Farkle is trying to find out who he is and where he belongs, along with the help of his friends. (from imdb.com)

First, props to GMW for bringing back Kristanna Loken, who played Jennifer Bassett on the original BMW.  This continuity anchors our stories to the past but also propels GMW forward.

Second, kudos for giving Cory and Topanga adult friends that aren’t Shawn or Maya’s mother.

 

While I love GMW, I often worry that it will veer into the ABC AfterSchool Special/DeGrassi issue of the week territory.  This episode comes dangerously close.  There are way too many “Don’t live under a label”/”Just be yourself”/”Let your actions define you” moments for my liking.

The episode does focus on “who we are” and “who we will be” and does so through the lens of Farkle’s testing.  They keep it true to school form in that Ms. Oben tells Farkle that his parents gave her permission to tell him the test results.

If you’ve been watching long enough, Farkle’s “diagnosis” of Asperger’s Syndrome should not surprise anyone.  His focus on “Belgium 1831!” is a good enough tip off.  But it should also come as no surprise that Smackle has Asperger’s as well.  Her unwillingness to hug is a pretty good clue as well. Her quest to find someone like her to help her better understand herself, to help her better understand love, and to help her better understand the world, thoughtfully drives the story.

Farkle uttered one of the best lines Ive ever heard on a teen comedy: “Please don’t let me not understand love.”  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Corey Fogelmanis is just all sorts of awesome in this role. I actually find him more compelling than Maya, Riley and Lucas.

I applaud the show for not “diagnosing” Farkle with Asperger’s but for letting him state: “So, what am I?  I am Farkle.”  That’s all we need to know.

I was surprised that Farkle’s small circle of friends so quickly accepted his diagnosis without being scared or even questioning it.  They did some research, understood it and accepted it.  But the foundation for this was nicely laid when Stuart tells the assembled group that Farkle wanted his friends to be part of the journey.  Farkle could have quickly turned inward and kept them out of the loop; its clear to me that Farkle values and treasures his friendships.

When they hand out the Emmy next week for best Children’s Program, if the Emmy voters are smart, they’d recognize Girl Meets World.