The penultimate episode of Nancy Drew… yes, we’re down to the final episode before the series finale—before we have to say goodbye forever—was both great and terrible… and filled with heartbreak.
As George Fan noted, start with the bad news first, always, and in this case, there was sadly no Nace moment for fans who have been patiently waiting for things to finally fall into place and Nancy and Ace to get together before the last episode.
In fact, things between Nancy and Ace somehow got even worse, which I highly didn’t think was possible after Temperance’s curse but alas, here we are. They spent a lot of the episode working toward a common goal of figuring out what happened to Jane Doe/how they may have been involved in her death/figuring out what Nancy erased when she called to the Sin Eater, but it resulted in the duo getting pulled further apart from each other, which is the opposite of what fans hoped would happen.
Nancy and Ace’s relationship was already tense the moment she asked him to help her figure out how Jane Doe died. Obviously, Ace was super protective of his ghost because he’d formed a connection with her, but there’s no denying that the attachment she developed to him—almost as if she imprinted on him—was very strange, even for a dude who spends every single day in a morgue with dead bodies. Ace couldn’t deny that fact, and deep down, he knew Nancy was right and that if he truly cared for Jane Doe, he owed it to her to provide her with some closure, even if it hurt. When they went down to the Marina and a local fisherman reported a fire the night Ace and his father went fishing, something he definitely didn’t remember, which lent itself to the very real possibility that he was involved with whatever the Sin Eater erased when Nancy went to the yacht club basement that night.
Nancy was being pulled in many different directions as she was simultaneously trying to free her maybe-boyfriend from the Sin Eater’s curse, so Ace got a moment to himself to inform Jane Doe that she was really Alice Palermo, a captain who was on his ship the night of her death.
Nancy and Ace have never minced words with each other before, so they called it out like it was—he was convinced he moved on with a dead ghost, while Nancy is trying to make something real with a beast. Neither relationship had potential, but the difference was that Nancy was never trying to pretend that she was over Ace. She acknowledged the pain and the hurt and didn’t try to lock herself up and run away from it, while he wanted to hold onto something that had no future simply to feel something again.
When Alice informed him that she was finally ready to find out the truth, Ace confided in Nancy, who thankfully stumbled upon some goddess juice to boot up the ambyth, but I don’t think either was ready for the truth. You know how they say the truth hurts… in this case, it was gut-wrenching.
The night that Ace went fishing, he dropped the curse jar into the water, which led to a fire on board that trapped Alice. He noticed his father also went overboard and since he could only save one person, he chose to save Tom, while Alice perished. Ace didn’t want to let her die, but he had no choice and did the best that he could in the situation.
He immediately called Nancy for help, broken and distraught, and she essentially panicked and did the unthinkable—called to the Sin Eater. It’s not exactly Nancy’s best moment, and now that she knows exactly what she did, she likely regrets it, but it also came from a genuine place of love, which Ace is unfortunately too upset to realize right now. As someone who has felt that level of pain, she didn’t want to watch Ace go through it and have it fundamentally change him as a person. She acted on impulse, which is likely exactly what everyone else who has ever gone to the Sin Eater has done; it’s proof why the creation of the Sin Eater was always so problematic and yet, why the legacy was carried on from generation to generation—people in high-stress situations will do anything for a do-over regardless of what’s at stake. And no one is immune from it, not even someone who understands the dangers like Nancy.
It also doesn’t seem like Nancy even considered what erasing the sin would do to Ace—the burden it would place on him even without his memory, nor did she think about the fact that it would completely erase any trace of Alice; she’d just be this forgotten person that didn’t warrant a second thought because no one even remembered her. She thought she was helping when in fact, the act drove a huge wedge between her and Ace, one that hurts much more than any curse Temperance could place on them and their love.
Love makes you do crazy things.
Alice’s passing—the feeling of peace and readiness that the series managed to capture—was breathtaking, and I think it also offered Ace the peace he was looking for. It may not have been how he wanted his ghostly romance to end, but realistically, there was no other way, and it gave him closure knowing that Alice moved on to a better place despite the grim situation surrounding her death. He was also justified in his feelings for her as the two of them had a spark and connection even before her death. It’s also yet another testament to timing—his possible soulmate slipped away from him as he watched her die.
I don’t know what this means for Nancy and Ace, but honestly, it doesn’t bode well, nor can I see how the writers can turn this around by the final episode. If they do, it will feel rushed and not as realized as it should have. Instead of investing so much time in the Sin Eater curse storyline/Tristan, I truly wish they gave us #Nace a few episodes ago so that we could fully enjoy them basking in their love together. This whole season started off so strong and then just started unraveling fairly quickly. It’s hard to even imagine how they’ll manage to wrap it all up within a 45-min timeframe without rushing through plot points and cutting corners.
If I were Ace, in a situation where I was still under a curse that was keeping me from the woman I loved while also being disappointed in the actions of said woman, I’d probably leave town and get some perspective. Hitting refresh sounds like the best course of action for him because Horseshoe Bay has brought nothing but suffering for him. It’s not what I want personally, but it doesn’t seem healthy to bring Nancy and Ace together after what’s transpired, particularly because of her romantic moment with Tristan.
Granted, we have no idea if Tristan will survive the last episode, but once he was freed from the Sin Eater’s grasp, Tristan was drawn to Nancy despite everything that transpired between them. He felt even more connected to her, and Nancy acknowledged that she felt it too. They were two lost souls who found themselves in each other, and honestly, it made sense. They’ve been bonded by this very traumatic shared experience, plus, Nancy is the person who gave him his freedom, and since he’s never experienced that before, it would track that he just wants to attach himself to something or someone else.
You’d think that breaking the Sin Eater’s curse would’ve been slightly more, well, complex, considering it took the Glasses 16 years without any luck, but I guess the Drew Crew is just really advanced in the supernatural.
Nancy Drew — “The Heartbreak of Truth” — Image Number: NCD412fg_0006r — Pictured (L-R) : Tunji Kasim as Ned ”Nick” Nickerson, Leah Lewis as George Fan, Maddison Jaizani as Bess Marvin, Alex Saxon as Ace and Kennedy McMann as Nancy Drew — Photo Credit: The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Of course, by breaking said curse, they triggered the wrath of Callie, who went from being against the supernatural to essentially unleashing the dark sludgy toxins into the air—or, in short—unleashing about 200 years worth of sins onto unsuspecting citizens. I know she thought keeping Horseshoe Bay safe from crime and corruption was the right thing to do, but she didn’t have to go that extreme. Then again, maybe this is exactly what this town needs to move on and make amends with themselves. If the whole foundation is hinged on a lie, maybe it’s time to rebuild stronger and better than ever. I’m interested to see what kind of chaos ensues going into that final episode.
And now, for the good news, aside from Nancy and Ace, we’re getting some incredible closure along with character development for the rest of the Drew Crew. George and Nick are in agreement that selling The Claw is the necessary next step, and while I didn’t anticipate that the storyline would make me as weepy as it did (I’m a sucker for nostalgia), it does allow them to move on with their lives and explore the next chapter. Characters this bold and brilliant don’t deserve to be tied down to something simply for sentimental reasons. Nick is putting himself first by going on—a vacation—with Jade, while George got into law school in the same city as Cameron, her new love interest… and yeah, I admit it, they are cute.
Ryan and Red are also heating up, and it’s nice that he’s finally found love and an equal partner, but it’s even more incredible to see how far he’s come these past four seasons. The guy really grew up in front of our eyes, building a home for himself, and fighting for what he wants; the old Ryan would jump on the chance to get revenge and win, but the new one knows that it does not bode happiness.
And while Jean was away trying to figure out what her next move is with the pregnancy, Carson managed to squeeze in a heart-to-heart with Nancy and got her blessing to be a father again. Carson’s hesitations definitely hinged on guilt; he didn’t want it to signal that he forgot about his wife, nor did he want Nancy to think he loved her any less, but she reminded him that loving someone else and moving on doesn’t mean he loves them any less.
My biggest gripe right now is with The CW for literally doing the bare minimum when it comes to promoting the final season of Nancy Drew. How are we going into the SERIES FINALE without any promo or teaser? I guess it’s one way to keep fans guessing till the very end, but man, I could use a little glimpse as to what I should expect because I know I’ll be an absolute mess.
What did you think of the episode? Also—how will they lift Temperance’s curse?