Nancy Drew Season 4 Episode 8 Review: The Crooked Banister

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

On Nancy Drew Season 4 Episode 8. “The Crooked Banister,” we finally take a break from romantic angst. Instead, we get angst over losing Nancy’s mother one year ago. The episode was written by Jen Vestuto, Melissa Marlette and Sara Pearce and directed by Larry Teng.

I’ve already marveled at how everything this series has given us has taken place within 365 days, but it bears repeating. When you consider how much these characters have been through in how brief a time, it’s a wonder any of them are still standing.

There are plenty of beautiful moments worth the time to rewatch here. Before we get to them, we must also acknowledge yet again just how wild this final season has been. This hour’s offering is a plot in which all five members of the Drew Crew exchange bodies.

This would be awkward enough in their decidedly abnormal day-to-day lives. But with Nick running for City Council, George set to go on a date, and Bess agreeing to secretly use her knowledge of the supernatural to save a man from insanity, it’s a setup for disaster.

 Instead, we get another example of finding hilarity in the alarming. Leah Lewis, Tunji Kasim, and Maddison Jaizani all play up each other’s characterizations masterfully. Even better, they all do well for each other—even if Nick gives up his political bid.

Meanwhile, Nancy and Ace switch with each other, giving Kennedy McMann and Alex Saxon the chance to show off the same abilities as their counterparts. They also share tender moments as they realize they still need their friendship however it comes.

Here we start to touch on the heart of the episode, and you’ll be grabbing for tissues from the moment Nancy, in Ace’s body, shares a fond memory of her mother with Carson. At least it’s finally over something besides watching Nancy and Ace pine for what they lost.

It really is wonderful in a bittersweet way. From Nancy acknowledging how her friends have helped her survive the way to them all at the Drew household for a memorial and celebration, it’s a beautiful acknowledgement of all types of families.

Speaking of, watching Ryan (Riley Smith) cautiously enter and be welcomed as a member of said family by Carson (Scott Wolf) is just wonderful. It really has only been a year. How have even these relatively minor adult characters come so far?

All this emotion may make for a couple fewer supernatural encounters than the typical episode but rest assured that heart-pounding terror and jump scares are still a priority—especially with our latest discovery about the Black Door. Never read creepy poems on mirrors out loud, kids.

Now Nancy must add killing something called a “Sin Eater” to the word’s most horrifying to-do list. We are slowly but surely ticking towards the finale, and with less time to resolve everything, the more chance there is that doing so will be very messy. Gulp.

Other Notes

• They made Ryan asking for name cards into a joke but speaking as someone watching a teen drama but without having all the acuity of my youth, I could certainly have used them.
• Ace taking Nancy’s message to heart and spending time with his dad is lovely. That said: how long until dropping that jarred spirit into the sea literally comes back to haunt him?
• And then there’s that woman harassing Nick over Bess and the historical society. Isn’t the slow of deadly paranormal beings enough in the antagonist department?

 

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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