Season 1, Episode 3, "The Curse of the Dark Storm" Opinions/Review

Don't read this if you advent watched the episode yet!!

This episode was really really good, definitely the best one we've had so far! After last week's episode left me kind of disappointed, this episode was very refreshing! I really felt like this episode showed us where they want to go with the show, if that makes sense. It felt like they're finally starting to find their voice/style!

The first thing I wasn't to mention is the title of this episode, "The Curse of the Dark Storm". I'm continuing to love how each episode sounds like a Nancy Drew book title! This one did seem a bit dramatic, since the storm wasn't that intense in the episode, BUT many times the titles of Nancy Drew books are more dramatic than the circumstance that the title mentions!

This episode was so much fun! I absolutely loved the little scavenger hunt mystery that Nancy and Ned went on (yes I'm STILL calling him Ned, because technically he IS Ned, and he was always be Ned in my head haha). It was super neat that the scavenger hunt was based on books, and I loved seeing how knowledgeable the characters were about literature. This scavenger hunt really showcased not only Nancy's deductive skills, but also Ned's! I really loved seeing them work on the mystery together, and be a team! I also think it's pretty obvious that their feelings for one another are continuing to grow, and that they no longer just think of each other as sexual partners. I really do think that we will soon (whether its after the case is solved or not) see them get into a real relationship, just as they are in the books! I'm very excited to see where it goes!

I really loved how Nancy's kindness towards people was showcased in this episode. She didn't take Karen's offer to help them build a case against Ned in exchange for all the charges against her to be dropped, and instead she chose to help Ned prove his innocence. That was so selfless of her. I love that we're basically seeing a mixture of the original text Nancy, and the revised text Nancy. Another act of selfless kindness that she showed in this episode, was when Ace called Nancy saying that he needed her help...she didn't ask him what he needed help with, she just said that she was on her way. Then when she got to Ace, she went to go help Bess, and clearly didn't want to embarrass her by pointing out that she's living in a van, and instead just offered Bess to stay at her place until her van could be repaired. Very kind of her. (I'm very curious to see how she handles the whole finding the stolen ring in Bess's possession thing) I also thought Ace's act of kindness was very sweet and selfless. He figured out that Bess was living in a van instead of with her rich aunt in a mansion, but instead of confronting her about it, he called Nancy and let her handle it.

Speaking of Ace, I absolutely love him. I'm very curious about why he's helping Chief McGinnis and kind of acting as a snitch. I'm thinking that he may have gotten in trouble with the law and instead of jail time he's helping out the police, kind of like a White Collar situation (White Collar is a great show by the way, and you should definitely watch it). Or maybe he's an undercover cop that just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time when Tiffany was murdered...but that seems kind of dumb. It'll be interesting to see what his deal is! In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy his character, hopefully he doesn't end up being bad!

We start seeing George being "cursed". I'm hoping she's not actually cursed and that she's actually being pranked or something. I have no idea, but I'm not the biggest fan of this development if it actually turns out that she is cursed. The random lady, Rita, that came into the diner to supposedly interview for a waitress position, who then helped the gang try to protect George from her supposed curse, and then suddenly disappears when Nancy and Ned comes in....was...odd. Felt kind of like it was out of no where. And then George finds an article on the diner wall from an older newspaper clipping, with Rita's picture and name, talking about how she died years ago...indicating that she was indeed a ghost. That felt so out of place to me and just put there. So hopefully we'll actually get some answers about that and aren't just left in the dark.

This episode had me wondering about Ryan even more. Who does he owe money too? Maybe he hired someone to kill his wife? That's what I'm thinking anyway. But it could very well be something else, since that seems to be kind of obvious. I also think that the reason it seems that Ryan is being haunted, which we only now begin to see in this episode, is because the death of his wife Tiffany, and Lucy Sable are related. I think he either had them both killed or he knows who murdered them. I don't know. But it looks like Carson Drew is the next one to get haunted. It's all connected in one way or another for sure.

I have so many thoughts that I can't even fully comprehend enough to put into this review haha.

I loved the little nods to the books that were involved in the scavenger hunt, such as the old clock and Lilac Inn! The old lock was smaller than in the book, BUT it had the same sort of moon design, which really shows that the writers do their research! Other nods to the books include the random ghost character Rita...not from the book but she came to the Claw to be interviewed for a waitress job, and she said that she used to be a waitress. In the book Mystery at Lilac Inn, there is an ex-waitress who Nancy interviews (but not to be a waitress of course). They even took the rains storm in this episode, right out of the book!! Very cool!! For those of us who have played Her Interactive's Nancy Drew computer games, you may have noticed the knot display from game #32, "Sea of Darkness"!

What did you think about the episode? Message me on instagram, Facebook, on here, or email me at nancydrewcollector@yahoo.com with your thoughts! (For some reason it doesn't let me respond to comments on here, super annoying!)

I'm so excited for episode 4, "The Haunted Ring"!