Underdeveloped relationships

[aln1982]

^ I can see all of the reasons why Dawn and Richard weren't as close as Kristy and Watson, too. Just wish they would have even addressed the troubles in the relationship more.

[bscfan81]

[quote author=cpennylane board=others thread=1184639447 post=1194912098I would have thought that Dawn would have more trouble adjusting to Richard as a sudden second father figure, given that her parents were divorced not even a year before Sharon let Richie move in. It seemed off to me, like Dawn is all upset about her dad getting remarried to Carol, but she wasn't upset at all about Richard?[/quote]

I always figured that Dawn accepted Richard faster than Carol because of Mary Anne. If Mary Anne hadn't been in the picture, I can see Dawn's reaction to Richard being much more negative. But maybe it depends on the person.

[Rie]

fairy3lf2 said:

It's been stated a few times on this board that many relationships were underdeveloped. Which ones did you feel weren't developed enough? Or which characters did you wish shared more scenes and more was made of their connection? Here's what I think:

Mary Anne and Sharon: Mary Anne hasn't had a mother since she was a baby so when her dad got married again, I thought more would be made about it.
Stacey and Mallory: They're possibly the two BSC members who were most different from each other but they lived close by and I think it was mentioned that their moms were friends. Somebody else also mentioned that it's Stacey who's most complimentary about Mallory's looks. I'd like to have seen more of a friendship between them.
Claudia and Carol: In California Girls, it's mentioned that Carol is an artist. Wouldn't it have been great if Claudia found a kindred spirit in Carol, maybe because Carol believes in her when her own family doesn't? It would have caused a lot of conflict with Dawn who didn't like her at the time.
Jessi and Keesha: It was mentioned many times that Jessi was best friends with her cousin Keesha before moving to Stoneybrooke. She seemed important in Jessi's life so why was she never featured after book 16? As somebody else said, a story about Mallory and Keesha would have been great.

I agree about Mary Anne and Sharon. I hope they could be MORE closer,you know,mother/daughter relationship.

[anzuhana]

I would have liked to see more moments between Abby and Anna and their mother. We got see some moments in Welcome to the BSC, Abby, and some others but I think there should have been a few more.

[digigirl02]

Echoing mostly what has been said before. Stacey/Mallory, Jessi/Keesha, Stacey/Dr. J, Kristy/Watson, Kristy/David Michael Mary Anne/ Jeff and Mary Anne/Sharon.

[zoar3]

Wow, interesting thread I agree with a lot of the pairings.

I most would have liked to have seen more interaction between Kristy/MA and Kristy and her family. (Outside of simply Karen or baby-sitting). I still think it would have made for an awesome plot/subplot even had the Thomas kids ever come together and truly talked about Watson, how they have come to feel about him, and consider changing their surname to Brewer.

ITA, that other than the mention in "Stacey's Choice" of Maureen being close to Mrs. Pike, we didn't see much of any parent friendships. We also didn't see too much interaction between the parents and the girls in general, outside of baby-sitting. I'm thinking I'd have loved to read about MA talking with Mrs. Brewer.

Stacey/Dr. J for sure. I won't get started on this again but truly did feel confused and even a bit mad that neither of them thought of the possibility of Dr. J becoming Stacey's doc. I certainly would understand if Stacey did not want to jeopordize the ease she felt in talking with Dr. J by changing their roles to Dr./Patient but it should have been brought up. Along with, the two of them talking more in general, certainly during Stacey's Emergency but even perhaps when Stacey was no longer a BSC Member.

Speaking of Stacey...how about her sisterly friendship with Charlotte. Other than Stacey calling Charlotte the night Char left the McGills' to go home following her week? long stay with her parents were with her Grandpa, did Stacey or Charlotte for that matter ever just call one another to talk?

Something odd I thought about recently was Mary Anne's feelings about Mr. Schafer. (I mean pre BSC in the USA) It had to have been odd for her to finally meet him in CA girls. He was sort of....(was he)? a step to her?

[digigirl02]

What about MA/Mimi, or even Janine/Mimi?

I most would have liked to have seen more interaction between Kristy/MA and Kristy and her family. (Outside of simply Karen or baby-sitting. I still think it would have made for an awesome plot/subplot even had the Thomas kids ever come together and truly talked about Watson, how they have come to feel about him, and consider changing their surname to Brewer.

Out of the Thomas kids, I could see David Michael most likely to take the Brewer last name.

[celaeno]

I'm glad to see so many people say Stacey/Mallory, because that's my top relationship I wished had been developed more, and I couldn't really think of any evidence from the books to support it.

I think Stacey/Mallory became my favorite when I was little and my sister had the chain letter book, which I loved (and I wish she still had it ). Stacey writes Mallory a letter confessing that she had once (secretly) dyed her hair red because she thought it would look good (it didn't). I always thought it was really cute...Stacey was picking Mal as someone to confide something private to, and I thought Mal would feel dorkishly psyched that Stacey had picked her. Mal is so self-conscious about her looks, so I thought Stacey was trying to share that she's tried crazy things as well to try to look good.

Aug 5, 2007 12:59:50 GMT -5 fluffycakes said:

I also like the idea of a closer Kristy/Stacey friendship. They're so different from each other, but I think they both admire the other - Kristy admires Stacey for being so sophisticated, and I think Stacey looks up to Kristy for being the presidenty, in-charge type. It's never explicitly stated, but I've always got the impression of a certain amount of respect for one another between them.

I agree. I don't see Kristy and Stacey ever really forming a close friendship, but I do get the impression they respect each other. Kristy is usually there to back Stacey up when Stacey has something difficult to do (like in #35 Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook or M#1 Stacey and the Missing Ring).

Also in #38 Kristy's Mystery Admirer (I think), when Kristy is doing her chapter 2 spiel, she says she thinks Stacey has had the hardest life out of all her friends (or something along those lines). Rather strong words from someone whose dad abandoned her and her three brothers when she was six.

[anzuhana]

I would've liked to see more Stacey and Mary Anne because both love New York and if I'm not mistaken, they have an interest in old movies. I think they have another interest but if they do, it's not coming to mind.
Stacey and Dawn. Both of their parents are divorced and both of them don't eat any sweets. It would have been nice to see them bond over not eating candy.
Janine and Mimi. I wonder how they got along.

[oldhickory]

the one relationship i wanted to see more is claudia and the rodowsky's. (i think i may have said this somewhere else, but i don't remember.) there's so many little instances in the series that could have easily been expanded. shea totally had a crush on her in claudia's friend friend, and in the recipe for danger he seemed so comfortable in their group, not like he was with his baby sitters. and she couldn't have won a sort-of prize for her sculpture of jackie unless she really poured her heart into it.

[courtky10]

^^ I'd love to see more of Claudia's relationship with the Rodowsky kids as well! I thought she was so cute with them in Claudia's Freind Friend, and was sad that we didn't see more of them. I liked how easily Claudia connected with Shea; in a way, their closeness in that one book reminded me of Stacey and Charlotte.

[zoar3]

^Claudia and Shea did seem to have a great connection in "Claudia's Friend." I would think that bond/relationship could have been beneficial to both of them had it continued. To a lesser degree, the same could be said of Buddy and Mal from "Mallory and the Mystery Diary." To bad that most subplots, only lasted for the course of the book they were in.

I am currently re-reading the Series. In Jessi's Secret Language, Kristy baby-sits (I think for the first and only time)? for Squirt and Becca. I thought K and B hit it off very well and seemed to mesh. I would have enjoyed future conversations/interactions between them. The above happened on pages 120-122, in case anyone is interested in checking that scene out.

[firecausesburns]

I'd love to have seen more interaction between Mary Anne and Claudia. I know MAry Anne and Kristy were always the closer ones, but when we do see Mary Anne and Claudia spending time with each other they seem to have a very sweet friendship, I'd like to have seen more of that. Also Mary Anne and Kristy's family, we heard about her being close to Elizabeth but didn't really see much of it.

[oldhickory]

ITA, for all the talk about the bradford court circle being friends from birth, they didn't show it at all.

i don't remember kristy sitting for becca and squirt at all, but i will have to reread because that sounds like a very sweet combination. especially since kristy has siblings about the same ages as becca and squirt, except becca is nothing like karen and squirt is northing like emily :]

[zoar3]

I found this thread at long last. After re-reading SS#1 along with Boy Crazy Stacey, I wish Stacey and Byron's friendship had been better developed. I loved their convo's in both the above books and thought that would have been a great way of seperating Byron from his brothers (other than the standard label of his being quieter) and just seeing a different side of Stacey.

Of course after SS1, I wish the Kubackis had made another appearance as did Mr. Staples. He/Kristy could have written and or called one another at least once! Of course, we never did find out if Nannie contacted him!