall. Yeah. Speaker 2 (20:13) Yeah. And it's not that he's bad.