Nancy Drew Review: The Echo of Lost Tears (Season 2 Episode 18)

As the second season draws to a close, Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 18, “The Echo of Lost Tears,” centers on freeing our heroine from the spirit that’s killing her. In the end, that’s something she must do herself, but it’s far from easy.

For the first half of the episode or so, we stay in the physical world, following the kind of path we might expect to: distant Hudson relatives, strange devices that run on blood and tears, disgusting potions Nancy is forced to drink, etc.

This part keeps the strange and borderline absurd tone we’re used to. But with the revelation that the wraith is the creation of one Temperance Hudson, cast out and supposedly executed seven generations ago, things get a lot more personal.

Suddenly, we find ourselves deep in Nancy’s psyche, confronting versions of herself that are both helpful and malevolent as well as imagined guides in her friends, each connecting to a version and aiding her path forward in their own way.

As I’ve said, since we can be assured there’s no chance Nancy will die, making this work as the dramatic closure to the season rests entirely on the emotional aspect. The dream sequence steps up to that plate and then some.

Mysterious, almost ethereal visuals, powerful dialogue, and some of Kennedy McMann’s best acting to date combine to create a moving story reiterating all Nancy has overcome and how her friends have helped reach a point of dealing with her pain.

The most notable of these interactions, at least from a shipping perspective, is how heavily Nancy relies on Ace after she’s finally kicked Gil to the curb. (It’s a bit of a stretch to accept the wraith blocking all of Gil’s worst aspects from Nancy, but I’ll take it.)

A “Nace” romance will have to wait. Ace is still with Amanda, troubling us both over the dead end they’re clearly headed for and Amanda’s loyalty to her problematic brother. Thankfully, Nancy and Ace’s dream near-kiss promises a slow burn to leave fans thrilled.

Elsewhere in Drew Crew drama, I’m still struggling with the notion that George has decided to just come to come to terms with her shortened lifespan. So much of this show is about this team overcoming impossible odds. How can we accept giving up?

I still doubt we’ll see George die, but we are at least offered some developments that lend more to the story. Her proposal to Nick, in determination to enjoy what happiness she can, is a lovely embrace of an established couple in a genre so often rooted in angst.

Of course, there is also plenty of that angst. Deciding to let George own the rest of her life, Odette resolves to permanently shut herself away. Before see does, George sends her off as herself for a heartbreaking goodbye kiss with Bess.

Bess falling in love with the spirit haunting her friend’s body has pushed weirdness limits such that I’ve never been able to fully board their train– and still their farewell is utterly wrenching. The plot may stretch belief, but their care for each other does not.

There is a moment of humor in these parallels. After some awkwardness, George and Bess pretend to be a married couple to distract that Hudson relative, spurring over-the-top acting that makes us laugh but reminds us to miss what Odette brings to the show.

As is typical for a season finale for a show we know will return, the final scenes of the episode are dedicated to establishing a relative sense of comfort and then pointedly pulling the rug out from under us to send us tumbling into another cliffhanger.

The comfort is largely established through scenes between Nancy, Carson, and Ryan, now in full “My Two Dads” mode. Ryan is moving into the Drew household to learn how to live a non-trust fund life. From cookies to washing dishes, I can’t wait for it.

Then the other shoe drops. No even semi-regular viewer of Nancy Drew could expect the mention of Temperance Hudson and her seven-generation immortality to be a passing one, or for an seemingly unknown Hudson to simply be living off the grid.

And so that random woman pours blood into bath water, transforming herself into the still-young Temperance, who brings not only the capabilities that created the wraith in the first place, but what appear to be full-on magic powers.

After facing the paranormal for two seasons, the Drew Crew should be fully prepared to extend further into the supernatural. Does that necessarily prepare them for an adversary who is literally immortal? …Well, at least we won’t have to find out otherwise for months.

 

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

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