Photo: Liane Hentscher / Netflix /
And we are back at Camp Moosehead. What harm has the nanny club caused (with love)? If you recall, the last episode ended with Kristy screaming over Stacey’s face. As if I hadn’t suffered enough at the hands of friends, you know? This time, however, it is guaranteed. Remember that little fight she had in the woods with her ex-New York best friend Laine? Yes, they were apparently rolling in poison ivy the entire time. Now her face is covered in a rash so strong that her eye is swollen. She is supposed to be the protagonist of the Mary Anne play that night and that is no longer possible. Everyone is devastated, but they also agree that, gee, her face looks horrible.
To make matters worse, Stacey is trapped in the infirmary with Laine, who of course also has the worst case of poison ivy the camp nurse has seen in 15 years. That’s never a sentence you want to hear from the camp nurse. Since Stacey has been ignoring Laine, this gives her a chance to solve her problems. After a little Days of our lifeDuring the viewing session to relieve tension, Laine apologizes. However, it is a kind of “I’m sorry, but also if you had trusted me about what was happening, none of this would have happened”, which is not really an apology. Still, it helps Stacey realize that yes, your best friends are the only ones you can trust, especially with “the scary things.” Now Stacey has that with the BSC girls and can make peace with Laine.
A problem solved! Next: Let’s talk about the protest situation of Dawn and Claudia. Claudia is still “a political prisoner,” meaning that Dawn is still being sent to her cabin. Meanwhile, Dawn leads a “lie” as a form of peaceful protest until the unfair payment system at Camp Moosehead is changed. When Meany seems less than moved by this form of civil disobedience (she has to get to a root canal!), Dawn knows she needs to raise it up a bit. She sneaks into the PA system and asks all of her fellow campers to side with her – a strike in activities until all campers are equal!
He is joined by many campers, including Claudia, whom Dawn busts out of her cabin! This would be something to celebrate if it weren’t for the fact that many of the striking campers hail from the work of Mary Anne. Things were not going well before the strike: no one knew her signs, everyone was getting distracted, her lead actress was “disfigured”, the drama of it all! Poor Mary Anne believes that the real problem is her. She has been trying to be a Kristy-style leader, commanding people, but like Logan, sweet Logan, she reminds him, she is not Kristy. She leads her own way and people respond to that. YOU GUYS. Logan Bruno loves Mary Anne Spier very much. I can hardly bear it! And now that Mary Anne will take care of Stacey, she will be the one to get the kiss onstage with Logan. What time
Then the campers go on strike. Mary Anne needs to talk to Dawn and this conversation between friends ends up being about how there are many ways to make a difference, through art, resisting injustice, etc., and many ways that a person can feel like the best version of themselves that even though two friends can get to those things in extremely different ways, they can still support each other. It is a very mature conversation for these girls. Our girls! They are growing very fast!
Anyway, Mary Anne approaches Dawn’s protest and all the girls are there waiting for Meany. Meany doesn’t say directly, “They don’t pay me enough for this trash,” but that’s the exact look she has when she meets the camp strike. She calls Dawn and Claudia to her office; will send them home. The other girls continue in solidarity. If one of them goes home, they all do. It is Mary Anne who makes this promise, putting her friends above everything, including her beloved work, and Logan looks at her even more in love than before (if possible). It also reminds him that this means they won’t be able to kiss (this boy’s priorities!) And Mary Anne is like “oh hell no!” and plant one right on her stunned face. Mary Anne Mary Anne Spier. What a perfect character he has had this season.
In the camp office, Meany tries to explain that she really understands: The girls are discovering who they are and how they fit into the world, and that’s exactly what the camp is all about. Still, she can’t do everything for free. This is a business! She is about to tell them that she has no choice but to send them home, until Kristy Thomas breaks into another option. “Oh no, not this one,” Meany mutters under her breath. Oh yeah, East.
Look, while all these shenanigans have been going on, Kristy has been on an adventure. Karen went alone. At first, it was finding the hermit who frequented the theater and breaking the curse to save Mary Anne’s play, because, of course, she was. But after realizing that everything was made up, she went to the bus stop. Karen wanted to go home. Kristy, who asks Mallory and Jessi to help her find her sister, runs into the heartbroken 7-year-old girl. Karen thought breaking the curse would help her make friends. Everyone thinks it’s weird. She heard David Michael say that she was just his “stepsister”. Our unsuspecting drama queen is having a hard time, folks. Fortunately, she is surrounded by three other confident young women who know exactly what to say. Jessi and Mallory tell Karen that they know what it is like to be alone at camp and assure her that she has them as friends. Kristy tells her that she would be discouraged that she couldn’t spend the rest of the summer with her sister. Those things seem to really ease Karen’s anxiety, but let’s face it: what really pushes her back to camp is knowing that Vanessa Pike has taken her role in Paris Magic. No one takes Karen Brewer’s place on stage!
The whole thing is very moving and brings Kristy’s story of her changing family’s prosecution in a very complete circle. But it also has another purpose: Kristy Thomas is nothing but resourceful, we know that. She tells Meany that her advisers were so distracted that they didn’t even notice Karen was missing. Camp Moosehead needs some counselors who are attentive and prepared for the challenge of caring for these children. Basically: Let the BSC become counselors-in-training, right?
She does! All the girls stay, Claudia can run her art class for free, Mary Anne gets her work done, and the girls do what they do best. But one piece of the puzzle is missing: Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, and Dawn locate Jessi and Mallory to offer them Junior Officer positions at the Nanny Club. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes,” they say. I am paraphrasing but you understand the importance of the situation. The Baby-Sitters Club, stronger than ever, is an unstoppable force, no matter where they are.
Ok now is really the best summer never.
• “A witch but glamorous lure, obviously Karen’s work.”
• Doesn’t it relieve you that Jessi and Mallory have finally joined the BSC? And that we got this book-based scream when Kristy calls Mallory a “nature expert”: “I’m more of a horse girl, but there’s a lot of overlap.”
• It has been an honor and a privilege to participate in this BSC adventure with all of you. Now it’s time for me to try looking for my old copy of Babysitting Club Chain the Card Book and consider wearing mismatched earrings in everyday life. Until the next meeting, babysitters.
