Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The first season covers the first eight books plus a sort of adaptation of of the second super special, Baby-sitters Summer Vacation. AND...it's set in the present day (2019/2020), updated accordingly, and much more diverse. The plot for this episode and the previous are loosely based on the Babysitters' Summer Vacation super special.
The girls' fight for equity continues with a lie-in protest and a strike, as do other issues. Kristy's still feeling rudderless. In reworking the play to accommodate Stacey and Laine being out for poison ivy, Mary Anne takes Stacey's lead role--opposite Logan. Things come to a head when Karen goes missing, and it takes Kristy, Mallory, and Jessi to find her (i.e.; not any adults); and at the same time, Dawn and Claudia rally the campers for an equity demonstration, which screws up the play Mary Anne is trying to put on. She and Dawn find a way to try to hold both the play and the protest, but the camp director breaks up the latter which disrupts the former. Finally, the BSC is able to talk with the director and be heard--the director has to consider finances but needs more staff, and the BSC is willing to step up to be counselors-in-training to help. The compromise works for all parties.
Here are some things that I noticed:
What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:
Mary Anne has gained confidence faster in the TV series than in the books, and in a way that feels natural for her character.
What I was happy stayed the same:
Stacey gets a bad poison ivy rash, but this time it's due to her fight with Laine.
The girls pose for a picture at the end, in the same pose as the cover of the original book.
Mary Anne and Logan end up officially dating, and it's done in a fun way.
Jessi and Mallory end up unofficial junior CITs, but this time at the suggestion of Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, Mary Anne, and Dawn--and they're officially asked to join the BSC.
Other interesting touches:
As if to highlight the camp's financial woes, Stacey and Laine recover while watching TV on a old tube set--not a flat screen.
