After Cherry accidentally posts a photo revealing the Thundermans’ secret, the Hero League forces Phoebe to end the relationship with her best friend.  Meanwhile, Max gives Nora a beard ahead of her playdate with Owen.

I was a little worried at the outset of this episode that it was another trip to repeats-ville with a return to the “pic pic” episode.  Here, Cherry takes a selfie for the “Best of the Besties” competition for the yearbook (which must come out frequently since Evan and his iguana have won it the past three times).  In the background of the photo is the Thundermans photo.

Super President Kickbutt gives Phoebe an ultimatum.  She needs to stay away from Cherry until the Hero League has finished its investigation.  Phoebe decides – and rightly so – that her friendship with Cherry is more important so she doesn’t tell Cherry about the ultimatum.

We get a sneak peek of Agent Delta – who is tracking Phoebe and Cherry’s movements and reporting back to Super President Kickbutt.  Now here’s the shocker – and SPOILER ALERT – Agent Delta is Evan.  Evan captures Cherry on his phone – and plans to wipe her memory clean. We get the obligatory scene in Metroburg apparently.  Phoebe shows up, vanquishes Evan and saves Cherry.  The only fly in the ointment – they were going to wipe out Cherry’s phone memory, not her memory – since, as SPKB says, “The Thundermans are far too important to the Hero League.”

We also learn that Evan is a superhero whose power is that he doesn’t age.  He’s actually fifty years old and has kids at home.  Apparently this is the last we will see of Evan, which is a shame.  Why not just make another superhero pretend to be Evan to tackle the case.  I just wonder if this is too much a shocker for the viewer.

In the B story,  Max is engaged in conversation with Dark Mayhem, who doesn’t feel like Max is evil enough because of his baby face.  Max decides to get a beard using the nose hairalyzer – a nice throwback to episode #1 – except he gives Nora a beard instead.  Said beard appears right before Nora’s playdate with Owen.

Nora goes through with the playdate – their game of cops and robbers is a hoot – and Nora eventually reveals she has the beard.  There’s some back and forth about accepting your identity and Owen reveals he has a very hairy back.  It was nice to see some interaction between Nora and Max and I liked when Max gave Nora some solid advice – which he admits “I should have given you that advice earlier.”

This was a fun episode.  It was great to see Cherry again but apparently, it’s so long Evan.  I wonder how Tyler and Sara will take it.

Riley and Maya go to Shawn’s house to get the real Maya back. Meanwhile, Lucas decides who he loves the most.

I’ve been a little down on GMW lately mainly because I have found Riley to be too mopey and philosophical as of late, even given her little Mary Sunshine attitude.  But this episode is a standout.

Two storylines continue tonight – with a surprise ending (and no I’m not going to spoil it).  The exploration of who Maya is and how that is revealed in her art has been interesting.  Her desire to be Riley and to have the same, solid family life that Riley has is understandable.  So they naturally head to Shawn’s cabin in the woods.  Even though the parallels here are very evident (Shawn wanted to be Cory and to have what Cory and Topanga have) make this a natural trip.  Shawn and Maya seek to answer the question, “What makes me, me?”  But they are also seeking to divorce themselves from their desire to want something that doesn’t with who they are.

Shawn’s best line: “I’m Feeny!”

It was equally interesting to see the parallels with Cory and Riley.  After all, they both have sought to be Shawn and Maya.  The metaphor of the clothes was powerful – Shawn and Maya dress like Riley and Cory – and the phrase “I’d like to sell all of my clothes, please!” suggests that Shawn and Maya’s desire to reclaim their individuality – or in Shawn’s case – his “reckless spontaneity.”

This theme of identity and of accepting/understanding who we are has been woven into GMW from the beginning.  We’ve seen it with Farkle, we’ve seen it with Lucas, we’ve always seen it with Cory, Shawn and Topanga.  That’s what makes GMW so powerful.  We’ve all had to deal with understanding who we are.  That’s universal storytelling.  That’s what makes this one of the best GMW episodes.

But did you think they’d resolve the Lucas/Maya/Riley triangle?  Well, no.  Zay said it best: “We’ve been waiting for this for like two years!”  They’ve all decided to wait to find out who they are before moving forward.

This episode is well-written, well-acted and well-conceived.  And in the end, Shawn demonstrates his “reckless spontaneity” while also seeking to have what Cory and Topanga have.

Phoebe must baby-sit President Kuckbutt’s trouble-making teen daughter as her latest superhero mission, but the assignment quickly gets out of control. Meanwhile, Billy and Nora want a pet, so Hank and Barb ask them to take care of Dr. Colosso.

There’s a rather inspired goofiness with this episode but I fear its a little repeat-y.  We’ve had a babysitting episode before (Phoebe babysitting Link’s younger brother) and we’ve had a “we want a pet” episode too (Nora and Billy and the cats).  But there’s enough new here to make this a pretty good episode.

First, you have to love Gideon, Oyster and Wolfgang.  Gideon’s line of the show: My love life is one night only.  Oyster’s response: Dude, it’s no night only.  I’m happy that the show has settled on these three as Max’s friends and bandmates.  That consistency helps.  However, we need some Phoebe friendship consistency.  Apparently, Cherry will be back tonight, but a consistent friendship with Evan, Tyler and Sara would be a nice on-going theme as well.

In this episode, Phoebe is double grounded and can go out if she “has a mission.”  She gins up a mission with Super President Kickbutt – to babysit her daughter Simone (its nice to see her back).  Meanwhile, Max and the band have decided to break up if they haven’t booked a gig.

Max has turned Splatburger into Club Splatz – complete with VIP Room.  Phoebe brings Simone to the club and Simone is fascinating by sending things up the garbage chute in the VIP Room.  Of course, Simone ends up going up the garbage chute and Max and Phoebe soon follow.  Phoebe learns a valuable lesson in responsibility – when she realizes she is channeling Barb, while Max is turned into a cube of trash.  Is it brilliant situational comedy?  No.  Was it funny? Yes.

In the B story, Nora and Billy want a pet (again).  Their little show is a riot as is Hank slurping coffee trying to “wait it out.”  But Hank and Barb are swayed by Chloe’s cuteness and agree to let Nora and Billy take care of Dr. Colosso for the weekend, stating that if they demonstrate they are responsible pet owners, they can have a pet.

Nora and Billy try feeding Dr. Colosso veggies but he wants pizza.  He bloats up and needs more “fart fuel” to release the gas.  Look carefully at the can of Chili Beans he is given.  The description on the label starts with “Lorem Ipsum.”  The beans bloat Dr. Colosso more and Nora and Billy admit they aren’t responsible pet owners.  Dr. Colosso releases his gas – and zings all over the house, finally stating “don’t light a match for at least an hour.”

This wasn’t the most original episode ever but it was fun.  Our players have been at it long enough that they inhabit their characters well.  Looking forward to a new episode.