Awesome / The Baby-Sitters Club (2020)

Season One

• Kristy kicking off the club idea while choking on pizza, and then starting it, is this in a nutshell. It goes to show her Go-Getter Girl attitude and enthusiasm, and that she is able to think through a big idea while being in a dangerous situation.
• Claudia facing off with the belittling and sexist Mr. Redmont when he suspects that Kristy was passing a note to her. She plays dumb by stating that her cell phone is in the locker and acting confused about writing notes while using a marker on her shoe. He scolds her to stop drawing and, when he has walked away, Claudia turns her shoe to show Kristy an elaborately decorated "OK" on her sneaker. This highlights Claudia's natural intelligence and artistic talent.
• It was a low blow and rather mean, sure, but the scene in "Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls" where Kristy berates Mary Anne for Richard's overprotectiveness (to the point of calling him "crazy") causes Mary Anne to snap that Kristy wouldn't know anything about dads since her father left. While a Tear Jerker on Kristy's side (and Mary Anne instantly regrets it), it does show that the shy Mary Anne has her limits and isn't afraid to stick up for her family.
• The club confronting the babysitter from the Baby-Sitters Agency for neglecting four-year-old Jamie Newton, scolding her on leaving the kid to literally play in the street while she spent time with her boyfriend. When the girl blows them off, Stacey calls Mrs. Newton (right in front of the BSA teen no less) to tell her what happened.
• Stacey finally opening up about her diabetes and bedazzling her insulin pump, which she no longer hides under her clothes and is now proudly showing off. Also, an awesome moment for Kristy because she points out to the skeptical clients (worried that Stacey's condition makes her unfit for childcare and simply wanting older sitters who can stay up later) that the older sitters in question have cyberbullied a 12-year-old diabetic girl and if they actually want bullies to be their kids' role models.
  • Additionally, an awesome moment for the mom who stuck up for Stacey to the other skeptical parents. She reveals how she already knew the whole time about Stacey's being diabetic because she's a doctor who specializes in this category of disorders, which allowed her to recognize the hidden insulin pump (Stacey is visibly surprised at this). She points out how Stacey has more maturity than the average teen because of her condition and she's personally seen Stacey caring for herself and other children at the same time and fully trusts her with her kid. Then she adds how her child loves Stacey and always asks when she is coming back to watch her.
• Mary Anne confronting the doctors about how they have misgendered Bailey, telling them if they took the time to look at Bailey rather than her chart, they'd get her gender right instead of making her feel more helpless.
• The ending of "Dawn and the Impossible Three"; instead of the original book ending where Dawn makes a compromise to sit for the Barrett children after Mrs. Barrett (now Natalie in the show) promises to be more organized for Dawn (and the Unfortunate Implications of having an adult woman depend on a teenage girl for her family's emotional support), Sharon Porter shows she isn't just some scatterbrained single parent and is a mature mom. She takes Dawn's cell phone when Natalie calls and gives the mother a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech after the woman's lack of organization and immature antics cause a traumatic situation for her preteen daughter.
  Sharon: This is Dawn's phone. This is her mother. I'm sorry, Dawn cannot come to the phone right now. She's a kid who has her own life to live. Sort out yours and then you can apologize to my daughter.
  • When Dawn says she could have handled it, Sharon says she knows that. However, as she adds on, she is still her mother and "sometimes [she] wants to take care of [her]".
  • Also, the fact that Dawn is able to get the stubborn, Control Freak, tightly-wound Kristy to open up to her about her pain despite just meeting her is something talented as well.
• After several episodes of Kristy being antagonistic to her mother marrying Watson, Sam breaks it down for both the audience and the other sitters:
  Sam: "Kristy is worried that if our mom isn't stressed about money every single second of her life, she's gonna stop being a feminist or something. So it's better we all live on top of each other and go into crazy debt for college rather than compromise our values by letting Mom marry a chill guy that totally loves her."
  • When he sarcastically asks Kristy if he's correct, the young girl is left speechless.
• The updated plot of "Boy Crazy Stacey." While Stacey is embarrassed by her interaction with Scott at the burger place, Toby immediately comes to help her save face. And, despite being angry at her, Mary Anne is immediately sympathetic and understanding, and the show ends with her having a newfound confidence thanks to her friend, Toby, Alex, and the Pike kids.
  • Earlier, when she asks Stacey why she would be losing her head over a mediocre boy and Stacey opens her mouth to imply that Mary Anne wouldn't understand because she isn't as "mature", Mary Anne gives an Armor-Piercing Response:
    Mary Anne: As mature as you? Well, at least I'm mature enough to do the job I'm being paid for.
• Dawn's leading of the protest against inequality at the camp, while playing into her Soapbox Sadie nature slightly, is supported by her friends. When Mary Anne feels that the protest is affecting her play, Dawn respectfully explains her position without backing down and they reach a deeper level of understanding. And when they meet with "Meanie" (the woman who runs the camp) they manage to sway her from sending them home to letting them work as volunteers to help the camp run more smoothly.
• Mary Anne (after learning that Kristy went off with Mallory and Jessi and that Stacey and Laine are in the infirmary) finds that she has to run her production herself and decides to take action (with some help from Logan). She makes the choice to both direct and perform. In an even bigger awesome moment, we see the Shrinking Violet Mary Anne initiating her much desired Big Damn Kiss with Logan herself. The BSC members (sans Kristy, anyway) are left applauding her for her unusual moment of boldness.
• After two episodes where Kristy and her offers of leadership for the younger kids are dismissed by Meanie, she gets the chance to tell her the camp isn't being run well. Kristy tells her how the older counselors have proven negligent and her little sister ran away without anyone noticing and that she (with the help of Jessi and Mallory) had to search for Karen themselves and found her at an abandoned bus stop trying to get home. After this, the Baby-Sitters Club are made Junior Counselors and make Jessi and Mallory trainees and new members of the club.

Season Two

• Episode 2 introduces Ashley Wyeth – who was a Scrappy in the books for how much of a phony she was. Here, she's positive, always kind to the younger girls, and has genuine activist beliefs. She's also Janine's girlfriend and helps Claudia realize that, while Janine's weirdness makes her different, it doesn't make her character bad.
• Kristy telling off Derek Masters' dad in a professional and composed manner. He's instantly chastened and offers her some ice cream as an apology.
• Mr. Spier admitting that he has anxiety, and also has some fairly healthy ways of dealing with it; such as communication and focusing on adult color books to help him relax.
  • It's also implied he has been seeing a therapist regarding this and also for his fears about Mary Anne growing up; he even wrote cue cards to prepare himself for the time when she starts to date. This shows that, as a parent, he's trying to work on himself for the benefit of his daughter.
• In "Jessi and the Superbrat," Jessi considers quitting ballet to pursue Internet stardom because, after failing to get a leading role at her new ballet school, she feels that she's not any good anymore. Her mom, Janice, calls her out on this, making it clear that her daughter is not quitting ballet after the family made many sacrifices so she could attend the ballet school she begged to enroll in for three years. Janice further says that, while quitting due to a lack of interest would be one thing, given that Jessi's wounded ego has much to do with her sudden choice to quit, that's a poor reason to quit after years of hard work. Jessi recognizes her mother's right and that she's behaving like a Spoiled Brat because she didn't get the role she wanted.
  • Further, when she sees the classmate that did get the role perform her dance on stage, Jessi is absolutely amazed by the girl's beautiful performance. She admits that while she had seen her dance in class, she never truly noticed her actual skill. She also notices how she's smiling even while turned away from the audience; clearly enjoying ballet for the simple joy it brings her. She recognizes this is why the classmate got the role over her and that she's clearly earned it for a valid reason.
• Stacey's mom and doctor supporting her when she admits the pressure of being "a poster child for diabetes" has taken a toll on her and she doesn't feel she's the role model kids should be looking up to.
• Watson naming Liz's ex-husband's very long negative track record of regularly letting his kids down with failing to keep his promises to spend time with them. Liz tries telling him to stop, but Watson rightfully points out that his stepchildren deserve better from their father than a man who continuously says he's going to show up for his kids only to cancel at the last minute repeatedly for years. He's fed up with seeing his stepkids disappointed and hurt time and time again by a man they should be able to trust.
  • This leads to Mary Anne herself joining in and saying Watson's right. She straight-up reminds Kristy that she's always done more in her relationship with her father than he himself has since they were young; naming various times over the years when her father claimed he was coming to visit (such as for recitals or birthdays) and how Kristy would get excited to see her dad only for him to cancel. She's also fed up with seeing her lifelong best friend repeatedly for years by her father and has had enough of it.
  • Dawn also joins in, saying that although she doesn't get to see her dad much (due to him living in California), he would never miss a chance to see her or be with her. Not because he's a saint, but because he's a parent.