Ep 2. Girl Meets the New World

In this episode of Girl Meets World, titled "Girl Meets the New World", Riley Matthews and her best friend Maya Hart start a new year at John Quincy Adams Middle School and face new challenges.

The episode begins with Riley and Maya entering a new classroom with a new teacher, Mr. Matthews. Riley is excited to have her father as her new history teacher, but Maya is immediately skeptical. She thinks that Mr. Matthews is going to be too nice and takes it upon herself to make sure that he doesn't go soft on them.

As the class starts, Mr. Matthews announces that they will be studying European explorers and has everyone in the class pick out explorer names from a hat. Riley is pleased to have picked the name of Christopher Columbus, a man who discovered new worlds and took risks. Maya, on the other hand, draws the name of Amerigo Vespucci, a lesser-known explorer who she feels is not as interesting as Columbus.

As the students start to research their assigned explorers, they begin to work on a project that involves creating a presentation on their explorer's discoveries. Maya struggles with finding enough information on Vespucci and decides to switch her explorer to Columbus. She is surprised to learn that Columbus wasn't a hero as she had previously believed, but actually caused harm to the people of the lands he discovered. Maya starts to worry that Mr. Matthews will be disappointed in her choice of an explorer.

Meanwhile, Riley is struggling with her own issues related to her father being her teacher. She feels like she can't be herself in his class and that he is treating her differently than the other students. She confides in Maya, who suggests that she try talking to her father about how she feels.

In another storyline, Riley's younger brother Auggie is having trouble making new friends at his new school. His parents try to help him by setting up a playdate with a boy named Dewey, but Auggie is disappointed to find out that Dewey only wants to play video games and doesn't share Auggie's interests. Eventually, Auggie realizes that he doesn't need to compromise who he is in order to make friends and is happy to find another boy in his class who shares his love of pirates.

As the episode concludes, Riley realizes that she needs to be honest with her father about how she feels in his class. Maya approaches Mr. Matthews and tells him that she switched her explorer to Columbus, despite thinking that he wasn't a hero. To her surprise, he tells her that it's important to question the things we believe in and that he is proud of her for taking the initiative to learn more about Columbus.

"Girl Meets the New World" is a heartwarming episode that shows the importance of being true to oneself and the importance of questioning the things we believe in. The episode also continues to explore the themes of identity and friendship that are central to the show's message.