S01.E06: The Mystery of Blackwood Lodge

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

While trying to uncover the truth about a long-buried history between Lucy Sable and Ryan Hudson, Nancy finds herself in the curious position of having to strike a deal with Horseshoe Bay's newest and most suspect widower.

Promo:

Original air date: 11/13/19

[Camera One]

For an exclusive event, it looked like anyone and their grandma could find a way to attend.  Security let anyone in if you said you were a guest of whoever.  

Everyone at the secret event knew who everyone else was, so what was the big deal?  I thought the location of these gatherings would always change but clearly it didn't.  Nancy could have found the secret location from Laura, break in, and see the same stuff especially if Ghostly Lucy decided to help.

This show is good at creating atmosphere, and it was nice to finally see Flashback Lucy for real, but the whole "investigation" hardly highlighted Nancy's sleuthing skills.  As she said at the beginning of the episode, "What do you do when the dead stops talking to you?"  Because she seems pretty reliant on the dead and their haunting clues.  

The other thing she did which was annoying was just asking stuff straight-up with no finesse.  Pretty much anyone she talks to would know what she was up to, or what she was curious about.  Her confronting Ryan's mother was particularly stupid.  The other half of the info she got in this episode was fed to her by that Marvin guy, like who the Kracken was, or where Pegasus was, etc.  

How did she know Medusa referred to Ryan's mother?

What I did like about this episode was the other characters like George and Nick working together and the rest of the characters becoming more of a coherent unit.  I didn't like that Nancy was on the outside and the triangle was already tiresome in its second week.

George said for as long as she had known Nancy, she's had "big walls" and you could stand beside her and never get close.  Huh?  George never tried to befriend Nancy, as far as we knew.  Plus why did she have "walls" before her mother died?  The "relentless" and "single-minded" part is accurate for Nancy, though.

Finally, I just hate it when people go to Boston and they're completely unreachable.  There's never any Wi-fi or phone signals there.

Edited November 14, 2019 by Camera One

[thuganomics85]

Carson is still in Boston a.k.a. "Scott Wolf really wants to use all of his vacation days and we ain't going to stop him!"

Veteran Canadian Actress Teryl Rothery has arrived as Ryan's mom, and Nancy's new working theory is that Lucy's death is connected to her seeing Ryan's mom making out with the Hudson's family enemy, at one of their secret, creepy, rich people parties that are always popular on shows like this (right down to how surprisingly easy it is to get into said secret, creepy rich people party!)  Also both Nancy and Ryan see Lucy's ghost at the same time, therefore neither of them are crazy (unless...) and Nancy is extra sure that Lucy's death is also connected to Tiffany's death as well.

George and Nick made for a good team.  I hope we get various different interactions between the made squad throughout the season, although I wasn't a fan of Nancy being separated from everyone else.

Happy for Bess finally starting a relationship with Lisbeth, but if television has taught me anything, it is go going to end badly for her somehow.

Speaking of ending badly, Owen is so going to end up being bad news.  The question is will be before or after a damn love triangle forms?

Aww, I'm liking Ace as the team's hype man.  That job ain't easy!

[Cranberry]

The plot was pretty thin and Nancy's detective skills aren't impressing me, but I enjoyed this one, anyway. It was funnier than usual -- George got all the best lines, as always (and I like her dynamic with Nick, who isn't afraid to insult her right back), but I also enjoyed Bess's freakouts and Ace trying to be supportive. I still like pretty much everyone more than I like Nancy, which is a problem. Putting her on the outside while the rest of the group works together doesn't help.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Owen is too old to be flirting with 18 year old Nancy, but he did seem to take being stalked and interrogated pretty well (and followed it up with a casual "we should go sailing sometime").

At least now we know that Owen is 25 (he said he was five years old in 1999 when Ryan brought Lucy to the Velvet Masque). That's still way too old for Nancy so BACK OFF, MAN.

Ugh, as soon as Owen told Nancy that the Kraken in Lucy's poem was his uncle, I was sure that the Medusa who slept with Sebastian was going to be Ryan's mother. I started going through the list of everyone on the who's around 19 years old to see who might be the illegitimate offspring. Bess? That would provide the Marvin connection. Maybe Ryan's mother went on a "European vacation" during the last months of her pregnancy and then put the baby up for adoption there.

How convenient that the fancy rich people party has a secret storage room where things don't get moved for twenty years!

Nancy was pretty brazen about accusing Ryan's mother of having an affair with her husband's rival. I guess no one ever taught Nancy to play her cards close to the vest?

How was Ryan in the senior video that Nancy found and also away at boarding school when she was murdered?

3 hours ago, Camera One said:

How did she know Medusa referred to Ryan's mother?

The headpiece she was wearing.

[kirkola]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

How was Ryan in the senior video that Nancy found and also away at boarding school when she was murdered?

The Senior Video is a compilation of various bits recorded throughout the year and/or 4 years.  It's entirely possible that Ryan was in the video at some point or the other.

My personal theory is that Ryan was removed & sent to boarding school during his Senior Year to separate him from Lucy.  Likely Lucy was either pregnant or she is somehow a sibling of Ryan's and therefore sex would be icky.  Both are common enough TV tropes.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, kirkola said:

Likely Lucy was either pregnant

When Nancy walked past the fancy water wall, Ghost Lucy walking parallel to Nancy in the water wall was very pregnant. 

[jmonique]

I actually really like the actress playing Nancy, especially considering this is really her biggest role to date. The marketing for the show has been great; I like the ads made to look like book covers, and think Kennedy McMann looks like a great real-world version of Nancy Drew.

All that being said, I feel like the show is aiming for the stubborn, strong-willed, head-strong version of Nancy from the books and overshot directly into arrogant and overconfident. That's particularly true when it comes to the belabored attempt at a romantic triangle. There's no way she can't know what she's doing standing so close to Owen or whatever his name is. 

The show needed to spend more time building up Ned Nick and Nancy before trying to shove a new rando in to break them up.

Beyond that, I wish this was more mystery, less Haunted Riverdale, but it is what it is, and I don't hate it.

[ursula]

The show seems to be going out of its way to destabilise Nick/Nancy by having Nick acting - not so much jealous - as paranoid. As if he's so lacking in self-confidence that the moment a much older dude looks at his girlfriend twice, he folds up his cards and goes home. Ugh. I expect nothing when it comes to interracial relationships especially on TheCW but yet I always manage to be disappointed.

So apparently, Nancy's super-sleuth power is her ability to ask point-blank questions and have people just give her honest answers. 

10 hours ago, Camera One said:

George said for as long as she had known Nancy, she's had "big walls" and you could stand beside her and never get close.  Huh?  George never tried to befriend Nancy, as far as we knew.  Plus why did she have "walls" before her mother died?

It's set up for when Nick and Nancy inevitably break up so she can move on to the white dude. 

I'm surprised the Scooby Gang wasn't madder at Bess for missing her queue and getting them thrown out.

Was that guy really going to cut off her hand?

[tennisgurl]

So like all weird PG rated Eyes Wife Shut rich people parties, in this party, clothes stay on mostly, everyone knows each other no matter what masks they wear, its super easy for anyone to get in, and it all takes place in the same crappy warehouse. 

Nancy isnt really great at investigating, and she really sucks at interrogation. "I know that Lucy found out who you made out with, I know that your sketchy!!" I mean, none of that is wrong, but she could be a bit more sneaky about it. 

Despite all of that, I did like this episode, especially George and Nick snarking and working together, I love that they are mixing characters up a bit, and Ace constantly trying to keep everyone hyped up, which cant be easy! 

The show also does a good job at building a creepy atmosphere, especially with ghost Lucy following Ryan around. I dont think that Ryan killed her, the theory now looks like it was his parents who did something to "take care" of her. I also think that what Carson and Nancy's mom was hiding was murder, but some of the stuff he did for Ryan's family. 

[twoods]

What’s up with Bess acting like a spoiled brat with her date being interrupted by someone being in the hospital? It was one conversation and she was acting nutso. I just can’t with her.

Nancy continues to be dumb. Why are you confronting a possible killer without zero proof? And don’t get me started on this ridiculous storyline.

[mommalib]

So I see they screwing Nick over already. Poor guy's self esteem is in the toilet and being with someone like Nancy isn't going to help that because she seems like the type that don't really care who she hurts. When your main character is the least likable you might have a problem. So pile Nick up on top of all the other mistreated black male characters on TV.  Or maybe i'm just being negative we'll see.

[ketose]

I don't even know what to make of this show. Nancy has gone from teen detective to the Ghost Whisperer. I'll probably end up fast forwarding it on DVR in the future.

[shapeshifter]

30 minutes ago, ketose said:

I don't even know what to make of this show. Nancy has gone from teen detective to the Ghost Whisperer. I'll probably end up fast forwarding it on DVR in the future.

Were the books like this? My sister had the complete set in the 1960s, but I never read them because the covers were so spooky, 😆 . I read a couple that my daughters checked out of the library, but those didn’t have any supernatural elements that I can recall.

[ursula]

9 hours ago, twoods said:

What’s up with Bess acting like a spoiled brat with her date being interrupted by someone being in the hospital? It was one conversation and she was acting nutso. I just can’t with her.

Nancy continues to be dumb. Why are you confronting a possible killer without zero proof? And don’t get me started on this ridiculous storyline.

I first thought she didn’t believe there was a sick cousin - that she thought it was one of those “ask friend to fake a call to get out of an awkward date” ruses. So when she later said she wanted to call her and ask about the sick cousin, I was confused. Like I literally didn’t understand what the heck she was so upset about.

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Were the books like this? My sister had the complete set in the 1960s, but I never read them because the covers were so spooky, 😆 . I read a couple that my daughters checked out of the library, but those didn’t have any supernatural elements that I can recall.

No, they were not. Every ‘ghost’ mystery was some bad guy faking it for ulterior motives. ScoobyDoo-esque so to speak...

Edited November 15, 2019 by ursula

[Alice Mudgarden]

Nancy is the most irritating person on this show. It's not the actress' fault, but she totally is.

[Camera One]

14 hours ago, jmonique said:

All that being said, I feel like the show is aiming for the stubborn, strong-willed, head-strong version of Nancy from the books and overshot directly into arrogant and overconfident. That's particularly true when it comes to the belabored attempt at a romantic triangle. There's no way she can't know what she's doing standing so close to Owen or whatever his name is. 

She also seemed particularly cold or insensitive in her demeanor this week.  I mean, Ned/Nick is overreacting, but she acted like it was all a game.  She didn't even tell Owen she was "taken" until the end of this episode.  

11 hours ago, twoods said:

What’s up with Bess acting like a spoiled brat with her date being interrupted by someone being in the hospital? It was one conversation and she was acting nutso. I just can’t with her.

I liked Bess, but there's a fine line between quirky and annoying.  The whole "secrets between us thing between Bess and Lisabeth" is creepy.  She works for the rich family, so she could have killed Tiffany for them.  

6 hours ago, ursula said:

No, they were not. Every ‘ghost’ mystery was some bad guy faking it for ulterior motives. 

That's what I was looking forward to when the show first started.  Some of the books' reasons/ways in which the criminals simulated supernatural creepiness was pretty elaborate and Nancy was always awesome at exposing the charade.

7 hours ago, ketose said:

Nancy has gone from teen detective to the Ghost Whisperer. 

That's a good way of putting it.  Nancy is basically getting answers from ghosts, whether it's possession or haunting.  Who needs to look for real clues when Ghost Lucy and Ghost Tiffany can give you riddles to solve.  For all their inter-life communication skills, too bad they couldn't just, you know, tell Nancy who murdered them.  And Lucy's Ghost, you could've at least tried to give Ryan's mother a heart attack or something.

Any of the elites of the town who read Lucy's poem would have known who and what she was talking about.  Between the giant bird at the top, to the masks/headgear the various rich people apparently wear EVERY time they have a "secret" gathering, to the literal "man was kissing woman who wasn't his wife!"  

Edited November 15, 2019 by Camera One

[shapeshifter]

26 minutes ago, Camera One said:

6 hours ago, ursula said:

No, they were not. Every ‘ghost’ mystery was some bad guy faking it for ulterior motives. 

That's what I was looking forward to when the show first started.  Some of the books' reasons/ways in which the criminals simulated supernatural creepiness was pretty elaborate and Nancy was always awesome at exposing the charade

It’s too bad IMO that the show isn’t following this aspect of the books. It could have been updated with Nancy & Co. looking up scientific explanations online, and even having to differentiate between fake and real science. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

I liked Bess, but there's a fine line between quirky and annoying.  The whole "secrets between us thing between Bess and Lisabeth" is creepy.  She works for the rich family, so she could have killed Tiffany for them.  

The conversation they had about it was so stupid too.

Lisbeth: I really like you, Bess. Can we start over?
Bess: I don't know, Lisbeth. You keep a lot of secrets. How do I know that I can trust you?
Lisbeth: Well, you keep a lot of secrets too so maybe we can keep each other in check. 
Bess: I like the sound of that.

WTF does that even mean? If you can't trust each other, there's no point in having a relationship. When someone says, "You have a lot of secrets," saying, "Well so do you!" doesn't actually change or fix anything. And how is continuing to keep secrets from each other "keeping each other in check"?

I'm not saying they have to spill their deepest darkest secrets immediately, but how about some simple solutions like Lisbeth saying, "I work for the Hudsons and I'm at their beck and call 24/7. Sometimes I am going to have to leave abruptly when they need me. I can't tell you exactly what I'm going to do, but I will be honest and tell you that I have to leave for work instead of making up stupid lies about sick relatives."

What makes Lisbeth's lie even dumber is that Bess already knew she worked for the Hudsons so lying about why she had to leave lunch was stupid. All she had to do was say, "Work emergency, gotta go."

Edited November 15, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ketose]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

It’s too bad IMO that the show isn’t following this aspect of the books. It could have been updated with Nancy & Co. looking up scientific explanations online, and even having to differentiate between fake and real science. 

Evil on CBS started doing that, like one episode where there was a TV "ghost hunter" using tech to create a ghost. Of course, even that show has now latched on to the idea that Satan is involved in ending the world.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, ketose said:

Evil on CBS started doing that, like one episode where there was a TV "ghost hunter" using tech to create a ghost. Of course, even that show has now latched on to the idea that Satan is involved in ending the world.

Ugh. Another reason why I will likely never watch that show. 
I wanted to like a Nancy Drew show in this new Golden Age of TV, but this is kind of Nancy Drew “in name only,” isn’t it? I guess TPTB were hoping to capture the Supernatural audience looking for something shiny and new in that vein, whereas I thought this show was going to be more like Veronica Mars. 

[mertensia]

Maybe that dress Nancy saw getting burned wasn't bloody from murder but from Lucy's kid being born. Maybe Nancy is the kid!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, mertensia said:

Maybe that dress Nancy saw getting burned wasn't bloody from murder but from Lucy's kid being born. Maybe Nancy is the kid!

Ryan said they dated over the summer and Lucy was murdered in the fall, so I don't think she had enough time to get pregnant and have a baby before she died unless it was a preemie. Of course, this all depends on how truthful Ryan was with Nancy about his relationship with Lucy.

[catrice2]

I think the show could have succeeded without a supernatural influence, and without making Ned Nick with a shady past.  Why couldn't he be the Ned from the books.....did they think this makes him edgier and more interesting? The same with not having Nancy, Bess and George be friends right away....because girls must have conflict right?

[Camera One]

57 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

I think the show could have succeeded without a supernatural influence, and without making Ned Nick with a shady past.  Why couldn't he be the Ned from the books.....did they think this makes him edgier and more interesting? The same with not having Nancy, Bess and George be friends right away....because girls must have conflict right?

I don't know if these writers could have made it succeed.  They spent an entire episode on shady Ned, and then an episode on shady George and an episode on shady Bess.  That's three episodes where the Writers wouldn't know what to do except to have a few Swamp Lucy cameos.  Sad thing is I think it indicates they had very little interest in using the premise from the books.  If they changed everyone's names, could we tell it was Nancy Drew?

Edited November 16, 2019 by Camera One

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, Camera One said:

1 hour ago, catrice2 said:

I think the show could have succeeded without a supernatural influence, and without making Ned Nick with a shady past.  Why couldn't he be the Ned from the books.....did they think this makes him edgier and more interesting? The same with not having Nancy, Bess and George be friends right away....because girls must have conflict right?

I don't know if these writers could have made it succeed.  They spent an entire episode on shady Ned, and then an episode on shady George and an episode on shady Bess.  That's three episodes where the Writers wouldn't know what to do except to have a few Swamp Lucy cameos.  Sad thing is I think it indicates they had very little interest in using the premise from the books.  If they changed everyone's names, could we tell it was Nancy Drew?

Seriously. Go ahead and mutter “OK Boomer” at my post, but henceforth this show will be for me Not Nancy Drew. 

[catrice2]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Seriously. Go ahead and mutter “OK Boomer” at my post, but henceforth this show will be for me Not Nancy Drew. 

 Let me be clear here I'm not talking about the decisions to change the race or sexual preference of the characters I am strictly talking about The need to change her relationship with her father make them not be friends and make someone a jailbird a con artist  and adulteress...pointless

[AnimeMania]

On 11/15/2019 at 2:17 AM, Camera One said:

That's a good way of putting it.  Nancy is basically getting answers from ghosts, whether it's possession or haunting.  Who needs to look for real clues when Ghost Lucy and Ghost Tiffany can give you riddles to solve.  For all their inter-life communication skills, too bad they couldn't just, you know, tell Nancy who murdered them.  And Lucy's Ghost, you could've at least tried to give Ryan's mother a heart attack or something.

By making all the clues come straight from the ghost's mouth, it makes it impossible for smart viewers or a group of eagle-eyed viewers in a chat room to come together and solve the mystery before the writers want it revealed. Who would have predicted the ghost would change the writing on Ryan's ring to provide a clue?

The most impressive thing Nancy has done so far was break into a vault to steal the Roman burial coins and they didn't even give you a clue on how she did it. Especially since every other plot or scheme Nancy concocts usually ends, "Tits Up".

Did Tiffany only marry Ryan to get dirt on his family's crimes? Did Ryan only marry Tiffany to get his hands on her money? 

Did Lucy happen to see something odd happen, when she was standing on cliffs, regarding the ship that sank? And get pregnant by Ryan?  And watch someone at Velvet Masque have an illicit affair? And write an angsty cryptic poem about it and hide it in a time capsule as an insurance policy just in case something was to happen to her? The magic 8-ball says "Yes".

Did Tiffany die from eating a contaminated dinner roll because Nancy forget to wash her hands after having sex? The magic 8-ball says "Yes". Swamp Lucy tried to give Tiffany the Heimlich, but her arms just passed right through. Unfortunately, Tiffany was too smart to believe that ghosts exist. Her loss.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, catrice2 said:

15 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Seriously. Go ahead and mutter “OK Boomer” at my post, but henceforth this show will be for me Not Nancy Drew. 

 Let me be clear here I'm not talking about the decisions to change the race or sexual preference of the characters I am strictly talking about The need to change her relationship with her father make them not be friends and make someone a jailbird a con artist  and adulteress...pointless

Definitely any changes in gender, race, sexual identity, religion, whathaveyou are not what is making this “Not Nancy Drew” for me either.
It’s all the “Devil/Ghost made me do it” supernatural crap. 
Anyway, I haven’t watched enough of these serialized, soap opera-esque episodes or read enough of the books to know the formula, so I’m now wondering: 
Is there still hope that the ghosts and burning rings etc. will turn out to be caused by natural phenomena and/or mad scientists and/or a magician?⭐️

Because, if so, I will retract my statements and my agreements with others’ statements about this Not being “Nancy Drew.”

—well except for making the Scooby gang go all Lord of the Flies on each other WRT suspecting each other of being criminals and killers, and, even when it’s revealed they’re not killers, that they. are. each. one. guilty of felonies. Sheesh. Not a girl or Boy Scout in the bunch. Even the parents are all cheating on spouses or being otherwise questionable role models. </end_rant>
————————

⭐️post’s main point/question is bolder

Edited November 16, 2019 by shapeshifter
bolder main question

[Camera One]

It feels like Not Nancy Drew because this show is more about the illicit affairs and secrets of the rich and famous in Not River Heights and the afterlife activities of dead people, than it is about the main characters.  

Miss 50-foot-high Walls (George) says that Nancy's walls are even higher, so I guess Nancy's character arc on this show is learning to let down her walls.  Except in this episode, she shuts out her friends because she suddenly for no reason decides she has a better chance operating on her own?  

George has Walls too so her character arc is similar to Nancy's.  Her development has actually progressed further except when she still treats her employees (oops, I mean friends) like crap.

Now that I think about it, Bess has Walls too with all her secrets and now she's dating someone with Walls, so progress?

I'm not sure what Nick's arc is except he clearly has very low self-esteem and acts like he wants to hide behind a wall.

And then we have Ace, who's just sort of there, like a wall.

Edited November 16, 2019 by Camera One

[jewel21]

I'm enjoying this show and it's supernatural elements. I'm curious about Lucy's death and how it ties into Tiffany's. And I really like all the characters, especially Ace. 

[peachmangosteen]

On 11/17/2019 at 12:29 AM, jewel21 said:

I'm enjoying this show and it's supernatural elements. I'm curious about Lucy's death and how it ties into Tiffany's. And I really like all the characters, especially Ace. 

Same. I think the show is fun as hell. And stupid, which I can enjoy!

[Simba122504]

When did Nancy fall madly in love with Ned? I'm sure she cares about him but that happened pretty fast offscreen. First they were sex buddies, then they started sharing stuff with each other not too long ago. And based on the episode, he still doesn't truly know her because she hasn't let him in.  Television annoys me with this. So far what has Nancy solved without the supernatural? 

[Simba122504]

On 11/15/2019 at 3:53 AM, ketose said:

Evil on CBS started doing that, like one episode where there was a TV "ghost hunter" using tech to create a ghost. Of course, even that show has now latched on to the idea that Satan is involved in ending the world.

Now, I can finally start back watching that show! 😅

[kirkola]

On 11/15/2019 at 4:53 AM, ketose said:

Evil on CBS started doing that, like one episode where there was a TV "ghost hunter" using tech to create a ghost. Of course, even that show has now latched on to the idea that Satan is involved in ending the world.

They (Evil on CBS) are attempting to straddle the line between "devil/supernatural" and "scientific".   Nancy has no such problem.  It's all supernatural.  I like the actress.  I've said from the beginning that I wasn't crazy about the supernatural elements, but I am in for the long haul...because I do love Nancy Drew.  But some of the more canon stuff is being ignored to make room for the supernatural.  Which makes Nancy less of a detective, and more of a "Ghost Whisperer" as ketose pointed out.   I don't need for Nancy to interpret the various ghosts' messages.  I need her to act like that real detective that drove the cop crazy in the pilot, because she's THAT good.  She was my gateway to the detective genre.  At this point, Riverdale has better detectives than Nancy. 

The rest of it is annoying window-dressing for me.  Though I may never get over calling Ned Nick. 

[Kromm]

On 11/14/2019 at 2:11 AM, Camera One said:

This show is good at creating atmosphere

That should be the theme of this show... with a caveat. "Great at creating atmosphere. Plot?  Not so much..."