Book #30, Netflix S2 E5
Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin
Netflix Series - Director: Kimmy Gatewood, Writers: Dan Robert & Lisha Brooks
Basic plot
This is another instance where the show and book are so different it's easier to give brief synopsis of both separately.
Book: Mary Anne and Dawn are excited when their parents tell them they are getting married, they think it's going to be a big wedding but aren't too disappointed when Richard and Sharon want to have a small one. Meanwhile the BSC are dealing with the Arnold twins not getting along, of course they are able to come up with a solution to help everyone.
Netflix: Mary Anne and Dawn are happy their parents relationship seems to be strong and they hope they expect them to get engaged soon. Mary Anne on the other hand is finding being in a couple with Logan not as great as she thought it would be. Meanwhile Kristy's mum is trying to handle hormones treatments which leads to Karen scaring everyone with ghost stories of a crying lady.
Things that are kept the same
- The Spiers and Schafers go out for fancy dinner.
- There are engagement discussions (just hopeful discussions between Mary Anne & Dawn in TV show)
- The Spiers are to move in with the Schafers, setting up the next book/episode (in tv show it is only going to be a temporary thing)
- Richard and Mary Anne have a nice heart-to-heart talk.
Things from other books
- There is general Mary Anne and Logan relationship stuff from different books.
- Logan asks Mary Anne to be his girlfriend and gives her bracelet as a gift (Original Book 10)
- It is Valentine's day and Logan books a table at a fancy restaurant (Original Book 41)
- Mary Anne decides she doesn't want Logan to be boyfriend anymore, she is tired of being in a couple and not been thought of as an individual person (Original Book BSC: Friends Forever 3).
- Mary Anne and Logan also take a break in Book #41, I think the break-up has more in common with the Friends Forever book, but this earlier book does highlight some problems that continue and are reason for break-up in the later series.
Things that are changed
- Obviously the big thing is Richard and Sharon don't get engaged and have a wedding, but also the girls were surprised at the announcement in the book, in the Netflix series they keep expecting them to announce their engagement.
- The bigger plot is Logan and Mary Anne's relationship, in the book at this stage they've been dating a long time and he is just in background. Here they officially start dating and then decide to be just friends at the end.
- Mary Anne is upset that her friends presume she will walk to meeting with Logan instead of them and is disappointed to miss out on their galentines plans.
- Unlike the books where they date, Mary Anne and Logan feel awkward and have an amicable break-up agreeing they are better as friends who like each other.
- The Sub-plot of Arnolds not getting along is dropped but we do get another babysitting plot where Karen Brewer creeps out her sitters while doing family tree project and talking about ghosts, in particular the crying lady (seems in character for her book character).
- Also an addition is Liz Thomas being hormonal, as she has been on treatments to help her get pregnant. Kristy finds out Liz is the crying lady "ghost" but they decide not to tell Karen and disappoint her.
- Dawn is not heterosexual, she mentions she doesn't care for labels and would date anyone on the gender spectrum.
Final Thoughts
Really different from the original book, but I still liked it. Unlike Stacey's Emergency it shows if you have the characters right then it can still be satisfying watch even without following one book directly. I do love Spier/Schafer interactions on the show, which is why this and the next episodes are some of my favourites. Richard and Mary Anne's talks were very sweet. I also liked that Mary Anne and Logan decided they were better off as being good friends, in the books a lot of time they came off as too serious and acting older then 13 year olds should be in a relationship.
