The CW’s Nancy Drew has been on a roll with its hijinks adventures. “The Scourge of the Forgotten Rune” could best be described as a memory trip down the Memento lane. The trope of the characters losing their memory and having to put the pieces together worked perfectly here because it balanced both slapstick comedy and witty nods. We as the viewers followed their chaotic adventure as it sporadically dropped us into the many different phases. “The Scourge of the Forgotten Rune” wasn’t a linear story that covered everything, but the moments that were shown were hilarious and provided the necessary clues to solving the mystery.
The cast hit it out of the park in their pre-and-post-memory loss phases. The first phase was classic Nancy Drew with the Drew Crew working together to follow the clues. But, once they read the demon’s name, all hell broke loose and the comedic moments came in droves in Horseshoe Bay. The set-up of the mystery was strong because it created many open-ended questions if Nick was involved with the murder and it utilized an established character as the victim with who we would all be familiar. Something had to have happened to Nick for him to lose his memory, so that hook effectively pulled us in.
Much of what made “The Scourge of the Forgotten Rune” so fun were the small moments that the group experienced while under the gas. For instance, Nick and Bess constantly waking up from their memory loss drug in the same position with the same reaction (i.e., Bess horror movie screaming!). And, the clue board with the notes left for the Drew Crew, like the details about themselves or the notes to advance the story. Of course, George would leave a photo to herself confirming to just go with it; the gags were so simple, but it’s so funny!
How the Drew Crew defeated the demon was an interesting approach for the mystery. Some TV series like Nancy Drew tends to avoid social media in their plots to instead focus on more evergreen stories, but the viral posting positively utilized Bess’ and Ace’s skills within the team. Bess can fully add this victory to her resume because her finesse with the online world made that post viral, albeit with hacking help from Ace. Though, there was a tinge of unbelievable with this solution. Even with hacking and forced postings, a post wouldn’t get viral that quick unless it was something salacious and scandalous. The effects of the viral post happened too quickly — it should’ve dragged on for a little bit to let the conversations and fandom grow online.
Odette is starting to win me over with her quips and shadiness. She knows that the Drew Crew gets up to their mystery-solving shenanigans, but she stands back to throw one-liners or make comments about how wrong everyone was. She’s not fully an ally the group can trust since she has her own ulterior motives. However, Odette did talk some sense into the group and she could prove useful later on when they need her ghostly knowledge or powers. There’s more potential for this character and her plot.
Celia Hudson falling under the same memory gas introduced a new side to the matriarch we hadn’t seen before. I liked that Nancy Drew humanized the character a bit more to give her depth and layers instead of just being the high-society Hudson queen. Everett Hudson is a monster, but Celia could be the opening for how Ryan and Nancy advance into that family dynamic. Celia does care about Nancy deep down, and if she sticks to the plan, Everett won’t ever find out about the secret heir. Though, Nancy being ingratiated into the Hudson lifestyle could be an interesting storyline for Nancy Drew since she couldn’t hide from her heritage at that point. The familial wars within Horseshoe Bay would pull her into their backstories.
Should Ace trust his new brother? His sibling played in the background for the last few episodes, but now that he has reappeared, it opens up the potential of what happened in the past. Either his dad knows about what happened to his brother or this could be a slight ruse. We’ll have to wait and see if their dynamic will be a strong connection or if this exposes a darker plot in Horseshoe Bay.
“The Scourge of the Forgotten Rune” showcased Nancy Drew’s comedic chops for another slapstick adventure. In the pursuit of defeating the demon, the Drew Crew repeated the same cycle of the misfortune of failing horrifically to solve the mystery. This cast was a light-hearted adventure that brought our favorite team together and had them face some hurdles that brought all the laughs. Overall, a great mystery and monster of the week!
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Nancy Drew airs new episodes Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on The CW and streams Thursdays on cwtv.com.
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