S02.E13: The Beacon of Moonstone Island

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Gil insists on helping Nancy investigate a hunch on Moonstone Island, but Ace and Amanda are forced to step in when he is unable to be there for her. Meanwhile, Nick begins questioning Nancy’s loyalty. Lastly, Odette is getting on George’s last nerve.

Promo:

Original air date: 4/28/21

Edited April 29, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[peachmangosteen]

Did this not air? I watch a week late but when I went to watch I didn’t have a recording for last week.

[AnimeMania]

It airs April 28, 2021

[Jenniferbug]

Not sure I really enjoyed that one. It seemed to fall flat after 3 or 4 weeks of really good episodes. 

Gil is terrible. Nancy is being written really inconsistently. I know they're going somewhere with it, because characters are remarking on it, but I still don't see WHY she likes Gil or WHY she's suddenly decided Celia is nice. If Gil was just some friends with benefits thing I can maybe see that, but they're basically dating and I don't see what she sees in him at all. 

I'm not sure where they're going with George and Odette either. It's getting to the point where I want them to wrap that up. I'm glad she and Bess decided to be friends, and I hope they don't slip up. If they can get Odette back into a body of her own, I have no problem with her and Bess together. But not while she's part of George. Please. 

I wish Victoria would appear once in a while for these rituals! I miss her!

Also, I want to watch old movies with Odette. "They would catch typhoid!" 

[akg]

Apparently the missing Bobbsey twins are bothering me more than I thought. Even though she wasn't blonde, I immediately thought 'Flossie!' when they found the girl on the island. I'm also disappointed in the older twins' personalities (Gil's in particular) being so different from the books. I never read Nancy or the Hardy Boys as a kid but I was very into the Bobbsey twins so the changes are hitting harder. Amanda has been adorable with Ace until last night when she could barely be bothered to listen about his brother and dad problems (although she did try to do better later). Her being jealous over Nancy and Ace breaking into a safe was a little off. 

7 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

Nancy is being written really inconsistently. I know they're going somewhere with it, because characters are remarking on it, but I still don't see WHY she likes Gil or WHY she's suddenly decided Celia is nice.

I agree and really hope they don't drag this out much longer. Not only is Nancy acting out of character but it's awkward too. The whole thing with the hat was weird.

I am looking forward to them trying to find Odette's love. As much as I love the idea of Odette finding another body and sticking around, I'd be happy with her joining Mary in the afterlife.

7 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

Also, I want to watch old movies with Odette. "They would catch typhoid!"

Me too!

[Jenniferbug]

4 minutes ago, akg said:

Apparently the missing Bobbsey twins are bothering me more than I thought. Even though she wasn't blonde, I immediately thought 'Flossie!' when they found the girl on the island. I'm also disappointed in the older twins' personalities (Gil's in particular) being so different from the books. I never read Nancy or the Hardy Boys as a kid but I was very into the Bobbsey twins so the changes are hitting harder. Amanda has been adorable with Ace until last night when she could barely be bothered to listen about his brother and dad problems (although she did try to do better later). Her being jealous over Nancy and Ace breaking into a safe was a little off. 

Pure speculation on my part, but I've wondered if their mom won't turn up at some point with the younger set of twins. If they want to write Gil and Amanda off the show at some point, sending them to Arizona (?) where their mother and previously unknown younger siblings is a decent reason. 

I do like Amanda well enough. I didn't like her not really listening to Ace when he tried to open up to her, but otherwise she was ok.

I'm totally fine with them reuniting Odette with Mary in the afterlife somehow too. I'm just ready for the Odette sharing George's body to wrap up. 

[waving feather]

Nancy is acting weird and out of character in this episode. This may be on purpose from the writers but it happened too quickly that it's not natural. How could she have bonded with Celia this quickly in such a short amount of time? She found out Ryan was her father much earlier and she was never this desperate to bond with him. She seems pretty happy with the support she is receiving from Carson and her friends. And since she has known Ryan for longer and they have the same goal in taking Everett down, shouldn't she go to him for things? I'm sure Ryan has goons who can also take care of the name list problem last episode. It's just not adding up. And I don't understand why she was so cold to Ace in the last scene when he was trying to reach out to her. There may be some awkward tension between them but not to that extent that they can't even talk properly. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by waving feather

[thuganomics85]

Sheesh, Horseshoe Bay Ledger?  What's with the "Everett is Acquitted and it's all Nancy's Fault!" headline?  That's is beyond just some mere bias journalism.  Did Nancy send the editor or writer's loved one to jail or something?  Talk about grinding an axe!

Definitely a step down from most of the episodes this season and I agree that a lot of it was because how they wrote Nancy here.  I can understand keeping all options open, but she really seems to think that Celia might actually be sincere about that gift and wanting a relationship with Nancy, and I just haven't seen any evidence yet that Celia cares about anything other than herself and the Hudson name.  Nancy is just coming off too naive and hopelessly optimistic and, if anything, Nancy tends to be the reverse of all of that, so it doesn't really check out (now, Bess on the other hand...)  Maybe some of it's because she is still not fully dealing with the fact that she is a Hudson by birth and a small part of her is yearning for a family (even though both Carson and the Drew Crew have more than made up for that), but it just wasn't handled as well as it could have been.

And then there is the stuff with Gil.  I'm not against Nancy having a casual fling or relationship, but she seems to be almost putting her head in the sand when it comes to ignoring his unsavory behavior.  Then again, part of it could just be still not forgetting how he almost selfishly let George die that one time.

I'm sure Ace/Amanda are doomed since they're already doing the thing where Amanda is noticing and pointing out that there is some kind of spark between him and Nancy, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Despite their best efforts, Bess and Odette are so falling for one another.  It will either end with Odette finding some way to be brought back/put in another body and be an official love interest, or they'll succeed at reuniting her with Mary, and Bess will go back to being heartbroken.

Not sure what to make of Nick turning his vacant rooms into some kind of youth center.

Edited April 30, 2021 by thuganomics85

[quarks]

1. For former pirates, the Fire Souls really did create some lovely ghost effects, didn't they? I especially loved the floating fire leaf like things. Maybe now that you don't have to take care of a small child, you can become pirate ghost artists! Just a thought, pirate ghosts!

2. Speaking of lovely places....that beach is, indeed, a lovely place. It is also a beach that we have now seen in Once Upon A Time, Arrow, Batwoman, The 100 and now this show. I'm assuming it must be easy to film at but surely - surely - the Vancouver area has other beaches that can be used for filming? I kept expecting Clarke Griffin to run out and announce that Nancy had to help them discover why Oliver Queen had killed Captain Hook. Very distracting.

3. Ok, Amanda can stay. She's cute, she's helpful, and while it's clear that she and Ace are not going to last, they're cute together. Plus she has medical skills. I like her.

4. Gil, though --

5. Auugh.

6. I mean, I know that part of this is that he's only supposed to be a temporary boyfriend for Nancy, but, yikes. I mean, in this episode alone, he stole money from his adult twin sister, then had the nerve to demand to know where she had been all day, then followed that up by mocking her plans for a dream trip to Europe, and then was absolutely nowhere to be seen in the final scenes when Nancy clearly needed emotional support. Like, even Odette managed to be helpful and emotionally supportive in this episode. Gil? Not at all. 

7. And I realize that yes, we're supposed to be questioning Nancy's judgement here, and realize that she's still not in a great place, but...I can understand why she's hoping that Celia has some good qualities. Nancy just recently lost her mother; her other grandmother is not all there; her half-uncle turned out to be a murderer; so, yeah, I can see hoping that she can have some sort of family relationship with her grandmother.

Gil? Not at all. 

8. The contrast with both Ace - can listen to safes on demand and help unlock them! Happily turns a potential date into a full investigation with Nancy! Is nice and supportive to Amanda! - and Nick - is building a center to help troubled teens! - was not lost on me. I wish it hadn't apparently been lost on Nancy. 

9. Speaking of listening to safes, though, did those clicks sound really suspiciously loud to anyone else?

10. And speaking of Nick - I know he's built a relationship with Ryan and is working with Ryan to help bring down the Hudsons, but I'm still kinda surprised that he chose to call Ryan and not Carson after his conversation with Nancy.

[akg]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

Not sure what to make of Nick turning his vacant rooms into some kind of youth center.

After all of the hints Bess dropped throughout the episode about the big, empty building, the youth center seemed to come out of nowhere. It is very in character for him but the writers seemed to be heading in one direction only to change their mind at the last second.

[tennisgurl]

So they seem to be really going there with Nancy/Ace, especially with the "I'm jealous that your dating someone else but I wont admit it" looks they kept throwing each other. Nancy seemed really weird and out of character, I don't know why she would think that Celia would change and suddenly want to be her grandma now without any ulterior motive. Celia didnt change when she had Ryan, I cant imagine she would change for Nancy, especially when she still can get what she wants out of her. She knows who Celia is, there is no reason to think that she has changed. Ryan actually has been trying and Nancy hasn't been anywhere near as instantly forgiving towards him, even though she has started warming to him lately. I can buy that she is looking for some kind of maternal connection after losing her mom and finding out about her birth mom, and some of her weirdness might be both guilt over not giving her testimony to save Ace as well as being confused by possibly realizing her feeling for Ace are not just platonic anymore, but it just made the episode feel off. I also have no idea why she likes a creep like Gil, remember how he almost let George die? 

The case of the week was good though, the effects for the fire soul ghosts were creepy but also beautiful, with the ash lightly falling to signify their presence. I always enjoy nautical ghosts stories so that all really worked for me and the girl playing Birdie was good. I wondered early on if her families boat was crashed some other way besides the ghosts or if they just took care of her because she was a kid and they felt bad about blowing a kid up, but I knew as soon as the uncle started asking about whether Birdie remembered anything about the explosion. 

I mostly like Amanda so far, a few moments of being jealous of Nancy and blowing Ace's feelings off looked bad but she did apologize for that and she and Ace seem to work pretty well. Gil on the other hand can go away. What a controlling creep, who is WAY too interested in what his sister is up to with her boyfriend. Ace is here to ask the big questions at least. Really, why are you such a dick?

Watching old movies with Odette sounds like a blast. I have liked a lot of what they have done with Odette, but I am ready for her to leave George's body, I would be happy if she reunited with Mary's ghost and they could move on, even if Bess would be heartbroken again. Oh Bess, this is just not going to work. 

[Simba122504]

5 hours ago, waving feather said:

Nancy is acting weird and out of character in this episode. This may be on purpose from the writers but it happened too quickly that it's not natural. How could she have bonded with Celia this quickly in such a short amount of time? She found out Ryan was her father much earlier and she was never this desperate to bond with him. She seems pretty happy with the support she is receiving from Carson and her friends. And since she has known Ryan for longer and they have the same goal in taking Everett down, shouldn't she go to him for things? I'm sure Ryan has goons who can also take care of the name list problem last episode. It's just not adding up. And I don't understand why she was so cold to Ace in the last scene when he was trying to reach out to her. There may be some awkward tension between them but not to that extent that they can't even talk properly. 

Is it because she has no mother?  Desperate for a maternal figure,  so evil granny will do. That's all I can think of. Too bad the series won't ever show her seeing a therapist. Amanda likes the kinky. I approve. 😄 Of course Ace and temp love interest,  Amanda don't have anything in common. Many tropes never die. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Wow, they are really leaning hard into the Ace/Nancy thing now. How long before one of the realizes they're in love with the other and then spends half a season gazing at them longingly? I like them as friends, but I think that's mostly due to the fact that Ace is the most consistently supportive and honest friend among the group.

I have mixed feelings about Ace trying to warn Nancy away from Gil. On the one hand, he has seen a side of Gil that is extremely dickish so I get it. If one of my friends were dating someone who's a completely asshole to his own sister, I'd be trying to point out the red flags too. The problem is that Nancy doesn't care. She already knew he was a jerk and she chose to run straight to his house anyway.

Heh, I love that Odette bought a parakeet for one of George's sisters and is doing things like calling their teachers to get extensions for their papers. However contentious her struggle with George has been until their recent detente, she has been pretty involved with her sisters. It probably started out of sheer boredom but I think she genuinely likes the girls now. It's nice that she's connecting with them because it must be pretty lonely. Her only other interactions are with Nancy & co and those conversations have not been super friendly.

It seems completely out of character that Nancy would believe Celia is being nice. It's hard to believe she's really drinking the Hudson Kool-Aid. At least Nick immediately realized that she's out. Nancy's attitude about Celia and Gil is making her seem willfully oblivious. Bess needs to send her a little note with that saying about "when someone shows you who they are, believe them." As Nick pointed out, Nancy isn't special enough to change Celia (or Gil) into a nice person.

Edited April 30, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[waving feather]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I like them as friends, but I think that's mostly due to the fact that Ace is the most consistently supportive and honest friend among the group.

I'm all for Nace but if they are going to make it angsty and awkward like this episode, I'm not about it. One of the best thing about their friendship/ relationship is their team work and how in sync they are with each other. Hope that doesn't get ruined for long. And Nancy seems to have too much on her plate to be a good girlfriend anyway. Wasn't that how she and Nick fell apart? Nancy is a great person to depend on if you are in a bind or a life or death situation but seems kinda flighty in day to day relationship. 

[quarks]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I have mixed feelings about Ace trying to warn Nancy away from Gil. On the one hand, he has seen a side of Gil that is extremely dickish so I get it. If one of my friends were dating someone who's a completely asshole to his own sister, I'd be trying to point out the red flags too. The problem is that Nancy doesn't care. She already knew he was a jerk and she chose to run straight to his house anyway.

And for me this is a huge problem. We saw Nancy having bigger doubts about Nick at the start of the show, based on considerably less evidence. We also saw her getting - legitimately - furious with Ace early on in the show when she found out that Ace was spying on the Drew Crew.  She cut off ties with her dad for several days. She's still not on great terms with Ryan.

And yet here she is, sticking with Gil and trying to work things out with Celia. I can at least sorta see the Celia thing, but this whole thing with Gil is not working for me. 

[Diapason Untuned]

14 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Nancy seemed really weird and out of character, I don't know why she would think that Celia would change and suddenly want to be her grandma now without any ulterior motive. Celia didnt change when she had Ryan, I cant imagine she would change for Nancy, especially when she still can get what she wants out of her. She knows who Celia is, there is no reason to think that she has changed. Ryan actually has been trying and Nancy hasn't been anywhere near as instantly forgiving towards him, even though she has started warming to him lately. I can buy that she is looking for some kind of maternal connection after losing her mom and finding out about her birth mom, and some of her weirdness might be both guilt over not giving her testimony to save Ace as well as being confused by possibly realizing her feeling for Ace are not just platonic anymore, but it just made the episode feel off.

First impressions are important.

Nancy spent most of the first season convinced Ryan was a murderer (of two different women), and he did in fact cheat on his wife with her underage friend. 

On the other hand, she barely knows Celia, and the little she does know is based on an amnesiac version of her. She's probably convinced herself that she can be that person again with a little effort from her side.

 

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I also have no idea why she likes a creep like Gil, remember how he almost let George die? 

This I don't know. I suppose they're going with the cliché good girl falls in love with bad boy plot to set up Nace later.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Diapason Untuned

[Frisson]

I guess I will just swim in the shallow end of the pool by myself, but a little shirtlessness from my favorite character (Ace) is much appreciated. It made the whiplash from Nancy’s random characterization easier to take. It was a little awkward for Ace and Nancy to hook up with twins on the same night .

[Dac22]

14 hours ago, quarks said:

I can at least sorta see the Celia thing, but this whole thing with Gil is not working for me. 

I think the Gil thing might be explained by Nick's assessment earlier this season of his relationship with her at the beginning of the series.

"As opposed to interact authentically with other people as equals and not use us as tools in your missions and distractions for your pain."

My thinking is she is just using Gil as a distraction from everything going on in her life. That he's a "safe" choice because she believes there's no real reason to get emotionally invested. Now it's certainly possible she could become attached like Ace warned, but I think her viewing it as nothing serious is the appeal of the relationship for her going in.

[Moxie Cat]

On 4/29/2021 at 7:38 PM, akg said:

Even though she wasn't blonde, I immediately thought 'Flossie!' when they found the girl on the island.

Me too. And when she said her name, I first thought she said "Freddie" and I thought, oh, that's interesting! Alas, not to be, at least not yet.

Is "Birdie" a common nickname for Elizabeth? When I heard that her name was really Elizabeth, all I could think of was how Don Draper called Betty "Birdie" on Mad Men (her real name was Elizabeth too). Just didn't realize it was common.