The Baby-Sitters Club Recap for Claudia and the Sad Goodbye

Claudia and the Sad Goodbye opens with Claudia and Mimi making special tea together. It is a Japanese tradition and something very important to Mimi. Claudia loves making it, but gets frustrated when Mimi wants her to do it correctly.

 

Janine and Ashley walk in and say hello and get snacks. Mimi promises that Claudia will bring them special tea in a little bit, which makes Claudia even more frustrated. She points out that she is not a maid, but makes the tea anyway.

 

That night, Claudia is painting when Mimi walks in to say goodnight and that she doesn’t want to confuse the muses.

 

The next morning, Mr Kishi and Mrs. Kishi are in the kitchen crying. They tell Claudia and Janine that Mimi died in her sleep that night. Claudia is in shock because she seemed fine the day before, but Janine points out that she was old and suffering from the after-affects of her stroke.

 

The Kishis plan for the funeral and tell the girls no visitors before and after because of Buddhist tradition.

Claudia goes to Stacey’s to relax and get away. Stacey’s mom offers to order food, but they decide to go to the mall instead.

 

Kristy makes her house comfortable for the club meeting and Claudia. Karen wants to know why, so Kristy explains everything.

 

Jessi, Mary Anne, Dawn, Mallory and Jessi arrive with Claudia and Stacey. Everything is tense and awkward and made even worse when Karen says Mimi came to her in a dream and is marrying Ben Brewer.

 

Claudia has had enough, so she and Stacey go back to the McGills. She wants to do something, but Mrs. McGill says Claudia’s family wants her at home.

 

After the funeral, Claudia and her family come home, but it ends up too much for her, so she goes to Stacey’s. As they eat snacks, they hear Stacey’s parents fighting, which embarrasses Stacey.

 

Claudia then goes to Mary Anne’s, but ends up having a meltdown while distracting herself from her grief. The two of them talk about losing loved ones and hug it out.

 

When Claudia gets home, she sees Janine and Ashley going through Mimi’s jewelry box. Claudia has a fit, which causes a fight with Janine.

Ashley gives them privacy to talk and Janine admits she and Ashley are actually a couple. She tells Claudia that it is pretty new, but Mimi figured it out and she told her the truth.

 

This leads to a beautiful bonding moment for the sisters, where they hug and pick out a piece of jewelry for Ashley.

 

The episode ends with Claudia making special tea for her friends, family and Ashley as a memorial for Mimi. The Kishis welcome Ashley into their family.

They also set up a shrine to remember Mimi.

 

Thoughts:

• I admit to crying through most of this episode.
• I never knew the Kishis were Buddhist.
• The McGills fighting….could it be foreshadowing for her move or the divorce?
• Claudia trying to find a distraction from her grief is so relatable.
• Special tea was my favorite thing in Claudia’s books. I want to know how to make it.
• Ashley and Janine are adorable together.
• The Kishis welcoming Ashley was such a beautiful moment.
• I like how they kept the funny Mimi stories about Claudia’s birthday and ambulance chasing in the episode.
• Mimi’s goodbye to Claudia was the same as it was in the book, but more touching seeing it on TV.
• Claudia’s mom rooting for Mimi and Ben Brewer having a love triangle with Mimi’s husband made me laugh so hard.