The fact that they all thought it was concerning when Maya started getting good grades and improving herself, it really hurt to watch.

Maya: learns impulse control and how to reflect on herself and actions Everyone: WHO ARE YOU??? THIS ISN'T HEALTHY!!!!!

What angers me most about Girl Meets World is that it feels like they really just wanted Maya being from a broken household to be her only personality trait, so that when they started actually changing her and what I hoped would be some good character development for her, they instead beat her down and forced her back into the stereotypical "bad kid from a broken home" character.

The "why can't both of us like a good guy" realllyyyy hurt me because they all essentially convinced Maya that she essentially doesn't deserve a good guy, and she got stuck with Josh again. Josh, the manipulative asshole who is too old for her.

Hot take, Riley was supportive of Lucas at the Rodeo because she is secure with her life and the people in it. Losing people in her life isn’t an insecurity. Maya has none of that so losing people is a big insecurity, and that’s why she wasn’t supportive.

Auggie and Ava had a more stable relationship than the triangle

in my opinion, Riley was really manipulative but used her personality as an excuse. She gaslit and manipulated Mya into thinking that she was becoming her when really she was just improving herself. poor mya

I hate how the extras in this show just stare at the main characters like they’re the most fascinating people in the world

Unsurprisingly, Topanga’s controlling and competitive attitude combined with Cory’s stubborn and tone deafness resulted in a very overbearing girl. I can’t blame that one girl from season 3 for not wanting to be Riley’s friend

Sabrina acting way too hard for this show. She’s so awesome

Maya grows up and becomes mature, and riley loses her shit because she cant keep up tbh

It really breaks me that Maya sits there and is like "you think I'm selfish? I don't want you to think of me like that.." as Riley continues to egg her on. It hurts so much when someone doesn't recognize your pain and views you as a person you don't want to be. You can see Maya is really hurting and Riley continues to tell her "you're a selfish person" without really registering it

Watching the scene where Riley is yelling at Maya that she's not acting like herself is so heartbreaking. I think the actress for Maya is wonderful because she does a great job at portraying someone who's closed off, scared, and confused without having to cry, like her body language and facial expression captures it perfectly, to the point the scene is painful to watch.

The actor who plays Lucas (Peyton) mentioned on his twitch stream that Maya and Lucas was never part of the original storyline. The producers included it because of the on-screen chemistry between the two actors. He even talked about how him and Sabrina were the closest of the cast back when the show was filmed, which is evident in the final product. He even mentioned that he was rooting for Lucaya and didn't agree with the producer's decision to cut their kiss from the show. It really is that the chemistry between actors was just better with Maya and Lucas than Riley and Lucas, which sucks cause it muddied the story of the show.

Can we talk about how Zay (portrayed by Amir Mitchell-Townes) is the secret captain of Lucaya ship? “Hey Maya, looks like Lucas here is getting all fired up on your behalf.”

Lucas never had a choice, he was just constantly told what to do

Something that always bothered me about the whole "Maya is Riley" plotline is that it pushed the idea Maya couldn't be her own person if that meant she was maturing/developing as a character. Maya grew up in an unstable home with abandonment issues, of course she'd act out as a kid. I would argue Shawn being a positive influence in her life could've made her less rebellious and helped her learn to express herself more healthily. Who said it had to be because of Riley? Makes it seem like Maya has to be the devil in order for Riley to keep her angel label. The scene where Riley goes bonkers because she's realizing Maya "turned into her" drives me mad because it's like, wow, Maya can't mature or evolve in any way because you're the only one that can be nice? It's a toxic mindset. It makes it seem like Riley couldn't be happy unless she was the stable happy one and Maya was the traumatized bad girl.

Basically everyone but Lucas needs therapy in this triangle. Maya because everyone was gaslighting her, Riley for whatever made her gaslight Maya, and Josh for crushing on people way too young for him

josh joining in on the glaslightification of maya was groomer behavior 😭

I will forever be pissed at the fact that Girl meets Texas was used for the triangle and not to develop lucas as a character.

I feel like Maya got told what her feelings were in the show the whole time. Like, her feelings for Lucas, her being Riley, her being too good, and they pretty much put her into a box where she couldn’t even have time to process anything for herself so she just conformed to their thoughts of her. This is especially present within the whole being Riley storyline.

Riarkle was so robbed from being endgame. The parallels to Cory and Topanga were so obvious from S1, it would have been so beautiful to see a healthy best friends to lovers story :')

Unpopular opinion: Riley was a toxic friend, who thought she was helping, but she never did.

I’m still shocked Disney was entering throuple territory on a kids show. That is so wild to me.

It’s been 6 years since the show ended & that triangle still royally pisses me off. I’m a Lucaya shipper so I’m obviously upset just about the ending but after rewatching the show recently, it’s the character assassination of Maya that’s so much worse. Poor girly really was gaslit into thinking that improving herself was a bad thing.

I always thought that Lucas would have chosen Maya, as he looked disappointed when she told him to be with Riley. He had better chemistry with Maya, in my opinion.

The whole “Maya is Riley” thing was incredibly toxic. Why couldn’t Maya be free to grow and develop as a person without it being associated as “becoming Riley”? It was a red flag when the writers were siding with Riley’s borderline gaslighting of her best friend. If Riley was such a good friend, she would have been happy to see Maya be happy instead of whining about how she changed. It’s not a healthy relationship that they have; it’s like Maya is a growing plant but Riley keeps shoving her into the same small pot until she wilts. She wants to keep Maya in her own comfort zone regardless of what Maya herself thinks.

why is no one holding lucas accountable for his actions.. like he literally entertained them both knowing they were best friends 😭😭

about the bull scene: i would be maya. idk but when you have abandonment issues, like she does, you don’t want your partner to get hurt and you interpret that as a betrayal. i control that now as an adult, but i can imagine that as a 15 year old i probably wouldn’t. that’s how trauma works.

my word everything about 36:59 is making my stomach turn. the way Maya looks so deflated and is curled in on herself, the way she tries to advocate for Lucas’ voice in deciding this mess of a love triangle only to be immediately dismissed and shot down, the way Riley tries to antagonize Maya into getting mad because “the Maya she’s always been would take nothing from nobody” as if Maya didn’t spend a year suppressing her own feelings for Riley’s sake, as if Maya wasn’t abandoned by her father and has self-worth issues because of it to the point that she initially believes that “Hope is for suckers,” as if Maya can only react to upsetting things in anger and outrage and not in sadness and resignation…..how Riley doesn’t deny it when Maya asks if Riley thinks she’s being selfish and how Riley doesn’t understand that Maya’s abandonment issues _very clearly make her terrified of losing Riley and the Matthews because they’re her family and support system_ and so of course she’s not going to fight Riley for Lucas, because she doesn’t want to lose Riley like she lost her father……..the way Maya can’t even look Riley in the eyes and seems to be borderline dissociating because of the way Riley is yelling at her. One of the most toxic and upsetting scenes of the show, honestly. Edit: “What’s wrong with us both liking the same guy? What’s wrong with who I am now?” broke my damn heart. Justice for Maya, oh my word. That’s so messed up.

I never realized how awkward the whole "bully Maya out for the triangle by gaslighting" is

More on the gaslighting: Maya changing her hair and clothes could just be part of growing up and trying out new things. It's not unheard of, maybe she mimicked Rileys style cause they're best friends so it was the only frame of reference she felt comfortable branching into at the time and Rileys style in general was just more feminine which is not that unique, just different from Mayas. And not getting into trouble? She's in a healthier place now, her relationship with her mom has vastly improved and Shawn is basically her dad. Why WOULD she get into trouble when the show itself pointed to her troubled home life as the source for her getting into trouble. Being mischievous might be a part of her but that doesn't have to be something that results in her getting detention.

god the whole maya-is-riley thing was a mess and i hated every second of it, i'm glad i'm not alone in that

the thing that makes me the most upset about the whole maya became riley thing is it's basically saying that maya can't grow and change. like she's getting better grades and getting in less trouble that didn't mean she wasn't herself she was just growing up she gets punished for growing and it makes me so angry!!!!

Tbh this could be turned into a horror movie. Why did everyone convince Maya that she was becoming Riley???

The scene where Riley self-righteously accuses Maya of “becoming” her is absolutely horrid. I can’t believe Riley so confidently said she preferred Maya when she was an impulsive and abrasive person, especially since she knows what Maya’s family life is like. Riley was basically gatekeeping being a good person even though she’s not even a good person herself.

everytime i rewatch this show…i lose a bit of braincells tryna see how they pushed this triangle when there were THOUSANDS OF OTHER SHIPS THAT WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER CANONICALLY.

this video is making me realize that they’re actually pretty good actors

riley is making me so uncomfortable with how she felt the need to call out maya so much? all in front of their friends. like you said, this is NOT her place, but ig they all feel “close enough” to just ignore common boundaries like that…

Tbh I think Riley was just selfish and straight up a bad friend😭 She outed Maya’s feelings , but as soon as Farkle was going to do it to her it was a problem. Also, the yays when Riley thought Lucas chose her made me so mad pls. Not even just that, but SOOO many of her actions show she doesn’t consider Maya, just herself😫 Lucas doesn’t deserve Maya either 🗣️🗣️

Oh yes, thank you for addressing the incessant triangle plot, Caitlin. It took ages for them to sort it out, and even then, Lucas didn't even choose Riley or Maya, but Maya bowed out because she could tell that Riley and Lucas liked each other. But Riley and Lucas didn't even act like a couple, even after supposedly getting together.

Throughout the love triangle (and the entire show), Riley was infantilized in a really weird way. Even in high school she acts like a very young child and the other characters test her like that. Not always, but just enough that it kind of creeps me out. I think that’s why so many people shipped Maya and Lucas. Riley never really felt as mature as the others, similar to some criticisms with Kataang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I have two main points to make (saying it now I totally agree with everything you said in this video): 1. Riley was the only person to ever think that Maya wasn't herself. Everyone else seemed happy that Maya was growing and changing and accepting the positive influences in her life and finally applying that in her own world. It wasn't until Riley said something that everyone believed that Maya just wasn't being true to herself. Riley seems to have so much power over the people in her life because no one thinks she can do any wrong -- she's a good student, she's always sunshine and rainbows, she loves her friends, and always shows honesty in her relationships. Maya, because she comes from a broken home and is known to have struggled a lot growing up, doesn't instill trust in others: everyone believes it is in Maya's nature to act out. These people, who have essentially helped raise Maya, suddenly don't believe that the lessons they taught her and the love they showed her meant anything only because Riley thought it was weird that Maya wasn't a 13-year-old troublemaker anymore. I think this is honestly my biggest issue with the show. They wanted SO badly to have Riley and Maya be polar opposites and in order to keep it that way, they needed to somehow come up with an explanation that made Maya that same rebel again. The writers never wanted Maya to grow, they just wanted to make some lazy, empty lessons of the power of friendship all while staying true to yourself. How is improving NOT staying true to yourself? 2. That Lucas was it for Riley purely because he was a "nice guy". It honestly upset me that they decided to change Lucas completely from his past. Only twice do we ever see "Texas Lucas" come back: when Riley is getting bullied, and when Zay is. That's IT. For a show that tries so hard to convince us that Maya will forever and always be a rebel, they sure do drill it into our heads that Lucas has changed for the better. If Lucas can change, why is it such a bad thing that Maya does too? I know that Lucas went farther than Maya ever has given that he got expelled, but Maya has done NUMEROUS bad things. It builds up. If Maya is being told that she can't be good because her best friend Riley already is, what's stopping her from going too far as well? And on that point, why is there a need to completely invalidate Lucas's feelings and convince the audience that he must like Riley because Maya reminds him too much of his past? Why was there a need to make Lucas such a goodie two shoes? Why can't Maya bring back some of Lucas's fun side instead of Riley constantly putting him on a pedestal and forcing him to stay perfect? I think this point bleeds into another problem of mine which is one you touched on. This show was all about people changing people but it never showed actual, concrete proof of this EVER happening. Lucas vehemently disapproved of Maya's actions and desire for adventure. Lucas never let loose and never got to feel anything for Maya because it was now in his nature to only seek out goodness. Maya wasn't allowed to change her ways because the show says there can only be one nice person in a relationship. Riley lived in Rileytown 24/7 because she couldn't learn from her best friend that life can be unforgiving and cruel. No one ever changed and everyone had to fit into the stereotypes the writers created from the start. Another thing: I fully believe Lucas was convinced that he never liked Maya even thought the chemistry was always there. When Maya told Lucas she knew his decision and that it was Riley either way, Lucas was led to believe that there was no way he liked the real Maya. With that statement, Lucas is basically being told that he only ever liked Riley anyway and that was that. I think it adds to the theory that Riley was acting in her own self interest when "trying to bring Maya back". Riley must've known that Lucas suddenly liking Maya was linked to Maya losing herself. RIGHT after the episode where Maya comes back, Lucas suddenly has a final decision. Lucas never got a chance to explore his feelings for Maya because no one ever gave him time to do so and Riley never let Maya believe she truly liked Lucas. Anyways. I doubt anyone is gonna read this since im 8 months late but this show has been on my mind recently and I wanted to get my frustrations out somewhere lol

I think Riley gaslighting Maya about her identity could have been good writing if they wanted Riley to go through a villain arc. Riley had been pushy and stuck in her ways for so long, that it would make sense for her to get stuck on something completely made up in her head and then push it on everyone else. It would have been amazing for her character to go through a low point and for her friends to call her out. It would have also been fascinating for Disney Channel to talk about gaslighting and how dangerous it is. But no, Riley can't ever be a bad guy, despite her behavior. She had to be right. And it ruins Maya's character in the process.

Here’s what gets me most. They spend 2 1/2 seasons of Will they, won’t they and then when Riley and Lucas do get together, the show does nothing with them anymore

idk I just think that Maya and Lucas eventually couldve been something (like a slowburn), bc they both had sm more chemistry, and rucas was more of a puppy/first love that wouldn't have worked out long term, they didn't challenge eo enough, and I feel like Maya did that for Lucas and him her vise versa, like with Maya getting him to embrace his 'darker side', and Lucas encouraging her that its ok to want good things for herself and be happy. Rileys character just went downhill for me in s3 with the whole gaslighting Maya thing and honestly farkle and her would've been a better pair, he knew how to put her in her place and ground her when she needed him to

Riley was always a toxic friend to maya and domineering the whole friend group. I can only pray that maya got away from all of them later on in high school and found some real friends. If girl meets world would've gone on longer it would've been cool to have an episode addressing their fractured friendships and Riley abusive tendencies and also maya finding her self worth and moving on with her life (ideally).

I’m glad everyone sees how everyone was basically gaslighting Maya into what she was supposed to believe

This video is making me realize that I have unresolved issues with Farkle and Riley never being together

The fact Peyton is a whole dad now is terrifying like where did the time go???

43:17 SO I FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT LUCAS ACTUALLY CHOOSE MAYA HERE, you can even tell in his facial expression how confused he was when Maya told him he picked Riley, bc he chose Maya. Just wanted to input that

What will forever PISS ME OFF! about this show is how Maya doing better for herself, was a "Bad Thing". Oh Maya’s getting good grades, she’s trying to be like Riley…like WHAT?

“That’s a real adult way of thinking” when he’s been saying for years that he wouldn’t date her because he’s 3 years older and she’s just a kid🤢

This is absolutely bonkers! If my friend was like “you turned into me for two years” I’d lose my mind these people gaslighted the frick outta maya

maya's ending was kind of sad to me, they like convinced her that her feelings were invalid, and that she lost herself, only for her and lucac to become what feels like a worse version of the no-chemistry-beginning-of-show relationship they had before. unfortunate, and josh was just kind of weird.

The craziest part of all of this was that all the parents in this show did little to try monitor/change this situation despite how inappropriate all of this was for the girls and Lucas.

The gaslighting absolutely pisses me off…Maya “being” Riley is her just being more happy and relaxed. Every time they bring up it up or attempt to describe it, it’s always along the lines of “you’re not being destructive or angsty anymore!” Of course she isn’t by then she had a strong support system and has grown as a person, she’s not gonna be the exact same but everyone just kept telling her that her being content and less self destructive was her being Riley. I felt for her when she was trying to argue back and then it was just sad that she quietly accepted it and nod her head to all the bs Josh was telling her. The whole triangle got so messy and it was just uncomfortable Also small note why did they have two instances of one of the friend group outing a crush? Like I get it crushes within a friend group are bound to shake things up but like Riley outed Mayas crush out of no where and then Farkle he gave Riley an ultimatum to admit her crush for what?? It was between her and lucas, if she wanted to try to get over him to let him be with maya, let it be..but instead you do this “you tell him or I will” thing which was just so overdramatic and unnecessary, and then he had the balls to not even tell Lucas 1 on 1, but yell it out in front of everyone…it’s just so messy

the writers: *takes a long hit off the freudian psychology pipe* Maya only wanted to be with Lucas to protect Riley

Worst part was when they tried to justify josh (a college student) waiting for maya to be 18 as a way to end the love triangle

This video ignited an anger I forgot I had while watching this show so long ago. How dare all those characters gaslight and manipulate Maya like that, at every turn telling her what she feels and what to do. She never even got a chance to explore her feelings and herself on her own without Riley’s interference and I’m sorry I do not at all believe she had good intentions. Riley sucks. Shes so toxic and manipulative and that scene with Maya actually hurts me so bad. Terrible.

I can't believe that I was gaslighted by a Disney show, as a kid I didn't see anything wrong with the Maya being Riley plot line (except for the fact that apparently this means she has to get rid of all the excellent clothes Shawn bought her, which I'm still upset about).

The biggest turn off for anyone about joshaya is the fact that right after that convo Maya admits "she doesn't want a nice guy" it's telling the audience that he is not good for her

Looking back now the writing of this whole show is ridiculous

girl meets world alternatively known as maya gets manipulated and gaslit by everyone she knows for three years

gmw just got very dark for me lol. the manipulation and gaslighting theory makes so much more sense than whatever bs they were throwing at us.

I feel like they should’ve decided to just all be friends. I mean, would it’ve really changed anything that happened afterwards?

One of the things that bugs me the most about Lucas and Riley was the fact that they were so similar. It was basically like they were just dating the boy/girl version of themselves. Lucas and Riley wouldn't have worked out long term, somewhere down the line they would've notice that they can't have the foundation of their relationship be their similarities. I think the line in the episode "Girl Meets Beliefs" perfectly sums up why their relationship doesn't work. "So we completely agree with each other." "It looks like it." "So why do I need you?" "I don't know." That line to me foreshadows the future failure of their relationship. They're to similar to each other that they wouldn't have worked. Lucas tries so hard to be this perfect good guy to try and make up for the person he was in Texas. And it always seemed like to me that Riley fell for that version of him. Lucas wanted Riley, someone who liked this perfect image of him and thought he could do no wrong. But what he needed was Maya, someone who would help him accept his past and help him fully move on from it rather than try and out run it. They would also balance each other out so well. Lucas would keep Maya out of trouble and Maya would remind Lucas of who he really is, both the good and bad parts of him. Maya was someone who accepts both sides of him and not only like this picture perfect image of him. She liked him both "the good guy" version of him, and the "bad boy" version of him. Lucas needed someone to remind him that he wasn't perfect and that it was ok to make mistakes and to learn from them. On the otherhand, Riley put him on this pedestal that he wasn't allowed to get down from and it always seemed like Riley was more in love with the idea of Lucas rather than Lucas himself. The second she realizes he's not perfect she goes crazy and says they aren't friends anymore. ( In the beginning of the 2nd season when Zay first comes to the school) and yes it was a big secret that Lucas should've told her but Maya didn't treat him any differently. It always felt like Riley was his fan and not his girlfriend. I feel like both Riley and Lucas needed someone to challenges their beliefs. Maya being able to help Lucas accept that he wasn't perfect and that it was okay not to be. And Riley needed someone who wasn't always on her side. That's why her and Maya work as best friends, their complete oppisites. I feel like Riley needed someone like Farkle, someone who could challenge her academically while also her being able to help him understand love and feelings. Idk this it all just my opinion.

The gaslighting of Maya was always something painful for me. I wasn't a Lucya shipper, but how everyone said her feels were not valid just because they were not what they wanted from her really ingrained in my head that if I'm not feeling or acting the way others want me too, then I'm doing something wrong. I'm still trying to undo that to this day.

You KNOW this triangle is a lot when it takes almost an hour to talk about just SOME of your feelings about it I think Zay said something like "The triangle really took a lot out of us" I kinda liked Girl Meets world, (def not as much as Boy Meets World) but I think Andi Mack did a better job at what GMW was TRYING to do: Tell stories with compelling lessons to kids without being so heavy-handed

Lucas & Maya Riley & Farkle If the series would have continued I firmly believe that these pairings would have been endgame.

That scene is so weird. Riley wants to encourage her friend to go to detention more?

I think what is frustrating about Riley and Maya's relationship is that they had both positive and wonderful traits that they could have learned from each other and instead they focused on the negatives. Maya is headstrong, confident with who she physically, and can be the best friend if given the opportunity. Riley is incredibly nice, confident with who she is emotionally, and can be a wonderful friend to anyone, especially if we are focusing on season 1. It is so frustrating that they used Riley's "nice" attitude to manipulate Maya and everyone else in her favor. With Maya, they used her positive growth as a negative thing. It is just so frustrating.

The thing that makes this triangle different than other Disney Channel ships is because all 3 involved are main characters. The two girls being best friends, and one of them being the typical Disney set up with the guy from the start. And we just watched Riley have a little crush on Lucas. But they completely broke the status quo in Girl Meets Texas with Maya liking Lucas. Maya became too vulnerable and things were just awkward (which makes sense since the real status quo of the show is about Riley and Maya’s friendship). And Disney Channel doesn’t like to break the status quo of their show (which explains why Teddy took back Spencer despite him cheating). Making Lucas choose either one of them would make it near-impossible for them to just go back to the status quo of Riley’s crush on Lucas and her best friendship with Maya. So they just came up with a bad excuse with Josh “explaining” that Maya only liked Lucas to see if he was good for Riley. Now we can go back to the real status quo of Riley and Maya’s friendship, no sadness. But they can’t go back to the whole Riley’s crush on Lucas, since things are just too different now. My solution is that Riley and Farkle were gonna end up together (the real Cory and Topanga of Girl Meets World), Maya with Zay, and plot twist Lucas and Smackle:)

The conversation in the bay window with Maya trying to convince Riley that she's still her is so hard it's just Riley trying to gaslight her. The " why can't both of us like a good guy thing" and Maya saying that Lucas should get to decide hit so hard

that whole conversation is just riley saying to maya "you are selfish, and mean, and you get bad grades, and you shouldn't like / date a boy who is nice to you" girl what????

The whole "Maya became Riley" plot was one of the most convoluted TV arcs I have ever seen, and I grew up watching soaps and telenovelas. It makes no sense and is just sad thinking about the experience from Maya's pov. Back in the day I was a Lucaya shipper, and the plot made me so angry. The writers turned something ordinary (two friends liking the same person) into something that doesn't happen in real life. People don't "become" other people to see if their friends' crushes are good enough for them. The Texas episodes got it right that a kid like Maya tries to hide her romantic and guilty feelings by teasing. Light and flirty banter is easy to hide behind when it's hard to be upfront. Rebellious kids can calm down as they mature. The writers didn't need to make it more complicated than that, and the rest of the show--and Maya's character most of all--really suffered under this bad writing. What they should've done was just have Maya admit her feelings, have a rift in Maya and Riley's friendship as she worked through her guilt, and have neither of the girls choose Lucas after coming to the realization that boys will come and go and should never break the two of them apart. Friends choosing friends over temporary middle school feelings is a more meaningful story and is one that their audiences could have actually learned from. Instead, we got this big old mess of a story that the writers were too afraid to explore the real life nuances of, perhaps due to the channel that it aired on. This should've been an ABC Family show, not Disney Channel, and then maybe we could've actually seen this kids grow into issues that preteens and teenagers learn to deal with as they grow into young adults.

I actually think Joshaya was just another victim of the love triangle. Before the ski lodge episode they had a relationship that was pretty healthy with him rebuffing her advances because he doesn't want to take advantage. It's only in the ski lodge episodes and the ones after that that there's a weird grooming undertone. Before the ski lodge he never tried to tell maya why she was doing anything or how to act or feel. He didn't try to influence her decisions in any way. The only thing he continued to do was tell her she couldn't date him. I think (if the show went on for that long) if they gave them the proper time and development it could have turned into something healthy and appropriate but they had to have someone be the mouthpiece for the writers take on what maya was thinking and feeling and in doing so made josh kind of creepy.

the lucaya-rucas debate was the first and most intense ship war i’ve ever been through. probably because they had kids who hadn’t even reached double digits going to war for smurfvlogs. by name dropping him i’m obvious labeling myself as a childhood lucaya shipper- they’re still my favorite lucas ship, but rilaya’s my favorite maya & riley ship. i also haven’t watched the show since it ended though, so i’m not super fresh on anything

The “she’s wearing the same clothes” SLAYED ME 😂

watching this is literally giving me war flashbacks. i was online fighting over these ships like my LIFE DEPENDED ON IT.

14:22 This scene was very strange to me since I saw it the first time & I think I know why now. It comes off, as If Riley is Lucas Mom or teacher. While she cleans his face, she teaches him a lesson about nicknames. "Well, there you go." Totally a nice mom thing to say, after her son told her something about his day.

You know Riley must really not like the character of Charlie, because I just realized that she says that she'll always say that Lucas was her first boyfriend, but her and Charlie went on literal dates, like they were dating. You could argue that they didn't go far enough into it for her to consider him her boyfriend, but I feel that's a bit of a plothole.

I remember thinking it was so mean of the writers to write off Maya's feelings as if they were just a product of Maya "cosplaying" as Riley ONCE. Also everyone worried that she was... improving? Ever heard of CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?! I really hated that, why would they want Maya to fail so bad?

this show was a fever dream. glad to know it’s just as weird as i remember it. no one in this show talks like real people. who tf sees their friend straighten their hair and then says “you’ve turned into me for 2 years!” and how do they get away with all that shit in history class and why does cory act like a child so often?!? i know it’s fiction and not supposed to be 100% realistic, but it always threw me off when they had those big dramatic scenes where they’d talk about their feelings but then never actually say anything straightforward. shit’s entertaining tho 😂

I think Sabrina is just a better actress than everyone else involved, so she makes Lucaya and jaya? Popular

I feel like they had a really good opportunity to portray a healthy break-up to bestfriends arc with Riley and Lucas, but they were too caught up in the shipping wars between fans to care about a healthy, realistic plot line. Riley and Lucas had that middle school two-week relationship kind of vibe; more of an infatuation than anything. Considering it's such a common and sometimes stressful situation, it would've been so interesting to see a show aimed at young teens which depicted something like that in a healthy way. It would have also given the characters more opportunity to grow, maybe could have even given lucaya or Maya and Riley a chance I also wouldn't have complained about an actually healthy poly romance; that would be so wild (/pos) to see

The creators of the show really showed how Riley and Maya's environments and pasts can effect the way they handle hardships. I've always thought of Riley as more of the "dictator" of the group, since whenever someone in the group has to make a hard decision, they always have to consider Riley in some way. For example, Maya constantly has to shut down her emotions and personal development because Riley has trouble processing change. When Maya was getting better grades and stopped acting out, Riley saw this and said that Maya was turning into her. Maya may have adapted to some of Riley's habits (her style for instance, they way she talked and acted around others), but she was never fully turning into Riley, she literally just became more of a stable person, something Riley just couldn't handle. Riley clearly isn't used to change, while Maya is. Riley lives in a stable environment, and has a healthy household that hasn't really changed in years, Whilst Maya expects change because of her constantly changing and unstable living environment, and her "broken" household. Despite Riley's stable household, she doesn't have that much control over her life, while Maya does. The only thing holding Maya back happens to be Riley, who isn't open to Maya developing any further.

One of the biggest problems of girl meets world in my opinion is that when given a beautifully complex and superbly acted character such as Maya in the “secondary character/best friend” role, you just can’t bring yourself to care about the supposed to be main character, Riley. Unfortunately the way she’s written just comes off as shallow and superficial in comparison. Also Maya and Lucas had more chemistry from the start.

This show really solidified itself as a trashfire mess when it fumbled the bag with the love triangle. I’ve never been the biggest fan of this show, (it’s honestly one of, if not my least favorite TV show), but the Texas special actually got me hooked on it for a little while. I thought it was super interesting that the writers were flipping the audience’s expectations by putting the best friend and the main love interest together. Then of course I remembered this was GMW writing, so when they made up some lame excuse to put Maya with a college student (cus apparently grooming is cool on the Disney Channel), and Lucas with Riley, I checked out completely.

This was one of the most annoying shows I've ever watched. I was a literal child and even I was frustrated watching this show 😭I didn't have a strong ship I supported until the Texas episodes and then I became a strong Lucaya shipper after. Rucas being an endgame was a disappointment and I wished we actually got to see who Lucas would've chosen rather than Maya taking herself out of the picture (Even if he chooses Riley). But, I wanted to see them as an official couple and how they can persuade me to like them together. They acted exactly how they were when they were friends. I wanted at least SOMETHING from Rucas but we got absolutely no content. BOOOOOOO 🫳🏽🍅🍅🍅 Now Josh I have a personal vendetta with. What an absolutely unnecessary character. Not only did he ruin my ship. But to make him, out of all people, tell Maya that she was testing out Lucas for Riley is SICK. I had to compose myself watching that scene again where he literally manipulates a teenager💀 I remember watching this with my aunt (who was also a Disney channel fan) and she couldn't even watch the whole thing. The whole "Maya is becoming Riley" plot was just frustrating itself. Like, this girl told you she is still herself and everyone is telling her otherwise. Like what the hell is this unnecessary intervention? I wanted Maya to win SO BAD. The whole triangle plot was awful. But, nothing compares to Shawn and Angela not being together anymore. Omg that pissed me off too much lemme stop 💀😭

The Josh ski lodge thing was just the groomiest of groomers and it will never not make me feel icky

My biggest issue with Rucas was that to make it a thing they had to complete tear down Maya. The moment the writers saw that Lucas & Maya were the better ship they should've just switched gears but I get that they wanted Riley to have that same "Cory/Topanga" endgame. They could have easily done that with Farkle or with Zay. I also think Lucas & Maya could've probably been that couple that just works and no one understands why. Would they have lasted? Definitely not but I do think they would think of each other fondly. Riley and Lucas though I think they would just try hard to make something work that clearly isn't working.

I’ve never seen this show before so when you kept referencing “Maya becomes Riley” or “Maya was Riley at that point in time” I was so confused thinking like “oh wow I didn’t realize this show had body-swapping supernatural storylines” 😂 made more sense after you showed the clip of them talking about it, but made me lol

I never could understand the shipping that they wanted in the show. They went back and forth to the point where I wondered if they had the same writers season to season 😅

( I think she just finished discussing it at 44:05 ) But I’ve always found it very telling that when Maya says Lucas chose Riley no matter who he tells, and Riley starts cheering and is all “Oh I’m so sorry Maya but YAY!!!”… the way Lucas looked at Riley in disgust/disapproval already told me that he probably did choose Riley, but seeing how she acted in that moment made him start to question that. And then at Ski Lodge, Lucas was going to pick Maya but Maya was already telling Lucas to go tell Riley he loved her… so he did. Peyton talked both on twitch & in a Discord Q&A about the Lucaya triangle and pretty much said that the writers always wanted Lucas & Riley, but that the fans picked up with the chemistry on he and Sabrina and their characters- and the writers did too so they went with it. Sometimes, at least in this series, Peyton has some of the most telling but quick/subtle expressions.

i think it’s a no brainer that lucaya was the better relationship (robbed of having a proper arc but nonetheless,) riley always romanticized lucas in the same way that maya romanticized josh. for him to suddenly reinsert himself into the show and double down on maya no longer being herself because she no longer self destructed as a projection of her internal angst was.. wild as hell. maya and lucas were real. maya didn’t feel like she had to obtain him because the “real maya” went for things she couldn’t have (josh,) she just liked lucas. lucas liked being challenged and having someone who accepted him in full, who wasn’t intimidated at the slightest chance of being more than one-note (riley,) the show’s writing can really be blamed for how much they nosedived and weren’t allowed room to breathe because of the sudden “maya is riley” arc, as well as lucas not really having the choice everyone pretended he did.

omg maya and lucas really had chemistry. like he only like riley as friend. the chemistry feels so intense that its like... too much for children

"I have lights, I've made it" its the little things in life. genuinely so happy for you, keep up the amazing work 💚

I think a big part of my problem with the show was that Riley regressed as a character while Maya developed as a character and got criticism for it. At the start, Riley was tied with Farkle for A's. She was super supportive of her friends. She recognized that she was insecure and overly worried about what other people thing of her. And the first season's episodes were about appreciating the people in your life, accepting that everyone has flaws, importance of helping others, and that there was no rush to grow up. And then the second season...starts with a lesson about appreciating the people in your life...then an episode about how they're not ready to be grown up...then a lesson about how people have flaws...right into an episode where "I like science" Riley doesn't know Pluto is a planet anymore. It's essentially the same lessons. Though the one on belief was kind of uncomfortable, especially when it made out that Riley and Lucas both believing in the same thing was a BAD thing? Like it really played it up like "wow, we both have beliefs...then what do we need each other for?" Like...what? And then again in Season 3, Girl Meets Jexica felt like Girl Meets Popular & Girl Meets Money and Girl Meets the Real World both reminded me of Girl Meets Crazy Hat & Girl Meets Her Monster is just getting Topanga's side off Girl Meets Father. Like they didn't seem to be learning anything? They kept getting the same lessons over and over and instead of growing, Riley became a caricature. Like she really went from being smart and good student, to "haha how funny she's so dumb she almost drowned while bobbing for apples because she didn't stand up". And then I feel like they did the opposite with Maya where they acted like the old her had been just a caricature. In the homework revolution episode, we see that Maya wasn't just starting a revolution to cause trouble, she did it because no one was home to help her. In the episode that she got a D, it wasn't that she didn't try. When she took the locket it wasn't just cause it was pretty, it was because of what it meant. All of her "acts of rebellion" were acts of expressing things that she was struggling with or that were hurting her. They were essentially cries for attention. She learned to talk it out, express it through art, or they were resolved. Acting like she just caused trouble for trouble's sake isn't accurate. And that's kind of what they do when they're like "oh you haven't cause trouble in a while, you must not be yourself". No, she just is happy and learning better coping mechanisms? But then again, I think the love triangle was dumb overall. Because I think they're dumb overall, as 90% of the time it's two people treating the person they supposedly care about like an object with no freewill that they can make choices for. Which is essentially what they do and I think there is even a scene where he's like "don't I have any say in this?" or "does anyone care what I think?" and they both say no.

What makes the “Maya turns into Riley” Plot line worse is the fact that this show is catered to kids, and that is a really toxic thing to teach kids