Boy Meets Worldhas many memorable moments, either funny or very emotional, and there are some episodes that are so good, they deserve a rewatch. The 1990s saw some of the best coming-of-age sitcoms, and among them isBoy Meets World, created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly.Boy Meets Worldpremiered on ABC in 1993, ending in 2000 after a successful run of seven seasons.Boy Meets Worldfollows witty 11-year-old Cory Matthews(Ben Savage) as he deals with school, friendships, his family, and love as well.
Accompanying Cory are his best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), his brother Eric (Will Friedle), his teacher and neighbor Mr. Feeny (William Daniels), and his friend and love interest, Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel).Boy Meets Worldfollows Cory and company from childhood into adulthood, covering key moments like entering college, dealing with family deaths, weddings, and more.Boy Meets Worldis mostly a feel-good show, but it also gets serious and even dark at times, and its best episodes are a combination of these two sides.
10“Father Knows Less”
Boy Meets World Season 1, Episode 3
Season 1’s episode “Father Knows Less” sees Cory and his father, Alan (William Russ), trying to share some father-and-son quality time. However, Alan is interrupted by a work emergency, but wakes Cory up when he returns at night to watch the end of a baseball game. The following day, Cory falls asleep at school at fails a test, with Alan talking to Mr. Feeny about it. Cory is then presented with two different perspectives on his situation: his father’s and Mr. Feeny’s.
Cory is confused as to who is the one who’s right, learning that, sometimes,there are different sides to a situation and none are necessarily wrong. This episode is also the first time there’s a glimpse into Feeny’s past, which is key to helping Cory understand the world and become more understanding and empathetic.
9“Cory’s Alternative Friends”
Boy Meets World Season 1, Episode 4
“Cory’s Alternative Friends” is Topanga’s debut, andBoy Meets Worldwasted no time in establishing the chemistry between her and Cory. Mr. Feeny assigns them as partners for a presentation, but Cory isn’t thrilled about it as he sees Topanga as a weird hippie nerd. Topanga shares her mindset of not caring what others think and say about her with Cory, who cares too much about others’ opinions.Cory learns to be more open and tolerant of people who are different from him, as well as to accept himself as he is.
In addition to that,this is the episode that sees Cory and Topanga’s very first kiss. Thankful and impressed by Cory keeping his word to help her and her friends during a protest, Topanga kisses Cory. At the end of the episode, they share an innocent look, and the rest is history.
8“An Affair to Forget”
Boy Meets World Season 4, Episode 11
One of the best things aboutBoy Meets Worldis the friendship between Cory and Shawn, and “An Affair to Forget” seizes it while also using it for comedic purposes. In it, Shawn breaks up with his toxic girlfriend Jennifer (Kristanna Loken), who, after hearing Cory talking badly about her to Shawn, gets back together with him on the condition that he “dumps” Cory.
This episode shows how important Cory and Shawn are to each other and how strong their friendship truly is.
What follows is Cory and Shawn secretly meeting and calling each other, with the help of Topanga, as if they were lovers in a movie about forbidden love. Although it’s all for laughs, this episode shows how important Cory and Shawn are to each other and how strong their friendship truly is, while also making Shawn see how manipulative Jennifer is.
7“Bee True”
Boy Meets World Season 6, Episode 19
In “Bee True”, Cory and Shawn team up once again as a “bad boy” team to help Mr. Feeny, who is clearly having trouble expressing his feelings for Dean Bolander (Bonnie Bartlett), even more after her ex-husband returns to win her back. This episode sees some good old shenanigans from Cory and Shawn, including trashing the lab of Bolander’s ex-husband. Feeny eventually wins Bolander’s heart when he saves her from a bee sting, making this episode a necessary dose of good oldBoy Meets Worldhumor mixed with a heartwarming story, in a season that isn’t remembered fondly by fans.
6“Cult Fiction”
Boy Meets World Season 4, Episode 21
“Cult Fiction” is one ofBoy Meets World’s episodes with the darkest topics, but that also makes it one of the best. Shawn often struggles with loneliness and a difficult past, and in this episode, he finds comfort and community in a new group of people who claim not to be a cult… but they definitely are. Shawn ends up being brainwashed and refuses to leave until Mr. Turner gets into a motorcycle accident that sends him to the hospital.
Shawn confronts the issue and, with the help of Cory and Topanga, he visits Mr. Turner and deals with the strong emotions within him about the accident, his involvement with the cult, and everything else he has been bottling for years.It’s one of Shawn’s most personal episodes, and it covers a very real and still current social issue.
5“We’ll Have A Good Time Then”
Boy Meets World Season 6, Episode 13
Another important episode in Shawn’s story is “We’ll Have A Good Time Then.” In it, Shawn and Jack’s father, Chet, returns to make amends with his sons. However, after a dinner of steaks and Rachel’s “killer” chocolate cake, Chet has a heart attack.While this leads Chet and Shawn to realize how much they need each other and how much time they wasted, it’s too late, as Chet has a second heart attack and dies.
This experience also makes Shaw open up about his anger at Chet and his fear of having inherited his apparent inability to connect emotionally with others. Shawn had a difficult upbringing, and though it’s his father’s death that finally makes him accept his fears and feel some uncomfortable emotions, it’s a necessary process for him.
4“If You Can’t Be With The One You Love…”
Boy Meets World Season 5, Episode 18
“If You Can’t Be With The One You Love…” takes place after Cory and Topanga’s breakup inBoy Meets Worldseason 5. Cory becomes a “downer”, and in an effort to shake off that reputation, he begins to drink and party. Cory convinces Shawn to join him, but Shawn continues to do so even after they are caught by a cop and taken to the police station.Shawn reveals he has been drinking for a week and no one has noticed, with Cory becoming concerned.
Shawn’s brother, Jack, arrives and scolds Shawn, revealing to him that substance-use disorder runs in their family, as their father dealt with substance-use disorder and was so abusive that their mother left him. When Angela tries to talk to Shawn, he shoves her into a door, with Angela telling him she doesn’t like him when he drinks. Shawn realizes what he did and accepts help. It’s one of thoseBoy Meets Worldepisodes that deals with more mature topics, but these are fitting with the characters and their journeys.
3“Seven the Hard Way”
Boy Meets World Season 7, Episode 16
“Seven the Hard Way” is the second part of an episode that sees the group involved in a prank war that goes wrong. To help them reconcile, Feeny and Eric lock them in a room, butthe episode then makes a time jump seven years into the future to show their fates if they don’t reconcile. As they reunite for Feeny’s retirement party, it’s revealed that Cory and Topanga are married but unhappy, Jack is wealthy and successful, and Shawn is a lonely writer. They all exchange awkward small talk, but the most memorable moment is Eric’s arrival.
Eric is now a hermit who lives in the mountains, married a moose, and is known as “Plays with Squirrels.”Eric presents them with his manifesto that reads “Lose one friend, lose all friends, lose yourself”, the same quote Eric reads to them back in the present, and thanks to which they all reconcile. It’s a fun look into the future, but Eric as a hermit is what makes this episode so rewatchable.
2“Brave New World: Part 2”
Boy Meets World Season 7, Episode 23
Boy Meets World’s finale is split into two parts, and while the first is good, the second one is the one that’s best remembered and often revisited. As Eric prepares for a fresh start and Cory, Topanga, and Shawn are about to move to New York, they visit Mr. Feeny in his sixth-grade classroom one final time. There,they say goodbye to their favorite teacher, and thank him for everything he taught them, for his patience, and for everything he did for them. Once they leave, Feeny says“I love you all. Class dismissed”, and the series ends.
It’s an emotional goodbye to the group and their loved ones, accompanied by various flashbacks. The final scene of Feeny finally expressing his love for his students after telling Eric he loves all of them equally is extra special, especially as he continued being very close to Cory, Eric, Shawn, and Topanga throughout their childhood, high school, and college years.
1“And Then There Was Shawn”
Boy Meets World Season 5, Episode 17
The episode ofBoy Meets Worldthat’s widely regarded as the best and definitely the most rewatchable one is “And Then There Was Shawn.” The episode takes place after Cory and Topanga’s break-up, and after a fight caused by Shawn escalated in Feeny’s class, the three of them, along with Angela and Kenny, are sent to detention. There, they soon find themselves trapped in the classroom with a creepy janitor appearing in the hallway, and one by one, they are killed. At the end of the episode, it’s all revealed to have been a dream as Shawn fell asleep in detention.
This episode has a guest appearance by Jennifer Love Hewitt, who, at the time, was one of the biggest stars of the slasher genre.
“And Then There Was Shawn” is a parody of the big slashers of the decade, particularlyScreamandI Know What You Did Last Summer, with references toSouth Park andScooby-Doo. This episode has aguest appearance by Jennifer Love Hewitt, who, at the time, was one of the biggest stars of the slasher genre. “And Then There Was Shawn” is different and fun, but at the same time, it’s deep, as there’s a metaphor involving Shawn and how he has been dealing with his best friends’ break-up.
