Though I can’t say I’ve had a lengthy career as a babysitter, I will say I do wish I would’ve known about some of the tips and tricks that the Baby-Sitters Club came up with. 

Based on the book series by Ann M. Martin, the club of 8th-grade babysitting girls, Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace), Stacey McGill (Shay Rudolph), Mary Anne Spier (Malia Baker), Dawn Schafer (Kyndra Sanchez), and Claudia Kishi (Monona Tamada), organize a club that babysits children around their neighborhoods. 

Netflix has adapted this series and all of its lovable characters while putting a more modern spin on some of the characters and their backgrounds. 

Season 2 of The Baby-Sitters Club landed on the streaming platform on October 11, 2021, after over a year since the first season was released in July of 2020. 

I think the conversion of the beloved book series into a Netflix show was a perfect way to keep the series alive. My mom claims to have read all the books, and I’ve read a few as well. However, I think with so many other newer book series constantly coming out, this classic could get lost behind others on the shelves for the younger generations. 

Though watching it on a screen is nothing like reading it in a chapter book, it’s still nice to know that the concept is being kept alive in some way. 

The casting of the five main characters was pretty spot on. Each one clearly represents a different personality that you may find in teens these days. However, though the representation is nice, I think Netflix made them a little too obvious and profound. 

I was only five minutes into the show, and it was easy to tell who is who in terms of stereotypes; Kristy is the tough and sporty tomboy, Mary Ann is the shy, unsure one, Stacey is the fashionista who acts way too old for her age, Claudia is the artsy, free-spirited one, and Dawn is a strong Latino girl who is an activist and fights for change. 

I’m not saying any of these traits are bad, I just think they are demonstrated a little too vividly in the way they are portrayed. 

Along with the main sitters, they brought in two new sitters in training—Mallory Pike (Vivian Watson) and Jessi Ramsey (Anais Lee). One of them was far more favorable than the other, and I think she will fit into the group very well. The other, well, I found her to be unbelievably annoying. 

I think Mallory was meant to be a character that would teach the sitters, especially Claudia who was the one training her, some patience with new trainees, but it ended up making me not enjoy the episode as much. 

However, despite some of the character complaints, I really liked how the series structured their season. Each different episode was focused on one of the five main sitters, giving them and their background stories a chance to be expanded upon. 

Sometimes, with series that include a group of best friends, there are some that fade into the background and never really get to be highlighted. Giving each character their own focus episodes really gives the viewer a chance to get to know them individually and show how they contribute to the series.

All in all, I remember the first season to be superior in terms of character traits and themes. The second season is entertaining enough, but not something I was really impressed by or left me wanting more of the adventures the babysitters embark on.