Nancy Drew Review: The Search for the Midnight Wraith (Season 2 Episode 1)

In the real world, it’s been eight months since the last episode of Nancy Drew, and so much has changed. On Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 1, “The Search for the Midnight Wraith,” we pick up a full three hours from where we left off and bring every bit of intrigue, trauma, and baggage with us.

Our focus is divided between the recent shock of the Drew Crew all envisioning their own gruesome deaths and the new disconcerting mystery of a girl fleeing from the woods, saying Nancy’s name, and collapsing into a coma.

It’s the tone we know well from the show, and with so much to keep track of after such a long time, it leads to a hectic hour—often confusing, but with lots of authentic terror and some emotional wallop as well.

Given that the plot will likely extend to either a midseason finale or through the entire season, it makes sense that little progress is made in trying to prevent those horrible deaths just yet. The attempts, with a supernatural power intervening, fall frustratingly flat.

We do get moments of constructive conflict out of it, though. They help remind us that the Drew Crew is a unit now, a far cry from a group that at first barely seemed to like each other. We also get our first hint of a potential new ship in Nancy and Ace.

The new mystery eventually veers into this one with a mirror that could be the first step in avoiding terrible fates. First, it gives us another adventure and a climax that shows how Nancy Drew at its best is able to do scary scenes that are both effective and deep.  

Though there certainly are jump scares, the notion of a being that creates fear through its ability to detect and thrive off of that same emotion is the kind of psychological horror that I like best. The wraith being afraid of Nancy in turn builds on the symbolism.

There’s poignancy here even before Nancy decides to give herself up as bait. It’s impressive enough that we find a moment of quiet as the Crew is attacked with only the walls of a bus for protection, but we’re even able to feel their emotions in the moment.

Still, most of the turmoil here is left for that other little plot thread from last season where Nancy learns she’s the child of Ryan Hudson and Lucy Sable and has been raised in secret by the parents she knew as her biological ones. You know, in case you’d forgotten.

After a season of moral ambiguity, the realization of Ryan’s relationship to Nancy puts him officially in the protagonist column, though there are still plenty of complications in the way of them bonding. We’ll probably see it someday, but a lot of tough talk needs to happen first.

Part of that, as ever, will also need to stem from Nancy and Carson, who she is currently avoiding. My biggest peeve with this whole storyline remains its ability to set back their relationship just when they’d finally made the progress they needed.

I do see potential for what’s yet to come. Carson is at odds with both his (/“his”) daughter and Ryan at the moment. If any of them are going to find closure, they’ll need to work through things. I just hope that doesn’t take all season.

Finally, speaking of the Hudsons, Ryan’s dad appears to create some more trouble while I barely even remember his name. We know he’s evil, as he reestablishes well here, but he’s just not that memorable. Just saying — if we have to kill off someone…

What did you think of this episode of Nancy Drew? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Nancy Drew airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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Nancy Drew Season 2 Teaser Trailer Promises More Ghosts and New Mysteries