S04.E08: The Crooked Banister

[jewel21]

Quote

Nancy sends a group text to the Drew Crew asking them to meet her at The Claw ASAP. Meanwhile, Ace’s dad tries to get him to open up about Nancy. Lastly, Carson makes plans with Nancy to mark the one-year anniversary of losing her mom.

Airdate: 07/19/2023

[bettername2come]

Ah, supernatural shenanigans that show off the cast's respectable comedy chops. Tunji Kasim did a solid imitation of Bess's accent. Maddison Jaizani also did a pretty good George. Aw, Nancy was learning ASL. 

Carson and Ryan talking about Kate was a nice little moment. I appreciated Ryan accepting his role as Dad #2. I've been really happy with the way he's taken on his fatherly role to Nancy. Carson hugged Ryan! I didn't know I needed that until now. 

I loved that Nancy was willing to open up to the Drew Crew in the end. And George was the first one like "Oh, Nancy." Group hugs are always welcome. 

Oh, town council lady was one Army Wives. I always liked her there. 

I was not expecting this episode to include a food fight. 

I love the way Ace acknowledged that he's a better person with Nancy in his life. So often when characters say that they're using it to manipulate the person or excuse their own bad behavior, but it didn't play that way here. 

[quarks]

I laughed. A lot. 

1.  Though the more this show tries to claim that the past four seasons have all happened within a single year, the less I'm buying it. I realize a lot happened that would speed up the bonding, but when this show started, George and Nancy were enemies; Ryan had no idea he was Nancy's father; Bess was pretending to be American; and Nick barely knew any of them. I can 100% believe that they became this found family over the course of four years - that makes sense, and feels perfectly natural. One year? Not so much. 

But I can sense that this is a losing battle, so....in my head, this is has been four years, and every time the characters try to say that it's been one year I'm just assuming that there is a lingering curse that prevents them from understanding the passage of time. With that covered, moving on!

2. Oooh, the Yacht Club is back! I wasn't sure we were ever going to see that again after season two. And of course the Yacht Club is hiding a Secret Evil Staircase with a Secret Evil Lair and a Secret Evil Mirror. Of course. I was only surprised by the lack of Evil Marvins running around.

3. The body swapping was hilarious and well done all around, but special kudos to Alex Saxon for doing Nancy's run; Tunji Kasim for that brilliant bit during the town council, channeling Bess pretending to be Nick and switching accents midsentence; and Kennedy McCann for checking out Ace's hair and also getting his enunciation down. Plus -- 

4. "Signing gibberish." Brilliant. 

5. But kudos to Nancy for at least kinda starting to learn ASL.

6. Does anyone think that tossing an Evil Thing into the same ocean that keeps bringing evil things to this town is going to lead to bad things? Just me? Certainly not the Drew Crew - the same people that just lightheartedly opened up an artifact despite the abundant evidence of what that can lead to.

7. Awww, such a lovely speech from Nancy about her mother, and then, CAKE IN THE FACE.

(Though given the show's budget, I gotta wonder just how much the costume department was worried about Carson's suit there....)

8. And a new secret Historical Society, hmm? Something tells me that could work just as well - possibly better - if Nick was also on the Town Council, thus knowing what was happening there, but we'll see how this goes.

9. Awww, Nick didn't screw up George's date and made sure that she got a second one. Was I the only one thinking potential upcoming fourway relationship? Probably. But that was nice. And new guy took the time to learn George's coffee order and --

Just how many times have these two even MET? I mean, not that long ago - remember, show, you were trying to claim that it's been less than a year since this show started, and George only started thinking of school last season - so at most she's been in school for what, a month? Two? And this guy already knows her coffee order? Wow. 

(also, see why this one year thing is not making any sense.)

10. Tristan's parents are still trying to mess with/kill the Drew Crew, hmm? 

11. So, Nancy and Ace are back to being partners and friends and more or less reconciled. Can a broken curse be next? (checks) Eh, with five episodes still to go, maybe not. But soon, you two, soon!

Edited July 20, 2023 by quarks

[Lady Calypso]

That was a lot of fun. I thought about a body swap episode a few episodes ago, when Nancy, Bess and George got sprayed with that dust and thought it would be fun to see them body swap. Lo and behold, a body swap episode just mere episodes later!

The body swapping definitely should have gone on longer than 20 minutes. That was hilarious to see the actors portray other characters. I think my favourites were Tunji portraying Bess (he got her mannerism down perfectly, I could quite literally hear Bess speaking) and Maddison portraying George (the gruffness and deeper voice were nice touches). But also, the others portrayed their counterparts in more subtle ways that really worked. They all did excellent jobs, it's a shame we didn't get to see more. 

The signing gibberish DID make me laugh, but Ace's dad absolutely should have been more suspicious that his son suddenly didn't know how to properly sign to him.

I really do love seeing Nick and Bess both get a very interesting plot together. Both have been kind of underutilized, so I'm glad both of them are finally getting some great material to work with. They both also have enemies to fight against, so I'm both excited and nervous for them. 

The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the random guy George was interested in. We have five episodes left, show! We don't have time for time-wasting love interests! But I did like how George, in Bess' body, connected with the two teenagers and wanted to help them get rid of their curse.

Ryan was a delight, but him and Carson seem so lost on this show. Ryan now just disappears to get relics, and Carson has had very little to do this season.

Nancy/Ace seem to be going in circles, at this point. I get it makes sense, given the season has taken place over a couple of weeks or so, but it's tiring to watch them get to the same place at the end of each episode since Ace rejected Nancy.

The black door thing could be interesting, but I'm mildly worried about where it's leading to.

Overall, a strong episode. But I was fully expecting, and still am, the curse they dumped in the water to come back to enter someone else. I thought maybe it would have been Ace.

[tennisgurl]

Its about time we got a body swap episode, I was wondering when they would get around to that one. This episode was a ton of fun, I laughed out loud several times plus we got some really nice character stuff. The whole gang did a great job channeling each other, but I think that Tunji Kasim playing Bess was the MVP. Sometimes he really did sound just like Bess with the accent and the inflections, it felt like Bess was coming out of her mouth. I especially loved when Bess/Nick started sitting primly on stage only to move around to try and sit more like a guy, and that her big idea on how to pretend to be Nick is to use lots of sports analogies. Lots of other good character moments, I especially liked how happy George was to help the brothers deal with a curse and how empathetic she became to them.

I was so happy to see some interaction between Nancy and her Two Dads, it feels like its been awhile since we saw all three of them together. Ryan checking in on Carson and then Carson giving Ryan a hug and calling him family were such sweet moments. I also really liked seeing Nancy so vulnerable in front of the Drew Crew, she still struggles with that, and the big group hug. Sure its only been a year since they all got together, but I guess trauma bonding will do that to people. 

*Sighing gibberish* Amazing, brilliant, I adore. 

I think Nick might regret giving up his counsel seat, but he and Bess teaming up to make a new extra magic historical society should be fun. These parents are in Sunnydale levels of denial if they still don't realize that their town is dripping in magic, in fact its probably even worse given the towns endless amount of morbid magic nautical traditions. 

Awww, Nancy was learning ASL. I guess the two of them are going back to being friends, so now all we have to do is get this curse sorted out and we can finally make this happen.

The return of the yacht club, which of course has a creepy door and of course is guarded by a creepy boat figurehead. We have a lot to wrap up before the show ends, with the monster, the door, the zombies, plus all of the romantic loose ends, its going to be a busy few weeks. 

Edited July 20, 2023 by tennisgurl

[thuganomics85]

It never occurred to me until now that we never had a full-fledge body swap episode, even though this show is tailor made for it.  Glad they were able to get one with only a few episodes left!  Everyone did a great job playing the other, but I'll probably also give gold stars to the likes of Tunji Kasim as Bess and Madison Jaizani as George, as they were were spot on and laugh out loud hilarious.  Still, I thought the others had some good subtle moments.  Like both Kennedy McNann and Alex Saxon didn't really change their voices, but their body language really highlighted that we were watching a swapped version of Nancy and Ace in the opposite's bodies.  Or how Leah Lewis did certainly double takes or reaction shots that I could see Tunji doing as Nick.  All in all, great work all around.  Again, I will really miss this ensemble together.

Nancy's Two Dads are back together!  It was great seeing them interact again and watching Ryan especially be supportive with Carson and let him know that his grief is important as well.  And then Carson telling Ryan what everyone else already knew: he's part of their family now!

Liked seeing Thom again and him having a moment with Ace at the end.  And it's nice that Nancy has been working on her ASL, even if she still finds herself signing gibberish nine times out of ten, heh.

Looks like we got a face for the anti-Bess/supernatural movement.  I imagine this won't be the last we will see of her.  Kind of bummed that Nick turned down the council position, but hopefully he and Bess' next scheme will make some headway.

Food fight!

Ah, that pesky Yacht Club!  Should have known they would be involved with the Black Door.  Which apparently helps house a creature known as the Sin Eater.  It's always something for the Drew Crew!

[bettername2come]

20 hours ago, quarks said:

1.  Though the more this show tries to claim that the past four seasons have all happened within a single year, the less I'm buying it.

I just hope that in the final episode just when Nancy and George are ready to go off to college the pandemic hits and they find out they're stuck in Horseshoe Bay just a little longer. The way their luck goes, it would be fitting. 

[quarks]

1 hour ago, bettername2come said:

I just hope that in the final episode just when Nancy and George are ready to go off to college the pandemic hits and they find out they're stuck in Horseshoe Bay just a little longer. The way their luck goes, it would be fitting. 

Yeah.

I entirely get wanting to avoid the pandemic completely and make sure that everything that happens in the show happens before March 2020. And I get that the script has been very careful to keep the timeline within that time period. And I get that most of the plot events could have happened in that time period. 

(The one exception is arguably Everett Hudson's trial - since it's been less than a year since this show started and Everett wasn't arrested until the end of season two, he should still be awaiting trial - but then again, since the show really hasn't updated us on that, maybe he still is, and maybe that, even more so than Nancy rejecting the Hudson legacy, is why she's having difficulties paying bills. But on that note, let me also question just how rapidly Temperance Hudson's will went through probate allowing Nancy to take possession of the house. I know, I know, television, but these are genuine plot points that probably should have longer.)

It's the emotional beats that feel completely wrong for most of the characters, especially Ryan Hudson.  Because assuming it's been less than a year, as the script states (Kate Drew died a couple months before the show started), then we have to assume that within the past few months, Ryan has dealt with: 1) the murder of his kinda estranged wife; 2) the murder of his mother; 3) the arrest/imprisonment of his father; 3) finding out that he's a father; 4) finding out that a number of people lied to him about this; 5) getting to know the daughter; 6) losing his money; 7) taken on a new job as relic trader and 8) oh yes, finding out that ghosts are real.

Oh, and completely shifting from the slimeball we originally met. 

Which makes me really wish that they'd just tweaked that line a little bit - rather than saying that it's been one year of her mother's death, emphasizing that it was her mother's birthday, or an anniversary of her mother's death, without specifying how much time had passed.

Right. I wasn't going to focus on this!  Oh well. I focused. 

[peachmangosteen]

8 hours ago, quarks said:

I entirely get wanting to avoid the pandemic completely and make sure that everything that happens in the show happens before March 2020.

I don't! This isn't a documentary so there's no need to address the pandemic anyway.

I continue to pretend the timeline doesn't exist because it is stupid beyond belief.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

16 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Looks like we got a face for the anti-Bess/supernatural movement.  I imagine this won't be the last we will see of her.  Kind of bummed that Nick turned down the council position, but hopefully he and Bess' next scheme will make some headway.

Ah, that pesky Yacht Club!  Should have known they would be involved with the Black Door.  Which apparently helps house a creature known as the Sin Eater.  It's always something for the Drew Crew!

I didn't like Nick turning down the council seat; it's not like he couldn't have done both. A seat on the council would give him an opportunity to influence people, as well as potentially get a heads up about whatever was happening next.

And the open book pages said the Sin Eater was made using the essence of the Mother of All Monsters; which took me back to Supernatural.

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

I don't! This isn't a documentary so there's no need to address the pandemic anyway.

Exactly. These are fictional people living in a fictional American town, why not just have the pandemic not happen in this universe?

BTW, I just found out that a group of ferrets is called "a business".

Edited July 21, 2023 by Noneofyourbusiness

[quarks]

To clarify a bit, I mean I understand why they didn't want to portray the pandemic/Covid-19 on this show - I can see interesting ways to approach it, but I can also see the fanbase going, yeah, no, this is not something we want on our escapist show, and the showrunners anticipating and agreeing with this. (And I suspect the writers, too, just don't want to write about Covid-19 and lockdowns, which - understandable!)

That doesn't mean I agree with the way they've approached keeping Covid-19 out of this show. Because, yes, this is a fictional show about fictional people in a fictional American town, not a documentary about a small struggling detective agency in Maine, and I think trying to say that the four seasons of this show happened within a very limited time frame has done more harm than good.

[peachmangosteen]

I would like to know the writers reasoning for the time frame. It’s just so stupid and I can’t see any legitimate reason for it.

[quarks]

I am kinda sorta wondering if this is going to turn out to be like the second season, when we were all complaining that Nancy seemed to be out of character/different than the first season, and turned out there was a reason for that.

Unlikely, but you never know - there might be a reason for this time frame other than "we didn't want to mention Covid."

[KaveDweller]

On 7/21/2023 at 9:26 AM, peachmangosteen said:

I don't! This isn't a documentary so there's no need to address the pandemic anyway.

I continue to pretend the timeline doesn't exist because it is stupid beyond belief.

Exactly! This is a show with ghosts and demons, it wouldn't be hard to have it be a universe where Covid never happened.

Plenty of shows didn't address the pandemic. 

[secnarf]

As much as I have a hard time wrapping my head around the one-year timeframe, I loved this episode. I thought the entire cast did a great job, and although initially I did have a bit of a hard time remembering who was who, it got much easier once they separated out.

It got really misty in my living room towards the end of the episode. Kennedy McMann especially did a fantastic job, and that storyline hit fairly close to home for me.

This episode was a real highlight of the season, and IMO among the strongest in the series. Every story line was spot on.

I do wonder if we will ever see Ace's mom before the series is over.

 

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, secnarf said:

I do wonder if we will ever see Ace's mom before the series is over.

I feel like we have seen her once. Am I making this up lol?

[secnarf]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I feel like we have seen her once. Am I making this up lol?

Did we?

I feel like she is talked about but not seen, but I could be forgetting a brief appearance. My memory is not that good!

 

[quarks]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I feel like we have seen her once. Am I making this up lol?

She's appeared in five episodes so far - three in season two, twice in season three.

 

Specifically, as per IMDB:

Season 2, episodes 11, 12, and 18 (I think episode 18 was where she told Nancy that Ace had gone off on a roadtrip with Amanda?)

Season 3, episodes 5, 6 (I believe one of these was where she found out that Thom has another son?)