Book #31, Netflix S2 E6
Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin
Netflix Series - Director: Kimmy Gatewood, Writer: Ryan O'Connell
Basic plot
When the Spiers move in with the Schafers, Dawn is excited at first but soon finds that living Mary Anne isn't as easy as she thought it would be, especially when they share a room. Meanwhile the BSC come to the aid of the Pikes after a medical emergency.
Things that are kept the same
- The Spiers move in with Schafers (it's only a temporary arrangement in Netflix series)
- Mary Anne and Dawn share a room, but soon they start to annoy each other.
- The families different eating and cleaning habits also cause clashes.
- Mary Anne is scared by the Secret Passage way in Dawn's room.
- Dawn tries to pretend she is okay with everything, saying its fine while thinking how much of a pain Mary Anne is (she is quite passive-aggressive at times)
- The girls start to snipe at each other during a BSC meeting.
- After an accident at the Pike household, the BSC help out the Pikes.
- In the end Dawn and Mary Anne make up and the whole Schafer/Spier clan come to a better understanding of each other.
Things from other books
- Dawn discovers there is a secret passage way in her room (Original Book 9)
- Mary Anne sets up some homemade burglar alarms in case of intruders (Original Book 2)
- The story about setting up alarms is actually brought up in this book (31) as well, so its a good reference.
- Mallory's parents have some money issues (Original Book 39)
Things that are changed
- There's a slight change to title as the original book is Dawn's Wicked Stepsister
- In the books the move is a permanent arrangement after Richard and Sharon marry.
- As Jeff only exists in the books, Dawn does call him to talk about her troubles.
- In the books Dawn discovered the secret passageway in book 9, here Sharon mentions it, and Dawn isn't as excited by it as in the books (at the end of the episode she even boards it up).
- While Mary Anne is scared of the passageway, she is actually the one to face it and explore it in the show, and Dawn is still nervous of it. In the book Dawn uses the passageway to scare Mary Anne to move into a room of her own.
- There is an instance of Mary Anne and Sharon bonding and Dawn feels jealous especially as they seem to make fun of Dawn. This isn't the book though there is instance of each parent taking their step child's side in an argument.
- Dawn and Richard ave a nice talk at the end of episode, don't think we ever saw them bond much in the books which is a pity.
- While both subplots are about the Pikes, they are different. In the book the Pikes all come down with various illnesses and accidents (Mal gets chickenpox, Triplets pneumonia, Vanessa sprains her ankle etc.) and the BSC help out babysitting. In the show, Byron gets hurt and because of the medical expenses the Pikes can't afford to have a carnival party like Claire wanted for her birthday. The BSC volunteer themselves to put together the party.
- This does lead Mallory to feel like a charity case,and she feels uncomfortable with this, but it is resolved when the BSC reassure her that it is just friends looking out for each other.
Final Thoughts
Surprising as the last episode really didn't follow book plot, and it is a 2-parter, that this episode had a lot similar with the book. This was also an episode I found even if it wasn't a direct reference to something in the book it did feel like it could have been in it, such as the BSC throwing a big carnival party for their client, Mallory's insecurity about being charity, and Dawn being jealous over Sharon and Mary Anne bonding. In some instances I did think it came from the book, like Mary Anne and Sharon in the kitchen and I thought the Mallory plot was taken more from "Poor Mallory" book, but on re-read there is no direct reference. Maybe such things come up in another book that I haven't re-read in a while or
else it's just so keeping in character it felt like it was from the
source material. This was a favourite episode of mine, and on 2nd watch through the new Dawn actress grew on me, she did a good job here. I am sad to find out we won't get one more season to wrap things up but glad we got the 2 seasons at least. Still 2 more episodes to look at, and after that will be back to look at some graphix comparisons.
