Boy Meets World successfully ran on ABC for seven seasons, following the childhood-turned-teenage years and young adulthood of Cory Matthews, Shawn Hunter, and Topanga Lawrence. The show proved that the storylines could develop and age with the characters, as Boy Meets World went from behind a story about middle school students to telling more adult storylines as the main characters reached their mid and late teens. While the themes of the show rely on Mr. Feeny connecting history to the main characters remains the same, Boy Meets World is not the same show in its final season as it was when it started. But did audiences determine whether that was a good thing or a bad thing? The Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score reveals how viewers felt about how the series handled growing up.
Boy Meets World made a series of adjustments as the show went on, from Eric's drastic personality change to match a more comical tone of the show to Cory's lean toward a more chaotic young man than the anxiety-ridden pre-teen he had been. Shawn's character took hit after hit from family issues, poverty, and constant relationship problems. Meanwhile, as time went on, the addition of new characters helped round out and expand the growing cast.
7 Season 3 - 86%
Although the seeds for Cory and Topanga's growing romance were included in the show as early as the first season, this is the year that things really get started. The beginnings of Topanga and Cory's on-again-off-again romance begin here, in a season that highlights the beginning of growing up. Season three understands that everyone is growing up and starting to figure things out. While they are not quite there yet, season three takes its time in preparing a slightly older foundation for what is to come.
6 Season 2 - 87%
Beginning high school is a large step for Cory and Shawn, but it is also the beginning of setting up a slightly different take on the show and some of its characters. Mr. Feeny is promoted to the high school alongside his students and sets the bar for Mr. Feeny being their teacher and principal every year of the show. Topanga's return portrays a still intelligent student, but without the hippie elements, she had portrayed in the first season. Although Stuart Minkus has disappeared, the show makes room to explore Topanga's growth in more depth.
5 Season 1 - 89%
Season one sets up a more youthful approach to the show as it focuses on Cory and Shawn finding their way in the world as the series itself strives to find its footing. Cory and Shawn have more than one other friend who never appears again. Topanga is portrayed as a hippie, allowing her to feel different from the class' resident obnoxious genius, Stuart Minkus. Mr. Feeny's dual role as teacher and Cory's next-door neighbor offers a more complicated look at their relationship. Season one spends a lot of time on setup, and while plenty of it ends up paying off, other parts get shoved aside as the series finds a consistent pathway moving forward.
4 Season 5 - 92%
The season that introduces Jack and Angela helps send the series into its more adult phase. Cory and Topanga face a serious roadblock in their relationship after Cory meets Lauren at a Ski Lodge, but the season concludes with a marriage proposal. While Boy Meets World always understood how to balance comedy and drama, season five is a big installment for both. Shawn faces finally having a serious relationship with Angela and the conflicts that come from getting to know his long-estranged brother, Jack. Season five is also well known for its Halloween-themed horror movie parody episode, as Shawn struggles to deal with the fallout of Cory and Topanga's break-up.
3 Season 6 - 92%
The first year of college is always troubling, but season six also finds the opportunity to add its final member of the group, Rachel, into the main story. Season six highlights the more adult aspects of the show, given everyone is officially out of high school. While, somehow, Mr. Feeny manages to become their college Professor as well, the show also discusses the dangers of different teaching methods and how some of those methods should be red-flagged given their inappropriate nature. Season six acknowledges that while they may not be mature adults with years of experience, they are no longer children.
2 Season 7 - 92%
The final season is a culmination of everything the show had headed toward. Cory and Topanga are finally married and spend the final season adjusting to their roles as husband and wife. Shawn and Angela face a few final relationship hurdles in their reunion, but their final decision to break up for good leaves Shawn with reasons to follow Cory and Topanga to New York. Even "The War" discusses the intimacies of the friend group, and how Rachel has become the odd-one-out in a group of lifelong friends, siblings, and romantic relationships.
While the rest of the group tries to calm Rachel's worries after Eric calls them out, Rachel being the only member of the group never to appear in Girl Meets World, even if Eric referenced still being friends with her, could still suggest that Rachel's insecurities were not entirely inaccurate. Boy Meets World had a perfectly nostalgic, comical, and emotional finale as Cory, Topanga, Shawn, and Eric left Philadelphia behind for a new adventure, with their final scene being with Mr. Feeny in the classroom it all began.
1 Season 4 - 93%
Season four is the beginning of transforming Eric from the aspiring ladies' man cool older brother to the eccentric, chaotic person he becomes later. But, while season four is filled with laughs, it also includes standout emotional episodes, such as "Dangerous Secret," which highlights the scary suggestions of child abuse, and "Chick Like Me," which forces Shawn to understand the realities of sexual harassment toward girls, and how listening to a girl is an important way of respecting her wants on a date, rather than thinking through his next move.