‘Girl Meets World’ season 3, episode 3 review: Riley and the cult of Jaxica

Throughout the end of season 2 and the start of season 3, “Girl Meets World” probably tried a little bit too hard to be sweet and sentimental. Therefore, it’s nice that someone reminded the cast and crew going into Friday night’s “Girl Meets Jaxica” that this is a comedy.

This episode certainly did have a little bit of a lesson in it concerning the transience of fame and the issues of perception, but above all else, we laughed a lot! It started when Riley made a ridiculous persona named Jaxica in order to become more popular. The problem was that this was a separate identity, one that she really could not sap the popularity away from. From here, she tried to come with creative schemes in order to get people on her side, and become this supreme figure of popularity.

What really made this mostly was some of the fun the writers had creating responses to Jaxica by the other students, and also Maya’s reactions to the whole stunt, which ranged from shock to bemusement to frustration that Riley was making her life so much more complicated. Eventually people moved on from Jaxica, and Lucas and Farkle eventually made it clear that they were well aware all along that she was the famed alter ego running around through high school.

What was also somewhat surprising is that in the Auggie sideplot this week, we had a story about the internet where Ava supposedly got a ton of money from an Africa prince overseas. It was a great nod to older viewers out there, and one of many bits of meta-commentary that also included Maya announcing that there’d be a lesson after a commercial break in the middle of the scene.

Sure, “Girl Meets Jaxica” was not poignant or overly emotional, but it was fun! For a Friday night in the summer, we feel like this is the purpose of “Girl Meets World” more than anything else. Grade: A-.

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