S01.E04: The Haunted Ring

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

As the funeral for Tiffany Hudson nears, her confused spirit seemingly haunts Horseshoe Bay. Nancy invites Bess to stay with her, allowing Nancy to figure out what Bess is hiding. Nick struggles with what he learned about Tiffany. Meanwhile, George reluctantly seeks help from an unusual source as Ace runs into a significant person from his past. Lastly, Carson continues to advise Ryan, much to Nancy's chagrin.

Promo:

Original air date: 10/30/19

[bettername2come]

Did Nancy Drew's high school have Neptunes as their mascot? We get it, show, Nancy Drew is the new Veronica Mars, which is not how history works at all, but we get it.

I'm so happy Alex Saxon and I are both 32 so I don't have to feel weird about loving Ace.

The British actress is playing a secretly British character? I'm shocked at this unforeseen turn of events! Okay, fine, I didn't know Bess actress was British until I looked her up, but still.

I feel like the show is improving a little each episode. I'm liking Nancy and the actress who plays her more and more, but I'm just not feeling the supernatural elements. I keep waiting for those to be revealed as a Scooby Doo plot, but I don't think that's how it's gonna go. I did think the screen cracks turning out to be a map was cool. 

[secnarf]

1 hour ago, bettername2come said:

I feel like the show is improving a little each episode. I'm liking Nancy and the actress who plays her more and more, but I'm just not feeling the supernatural elements. I keep waiting for those to be revealed as a Scooby Doo plot, but I don't think that's how it's gonna go. I did think the screen cracks turning out to be a map was cool. 

I kept holding out hope because I remember the books sometimes having what appeared to be supernatural elements until the secrets were revealed.

But the thing with George and the cracked screens all showing the same map have made me give up any hope that this show is not supernatural. I'm really disappointed.

[thuganomics85]

More familiar faces have arrived!  Martin Donovan is here as Mr. Hudson/Ryan's father and he's basically playing the same type of character he seems to always play whenever I see him.  Liza Lapira is also here as George's boozy mother and was pretty hilarious, even though I'm still wrapping my head around the idea that she's now old enough to play a teenager's mother.  And then there is Tiffany's sister, who is played by someone whose name I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure I've seen her somewhere before.

I actually had no idea Maddison Jaizani was British in real life, so the Bess twist was actually a decent one for me.  I still won't be surprised if there is more to this though.

Man, the Ghost of Lucy is kind of dick considering all of the property damage she's caused in just this episode alone.  Broken TV, microwave, and a laptop?  Nancy and Carson better check and see if their insurance covers ghost mayhem!

Of course Karen was lying about knowing who Lucy was.

So, not only is George living in fear that she's going to die at some point this year, she's now getting possessed by the ghost of Tiffany.  It sure looks like George is getting the role of the character who always has to suffer.

[Camera One]

2 hours ago, secnarf said:

But the thing with George and the cracked screens all showing the same map have made me give up any hope that this show is not supernatural. I'm really disappointed.

I'm really disappointed too.  I don't want Nancy to have to wait for a ghost to give her clues.  I want her to find the clues herself using research and deductive reasoning.  Heck, she could have gone to the school herself to look for yearbook pictures of Lucy to discover that she was friends with Karen.  She didn't need a convoluted broken glass map to realize that.

This show is beginning to be just an hour of weird things happening with some half-baked soap opera elements.  I didn't feel the Ace/sister romance stuff, nor Bess's not so interesting origin story.  

There was zero progress on the Tiffany murder case.

Why did George carry out her mom's instructions to put the ring on the finger but not follow through with the mirror?  

I'm glad Nancy and her father had that talk and hopefully Nancy will stop acting like a petulant teenager from now on.  The show depends a lot on Nancy Drew being actually likeable and she acts like she's 16 sometimes.

The dad's decision to declare the autopsy report was inconclusive was pretty dumb.  Why was he announcing the "Hudson family is pleased to announce" the nonprofit when he wasn't working for the whole Hudson Family? 

The only thing that I do like is the developing friendship between the protagonists.  I liked how George was worried about Nancy attending a funeral.  I liked Bess before, but her acting in this one felt stilted.  Ditto for Ace's acting.

Edited October 31, 2019 by Camera One

[ElectricBoogaloo]

 Hahaha, I have 100% transformed from Bess to Nancy re: creaky noises. I grew up in a new house that made almost no noise at all. After college, I moved into an old house that's built on a hill so it's super creaky. At first, every noise made me bolt upright because I was like WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT NOISE? IS SOMEONE IN THE HOUSE? Now I barely notice it at all and just assume it's the house shifting for the millionth time. But you best believe if the microwave turns itself on in the middle of the night, I am getting the hell out immediately, not wandering around to see if the tv blows up.

Normally I don't like the "sassy for the sake of being sassy" characters (especially the rude ones) but I liked Laura when she told the police that they suck and she would have to do their job for them. She knows what's up!

Man, I was just starting to like Ace when we found out that he was spying on the Scooby gang for the police which really put a damper on things And now we find out that the way he answers the phone is "Ace's phone. This is Ace." One more strike and you're out, dude.

I'm totally with Bess' mom - you DO have to toast the bread so it won't get soggy!

I'm glad that Nancy and Carson finally talked about Katherine's death. That was long overdue. Hopefully this will lead to even the smallest bit of reconciliation between them.

Ha, Nancy attends Keene High School!

So Karen and Lucy were in the same class which means that Karen was in high school when Lucy died, yet somehow Karen knows that the only evidence is the bloody knife and the tire tracks left by the killer. I guess small town cops are okay with letting their detectives dig into 20+ year old murder files? OF COURSE she was lying about not knowing Lucy. When you live in a small town, it's pretty hard NOT to know the classmates you have spent the last twelve years going to school with.

I like watching Nancy, George, and Bess becoming friends and learning to trust each other. Bess let her British peek through a little when she said, "I can't imagine what [Tiffany's] family are going through" at the beginning of the episode.

On a shallow note, at certain angles there are moments when Maddison Jaizani reminds me so much of a young Jodie Comer, so when she started speaking in a British accent I was having flashbacks to My Mad Fat Diary!

[kirkola]

I, for one, am glad the broken glass was a map.  After the TV cracked in the beginning, I was left wondering how bad their CGI budget was that they used the same crack formation for the microwave and the the TV.  The pattern was pretty distinct. 

I'm learning to accept the supernatural element, however it remains my least favorite part of the series. 

The Bess reveals felt clunky, because it was pretty easy to explain all the family weirdness as Bess was a niece on her mother's side (hence the different last name) and its entirely possible that said mother was estranged from the Marvin family and they might not recognize the last name.   Also is Marvin that unusual a last name?  I mean, if I met someone with my last name, I would assume they were related (as it's fairly uncommon last name in the States).  But Marvin doesn't seem that unusual. 

I'm liking George.  And even Nancy.  Though I wish she'd start solving puzzles and finding clues rather than letting everyone else do it for her.  Also, poor Ace.  But at least he got some.

[nokat]

As a fan of shows like Medium, I like the supernatural element. Has been enjoying the show.
 

[Simba122504]

How do people on these shows get into closed schools? Everyone in town has a key? 🤨 For Nancy Drew to exist. These shows feature the dumbest police department known to man. Explain how Tiffany died of natural causes when the 911 call (which the cops would have excess to) prove otherwise? Really, the original autopsy would show this and the crime scene photos. Even if she was killed by a ghost. And her age and health goes against this. What does lady cop do again? Oh, nothing. And if the town is full of the supernatural. The cops would already be familiar with it.   I’m still liking the show. 😂 

[Camera One]

At least in this case, we know that Nancy Drew just broke in.  Not that she couldn't have waited for the next day when the school was open to find that bombshell reveal.

10 minutes ago, Simba122504 said:

Explain how Tiffany died of natural causes when the 911 call (which the cops would have excess to) prove otherwise?

That's a really big plot hole.  At the very least, the Chief and the female cop should be shown to be highly suspicious of the autopsy report.  Just because the rich guy's private autopsy report deemed it to be natural causes doesn't mean the cops should stop investigating.  The show has given zero reasons why the cops aren't investigating the most obvious suspect - the husband.  If they're being paid off, then show that.

[Hanahope]

I appreciate the references to the actual books.  

I'm not sure I like that the show has gone from a mystery type show to a supernatural mystery type show.

[tennisgurl]

I dont really mind the ghost stuff, I just hope it becomes more of a background thing and Nancy can solve the mysteries on her own without help from the astral plane. That being said, I am liking the show more and more, and I enjoy the kind of creepy coastal town vibe. 

I had no idea that Maddison Jaizani was British, so the reveal was quite a surprise for me! I like Nancy, Bess, and George actually bonding and becoming friends, it makes this actually feel a bit more like this is Nancy Drew!

Thank God Nancy and Carson actually had a real conversation, her constant lashing out at him about every single thing he does and constantly being pissed at him and pouting was getting so very old. 

[KaveDweller]

19 hours ago, Simba122504 said:

How do people on these shows get into closed schools? Everyone in town has a key? 🤨 For Nancy Drew to exist. These shows feature the dumbest police department known to man. Explain how Tiffany died of natural causes when the 911 call (which the cops would have excess to) prove otherwise? Really, the original autopsy would show this and the crime scene photos. Even if she was killed by a ghost. And her age and health goes against this. What does lady cop do again? Oh, nothing. And if the town is full of the supernatural. The cops would already be familiar with it.   I’m still liking the show. 😂 

Do the cops believe the "natural causes" thing? I thought that was the private autopsy result that the husband paid for, but that the cops were as doubtful as Nancy was.

Maybe I am giving them too much credit.

[Avabelle]

I’m finding the Nancy/Carson/Mother stuff to be really depressing so I’m glad that they seem to have moved past it now. 
 

Carson saying he didn’t believe the autopsy was valid at a press conference was ridiculous. Surely his client could sue him for incriminating him like that.