Who remembers As Told By Ginger? This early 00s animated show focused on Ginger Foutley, a preteen writer.

Ginger and her two best friends, timid Macie and gossipy Dodie, make their way through middle and high school, and all the drama and intrigue that comes with it. They tackle puberty, crushes, parental abandonment, and mental health issues. Through it all, Ginger must also deal with a certain blonde-haired social climber who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Dodie, Ginger’s alleged best friend, has proven time and again that she can’t be trusted. She can’t keep a secret to save her life (even when it would benefit her) and when presented with the opportunity to become more popular, she doesn’t care who she betrays until someone (usually Ginger) has to spell out how it makes other people feel.

Not to mention, she is weirdly obsessed with Ginger and maintaining her status as “best friend.” For someone who wants to keep her friends close, she is very bad at it.

She Revealed Embarrassing Information For Clout

In the episode “Of Lice And Friends,” Dodie is chosen to do morning announcements for the school. She decides to spice up the announcements by turning them into Dodie’s Gossip Corner. Of course, since middle schoolers like drama, Dodie gets a lot of attention, especially from the popular girls. This comes to a head during a lice outbreak, and Dodie gets her hands on the list of infected students. She starts reading them aloud over the PA, and Ginger is forced to stop her. Dodie actually gets pissed about this, despite Ginger spelling out multiple times that all Dodie is doing is being embarrassing.

She does the same thing in “Cry Wolf.” In order to prove to another popular girl, Miranda, that she and Ginger are true besties, she reveals secrets about Ginger that were told to her in confidence, namely Ginger being forbidden from shaving her legs. This results in Miranda blackmailing Ginger for days.

She Can’t Be Supportive Of Her Friend For One Fucking Second

In “An Even Steven Holiday Special,” Ginger discovers she has Jewish ancestry. She is excited to learn more about her roots, and even jokes about changing her name to something more Hebrew-sounding. Dodie’s response is to seriously consider converting her religion. Macie, ever the voice of reason, says they just need to support Ginger.

How does Dodie support Ginger? A gift bag with creamed herring and a copy of Yentl. Then, she gets butthurt about Ginger not wanting to trim the tree at her house. Mind you, Ginger was not only learning about being Jewish, but was helping her mother with their annual holiday party. But, Dodie took this to mean that Ginger no longer cared about her. Ginger then ends up apologizing for going too hard in the Judaism paint.

Much later, in “Far From Home,” Ginger applies to a semester-long program at a boarding school for fine arts. Dodie is already pissed at Ginger having the gall to want to go away from home, despite the program helping her academically. But, when Ginger actually gets accepted to the program, Dodie has a meltdown, questioning how Ginger even made the cut in the first place. Considering Ginger prides herself on her writing, this was insulting.

Dodie half-apologizes for her behavior, and that does smooth things over, but she doesn’t fully commit to the “I’ll be supportive” thing until it’s time for Ginger to come home. Only then does she acknowledge that the only reason the admission board considered Ginger in the first place was because of her skill.

She Tried To Break Up Ginger’s Relationship, Then Got Butthurt About It Continuing

After the events of “Far From Home”, Ginger and her only male best friend, Darren, start dating. The honeymoon phase hits hard and fast, and Ginger snubs Dodie and Macie a few times. Dodie again feels like her “Ginger’s best friend” personality trait status is being threatened. She then teams up with the school’s mean girls in order to break up Darren and Ginger. She even convinces Macie to go along with the scheme. You know who comes to the rescue?

Courtney. The most popular girl in school. The person Dodie wishes she could be. The person who allowed Dodie and Macie to go with her in her private helicopter to get Ginger from the boarding school after shady dealings started. The person who, while spoiled and self-centered, cares enough about someone she considers a friend to warn them about the dealings behind the scenes.

Courtney offers proof by getting everyone involved to confess over the phone while Ginger listens. Dodie not only admits her part, but sounds pretty damn proud of herself. Ginger is crushed, and only then does Dodie feel even slightly remorseful. She apologizes, and offers to give Ginger space to process things. Miraculously, Ginger forgives Dodie and Macie for their actions, (or in Macie’s case, inaction) and things are fine.

Until the very next episode.

“The Easter Ham” has Dodie’s “wound up like a spring” mother banning Ginger’s family from their home and lives. As such, Dodie is not allowed to go to a party that Ginger is throwing for Darren’s birthday. In this situation, a normal person, even a preteen girl, would probably sulk for a few days about not going, then eventually get over it. Maybe they would even plan something fun to do on the day of the party.

Dodie decides to ask Darren, the fucking birthday boy, to convince Ginger to cancel the party. Darren says, “Um, no?”, and Dodie accuses both him and Ginger about not caring about her or their friendships. Darren snaps at her and points out that the only person who doesn’t care about the other people involved is Dodie herself. Dodie just throws another tantrum and leaves. Ginger and the rest of the squad then try to appease Dodie’s ego by sneaking her out of the house.

No one in this series is perfect, which I normally don’t have a problem with. Flawed characters are more relatable. But, in a series where continuity matters, there’s only so many times a character can “apologize” before you realize it won’t stick. Dodie’s obsession with Ginger is matched only by her desire to be more popular or in a position of power. She will manipulate, embarrass, and sabotage anyone it takes to get her way, and because the object of her stalker-ish affection is a people pleaser, she continues to get away with it.

Deirdre Hortense Bishop, you are a terrible person.