Melissa Meets Boy: Who you callin’ tertiary?

Last week, we discussed the secondary characters of Boy Meets World.  However, there were many others that fleshed out the show’s universe, and I’d like to discuss some of them here.

Mr. Turner:  Mr. Turner was the other teacher, brought in in the second season, probably due to the whole middle school jump thing, but the show always fell back to Mr. Feeny anyway, so I’m not sure what the initial purpose actually was.  He was a bit of a ‘rebel,’ always wearing leather, and he rode a motorcycle, so we were supposed to think he was cool.  Once Shawn’s dad left in the third season, Shawn moved in with Mr. Turner, and they had their little adventures there, really breaking out of the school/Cory’s home paradigm the show had been kind of stuck in.  Mr. Turner’s final act was indirectly saving Shawn from a cult, by getting in a motorcycle accident.  That moment was another one that got me every time.

Rachel:  Shawn, Eric, and Jack shared an apartment.  Then, Rachel appeared, and Eric and Jack kicked Shawn to the dorms.  Rachel quickly became a member of the group, with Eric and Jack pining over her, and Topanga and Angela forming a fast friendship with her.  We didn’t actually get a whole lot of character development with her beyond that, but she did have several funny moments, and could really hold her own with the rest of the cast.

Minkus: With the exception of a quick cameo appearance at the end of the fifth season, Minkus was only in season one, but he was in EVERY episode of that season.  He was the class nerd, the punching bag for Cory and Shawn to bounce off of when the story called for it.  He had an unrequited crush on Topanga, and held Mr. Feeny in the highest regard(as one should.)  But even though Cory and Shawn liked to pick on him, they still included him in the fun activities, so he wasn’t a total outcast.

Frankie Stechino: Frankie started out as the goon of the friendly neighborhood bully, Harley, but soon broke out into his own little redemption arc.  Cory and Shawn help him realize he’s not just the muscle, help him embrace his love of poetry, and eventually help Frankie get closer to his WWE wrestling dad.  His was a cute arc, made better because he was played by a pre-famous Ethan Suplee, who I adore immensely, starting from his time on BMW.

And that’s the tertiary characters!  Next week, I’m going to look at season 1 arcs and faves!