Guys, there's going to be so many spoilers here, but I'm going to start with the least significant squee so y'all can read at least that. Because it's important. It's so very important. If cast spoilers are a big deal for you, then you do have to stop here. Bookmark this page, come back after you watch the episode, fangirl (or fanboy) with me. And I couldn't find (and due to technical difficulties, can't make my own) a screenshot of Harajuku Riley, so y'all get the entire episode promo.
So, (insignificant spoiler) the first: so the first Boy Meets World guest star turns out to be Willie Garson? "Who is that, friendly neighborhood Amanda?" For shame, I've mentioned him before. He's Leonard Spinelli! And also Mervyn, a customer that lost out working for Alan's nature store to Ezekial. Then he freaking married Cory and Topanga. And now he's Topanga's boss! You have no idea how thrilled I was when I recognized him - I mean, come on, I think the man's a BMW legend - and maybe he can be one on Girl Meets World, too.
Okay, now if you haven't seen the episode you need to leave because you are not invited to the rest of this post. I mean, okay, you can come, but you're not allowed to cry about spoilers. You've been warned. The guy at the door is going to ask, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" and the answer is "cuddlefish." I might be a little hyper - or I might be the kind of person who likes putting up big walls of text between what's safe to read and what's a spoiler so people have more time to walk away without accidentally seeing the spoiler. Maybe both.
So hippie Topanga returned! Yes, that's what I'm going with first. When I was 10 years old, I wanted nothing more than to be just like hippie Topanga. She had a beautiful soul. I was always sad when she changed, but it wasn't enough that they brought her back - they showed a flashback to when Cory and Topanga first met. In sixth grade. It was amazing. Hippie Mom Topanga laid down some wisdom in classic first season style, and it was perfect. It was beautiful. And I think a successful, driven Topanga who remembers to find the good in the world - who remembers to do good - is exactly the kind of character Mom Topanga needs to be.
Man, this episode was just so littered with Boy Meets World throwbacks and the one I noticed from the promo was when Riley got invited to the party but Maya didn't. It was a total geek party, but Riley was so popular with the geeks that she completely embraced it and it was up to Maya to remind Riley of who she really was. I mean, Cory helped - but Cory's been there. He got invited to a party because he was safe and he wanted to be dangerous, like Shawn. Shawn was like, "screw that noise, who cares what people think of us" and brought Cory back round to normal. I think. I'm not going to lie, I haven't seen that episode in a long time. Please correct me.
"Girl Meets Popular" is an excellent Girl Meets World episode for the Boy Meets World fans. It was practically a love letter to us, without turning the show back into its predecessor.
