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Series Regulars: Kennedy McMann as Nancy Drew, Leah Lewis as Georgia “George” Fan, Maddison Jaizani as Bess Marvin, Tunji Kasim as Ned “Nick” Nickerson, Alex Saxon as Ace, Alvina August as Karen Hart, Riley Smith as Ryan Hudson, Scott Wolf as Carson Drew Team: Lisa Bao (writer), Céline Geiger (writer), Melinda Hsu Taylor (ep), John Kretchmer (director), Noga Landau (creator, ep, writer), Lis Rowinski (ep), Stephanie Savage (creator, ep, writer), Josh Schwartz (creator, ep, writer), Jesse Stern (writer), Larry Teng (director)
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Despite some promising moments + characters, the series is short some clues to solve the secret of Nancy Drew on TV. Nancy Drew is a cute CW take on the titular detective with a spooky side that is more effective than the crime-solving side. The voiceover is also ineffective, mostly used as an exposition dump that doesn’t advance the story enough to justify its existence. Nancy Drew could have been better as a premium cable/streaming miniseries focusing on one case.
#Nancy drew the captive curse furnace full#
A real red herring fest. Nancy’s sleuthing skills are also not exactly novel, which only magnifies that the murder itself is pretty blah, and would be best solved before its full 22 episode season is over. This wavering suspicion may keep things engaging, but rarely results in a substantial lead in the actual case. Everyone is (or likely will be) a suspect in the murder, which has also become part of the episodic structure: something suspicious happens to or by a character, Nancy suspects them, pursuit of truth, clears them. The episode formula is pretty set: lead, red herring, small solving moment, cliffhanger. Pamela Sue Martin + Adam Beach both make nice appearances too. Best of all is Leah Lewis’ George Fan (now Asian) who plays Nancy’s diner boss, nailing both searing lines + emotional moments. Tunji Kasim plays Nancy’s love interest Ned Nickerson (now a Black man), starting as a casual hook-up before developing more legit feelings. Alvina August’s detective Karen mostly spouts police facts and her only other storyline is secretly dating Carson. Maddison Jaizani’s Bess Marvin (now British woman of color) gets an interesting backstory by episode four. Alex Saxon’s Ace is meant to be a sort of bland but lovable underachiever but ends up being more of an archetype than a person. Riley Smith’s suspect Ryan + Scott Wolf’s widower dad Carson, two of the main adult characters, are a bit lopsided, with Ryan the more interesting just because his guilt in his wife’s murder fluctuates wildly due to some nice acting choices. Kennedy McMann is a strong lead as Nancy Drew, toeing a very fine line between sarcastic voiceover, fresh grief, and not-too-precocious private investigator. Though Nancy Drew takes on a more serialized case (which more broadcast series could do to their advantage), the series also takes place at a diner (like Riverdale), focuses on a more gritty crime (like Riverdale), features precocious young adults in CW-friendly sexy times (like Riverdale), and contains supernatural influences (like Riverdale). Nancy Drew is definitely all growed up in this version. Larry Teng, one of the few Asian pilot directors ever, does not craft an anarchic, stylized look like Riverdale’s first season does though, preferring a bit more subdued vibe to let the semi-hardboiled bits stand out more. Though at its heart about a murder, the series actually succeeds more at its attempts at jump scare horror, which end up being decently effective at separating it from most of the other broadcast crime series (minus CBS’ wonderful Evil, of course). The biggest inspiration, though is The CW’s Riverdale, which Nancy Drew sired + now takes obvious inspiration from, a series that proved that wholesome entertainment can be PG-13′d up to great appeal. Stephanie Savage + Josh Schwartz, the creators of teen essence-capturing series like FOX’s The O.C., The CW’s Gossip Girl, and Hulu’s Marvel’s Runaways, took a run at it for The CW, and finally got it to series. CBS tried with Grey’s Anatomy executive producers Joan Rater + Tony Phelan and star Sarah Shahi as an NYC police detective, then after that pilot failed to get picked up, NBC retried with Rater + Phelan, which didn’t even make it to pilot. Female supersleuth Nancy Drew has been a hot intellectual property in the past few years, a beloved American cultural icon absolutely primed for a broadcast procedural.
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