Weekly TV Reviews: Nancy Drew s2 ep8

 

Flashback to Bess and a mysterious British man who refers to her as a wife in line at the airport. The scene shows Bess setting up the man with contraband to keep him off the plane with her just before returning to the present day a year later which finds her practicing a speech with her new aunt. Bess's past catches up to her with a phone call from Ace asking about a man looking for his wife and Steven tracking her down. George and Nancy meanwhile are continuing their understanding about George's semi-possession while Nick lends a hand to Ryan in their plot against their Hudson's. 

1.) Bess 

It's nice to see more about Bess's past with a little about her before she left England and shows a little more about why she did. The return of Steven throws her past of stealing back into her face with him as the one who taught her and puts her in a blackmail situation when he threatens to tell her new family the truth if she doesn't steal for him. Bess has been a mysterious character since the first episode with several secrets unveiled about her from her true accent to living in a van to her problem stealing so seeing more about her past is another layer to how she ended up as the person she is now. Bess's past catches up to her when her aunt tracks her down to ask what happened to her watch only for her to realize that Steven set her up to destroy her new family. 

2.) Ryan

Ryan's grown since the first season now that he's helping Nick put a stop to his father and wishes to have a relationship with Nancy. Ryan's current plan is to get close to his father by being the model son and upholding their family legacy as a way to help take him down. The tour is a great insight into the world of the rich as Ryan and is a great reminder as to the person he was just in season one. We always appreciate seeing characters grow even if they start as wholly unlikable sorts. He's thrown a curveball when the reporter mentions that Lucy's mother told her that she had a granddaughter which leads Ryan to cover up by denying the claims as a way to protect Nancy. He's not out of the woods yet when the reporter plans to dig into his secrets which creates an immediate threat against Nancy. 

3.) George & Nancy

The R. Jenkins they're searching for turns out to be dead and they arrive just in time for an estate sale. The two are learning more about the shroud that saved George's life and in hopes to find out more about the consequences. They soon discover that the previous man saved by the shroud died when Nancy used it to save George. Turns out that the shroud serves as "flypaper" to the spirits lingering around when the person gets shrouded. Their part of the episode takes a twist when Steven makes a play against Bess by kidnapping George and Nancy by threatening to get her to steal the watch from her aunt to save their lives. Some of our favorite parts of the show are the friendship between these characters and how their devotion to each other brings out their best selves. Nick finally finds out that Odette is attached to/sharing a body with George which is about time as he's been kept in the dark this whole time that they've been figuring out Odette's presence. 

Bonus: Next week is the return of the Bobbsey Twins! 

Quotes:

"Not a lot of people know this about me...but the woods.. they speak to me" - Ace 

"Have you seriously been thinking about flatlining me?!" - George "Not seriously" - Nancy

"Good thing you brought an eagle scout" - Ace