The Baby-Sitters Club season 2 ending explained: Does Kristy get adopted?

The Baby-Sitters Club season 2 followed in the same footsteps of its predecessor, at least in terms of how the season was broken up. Once again viewers were treated to episodes that zeroed in on a particular growing pain one of the sitters needed to work through in order to make a discovery about herself or learn an important life lesson.

Due to this storytelling style there isn’t an overarching arc that runs through the entire season to be tied up or left on a cliffhanger by the season finale. However, season 2 has had its share of highs and lows for the sitters.

Spoilers ahead for The Baby-Sitters Club season 2

The saddest storyline of the series thus far has been the passing of Claudia’s beloved grandmother Mimi in season 2’s penultimate episode, “Claudia and the Sad Goodbye.” Last season, Mimi suffered a stroke and though she made a recovery it was revealed that she had medical setbacks.

The 85-year old woman, who’d been the glue that kept her family together, passed in her sleep. The episode in which Mimi dies works through not only Claudia’s grief but that of her family’s and her friends. It’s one of the most deftly handled storylines about loss in a children’s show that I’ve ever seen especially given the fact that The Baby-Sitters Club generally runs under 30 minutes per episode.

Season 2’s finale “Kristy and the Baby Parade,” however, is about closing the chapter on one story of your life to begin another one. It all starts when the Baby Parade, an formerly annual event in Stoneybrook, is revived and Kristy’s father reaches out to see if he can pay a visit to his kids.

Does Kristy’s dad show up in The Baby-Sitters Club season 2?

Kristy’s absent father has been a plot point since season 1. He abandoned his family, and it’s been two or so years since they’ve seen him. The audience hasn’t even seen the man!

When David Michael and Kristy were looking for pictures in the season 2 finale for a photo album David Michael wanted to make for their dad, the picture they found of Kristy and their father had the man cropped out.

Papa Thomas is consistently disappointing his kids. He says he’s going to visit and then he doesn’t. Or he stays out of contact for long periods of time. Now he has a child with his current girlfriend and they find out about it via email. This time viewers got to see just how worked up he makes all of his kids.

Kristy wanted to believe the best and stay positive, Charlie was willing to do whatever his siblings want to do but you can tell he wants to see their dad, David Michael barely remembers the man but wanted to give him a gift to show him what he’s missed in their lives, and Sam was angry at his dad for putting them in a position to be let down again.

And their dad does let them down. As quick as one can write an email, he lets Liz know that he won’t be attending the Baby Parade and meeting up with his kids after all.

The whole reason he was coming to Stoneybrook was because he was going to be passing through town on the way to his girlfriend’s parents’ house. Said girlfriend, however, is in a hurry to get to her parents’ place and so he bails on coming to see his children.

It’s a hurtful and infuriating thing to do and Watson, after seeing the Thomas kids go through so much upheaval over a man who can’t even bother to call, finally loses it in front of the kids. He justly rails against their dad and, in a not so surprising turn of events, on the spot asked the Thomas kids if they’d like for him to adopt them.

Does Watson adopt the Thomas kids in The Baby-Sitters Club season 2?

Watson has one of the biggest hearts on the show which is saying something considering The Baby-Sitters Club is a show brimming with heart. Since the first episode of the series he has been there for the Thomas kids showering them with love and affection in his own dorky way.

His request to adopt them felt like a necessary step as did Kristy telling her step dad that she loves him. She fought tooth-and-nail over Watson’s relationship with her mother but at the end of the day, Watson has consistently been the father figure in her life. It stands to reason that he should officially become her dad.

That’s the intent at least. The Thomas-Brewer clan have a lot of legal work to get through before an adoption can be finalized. It’s possible we may finally see Papa Thomas if he puts up a fight over this family decision, but we do know that the Thomas kids want Watson to step in where their father left and for that to be legally recognized.

We’ll have to wait until season 3 to see what becomes of this plot!

The Baby-Sitters Club season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.