S04.E07: The Reaping of Hollow Oak

[jewel21]

Quote

Nancy and Ace each show up at Nick’s loft interrupting his brunch date with Jade. Their behavior leads Jade to wonder if Nick might be up to something shady. Meanwhile, Carson and George help Bess prep for her statement.

Airdate: 07/12/2023

[quarks]

That episode description quoted above failed to mention that this episode would include an 80s board game!

Which instantly made it my favorite of the season so far.

1. Nickerson! Nickerson! Nickerson! Yep, this was definitely Ned Nickerson's/Tunji Kasim's episode, right down to that strategically ripped shirt, which, thank you, show. Virtually every single one of his moments was a highlight, from his resigned irritation when Nancy and Ace interrupted his date, to his attempt to be the adult in the room during the board game, to his rescue of Bess and that casual dice dropping, to that final cheesy 80s fight complete with "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." I laughed.

On a very related note, in the tiny, tiny tiny off chance that casting directors happen to be reading this thread during the WGA strike, consider casting Tunji Kasim in many more things. Am I saying this because he looks good in a ripped shirt? Yes. But he was also great in not-ripped shirts, so, cast him.

2. Jade was also awesome. I loved both the "Yeah, ok, this is so not what I need on a breakfast date and just how stupid do you think I am?" bit, followed by the "wait, what, ghosts? ok! Let me throw things!" And they also had the sense to run away when told to. I still think this season will probably end with Nick/George, but if it ends with Nick/Jade, I'll can live with this.

3. Yay, Ryan coming forward with some good old blackmail and reminding us that yes, his father is still alive and still influential. I'm sure this 100% won't cause any trouble later.

4. Anti-supernatural folks, I get it, really I do, but surely there are easier and more sanitary ways to try to drive Bess out of the historical society?

5. Speaking of Bess, this season's police chief must be at least a little suspicious after that particular performance, right? Though I did have to laugh at the one cop deciding to just let the whole weirdness with Nick and Bess go. 

6. The whole neurodiversity conversation between Carson and George, well done - right down to potentially ADHD George never getting around to actually getting tested.

7. Glad to see that the ferret wasn't forgotten, that Nancy knows about the ferret, and that someone yelled at Ace for releasing a domesticated animal back into the wild.

8. And speaking of Ace - dude, Nancy wanted and still wants you to fight for her. Read the room, dude! She paused an investigation to try to discuss Tristan! She sat by you during the game and at the Claw!  And what did you do? Well. Ok. You risked your mom's better stuff.

9. And speaking of Nancy - you can't yell at Ace for lying to you and then turn around and lie to him that you want to move on when everything else in this episode suggested that you really, really don't. Oh, you two kids. If it helps I am pretty sure that you will have this cleared up in....how many episodes do we have left? Six? Six episodes. And then, probably, Paris. Or more ghosts.

[nokat]

I find this show so fun and I like all of the characters. @quarks summed up the episode well (the ripped shirt, nice) and I will be sad when it's done. Let's enjoy shows like this because now the CW will not be doing scripted shows.

[bettername2come]

I love when we get to see the Drew Crew together doing ridiculous things. The show does well with the silly supernatural montages, so I loved the one person fights with riddle solving. I loved Nick's "that's not going to work this time" right before it, of course, works. Smooth slipping the dice to Bess during the interview. Did he really say "You just won the silver." And then the strategically ripped, pec exposing shirt which he then tore more before going full 80s action movie on the Grim while explain things to his new romantic parner who also threw out a silver platter and made puns. Proves they're a pretty good match. Jade's winning me over even if I still want Nick with George. I loved Ace speaking for the audience with "At least we got to see you as an action hero."

"You let a beloved domesticated ferret go!" Kennedy McMann once again has excellent delivery. 

The Ace/Nancy convo at the end was sad. Well acted, but sad. And I was less emotionally invested in them after being in a mood for ghost fights. 

I liked the representation of having Carson revealed as having dyslexia and George likely having ADHD but it felt a little forced to me. Like I would've expected Carson's dyslexia to be mentioned sooner rather than halfway through the final season. 

[thuganomics85]

This was definitely a fun episode.  A "haunted" board game was a fun "supernatural of the week" idea and I liked how it involved all five members of the Drew Crew and we got to see more of this great ensemble interact with one another (I really will miss them.)  That said, it was definitely Nick/Tunji Kasim's time to shine here.  A lot of great character work with him figuring out his new relationship and introducing Jade to the world that he lives in, continues to be one of the most loyal members here even when griping about it, and, of course, getting his bad assery on.  Complete with a torn shirt and 80-style one liners.  Can't ask for more than that!

Also a great episode for both of Nancy's dads, with Carson continuing to be a good mentor towards George and legal defense for Bess, while Ryan shows his savviness by getting Chief Lovett to back off for now.  That said, I definitely suspect that whatever she is hiding and didn't want him to find out will come into play at some point.  Won't say she's evil or anything yet, but she was certainly acting cagey once he mentioned that leave of absence.

In typical CW fashion, the Carson/George scene was a bit on the nose, but I'll allow it since it was a nice moment and seeing a discussion like that about dyslexia and ADHD was refreshing.  I guess I sometimes don't mind getting smacked in the head with an anvil when it is done in a proper way, heh.

Of course it couldn't be all fun and games, as Nancy and Ace's relationship problems continue to way down on both of them (and maybe this show, if I'm being honest.)  Kennedy McMann and Alex Saxon are crushing it, but I still wish they didn't go down this obvious route.  Still hoping it ends with them together though.

Good luck, Anti-Supernatural gang!  Bess has faced down various monsters, ghosts, ghouls, spiders, and even had to deal with her ghost girlfriend being in the body of one her best friends.  You ain't nothing to her!

So, it looks like the Black Door is at Town Hall.  That should be fun!

[tennisgurl]

An evil 80s boardgame is a really fun idea for a supernatural threat of the week plus it got the whole Drew Crew together which is always a win! The whole cast has such great chemistry together, I would watch them play an actual normal board game together, it doesn't even need to be a soul sucking magic game. I am such a sucker for watching the gang do ridiculous things in order to defeat some supernatural menace. Really fun episode, even if we have to continue with the Ace/Nancy angst more. Come on guys, get this stupid curse dealt with before the series finale!

This was a great ensemble episode, but it was clearly Nick's time to shine. Loved everyone telling Nick over and over how he's the responsible one and Nick's frustration at how his date kept interrupting his date. He even got to go full 80s action hero, complete with clothing damage and cheesy badass lines, of course Jade wasn't scared off. Who wouldn't want to see Nick as an action hero? 

I like Jade, she really handled finding out that Nick fights ghosts and monsters on a regular basis quite well. She aint afraid of no ghosts. 

Nick: Explains half the shows major plots, including pulling a ghost spiders eggs out of is friend, dating a woman with a ghost trapped in her and how his friends cant be together because of a death curse.

Jade: "...that's a lot of information to get in 30 seconds."

Nice to see both of Nancy's dads in an episode, both doing what they could for the gang. Ryan being the worlds most adorable blackmailer and Carson opening up to George about being dyslectic. It feels weird that this has never come up before, but it was still a really nice scene. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

Considerate of those Grims to attack Nick one at a time. ;)

[secnarf]

On 7/13/2023 at 1:02 AM, quarks said:

3. Yay, Ryan coming forward with some good old blackmail and reminding us that yes, his father is still alive and still influential. I'm sure this 100% won't cause any trouble later.

I missed this - who did he blackmail and with what?

I was somewhat distracted during this episode. I was meal prepping while watching, and my knife slipped around halfway through, stabbing my hand (between the first finger and thumb) and I had to pause watching to go get stitches.

[quarks]

46 minutes ago, secnarf said:

I missed this - who did he blackmail and with what?

I was somewhat distracted during this episode. I was meal prepping while watching, and my knife slipped around halfway through, stabbing my hand (between the first finger and thumb) and I had to pause watching to go get stitches.

OMG. I hope you are ok and heal quickly! And look, I enjoyed the episode, but I don't think it was worth possibly losing a finger over!

Ryan blackmailed this season's police chief by noting that he knew about some suspicious stuff in her background.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

12 hours ago, secnarf said:

I missed this - who did he blackmail and with what?

He blackmailed Chief Lovett into letting Beth back into the Historical Society by mentioning that she took an extended leave of absence from work in 2016 and threatening to use his father's contacts to find out what that was about. Before that, he tried to blackmail her with a hit-and-run incident in 2009, but that didn't work because it was her neighbour's cat and she and the neighbour had worked it out at the time.

12 hours ago, secnarf said:

I was somewhat distracted during this episode. I was meal prepping while watching, and my knife slipped around halfway through, stabbing my hand (between the first finger and thumb) and I had to pause watching to go get stitches.

Hope that you feel better!

Edited July 18, 2023 by Noneofyourbusiness

[Cranberry]

On 7/14/2023 at 6:01 PM, tennisgurl said:

I like Jade, she really handled finding out that Nick fights ghosts and monsters on a regular basis quite well. She aint afraid of no ghosts. 

Just a note that Jade is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns!

I enjoyed this one. The show is at its best when it's cheesy, fun, and makes full use of the ensemble's chemistry, so this delivered.

I'm also glad that Nancy told off Ace for releasing a beloved domesticated ferret into the wild, because that really annoyed me last episode!