Brief Story Line
Set in the small town of Horseshoe Bay, Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) chose to work as a waiter in a restaurant called the Claw after graduating from high school with her supervisor/former school friend George Fan (Leah Lewis - The Half of It etc) and another waitress Bess Marvin (Maddison Jaizani - Versailles TV series etc) plus a rather slacker dishwasher called Ace (Alex Saxon - Finding Carter TV series etc). Nancy was having a relationship with a mechanic named Ned Nickerson (Tunji Kasim) even though it was not really approved by her father Carson Drew (Scott Wolf - Party of Five TV series etc).
During her teenage years, Nancy was quite famous for being an amateur sleuth who often manage to solve cases that the police was unable to close. However due to some reasons, she stopped doing so and prefer to live her life peacefully. All this changed when a mysterious death occurred in the Claw which made her and her friends became suspects. Nancy had no choice but to start looking into this mystery that might involve a wealthy businessman Ryan Hudson (Riley Smith - Frequency TV series etc), even if she might have to deal with the police again, including Detective Karen Hart (Alvina August).
In addition to that big mystery, Horseshoe Bay had a dark past where a young woman named Lucy Sable was murdered 20 years earlier and was said to haunt the town. As Nancy and her friends tried to find the real culprit of the current mystery, it seemed that there might be connection to that 20 years' murder case. So what would happen to Nancy Drew and how would the mysteries solved? Find them all in this unique take on the famous amateur detective series.
End of Brief Story Line
This show was not really what I expected. I thought it would be a series with multiple cases in each episode with a major story arc of a big mystery to solve. However, it turned out to be different from what I pictured. Yes there was indeed a major mystery throughout the whole first season, but there were only 2 or 3 separate cases that Nancy (and her friends) did solve together. When I watched the pilot episode, the "Veronica Mars" sense was pretty strong, such as the story was set in a small town, with the lead character a female sleuth who was witty, intelligent including the voice over narration by her. But as the story progressed, there was a real distinction with that favorite show of mine.
The one thing that set this series apart was the supernatural (ghostly) element. At first I thought that it was only added touch which would be explained logically by Nancy Drew, but apparently the supernatural things were integral part of the plot and story development which made me feel this one was more like a supernatural drama with few mystery solving, rather than the other way around. I am not sure how general audience like it, but for me it took a lot of getting used to the idea of different style of Nancy Drew. Good thing it was a rather long season with 18 episodes which made me had time to be more accustomed to the story.
The factor that I liked from this series was the cast. The characters were enjoyable to see with the convincing performances from most of the actors/actresses. I have never seen the lead cast prior to this series, except for Scott Wolf, but I think they did their part adequately. Kennedy McMann was good as this dark cynical version of Nancy Drew, while Leah Lewis was really interesting as George Fan but the one I liked the most was Bess Marvin who was portrayed perfectly by Maddison Jaizani. I think her character was developed the most from the beginning till season finale. Oh I also quite like the character Ace whereas the rest of them were OK but sadly felt like they were just supporting characters. Just like in similar mystery series, the secretive background of each individual was also interesting to see.
I mentioned earlier about the supernatural element which made this one felt like a horror series. It was especially enhanced by the use of various horror formula such as horrifying images and jump scare scenes in most episodes. The special effects were pretty standard but they did successfully provide me with few shocks. The thing I missed the most in this series was the capability of Nancy Drew in solving various cases, as they were shown very little (except maybe in episode 3 and 10). There were even times where Nancy seemed to be able to move forward with the help from the supernatural element, which to me was a bit disappointing as I believe she should be relying on her own intelligence.
In short, this re-imagining is OK if we do not expect Nancy Drew to be her usual smart and having great capabilities in solving various mysteries plus if you do not mind seeing many supernatural part. If you think of this as a horror series with touches of mystery, then you should be able to enjoy it more, at least that's how I chose to view this series. Since there were still some surprising twists towards the end of the season that managed to blow my mind, and that totally intriguing cliffhanger ending of the season finale, they gave me all the reasons & excitement needed to continue to second season. So whether you would like the series or not, it would totally depend on your expectations. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
PS: During my younger years, I think I read more of Hardy Boys novels than Nancy Drew. They were both created by Edward Stratemeyer and first published in the 1930s. And being a young boy, I remember having the feeling of wanting to become detectives. So I am hoping there might be future Hardy Boys series as I would not give it a second thought and definitely will watch it.
PS: During my younger years, I think I read more of Hardy Boys novels than Nancy Drew. They were both created by Edward Stratemeyer and first published in the 1930s. And being a young boy, I remember having the feeling of wanting to become detectives. So I am hoping there might be future Hardy Boys series as I would not give it a second thought and definitely will watch it.
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