Nancy Drew Review: The Witch Tree Symbol (Season 3 Episode 12)
The pieces are falling into place on Nancy Drew Season 3 Episode 12, “The Witch Tree Symbol.” Some of them are ones we’ve long rooted for. Others are loaded with emotion and/or frankly terrifying to contemplate.
The driving storyline stems from Temperance’s threat against the kids at the youth center. She makes good on it here and, from the suggestions she has sent children to liminal space and eliminated their existence before, the happy ending is doubt right until we get it.
We see a team up between Bess and Nick for this, and I wish we had more time for their dynamic, because it’s lovely and underused. With the pressing matters at hand, we don’t get a chance to truly appreciate it, but we do see them ultimately successful.
In the meantime, Nick struggles with what almost happens, his role in it, and everything else the world has put upon him. His breakdown over the phone with Bess is another stellar, wrenching performance, and his sudden desire to “start over” is one of many troubling hints about character fates.
The others are less directly involved, but of course their contributions are carefully written to leave Nancy, Park, and Ace together for much of the hour immediately following the moment in which Ace confesses his love.
Their hunt for clues gives plenty of fodder for the theories that Park is evil, but, intriguing and well laid-out as these are, I’m pulling for the eventual signs that he’s not. I think it lends more to Nace if he’s truly a good guy—just not the right guy for her.
On that note, he and Nancy do end whatever form of a romance they have, and he quickly identifies where her true feelings lie. He even seems very much okay it. Now all we need is for Nancy and Ace to talk to each other. And kiss. That, too.
Yet we’ll be waiting just a bit longer. This is where our litany of potential deadly threats begins. First, though, we swing reluctantly back to George and Nick’s breakup, which continues to hurt us through the fact that George must tell her sisters about it.
She’s afraid of how they will react, which makes it even more painful when the two younger sisters do take the news terribly. There’s so much weight on George as the only proper guardian these girls have, and she makes us feel it nearly as much as she does.
Her other role for the hour is one of the episode’s few lighter moments: distracting Carson and Ryan from what their daughter and her friends are doing by feeding them free pie at The Claw. It is at points hilariously awkward, and you’d think the dads would see through things faster by now.
Sadly, that lightness doesn’t give us much. During their meal (which totally doesn’t feel a teenage date night,) Ryan all-too-casually mentions a curse against the Hudson family that causes its members to die young. Between the Hudson fate to date and other omens, I’m downright terrified.
Then there’s Nancy ultimately taking on all the kids’ hexes, a point that itself is resolved easily by Temperance but lead to Nancy inviting her ancestor to come for her. We wouldn’t kill our lead, but we already know of a sacrifice. What if someone offers themselves for her?
Temperance proves her willingness to maim without a second thought to make the prospect even more striking. First she stabs Darlene. It’s just a distraction, so Darlene is allowed to survive. But poor Lev, who finally does have his heart carved from him? It’s as fatal and brutal as it gets.
This means that the final person with a piece of Charity’s soul will start having nightmares. And that person, as we learn in the final shot, is Ace. So his potential death joins the other omens. I truly wish I were more confident in everyone’s survival.
I’m not completely convinced about the logic behind Ace being the last victim, but everything is intertwined and I’m sure there’s more we don’t yet know. For now, the threat against him has the potential to devastate Nancy and us just in this key moment of hope.
I’m clinging to the fact that this is show that has leaned on elements that could prevent any death from being a permanent one. Devastating angst with a happy ending could at least be a form of catharsis. The alternative is too much to think about.
Other Notes
- I adore Ryan now, but in seeing him offer George advice, it’s hard to forget their “relationship” in season one. I choose to take this as evidence that he’s apologized properly off-screen, that they’ve talked, and that, while she’ll never be totally over it, she knows he’s a different man now.
- Don’t let it tone down my fear over those kids being in danger, but I kind of love that Bess took the time to put together a color-coded presentation about it.
- How does the math about Josiah being alive to try and warn young Ryan about a fatal family curse when he died in 1981 work? It doesn’t. Something is up here.
What did you think of this episode of Nancy Drew? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Nancy Drew airs Fridays 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.