When Nancy Drew debuted in 2019, it got off to a slow start with critics. The series had a great murder mystery premise, but for some, it just didn’t grab their attention. Once the first season hit its back half of episodes though, the revelations and mysteries just kept coming, taking the audience on a twisty thrill ride.
Its 18 episode first season has come to an end, but the CW gave the series a relatively early renewal, so fans can eagerly look ahead to spending more time with all of the Drew Crew in season two. We’re looking back on what we loved about the freshman season and looking ahead at just what we want to see next.
LOVED: Town History
Horseshoe Bay looks like an idyllic small coastal town. That’s what makes its dark history so interesting. Many of the ghost stories featured in the first season come from the town’s own history.
With prominent families like the Marvins and the Hudson being amongst the town founders and the introduction of the historic society, it’s unlikely Horseshoe Bay’s history will ever be on the back burner for the series. Fans love the weird traditions like the bucket of blood outside the door after the Sea Queen Festival, and we can’t wait for more.
WANT TO SEE: More Of Victoria Fan
Victoria Fan only appears in four episodes of the first season, which is criminal. George’s mother is actually a medium, which makes her incredibly valuable to a group of teens investigating supernatural circumstances. She also happens to have George’s same deadpan humor and a serious problem when it comes to taking care of her family. Fans would love to watch her growth across the show.
Liza Lapira is, however, an incredibly busy actress. She’s filmed a handful of pilots in the past year, and any one of them being picked up could pull her away from the series.
LOVED: Diversity Of The Characters
Nancy Drew has already been adapted into numerous television shows and movies. If there’s one thing that most of those adaptations have in common, it’s that they tend to be very Caucasian, and not reflective of the world around us. The 2019 series has tried to change it.
Many of Nancy’s friends are people of color - one of them convicted of a crime they didn’t intentionally commit. Bess is attracted to women. Even the Marvins, one of the oldest families in Horseshoe Bay, is made of several actors of color instead of sticking with the rich, white, stereotypes of small towns on TV.
WANT TO SEE: Returning Villains
The biggest mystery of the season is solved before the last few episodes even air. Early episodes of the season had some monsters-of-the-week, not just the season-long mystery, to contend with.
It’s some of those monsters we’d like to see reappear. For example, in “The Hidden Staircase” flashback episode, Nancy learns about an entity named Simon. Simon is the real being behind the kidnapping of a few kids in town. His business is supposedly unfinished, so we definitely should get to revisit that storyline.
LOVED: Laura Tandy
Most of the main characters are straight out of the many different Nancy Drew novels. Laura Tandy, on the other hand, is created for the series. Laura blows into town to solve her sister’s murder, then decides to leave and put all the negativity behind her. She’s a great addition to the series in the short time that she’s there.
Laura serves as a push for Nancy and company to start really digging into Tiffany Hudson’s past. She’s also just as smart as the Drew Crew with a sarcastic sense of humor and fleshes out some of Ace’s backstory. The only thing that could have made us love her more was if she was in more than five episodes.
WANT TO SEE: The Hudsons Learning About Nancy
Nancy learns the truth about her own parentage late in the season. Though she tries to keep it from Ryan Hudson, she is eventually forced to tell him the truth as well. While Ryan might want to keep it from the rest of the Hudsons, considering a lot of the bad things that happen in town can be traced back to his parents, he probably won’t be able to forever.
Even if it doesn’t happen until the end of season two, at least one more Hudson will likely find out the truth about Nancy. Just how they react will be interesting to see.
LOVED: The Easter Eggs
Sprinkled throughout the season are a lot of nods to previous versions of Nancy Drew for longtime fans. From Pamela Sue Martin appearing as a psychic to locations from the video games being locations in Horseshoe Bay, there are quite a few for fans to spot.
Luckily, the series doesn’t go overboard with Easter eggs, allowing the story to take the spotlight instead of leaving fans playing a hidden object game. The writers and set designers had just the right balance for fans tuning in to the latest version of the teen detective.
WANT TO SEE: The Hardy Boys
Fans of Nancy Drew will always link her with a pair of teen sleuths thanks to the ‘70s television series and the Nancy Drew And Hardy Boys Super Mysteries series of novels. The characters were created under the same publishing umbrella with different writers taking on the Carolyn Keene and Franklin Dixon pen names.
Frank and Joe Hardy were friends of Nancy’s who would always seem to find the mystery they were pursuing connected to hers. They would be welcome guest stars on the show if Nancy got to travel at all in the next season. This one is, however, a bit of a long shot since Hulu already has a Hardy Boys series in development for a 2020 release.
LOVED: Stepping Away From Nancy And Ned
Nancy and Ned have been the it couple of her series for almost as long as the series has existed. Fans expect them to be a couple. Bringing them together early in the series, only to break them apart, is a surprisingly excellent choice.
It turns out Nick and George have great chemistry and a great friendship to build on in this version of the story, allowing Nancy to explore her options, and the writers to explore a new dynamic with the two friends.
WANT TO SEE: The Rest Of Season One
Season one is an unfortunate victim of COVID-19. Production had to be halted near the end of the season as all movies and television shows shut down to protect the safety of their crews.
Nancy Drew was supposed to have 22 episodes in the first season. 18 made it to air. Whether the producers push the rest of the season one storylines to season two or get to air four additional episodes at a later date remains to be seen, but fans hope to see the rest of what the writers had in store.