The Baby-Sitters Club season 1 review – bringing a modern approach to a classic story

By Daniel Hart
Published: July 2, 2020 (Last updated: last month)
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Netflix Series The Baby-Sitters Club season 1
3.5

Summary

It’s abundantly transparent that the writers for the reboot had a desire to modernize the story, not repeat it, while also staying loyal.

Netflix Series The Baby-Sitters Club season 1 will be released on the platform on July 3, 2020.


Of course, it was important for Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club to instill nostalgia for those who grew up on Ann M. Martin’s series, but at the same time, by taking the IP, it was important for the streaming platform to surface the story in modern times.

According to early feedback on social media, The Baby-Sitters Club stays true to the story, even abiding by the chronological order of the first few books, reigning in the conundrums of running the BSC.

With a soft narration and a light vibe, The Baby-Sitters Club is not heavily thematic and manages to hone in on the fluffiness of warm friendship and family. It’s an easy breeze to view, and there’s nothing to suggest that being aware of the source material changes anything. Viewers can enjoy the trials and tribulations of growing up and relax with the soft narrative.

Central to the series is kindness and humanity — but it’s shoved in the audience’s faces, it’s merely an education that families can watch together and enjoy. And speaking of education, reverting to the need for nostalgia and modernity and not splurge the 80s-era full throttle, The Baby-Sitters Club provides progressive plot points, stamping the Netflix series reboot to the current times. There are stories centering on transgender awareness, the U.S.’s undesirable past against Japanese-Americans, and a gay romance. Interestingly, Dawn is Hispanic in the series whereas in the book she has blonde hair and blue eyes. It’s abundantly transparent that the writers for the reboot had a desire to modernize the story, not repeat it, while also staying loyal.

The Baby-Sitters Club season 1 really gets the engine moving when Stace wants to confront her type 1 diabetes — the story becomes about the courage to speak up and “belong” and allowing others to accept you for who you are. The plot had a determination to bring realism to the series — overcome your shame and own it. Audiences will be sold during this early narrative point.

Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club is a genuine, sweet effort to bring back a story — audiences will feel the authenticity and it will be appreciated.

Netflix, TV Reviews
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