S02.E10: The Spell of the Burning Bride

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Nancy picks up a new investigating job involving the local florist and is pleasantly surprised when Gil Bobbsey is able to offer some assistance; Ace receives a cryptic text message.

Promo:

Original air date: 3/31/21

[Cranberry]

That was amusing! I liked how Nancy saw all the guys moving in slow motion. Ace's hair blowing in the wind was great. So was Nick standing there looking confused during his "sexy" shot. George and Nancy's struggle was fun, as was Nancy wanting to "wrestle" with Ace (and running her hands through his glorious hair).

I forget exactly how much Tamura knows about the supernatural. He doesn't believe in it but is just humoring Nancy, right? It's like a reverse Mulder and Scully. I like their (work) partnership. The romance stuff I could do without, and I don't think his broken engagement was her business.

I'm not on the Gil Bobbsey train at all. Guy was going to let George die with zero remorse. I doubt he's "endgame," though, so whatever. Have your fun, Nancy.

So they really are going there with Bess and Odette, huh? It's a fun idea, but I think it needed more buildup. Odette has been watching the crew through George's eyes, so I can believe she'd be into Bess, but Bess has barely spoken to Odette. It seems too soon for her to be catching feelings. In any case, she better get George's consent before anything happens.

I've seen speculation on Tumblr that the new cook is Ace's brother and he's scoping Ace out before revealing his identity. I could believe it, especially considering they cast a known CW actor and gave his character a name despite not letting him do anything yet.

[CrazyDog]

I really liked this episode. All the slow mo shots (and serious kudos on the soundtrack there) were hilarious. The show does humor well.

Kennedy McMann (who I'd never seen before this show) sees to be one of those actors who really has chemistry with the rest of the cast. I don't care for her and Gil as a romantic duo, but there are some sparks there.

I actually do like Tamura and Nancy, but I think having them stay partners for awhile is best. They do have a nice balance and some growing respect for each other. I had to laugh at Nancy clearing the air, and then not talking at all about their weird moment.

Not feeling Bess and Odette at all. Thank you Ace for trying to inject some reason there. I think I'm just getting a little weary of George (and Nick) having to deal with Odette.

Poor Nancy, lol. It takes all of her friends to help her when she's in trouble.

Maybe we'll get a little more of Ace's dad in future episodes. And where is George's mom?

I was liking the reporter, but not as much now! Her comments to Nancy, outing her to the Hudsons? This will be interesting. 

I think the show has found a nice balance of "regular" drama and the supernatural.

Edited April 1, 2021 by CrazyDog

[CrazyDog]

3 hours ago, Cranberry said:

I've seen speculation on Tumblr that the new cook is Ace's brother and he's scoping Ace out before revealing his identity. I could believe it, especially considering they cast a known CW actor and gave his character a name despite not letting him do anything yet.

Good call! I don't know the actor, but if he's well known, that makes a lot of sense.

It's fun to imagine what all the character is witnessing while just trying to keep the food coming out. Nancy going crazy, cops almost getting into fights, George's two personalities, lol. 

[rogvortex58]

They really need more funny episodes like this one. Kennedy was great as “Handsy Drew”. Very fitting nickname.

Next time a ghost needs to do something to affect the whole Drew crew. Something goes wrong and hilarity ensues.

Edited April 1, 2021 by rogvortex58

[Jenniferbug]

10 hours ago, Cranberry said:

I've seen speculation on Tumblr that the new cook is Ace's brother and he's scoping Ace out before revealing his identity. I could believe it, especially considering they cast a known CW actor and gave his character a name despite not letting him do anything yet.

I wondered this as well so glad to see I'm not alone in thinking he's likely to be the brother (or someone somehow tied to the brother/impersonating the brother, etc). I'm glad we finally got the story of the brother and why Ace has never met him. 

That was a really fun episode! All the slow motion shots were hilarious, and I loved Nancy being so out of control. George and Bess trying to hold her back while Ace tried to airplane spoon feed her the cure was so funny. This cast really has great friend chemistry between all of them. Also loved George hugging Nancy at the end. It's nice to see how their friendship has developed over the show. 

Not sure how to feel about Bess and Odette. I appreciated that Ace was immediately like "nope, not ok, never ok" so maybe the show won't go there? I hope not. 

Love Rukiya Bernard so I kind of hope she's around for a couple more episodes, or at least that her arc is closed in a way that she could come back once in a while. I think she has good chemistry with Ryan. 

I'm not a big fan of the detective being paired with Nancy either. I don't mind them as friendly antagonists to each other, but don't like the romantic angle between them. Also not a fan of Gil but I don't feel like he's a long term love interest for her, so I'm fine with her having some fun with him while it lasts. He and Amanda can go reunite with their mom (and maybe younger twin siblings?) in Arizona someday. 

[Shorty186]

Well Nancy had an interesting pondering when she asked if the lust butterflies were, "intensifying feelings of attraction that I already had - but was repressing," while she nonchalantly looked at Ace.

But Ace basically looking disgusted/petrified of her was a real bummer.

And if anything, I feel like this ep set her and Tamura up. Like she basically went to Gil at the end to avoid acting on her feelings for Tamura. 

So maybe this Ace-Nancy thing is going to be a super slow/years long burn. 😕

[tennisgurl]

That was really fun, the slow motion sexy shots were killing me. Ace's hair flowing majestically was the best though, combined with his totally confused expression. "Its even smoother than I imagined." I would be happy if the show did a little bit more comedy, all of the actors seem to be really skilled at it. 

Ten out of ten for everyone who guessed that they might put Odette and Bess together, not exactly sure how that's going to work out though. Bess hardly knows her and I can imagine that Odette is mostly interested in her because she reminds her of her dead girlfriend. Its impressive that the whole "Bess is dating the ghost inhabiting her friends body" plot is somehow weirder than the "desire suppressing evil magic wedding dress is cursed with murder and sexiness" plot. They are really going to have to work out some ground rules if they want this body time share thing to work, now with the possible addition of romance. This is pretty weird even by this shows stands, but lets see how it plays out. 

I don't really love Gil or Tamura as love interests for Nancy, but Tamura has better chemistry with her at least. I cant tell if he really buys into the supernatural or if just humoring Nancy, although he will probably jump on the magic train soon enough if he sticks around. Hard to deny that many ghosts sightings, even for the most Scully style skeptic. He and Nancy do seem to work well together, I like their odd couple mystery solver dynamic. 

Looking forward to getting to meet Ace's brother, I am still liking the Hardy Boys theory and that the new chef might be his brother. I don't think they would cast an actor who just had a fairly prominent role on a CW show that just ended for such a minor role. 

[akg]

I don't really see Nancy and the detective together but I think that's more of a perceived age thing for me. I think Nancy and the gang were in high school in all of the books I read growing up (I was much more into the Bobbsey Twins) so I keep thinking most of the main characters are under 20 even though we don't really have ages for them (do we? Nancy at least was supposed to be a freshman in college last year which would put her at 19 now). For Tamura to achieve his rank and become head of the Horseshoe Bay's police department, he'd have to be older than he looks and there would be too big of an age difference between him and Nancy (for me).

[Diapason Untuned]

This was hands down the funniest episode of this show yet! The humor was incredible, with all the slo-mo shots, Hannah changing into the bride's dress right behind poor unsuspecting Nick and Nancy having to be quarantined for the safety of the men in her life 🤣

I'm not really feeling Nancy with Detective Tamura, because he has to be at least 28 or so, right? Too much of an age difference, despite their similar hobbies.

Poor Ryan got played again, though his mom was probably feeding the reporter, so the man was being bombarded on both sides without even knowing it. 

Bess and Odette were cute together, though I don't know how they'll work that out.

[thuganomics85]

As soon as I saw where they were going with Nancy seeing the guys in slo-mo, I was so hoping it was going to end with them doing one with Ace and them ramping up the wind machine to take advantage of Alex Saxon's long hair, and they didn't disappoint!  The whole thing was great: I especially like how for Tamura and Gil, both of them were doing the more typical "smoldering" looks for those scenes, but both Nick and Ace looked confused during those bits.

In general, this was a fun "mystery of the week", and it allowed Kennedy McMann to do some more comedic stuff this time, which I thought she did well.  Still crazy that she was a relative newcomer before this show, because she's really a natural and carries the show well as the lead performer.  And while they didn't dive too much into it, I liked the insight of how the curse was caused due to trying to hold back liberated and free-thinking women that didn't hide their sexuality, and how that is still something that is held against women to this day (the reporter complimenting Nancy for having a "buttoned-up" social media presence and not flaunting herself.)

Like others, I was kind of wondering if they would try something with Bess and Odette, and it looks like that might be the case.  Curious to see if they can make it work, but there is a lot of obstacles here.  And not just because Odette is currently inhabiting George's body...

Still keeping Ace's brother a mystery, I see.  I'm down with the theory that it might be this Grant guy, because, again, while he not be a household name, Shannon Kook was literally a regular on The 100 and I can't see him going from that to a glorified extra unless he's burned bridges somehow.

Nothing against Gil (especially since I enjoy the actor), but him and Nancy already hooking up feels rushed and unearned: especially after his actions last week.  Nancy and Tamura are a non-starter for me, because while I know Nancy is over eighteen (and Kennedy is actually in her mid-twenties in real life), the age difference just seems like it would take things into inappropriate territory, I would imagine.  Of course, I doubt any of these pairings will be "endgame", so it's hard to really get that invested right now.

Celia Hudson knows about Nancy being Ryan's daughter!  Oh boy!

[akg]

21 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Celia Hudson knows about Nancy being Ryan's daughter!  Oh boy!

They haven't shown any of her thought process to come to this conclusion, have they? I know the reporter realized there was almost certainly a Ryan jr but was surprised so focused on Nancy so quickly. Or was she stealing DNA from everyone in town that's the right age?

 

23 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

And while they didn't dive too much into it, I liked the insight of how the curse was caused due to trying to hold back liberated and free-thinking women that didn't hide their sexuality, and how that is still something that is held against women to this day (the reporter complimenting Nancy for having a "buttoned-up" social media presence and not flaunting herself.)

I liked that too. Especially when Nancy realized that the spell wasn't all bad; that she had actually enjoyed being able to explore those feelings. Which is something, even now, women aren't encouraged to do (no bikinis).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved getting to see how good Leah Lewis is at ice skating!

I also loved Nancy seeing all the guys walking in slow motion with the wind blowing their hair. I laughed SO HARD every time it happened. I also cracked up at everyone cooperating with Ace's airplane spoon to try to get Nancy to take the antidote. The show always manages to inject some humor into each episode, but this one was so funny from beginning to end. There were so many little moments that made me laugh.

I was glad that both Nancy and Tamura stated that anything happening between them would be inappropriate because too often the inappropriateness just gets ignored. Unfortunately, (1) I think it's just a temporary measure to keep them apart for now and (2) it sent her straight to Gil who I think is just as inappropriate. With Tamura, the inappropriateness is based on being professional and the pretty big age gap. With Girl, the inappropriateness is based on the fact that he's shady as fuck and morally questionable. I don't know how Nancy can make out with a guy who was willing to let one of her best friends die.

I don't think Tamura is totally on the supernatural train yet. He thought that Hannah was just really high, not under the influence of a lust filled dress. But at least he's now less suspicious of Nancy's detective skills and more appreciative of her investigating. I thought it was TOTALLY inappropriate for Nancy to bring up his engagement. If you want to snoop online, that's your business but it was really rude and highly unprofessional for her to bring up what she found online. Obviously if you get engaged but don't get married, something went wrong. That's his personal life so she really shouldn't have brought it up.

I was wondering how/why Val suspected that Nancy was Ryan's daughter, but once we got the reveal that Ryan's mother was behind it all, it made a lot more sense. Val might be a great investigative reporter but I didn't think she was good enough to go from "Lucy might have been pregnant when she died" to "Nancy was born the same year so she must therefore be Ryan's daughter." Since no one else in town knew that Nancy was adopted, it made no sense that Val had miraculously narrowed down the pool of every kid born the same year to figure out that Nancy was Lucy's daughter.

On the plus side, I liked that the combination of Val's comment and the lust dress made Nancy reaffirm her belief that her sexuality is normal and nothing to be ashamed of. Like she said, wearing a bikini doesn't diminish her intelligence or her accomplishments. The amount of slut shaming that goes in these days is still ridiculous. Guys are allowed to post endless shirtless gym pictures and no one says a word about it, but if a girl has one picture of herself in a bikini somewhere in her online history suddenly she's a thirsty attention whore slut who can't be taken seriously. I guess if you want to be considered a professional woman, you can never go to the beach unless you're fully clothed. Ugh.

Edited April 1, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[akg]

33 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

once we got the reveal that Ryan's mother was behind it all, it made a lot more sense

Can you refresh my memory on this? I know Nancy has crossed paths with Ryan's mother but can't remember why mom would suspect that Nancy is her grand daughter (I really enjoy this show but my brain is mush and I probably should have rewatched season 1 before starting this one).

[catrice2]

Interesting that when she looked at Nick the words were something like "all my life I have been searching for this love,"   I am really not loving any of the love interest this season.   Nick and George, Bess and anybody...  and Nancy might as well be with Nick for the chemistry she has had with anyone else.....I think the show would be better without them....and the supernatural...

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, akg said:

Can you refresh my memory on this? I know Nancy has crossed paths with Ryan's mother but can't remember why mom would suspect that Nancy is her grand daughter (I really enjoy this show but my brain is mush and I probably should have rewatched season 1 before starting this one).

I think it was more something Ryan said while he was being interviewed that made the reporter lady check to see if Ryan might of had a secret child that nobody knew about.

[akg]

16 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I think it was more something Ryan said while he was being interviewed that made the reporter lady check to see if Ryan might of had a secret child that nobody knew about.

But why Nancy, of all people? The Drews had a good cover story and no one has questioned it (Nancy would be all over any gossip about her family and, in a town that size, she'd have heard something if any rumors existed). She's the right age but so are plenty of other kids in town (and out of town, what if Lucy had put her child up for adoption and it had ended up in California).

[quarks]

That was fun - this cast has great comedy chops, and Kennedy McMann has chemistry with pretty much everyone. 

1. So, ok, that background for Ace's brother doesn't quite match any of my vague memories of the Hardy Boys in the books, but I'm still sticking with my theory that Ace is a Hardy boy. I mean, after all, this episode spent a lot of time reminding us that TV Nancy Drew is biologically Nancy Hudson.

2. And now Ryan's mother knows! DUN DUN DUN! This is why no one on the show ever tells you anything, Ryan; it only took a few conversations with you to make the reporter deeply suspicious that you were hiding something.

3. The reporter figuring out that she needed Nancy's DNA was a bit of a reach, I thought, but then again - in the last episode, she mentioned speaking to a number of people who knew Ryan, and it would not be surprising if one of them mentioned that Ryan has developed a suspicious interest in the friend of the girl he was cheating on his wife with, because....yeah, that's a bit odd. Or that Nancy was heavily involved with solving that case - granted, at least partly to clear herself from a murder charge, but I can see the reporter wondering how Nancy went from investigating the murder of Ryan's wife to finding out about Lucy Sable, especially since the reporter presumably doesn't know about the ghosts.

4. Speaking of Nancy - ok, ok, I get it, kinda: Nick is with someone else, Ace is with someone else, the detective just recently went through a bad breakup. With that said, GIL IS NOT YOUR ONLY OPTION HERE. There were two other cooks in the kitchen plus various customers in the restaurant and all the various people at the photo shoot, some of whom were men. Plus we keep seeing various wealthy men show up to all of these Marvin and Hudson events. Like, yes, I get that Horseshoe Bay is supposed to be a small place, but Nancy HAS OTHER OPTIONS than the guy who was willing to let her friend die on the small chance that he might find out information about his mother's death from a coma patient. Other options, Nancy. I cannot stress this enough. Nor can I stress enough that the next time you are considering four different guys with slow mo music and hair blowing in the wind and all that, you should not pick the hands down worst of the bunch.

5. Which brings us to the second worst of the bunch, the Nancy/detective pairing, which I'm still not enthusiastic about at all. With that said, I will say that this episode made me more resigned to that pairing - partly because I definitely prefer the detective to Gil Bobbsey. Sure, I prefer pretty much anyone, including a random sea gull, to Gil Bobbsey, but hey, it's something. And at least Nancy/the detective have pretty decent chemistry, I get the mutual interest, and the detective hasn't - yet - been willing to let Nancy's friends die, so, you know, plus for him.

That said, Nancy, when this goes south - and it almost certainly will - this is not going to make you any more popular at the police station. Might be a good time for Ace to work on staying on good terms with his father so they continue to have an in there....Oh.

6. Speaking of inappropriate relationships, hi, Bess and Odette! I did laugh when Ace told her that this was absolutely, definitely, inappropriate. The ice skating was cute, though. Is that wrong for me to admit?

7. My favorite moment, though, had to be George giving Nancy a hug.

 

[peachmangosteen]

On 4/1/2021 at 10:29 AM, Shorty186 said:

So maybe this Ace-Nancy thing is going to be a super slow/years long burn. 😕

I love it but I hate it lol. 

[Josh371982]

I dont get Nancy's attraction to assbags(exception being Nick) but this is on the same network as Vampire Diaries which had Caroline fuck a guy who killed her best friends aunt and Elena fuck Damon who once treated Caroline like Garbage and had every intention to kill her brother in the early seasons 

[bettername2come]

Kennedy McMann has pretty good comedy chops. Detective Tamrura's slow motion shot was my favorite since it just came out of nowhere, plus she literally asked if he was in slow motion, but Alex Saxon had good smolder during his bit. And of course, Nancy wants to touch Ace's hair like so many of us do.