Nancy Drew Review: The Whisper Box (Season 1 Episode 13)
Nancy hangs between two worlds on Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 13, “The Whisper Box.”
There are several stories, especially in young adult fiction, of heroes forced to decide between two worlds, often as a metaphor for life and death. Typically, this involves some form of extreme trauma.
Is Nancy’s alternate realty an afterlife? Probably not, or at least not exactly, considering the creepy intruders into an otherwise perfect world. But it does still carry the emotional weight those stories try to push.
There are plenty of potential clichés to fall into: in the dream world, Nancy’s friendships are more, well, friendly. She has fewer complications and far fewer enemies. Above all, her mother is still alive and avoids getting sick at all.
Still, nearly everything feels genuine. It helps that Nancy is determined to return to reality as soon as she realizes she’s left it. There are some nice comic moments as she marvels at the strangeness, and the decidedly less nice moments of hands grasping at her.
The biggest question for me is why we’re on this interlude in the first place, but we get decent answers. First, a chance for Nancy to find some form of closure, and second, a few more hints that move the overall plot of the show.
Where many teen dramas devote much of their length to a struggle of farewells, Nancy gets only a couple minutes to say the goodbye to her mother that she’s regretted missing out on for so long. It’s a tear-jerking scene nonetheless.
The little hints we get in this world are fun to watch even when they stretch believability, especially the idea that dream Nancy herself hid the key that she needs to re-enter reality. The second key, now linked to a whole new side of Tiffany, has me engaged for mysteries to come.
The events of the real world, carried mostly by the supporting cast as Nancy lies either unconscious or actively dying, are more openly fraught. We know the title character won’t be killed off, but we do believe the characters don’t know it.
It is interesting to see Nancy’s friends panic here as her alternate self tells alternate them about how their real life relationship is troubled. (Yes, that sentence is confusing in my head, too.) We’ve mostly seen them bonding for a while now.
There are certainly still issues, but alternate Nancy’s perspective fits better with the show’s earliest episodes. It does help define the building love triangle. Now that Nancy has recognized George and Nick’s interactions, more tensions is likely inevitable.
One evident omission here is that nobody ever thinks to contact Nancy’s own father to try and reach out to her. Surely these are extreme enough circumstances to get him temporary leave from prison. Then we learn he’s not even in prison at all.
Carson being released on house arrest is given no explanation yet, apart from the welcome sight of him greeting his daughter home. As much as I like this moment, it makes his earlier absence even more absurd.
I’m willing to set my annoyance about this aside on one condition: that it’s a sign his case is already moving forward, and proof of his innocence will come with or before the discovery of the true killer.
After a couple week’s hiatus, we’ll return with new clues about the deaths of Tiffany Hudson and Lucy Sable. While this does feel a tiny bit like a one-off, I’m pleased with the impact it has and what that will soon mean.
And, tragic as it is, I know we can’t keep anything of that other world. There’s no bringing Nancy’s mom back for real. Couldn’t we at least bring that world’s lighting, though? It’s so nice actually getting to see what’s happening on screen.
What did you think of this episode of Nancy Drew? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Nancy Drew airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.