Nancy Drew Review: The Siege of the Unseen Specter (Season 2 Episode 14)
For the second episode in a row, Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 14, “The Siege of the Unseen Specter,” draws on the past for a plot contained in a single hour. As the details of a young Black woman’s death unfold, we get one of the best episodes of the show to date.
We’re quickly drawn into the kind of hostage situation many dramas take on at least once: various people, including main and guest characters, trapped in a space by a person or entity that threatens them until they fulfill a task.
Here, it’s to solve the disappearance of a young woman named Dolores, who has been forgotten after another child went missing at the same time. Dolores just happens to be Black, and though presumed dead, she’s never been found.
Nancy, Nick, and Ryan are caught in the police station with Detective Tamura and others. Surrounded by electrified doors, they must solve the crime as Nancy and especially Nick come to terms with these failures of the justice system.
The horror they feel upon realizing two officers accidentally killed Dolores during an arrest and disposed of her body is palpable. It weighs on our shoulders so we feel that pain, too. The most unforgettable aspect is how preventable the death was.
It’s important that we see so much of this though Nick’s eyes and realize that our society’s mistreatment of Black people is personal for him. As a Black man himself and given his own past, we can see him question how easily he could meet a similar fate.
I have two tiny criticisms from the very start and very end of the episode. First, the arrest used to get Nancy into the station feels arbitrary and is thrown away the moment the hostage situation begins. Surely there could be a more logical way to draw her in?
Second, while my memory is imperfect, I can’t recall ever meeting the reverend who ends up being the mastermind before. It’s implied that she has a relationship with Nancy, but we have little context for this or the surprise we’re meant to feel at the revelation.
Still, shows like Nancy Drew don’t take the time for issues like these as often as they should. Those that do are a mixed bag when it comes to addressing those topics well. This is a solid example for a making a story so very real while still keeping it true to the show.
When not helping Carson try to break Nancy out—itself an interlude both poignant and weirdly funny—George, Bess, and Ace are left largely to their own devices and try to help Odette by contacting her long lost lover.
For loosely defined reasons, this means getting a dead relative of George’s to be a guide. In turn, that means that what we see is as much about George’s past as it is about trying to remove the spirit still trapped in her body.
Seeing Ace taken over by Aunt Mae is as hilarious as you might expect. It’s also ultimately heartwarming to see the her offer support to George, having tested her so many times when she was still alive.
She also has a message, and it brings us right back to the start of this arc. If Odette does not leave George, George’s life will be tragically short. Despite these interesting interludes, the overall arc of this story feels as repetitive as I’ve feared.
I have enjoyed this storyline more than I expected, thanks to the various ways the writers have played with it. I just wish they weren’t mere distractions from the reality we know and come back to again and again. Odette must go and it should happen as soon as possible.
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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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.
One thought on “Nancy Drew Review: The Siege of the Unseen Specter (Season 2 Episode 14)”
loved this review as usual… noted very important points, however I’m surprised there wasn’t a section that touched on the last moments of the episode in regards to Nancy’s personal dilemma and what seems to be a lack of self identity and feeling lost and confused as to who the kind of person she is/ has become. Perhaps she feels that losing herself somehow…. because of the fact that she’s becoming more empathetic towards people (strangers essentially) , resignating with people that she maybe sees a part of herself in or can now relate to them on some level and share understanding, attaching herself to people she realistically barely knows, letting her walls come down and having more hope in someone’s character than perhaps she should (i.e. Celia or even Gil) is now looking like somewhat of a weakness in her eyes and is causing her own sense of conflict. There’s also question as to whether she is really doing the right thing, by trying to see dynamic sides (loving sides) of Celia (one of the only blood relations she has left but has not had the opportunity to truly get to know her in and out) or if its just blind optimism and instead she’s really just feeding a corrupt system of corrupt people by letting these feelings cloud her judgement, therefore preventing any sort of justice to be reclaimed for those involved/ affected. I would’ve liked to see you touch on those last moments we see of the drew crew, and Nancy and Carson, and how that entire scene was actually quite significant, it was such a soft and loving scene, on Carson’s end anyway, we saw the drew crew connect with each other and also witness an emotional meaningful moment from Carson, and even witnessed Nancy dealing with the overwhelming feelings of worthlessness and feels as though she undeserving of such love or praise and doesn’t know where she belongs in the world and doesn’t know what to do with all that she’s feeling. In regards to next episode, though its a backdoor pilot to a new character Tom Swift, which I’m very intrigued by and interested in this new world we’re being introduced to, I do believe we could start to see some conflict between Nancy and Ace, or at least on Ace’s pov, with Ace trying to understand what it is that Nancy is really going through, why she’s acting the way she is and concerned about how she’s approaching the situation with ” the Hudsons” and caring about her wellbeing because he just wants the reassurance that she’s ok and if she’s really truly not okay, needs to find a way to help. Back to 2×14, I really love the role that Ryan played, he was really great in this ep and we got to see him in a fuller light, he could see Nancy’s efforts, he could tell she wasn’t really ok underneath, him verbalizing to her that he was proud of her, personally I really loved that, it was a loving moment between biological father and daughter, but also as former occasional investigate buddies and a sweet moment between friends, and Ryan understood that this gradual forming relationship is going to take a lot of time and is doing the work, even as a Hudson trying to demolish the corrupt Hudson reputation/ corrupt doings of his own family.
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