Nancy Drew Season 3, A Review

Don’t get ghosted.

Nancy Drew Season 1 Review (Top 10 2020). Nancy Drew Season 2 Review.

The third season of Nancy Drew follows The Drew Crew- Nancy (Kennedy McMann), George (Leah Lewis, The Half of it), Bess (Maddison Jaizani), Nick (Tunji Kasim) and Ace (Alex Saxon)– as they continue to solve mysteries and fight off supernatural beings. Picking up from where season 2 ended, Nancy’s ancestor Temperance (Bo Martynowska/Olivia Taylor Dudley) arrives in Horseshoe Bay claiming she means no harm and instead saving the group from a masked figure. A body then turns up with his heart ripped from his chest, sending the detectives looking for a serial killer dubbed ‘the frozen hearts killer’.

Teaming up with recently transfered FBI Agent Park (John Harlam Kim), Nancy attempts to follow the clues, linking the deaths to several murders commited in the past. Realising that these killings have a supernatural twist, Nancy must reluctantly team up with Temperance, who as it happens has a much more personal stake in the case that first appears. Temperance’s daughter Charity (Olivia Taylor Dudley) had her own soul split into four and transfered into four mortal men which has passed down each generation until eventually reaching the present day. Realising the victims of the frozen hearts killer are the holders of Charity’s soul, Nancy must track down the remaining ancestors and save them before it’s too late. Can she save the day in time or is this one case far too compex for Horseshoe Bay’s resident girl detective?

Similar to the show’s first season, season 3 delivered a season long mystery, with the Drew Crew tackling the Frozen Hearts killer case across the 13 episodes. Last year the show took on more of a ‘ghost of the week’ format and whilst this definitely had its perks I really enjoyed this season arc plot especially since we got a slightly shorter season this year meaning there were no unecessary filler episodes. This time around we got one case across the season, allowing for a fully fleshed out mystery, plenty of suspects and a lot of twists and turns along the way. What I also really liked was how the supernatural aspects were slightly toned down as well, allowing for a more reality based case. Sure, the team were still huntining an entity but a lot of what was going on was still connected to real, human people, allowing for the perfect balance of fantasty and reality.

Temperance was a really interesting addition to the show, playing both a villianous and assisting role often depending on the episode. A lot of the time she wasn’t necessarily the villian the Drew Crew were facing that week but you still had to be wary of her all the same, even when she was offering help it was under suspicious circumstances. In a way Temperance is also the show’s first long term villian, with seasons 1 and 2 taking more of a villian of the week format, unless you count Everett Hudson who Temperance is a lot scarier than either way. I really enjoyed both actresses performance as Temperance and really loved how you never knew where you stood with the character, she was certianly very interesting.

Across her many forms Nancy Drew is infamous for being this amazing girl detective and often does most of her crime solving alone, so what I like about this version is that everybody gets to be a slueth. The characters of Nick/Ned, George and Bess have been around for nearly as long as Nancy has but for the most part they’ve been emotional support or even comic relief. Here though Nancy and her friends have a more or less equal footing with each member of the Drew Crew bringing something different to the table. Nancy is amazing but Bess is also very knowledgeable on the town’s history as well as her own growing powers; Ace has his computer skills and George is able to read and connect with people in a way Nancy cannot; Nick is easily the most level headed and the most calm in a crisis. Everybody brings something unique to the show meaning it’s not just Nancy on her own solving these cases, it really is a group effort.

Although never at the show’s forefront, the romance in Nancy Drew is always a nice added touch, especially since Nancy herself has chemistry with every single person she interacts with. Being a long term ‘Nace’ shipper I really loved the development between Nancy and Ace this season, finally seeing them admit their feelings towards each other even if it did end in tragedy. Temperance’s curse is definitely going to mean a lot more angst in the furure but I am looking forward to the pair finally getting together. At the same time though I can’t deny the chemistry Nancy had with Park (Or Tamura back in season 2), the girl detective really does have a lot of great matches. On top of this it was nice to see Bess in an actual relationship this season with new character Addy (Rachel Colwell) and well as Carson with DA Rosario (Erica Cerra), the show’s main focus may be the mystery but I do love exploring the character’s social and romantic lives as well.

Overall I really enjoyed this third season of Nancy Drew. The show’s ongoing mystery plotline and slight decrease of the supernatural really gave me what I wanted this season, if we do get a more episodes (#renewnancydrew) I hope this trend continues, especially with Nancy setting up her own investigation business. Temperance was a great season long villian, proving to be a formidable for The Drew Crew and I really loved her character, you never quite knew where you stood with her. Another great season with the girl detective, I really hope we get to see more episodes in the future.