Nancy Drew Review: The Haunting of Nancy Drew (Season 1 Episode 16)
On Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 16, “The Haunting of Nancy Drew,” mysteries end in tragic realizations and secrets threaten to upend multiple lives.
Per an interview with showrunners, this episode was at one point written to serve as a season finale. In that light, the avalanche we’re hit with tonight makes at least some sense.
Also, as ever, major spoilers are contained within, so please proceed with caution.
Like finding the identity of Tiffany Hudson’s killer, the closure of Lucy Sable’s death comes through an abrupt race to the finish line. When we get there, we find only tragedy.
There’s something painfully poetic about learning that while nobody technically killed the “Sea Queen,” an entire town played some role in her demise, whether her fall from the rocks was an accident or the suicide she’d planned.
With all the jump scares and horror movie imagery, we’ve been distanced from the very real and very young person Lucy was when she lost her life. Seeing her as we do now adds dimensions that we’ve needed for a while to many characters.
We now know for sure Ryan Hudson is innocent—a reversal to immediately follow him becoming a top suspect again in the previous episode. Instead, his family speaks to the corruption and cruelty the privileged can use so easily.
Nancy’s discovery, of course, also sets Carson free and brings a welcome new pace to their relationship. For the few moments we get happiness, it’s nice to imagine the relationship they could work on from here.
What does the rest of the Drew Crew do as Nancy undertakes the painful work of making Horseshoe Bay face its own reality? Engage in a comedy of errors to hide Lucy’s bones, of course.
If I was more set on complete criticism, I’d have a hard time fitting the open slapstick of this entire situation in with the episode. Somewhere between the skull on a plate and Ace hiding a skeleton in a coat he’s wearing, it should be too much.
Yet I can’t bring myself to say anything bad about this entire series of events. Everyone is just too good at hamming up their roles. Above all, it’s a welcome relief from the weight that we get in droves.
Speaking of the weight, can we talk about that ending?
I’m doing my best to stay open-minded. I’m sure Nancy being Dead Lucy’s daughter is at least logistically feasible, if not entirely logical. I’m also sure there’s a way to play this story out that doesn’t veer into soap opera territory.
My first reflex, though, is that this is going to take a lot of work to make believable and in the very early states is largely melodramatic. I know we’ll need more drama for the rest of the season, but is this the way to make it happen?
The good news is that Kennedy McMann and Scott Wolf are wonderful in their final scene. We feel Carson’s guilt and pain at decisions he’s felt forced to make; ones that meant lying to his daughter her whole life. We feel Nancy’s grief and shock at the enormity of what she’s learned.
Everyone is capable enough to make something like this work, but that’s going to mean prioritizing emotional impact over shock value. It’s a long and hard path forward from a place like this, but it’s one our characters must go down.
Other Notes
- The departure of Chief McGinnis and arrival of a somehow even more obstrusive replacement seems very random and could be more about offscreen actor scheduling issues than onscreen action.
- Bess is adorable in her somewhat confusing joy over Nancy and Owen hooking up. But why does she seem so against George and Nick?
- There are a lot of great lines here, but best delivery could just go to Ace looking at the dreidel pulled from the box of Hanukkah decorations/Lucy’s bones and deadpanning “I made it out of clay.”
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.