“The Babysitter’s Club” is based off the book series by Ann M. Martin, with notable actors and actresses including Alicia Silverstone, Sophie Grace, and Momona Tamada.

On October 11, the second season of the Babysitter’s Club was released to the public on Netflix, over a year after the first season.

In the first season, we saw the “Babysitter’s Club” had a fair amount of exposition, but in the second season it really flourished. There were numerous modern updates in the new season compared to the books, which I enjoyed seeing given that it built upon the source material. The show also includes a diverse cast which is always a pleasure to see.

I appreciated how the episodes weren’t afraid to sugarcoat real topics, such as how they displayed Stacey’s diabetes and her ability to live a normal life in spite of it. Her struggle with diabetes encapsulates the series’ realism well.

In the second season, two new characters, Jessi Ramsey (Anais Lee) and Mallory Pike (Vivian Watson), brought unique chemistry and were overall really enjoyable to watch on screen. The new characters also had their own dedicated episodes that featured a lot of solid character development within Jessi and Mallory’s pursuits in ballet and babysitting, respectively.

I also recognized that the new season was a lot deeper and more mature than the first, while still being appropriate for younger audiences. To be frank, I actually think the new season is better for children to watch, because it teaches them about unexpected life changes. The changed tones and emotions throughout the show allowed for a more interesting and varied show. Often, shows aimed more towards younger audiences will only include a consistent upbeat tone. However, in this show there is a nice mix of tones in the ranging from happiness to frustration to sadness.

One gripe I had, however, was that the series had very predictable plot-twists, even without reading the books. There were quite a few giveaways and it was simple enough to what was going to happen next, which did ruin the series for a little bit.

The other problem I noticed was that the actress for Dawn Schaefer was changed from Xochitl Gomez to Kyndra Sanchez. While both played an excellent Dawn, it would’ve been more ideal if the change had not happened at all so that people wouldn’t be thrown off. Despite these two things, I still think it was a really good show and is most definitely worth watching.

The Babysitter’s Club is rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.9/10 on IMDB. It can be watched exclusively on Netflix.

Grade: A-