Nancy Drew on The CW became quite important to me over the last couple years. I didn't give it the time of day when it premiered back in 2019 for the fact that I haven't been able to stomach a CW show since The Vampire Diaries. In 2021 I had just finished Netflix's Curious Adventures of Sabrina and needed a new ghostly fix, and quick. Seasons 1 and 2 of Nancy Drew had just dropped on HBO(RIP) Max and my seasonal depression had also started to ramp up again. I desperately dove in and never looked back. I fell in love with the writing, performances, costumes, jump scares, and the risks the show would take. The teen drama storylines weaved with the supernatural storylines in a way that I never thought would work. And as of this past Wednesday August 23rd, 2023, it's officially over. It was a sudden cancellation that not only rocked the tiny yet strong fandom, but the crew of the show as well. They didn't know they were getting the boot until they shot a bulk of season 4, being left with only three episodes to tie things up by the Network. As much as they could do, this last episode still felt like a seasonal wrap up rather than a series finale. 

 

Without giving too much away, season four sets up some really odd plots that include but are not limited to, Ace falling for a ghost as a rebound from being cursed from loving Nancy. Bess actively battles Horseshoe Bay's head conspiracy theorist who is trying to take the reins of the Historical Society away from her. Nancy entangles herself with a haunted shapeshifting creature with a million reincarnated pasts that Nancy is somehow connected to. Georg focuses on trying to get into law school whilst struggling with her own moral dilemmas of working to stop the supernatural. Nick slays an entire fleet of invisible ghosts in what's probably the best episode of the whole series. That sounds insane right? But it made so much sense for these character arcs that it felt like the show was really grounding itself more than ever. That is of course, up until the last few episodes, where it all starts to speed up. Not to say it was the worst wrap up of a show, but these characters did not deserve this. They were really starting to figure out who they were. Maybe it's for the best. I know they could have just killed it without a finale, so I am grateful to see any sort of closure. I just wish they would have given the showrunners a better chunk of episodes to let it cook. There are episodes early on that definitely feel like they're holding back from the spookiness for something later on that they never got to do. 

 

Realistically, that's the beauty of the business right? Some shows beat a dead horse for a few extra seasons until it loses all sense of direction by the seventh. Others get a strong 3.5 seasons only for its head to be severed in the blink of an eye. But enough with the shade, both Nancy Drew and Riverdale had back to back series finales. Let's just hope The CW was making room for something worthwhile.