Dawn and the Impossible Three
Episode 5 of The Baby-Sitters Club sees the pendulum swing toward new girl Dawn. She and Mary Anne discuss their parents’ newfound blossoming romance before turning their attention toward the BSC. Mary Anne invites Dawn into the group but some initial reservations from Kristy cause her to be taken on in a probationary position. Unfortunately this also comes with the toughest babysitting job – the troublesome Barrett’s. While Richard and Sharon continue to grow closer together, Dawn walks into hell on Earth at the Barrett household. The trio of kids are out of control, throwing food and generally causing a whirlwind of destruction in their wake. Even worse, their Mother Natalie turn up late and it causes Dawn to fall asleep at the meeting the next day. Down and out, Kristy tells her she needs to start exerting her authority in order to get through to the kids. This gives Dawn an idea and she invites Kristy over to give her some babysitting tips. While she does, Sharon and Kristy’s mother discuss Richard and their budding romance. Unfortunately this hits a snag when the girls (under Sharon’s guidance) start changing the decorations in Mary Anne’s room. It’s all too much for Richard and he tells everyone to leave. Meanwhile, Dawn receives a call from her Dad and it’s too painful for Kristy and she bolts from the room given it brings back bad memories from the past. However, Dawn has bigger problems to deal with when Buddy rushes out the back door. Thankfully this local emergency is eventually resolved when his Father arrives and explains the situation. Kristy loses her temper in the aftermath of this and smashes up some crisps in the kitchen, annoyed that her own Father isn’t as loving or caring. Under this pain, Dawn manages to get through to her and the two finally end up seeing eye to eye.
The Review Write-Up
“Parents are just older weirdos doing the best they can” is probably the best quote of the entire show. As the kids and adults both have their own character arcs, the romantic subplot between Richard and Sharon is definitely one of the better elements of the show and reinforces the notion that really, adults are just grown-up kids fumbling their way through life. It’s actually quite nice how The Baby-Sitters Club contrasts this against the girls’ problems and the series as a whole definitely feels like a throwback to those old feel-good 90’s shows. Although Kristy remains a difficult character to warm to through the series, thankfully some of the issues are alleviated by these little breakthroughs she has at the end of her episodic arcs to talk through her problems. As we cross the halfway point of the show, The Baby-Sitters Club leaves the door wide open for where the rest of the series may go but so far, the series has definitely been an enjoyable thrill ride.
