Nancy Drew Season 4 Episode 5 Review: The Oracle of the Whispering Remains
For a while, Nancy Drew Season 4 Episode 5, “The Oracle of the Whispering Remains,” feels like it could be a nice episode, despite the Nace angst. There are steps to be taken and sweet moments to be had. And then there’s that ending.
There’s some big dad influence in this episode, starting with the fact it’s directed by Scott Wolf, AKA Carson Drew. Another, in-universe player in this theme, comes from somewhere we didn’t see coming: George’s biological father.
When we last saw the man, his daughter was telling him off, and with good reason. It’s not something we’ve forgotten, but the man seems to make a genuine effort here. He’s very open to using his knowledge (and money) as a dentist to make up for lost times.
That might sound cynical, if only because it’s the attitude George herself takes for most of the episode. Yet she slowly lets her guard down. Whatever the reason for his giving it to her, a $30,000 check really can change everything, and her decision to use it for her sisters’ education is lovely.
Speaking of once young and flawed fathers now making up for lost time, seeing Ryan come into his own as a relic hunter is very cool. He’s also good at dealmaking with beautiful fellow hunters. While I’m not expecting he’ll see his counterpart again, I don’t think either of us would mind.
The one concern here is that he could still be getting himself into trouble. Is it a bad sign that he doesn’t exactly reveal his new path to Nancy in the best of ways? As much as a I hope that we get a happy ending for all involved, the fear of a sacrifice figure looms large.
That’s a fear for the end of the season. For now, we have puzzles to solved related to relics and skulls that grow occult symbols on their teeth. That alone should be sufficient warning as to how terrifying things are about to get.
The gang follows a compass into the woods (only after it starts a minor fire while left unattended). There, as promised, they and we learn the cause of death for those eight bodies wandering around the same forest.
A vaguely humanoid creature that looks like something between your worst nightmare of aliens and the thing Voldemort became at the very end of Harry Potter? As much as we’d like to run screaming in the opposite direction, we already know this is just the start of something awful.
Thankfully, you need only watch from between your fingers at the very end, so you shouldn’t miss the other key parts of the episode. In one, Nick goes to drastic measures to get people in Horseshoe Bay to believe their water is contaminated—by dying it blood red.
Given a certain bucket ritual in this town, this succeeds to a point of getting out of hand. People are panicking, but at least they aren’t drinking the water anymore. Does anybody else worry that it can’t be that simple?
Finally, a party Bess throws to raise money for George’s own education gives us a range of important plot points, from Ryan’s meeting to the discovery of what the relic he bargains for does. But, of course, it’s Ace seeing Nancy in a fancy dress that we’re waiting for.
What do we get from that? A poignant scene in which they both acknowledge that they love each other and make what peace they can with trying to move on. These moments are well-acted and beautifully painful. I’d also happy trade them all to get to the resolution already.
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.