Boy Meets World's seven seasons. The series had Cory fall in love at an early age with Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel) and marry her during his sophomore year of college. His best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong) was a womanizer early in the series, until his first long-term girlfriend Angela (McGeee) was introduced in season 5.

On McGee's Instagram, she responds to a fan comment that Shawn is toxic. She notes that this is something that she often hears and comes to his defense. McGee compares Shawn to Cory, whom she believes has more red flags than her onscreen boyfriend. She does recognize that Shawn drunkenly shove Angela once in season 5, episode 18 "If You Can't Be With the One You Love..." She believes Cory's obsessive behavior is more toxic and that Shawn is "real" in comparison. Check out McGee's comment below:

I hear this a lot. "Shawn is the toxic one." Why is he really the toxic one? Is he really the toxic one? Just because he might have pushed Angela one time? That was one time! One time, okay? And he got over his drinking problem really, really quick. Let's just think about who is toxic and who is not. If you have a totally obsessive guy after you, or always just, I don't know, I feel like Cory's more toxic. Maybe I need to look inside myself about what it...no! No! Shawn is not toxic, okay? Shawn was just working through his stuff. There's toxic, and then there's real. Shawn was real. I don't think he was toxic. I don't know. I'm racking my brain.

What This Means For Boy Meets World

McGee Is Right To Point Out Some Of Cory's Negative Traits

Whether each character is toxic is debatable, as both are portrayed as having negative traits that increase throughout the series. What began as a light-hearted family sitcom eventually turned into a more dramatic series by the time McGee ed the cast. Boy Meets World never shied away from tackling serious topics, like domestic violence or racism. However, Shawn's drinking problem was quickly settled. He develops signs of alcoholism in the second half of the 22-minute episode, and it is resolved by the time the credits roll. The Boy Meets World episode was later banned from airing on the Disney Channel.

Cory's relationship with Topanga is not as rosy as some viewers nostalgically . Once they are established as a couple, they have an on-again-off-again relationship, with Cory kissing other girls multiple times. As his neurotic behavior grew, and was typically played for laughs, he was often written as jealous and obsessive. However, by the time the sequel series Girl Meets World aired, the pair were shown to have maintained a happy and healthy marriage.

Our Take On McGee's Comments

Not All Parts Of The Show Have Aged Well

Boy Meets World was a formative show for many growing up in the '90s, and debates about it carry on to this day. As it was a long-running series that spanned 158 episodes, not all of them have stood the test of time, which is true for any series.

Shawn's drinking problem was poorly handled, although it was written with the best of intentions to show a serious issue to young viewers. McGee is right to point out that Cory has toxic traits, but that doesn't mean that Shawn also didn't have his own red flags. A lot of their flaws are highlighted for either comedy or drama, which is what Boy Meets World thrived on during its run.

Source: Trina McGee/Instagram