Nancy Drew Season 4 Episode 1 Review: The Dilemma of the Lover’s Curse
We never wanted a lovers’ curse, and I, for one, certainly never asked for zombies. Nancy Drew Season 4 Episode 1, “The Dilemma of the Lover’s Curse,” seems full of undesirable things—and still manages to start the last season on a high note.
The currently star-crossed love story of Nancy and Ace has been the backbone of the show for a while now, and the odds against them only strengthen that, even when they haven’t been speaking to each other for some time.
It takes Ace getting arrested for body snatching to force some truth to come to light and set up a season-long mystery in the process. I suppose I couldn’t expect us to make it to the end without some corpses walking around.
There are some genuinely interesting touches to the matter, including who these dead people are, and why they’re walking the city limits as determined at the time they each died. But the scene of them all vomiting up something dark and vile? No. Just no.
Regardless, once Ace is believed to be moving the bodies, Nancy can’t save him without opening herself up. Then, at a party celebrating still more of Horseshoe Bay’s quirky beliefs, she inadvertently reveals her true feelings for him, too.
Confronted with the obvious truth that the claim she didn’t share his sentiment was a lie, she finally tells him about the curse. More than ever, I’m immediately overwhelmed with the question of why she wouldn’t have done this in the first place.
This is the scene that ends the episodes, so we’ll have to wait for an answer to this. Thankfully, the rest of the hour offers plenty to appreciate—and possibly a few things to dread about where the show could take us before it wraps up.
It’s abundantly clear that romance is going to be a roller coaster here. We can’t come back without reminders of what Nick and George have lost. While I’m sure that Nace will be endgame, I can only keep my fingers crossed that they might get a similar reprieve.
At the same time, the path to our one true love may be even bumpier than we realized. Nancy has a spark with a new guy who we soon learn is the son of the Glasses. You know, that couple who stole Ryan’s car and then threatened him.
Romeo and Juliet, these two…are not. It’s odd, especially now that Nancy and Ace have reason to fight for their future together, that we’re even starting down this route. I guess we’ll chalk up to the need for a few more complications.
Speaking of the threats, and life-or-death circumstances in general, they are in expected abundance, and lead to a bevy of character dynamics the show holds dear, including yet another new police chief who quickly learns to drop her doubts about Horseshoe Bay.
Seriously, though, from the lasting friendships of the Drew Crew to the dads being dads to both Nancy and her friends, and to random partnerships we’ve come to love (Bess and Ryan!), it’s great that we get breaks from everything else to see these characters being awesome together.
I’m not sure how much lightheartedness we can expect from this final chapter, but I’ll take every bit we can get. I kind of miss the days when the show was a borderline comedy. Still, we have to get wherever we’re going to wind up. Bring it on.
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 8/7c 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.