Nancy Drew: Why Nancy and Ace are the Romantic Pairing We Deserve to See

There’s so much to love about The CW’s Nancy Drew. A dark young adult drama that’s blazing its own path, it’s a gritty, adult take on a classic heroine that has everything from murder and mysteries to curses, ghosts, and vengeful sea spirits.

(Yes, really.)

While as a series it actually doesn’t have that much in common with the novels it’s based on, Nancy Drew is still the best onscreen adaptation of the plucky girl detective to date, freshly updated for a modern television audience.

Though brave, smart, and dedicated to finding the truth, this is a Nancy with deep-set trust issues and a much-more jaded outlook on life than her literary counterpart. Her reckless behavior and closed off emotional state make sense in the aftermath of her mother’s death, but it’s still a far cry from the original story’s goody-two-shoes teen dream. 

This is a big part of what makes Nancy Drew so much fun to watch, and Nancy as a character so appealing. We feel for her, even as we know that her vow to give up on her sleuthing lifestyle was never one she would ever keep. 

But what truly sets this version of Nancy apart is her able squad of friends who help her solve murders and survive ghosts. The Drew Crew is a mix of charming misfits who have their problems to solve and their own emotional holes to fill, yet still manage to form real, lasting friendships with and among each other. 

While still being ready to investigate a possessed mental hospital or summon a dangerous sea spirit at a moment’s notice.

From town outcast George to local mechanic with a shady past Nick, con artist Bess and underachiever Ace, these are all kids whose lives are missing something that they somehow manage to find in one another.

Their relationships aren’t always easy ones — and, in the beginning, they don’t even like each other that much — but their investigation into a local town ghost known as Dead Lucy brings them together in a way none would have ever expected.

And, of course, there are romances among the group, because this is a The CW show and that’s what happens.

From Nancy and Nick’s no strings connection that grows into something more to the burgeoning romance between Nick and George that eventually closes the season, there are plenty of pairings to root for.

Bess gets a girlfriend, Ace dates the sister of a murder victim, and Nancy accidentally ends up involved with a son of one of Horseshoe Bay’s most powerful families — before he’s brutally murdered. Pretty much everyone could use some happiness in the romance department, but none so much as Nancy, who has been through it in the series’ first season. 

This is why it’s time for her to realize that her perfect romantic partner has been standing right next to her all along: kindhearted, laid back Ace, a smart hacker and generally underestimated underachiever who is still willing to risk everything for the people he cares about.

In the first few episodes of Nancy Drew, Ace’s character is kind of a disjointed mess. He’s a fairly uninteresting slacker at first glance, a generally amiable but largely unremarkable burnout who initially seems like the last sort of guy that Nancy could — or even should — ever end up with. 

I honestly feel bad for mentally writing Ace off in the series’ pointless comic relief during Nancy Drew’s initial episodes. His hidden depths turned out to be the season’s most genuine and pleasant surprise. And it’s honestly so lovely to be wrong sometimes.

Over the course of Season 1, Ace grows into a quiet thoughtful man in his own right, a good listener, and an excellent reader of people. He uses his hacking skills to help Nancy solve mysteries and dig into the secrets of her own past.

He accepts that Horseshoe Bay is where his heart is — and that he deserves better than his romance with socialite Laura Hudson.

(Of course, he had to spend a couple of episodes in a coma and subsequently get trapped in a spirit realm, but, hey, everyone’s journey is different.)

But the fact that Nancy discovered Ace’s worst secret — that he was working as an informant for the Horseshoe Bay police chief — and not only forgave him for it, but came to trust him more than almost anyone else in her life is a testament to the strength of the relationship they’ve built so far. 

As a result, though Ace clearly understands that though Nancy has a whole lot of messy emotional stuff going on, he knows she has to process it in her own time. Therefore, he simply lets her know that he’s there when she can figure out how to talk about it all, and until then, she doesn’t have to say anything.

This sort of freely given space is a true gift — particularly for a girl that everyone’s already looking to for answers.

Why you may ask, am I so ready to see a romance between Nancy and Ace, when both characters spent the entirety of Nancy Drew’s first season in relationships with other people? 

Mostly, because it represents the sort of happiness and stability that Nancy has always craved and almost never experienced. 

So much of Nancy’s story in the series’ first season is about grief and loss — from her mother’s death to rewriting of the future she’d once planned for herself to her very understanding of who she is.

Her romantic relationships to date have largely been the result of convenience or accidents of timing than deliberate choices, so there’s something deeply appealing in the idea that she may well realize what she’s been looking for has been right there all along.

As we look toward Nancy Drew Season 2 and where her story might go in the wake of the revelations about her family and past, it’s clear that Nancy needs someone by her side who not only sees her for exactly who she is but accepts that person wholeheartedly.

The kind and unassuming friendship that evolves between Nancy and Ace is a highlight of Season 1 for me, and their constant willingness to throw themselves headlong into fully ridiculous situations together in order get to the truth or save their friends is both charming and sweet.

Plus, they have utterly adorable chemistry together.

As Nancy sorts through what it means that Ryan Hudson’s her father rather than the man she’s known all her life, it seems likely that it is Ace who will be next to her while she does so.

Bess has her own Succession-style family drama to deal with, and though George clearly won’t mean for her new relationship with Nick to impact her friendship with Nancy, things may be weird there for a while.

Ace also has a complicated relationship with his father, so he’s clearly prepared to help Nancy sort through her feelings about hers — or, well, both of hers. Plus, his existing friendship with Carson Drew (breaking a man out of prison will do that) positions him as a natural go-between for the two as they try and sort out what they mean to each other now.

But honestly, Nancy just deserves a sweet, kind partner who doesn’t want anything but the best for her. And, at the moment, I can’t think of a better person to sleuth by her side than Ace, whether that’s as a romantic option or just a best friend.

No matter what, here’s hoping for more of their relationship in Season 2.

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