Claudia and Mean Janine
Episode 6 of The Baby-Sitters Club begins with Claudia and Stacey heading over to Richard’s house to apologize about the wallpaper incident. Through their sweet talking, they convince him to get involved in the redecorating process. When the kids have finished, it’s a massive transformation and Mary Anne isn’t sure how to feel given how different everything is. Claudia invites Trevor over to help with art but Janine interjects at the worst possible time and it causes him to leave. In the wake of this, Claudia and Janine come to blows over empathy and this consequently causes Mimi to fall after having a stroke. With her grandmother in hospital and things not looking good for her recovery, Claudia lashes out at her sister and tells her Mimi loves her more. With everyone gathered around Mary Anne’s, the kids bond and being drawing and painting get well soon cards for Mimi. Mary Anne remains uneasy in her new room while downstairs, Richard and Elizabeth talk about how he and Sharon broke up. Thankfully good news arrives from the hospital – Mimi has awoken. Claudia rushes over to greet her but Mimi is not herself and begins rambling. Shocked, Claudia heads outside and struggles to comprehend what’s happening. At the gallery, Claudia receives further scrutiny when the judge questions her commitment to art and challenges the young girl over her true purpose in this field. Even worse, she struggles to communicate with Mimi at the hospital but thankfully Janine manages to get through to her by speaking Japanese. Afterward, Janine and Claudia finally open up to one another and find common ground while discussing the past and what happened to their grandmother. Mimi does eventually return home safe and sound though and just in time; The Baby-Sitter’s Club get a call for a job in Sea City. As they look into setting this up, Claudia looks proudly at her drawing of Mimi as a child.
The Review Write-Up
The Baby-Sitters Club delivers a really decent half hour of drama as we look in detail at familial relationships. The strained bond between Janine and Claudia has always been a negative on her life but seeing her sister able to get through to Mimi when no one else could helps Claudia open up and see Janine in a different light. The episode itself tackles some pretty important issues too and while it does get a little heavy toward the end, there’s a good emphasis on not falling too deep into melodramatic waters when discussing this. The second half of the series has certainly seen things shift to exploring much more serious topics and it’s something that’s certainly welcome here as the series settles into a good groove.
