#Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 17 Review: The Judgement of the Perilous Captive

My mind is currently reeling from all that just happened on Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 17, and it wasn’t even the season finale.

Nancy Drew has a way of intertwining storylines seamlessly by dropping little hints of things to come, even if the audience doesn’t pick up on said hints right away. And, for that reason alone, this show is beyond epic.

By the time a season nears its end, everything makes sense, and you are left there with your jaw on the floor. And that’s exactly what happened on “The Judgement of the Perilous Captive.”

It’s quite clear that the writers had a game plan of how they wanted Nancy Drew Season 2 to end when they sat down to write Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 1.

Everything is truly coming full circle in such a delightful way, and we wish that every television show would take note of how clever Nancy Drew — the show — is. And we still have one more episode to go before this story comes to an end.

Carson: You kids…you see things like this quite often, don’t you?

Bess: Yeah. I wish we didn’t, but…we do.

But, before we get to that shocking ending, let’s first focus on Nancy’s tireless pursuit to put her grandfather behind bars.

By the end of Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 16, Nancy had gone full badass by kidnapping Everett. She was fed up with him getting away with all the crimes he committed, and Celia’s death was the last straw.

But was Everett actually the one who murdered her grandmother?

We should know by now that everything is never what it seems on this show.

Just like how the Drew Crew realized that the Aglaeca wasn’t the one who killed Owen on Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 18, Nancy figured out that Everett wasn’t the culprit behind Celia’s murder.

It would have been too easy for Everett to be the answer to this mystery, but it was effortless for the writers to convince us that he was because we see this world through Nancy’s eyes.

And Nancy has directed all of her anger towards her grandfather lately.

She hates him, so we hate him, too. And we wanted to see Everett be brought to justice just as badly as Nancy did. Thankfully, Nancy and Ryan were able to prove his murderous tendencies in another way.

Once Nancy and Ryan stepped back into Lucy Sable’s house, it was obvious that they had come up with a plan. Nancy uncharacteristically flung herself into Gil’s arms and apologized for potentially causing harm to his father.

Yes, Nancy and Gil have shared a bed a couple of times, but their relationship is in no way tender or affectionate. Something was up here, and it wasn’t until Everett grabbed the Black Crown tape did we know just what their plan was.

She’s dead, and I’m going to bring you to justice so that we can all finally breathe again.
Nancy

It’s a simple yet efficient way to bring down a powerful and corrupt man. All they needed to do was let Everett lead them to the tape that would convict him.

It was almost a bit too easy, and we have a feeling that this isn’t the last we have seen of Everett Hudson, especially since he said that Ryan was going to go down with him.

But, for now, Everett has been dealt with, and Nancy has other problems to deal with.

First of all, The Road Back has reared its ugly head yet again, and it seems as if the show is setting this organization up to be Nancy Drew Season 3’s villain.

They are the ones that killed Celia because she was the one who retrieved the list of whistleblowers for Nancy back on Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 12.

The Road Back is so much more powerful than we all realize. If Everett is wary of them, then we know that the Drew Crew will have to go through a lot to take them down.

Nancy: I got Celia killed.

Ryan: No. No, you didn’t.

Nancy: She was doing a favor for me.

Ryan: A favor? You were doing this to save Ace’s life. She was doing this to keep her son of a bitch husband out of jail. That’s how she did business.

Nancy: If I had known then, Ryan, I would have-

Ryan: How could you have known what The Road Back was capable of? You couldn’t. She did. And those were the choices that she made.

The reveal of Celia’s murderer is quite heartbreaking because we all know that Nancy will blame herself for her grandmother’s death, even though Ryan tried to convince her it wasn’t her fault.

Nothing is going right for Nancy lately, and we just want her to catch a break. But there is a tangible explanation behind her recent shortcomings.

As you all recall from the season premiere, Nancy came face-to-face with a wraith that nearly killed her. We thought that she had defeated the creature when, in actuality, it’s been with her all along.

I do not think anyone predicted this plot twist, especially since we know that the premiere was an episode that the writers had not originally planned.

But, thanks to COVID and not getting to finish Nancy Drew Season 1 on their own terms, they had to come up with a segway between the two seasons.

I don’t know who I am anymore. And after what I did today, all I keep thinking is, “What would Mom think?” What is wrong with me?
Nancy

With that episode, they gave Nancy a reason to be moody and have conflicting feelings regarding her identity for the remainder of the season, and none of us picked up on it.

It was easy to brush Nancy’s bad luck and complex emotions off as side effects of her unfortunate life. But Nancy Drew always finds a way to root itself in the supernatural and enter the wraith.

Nancy only has a few days left until the wraith, acting as a supernatural parasite, kills her.

Undoubtedly, the Drew Crew will find a way to save her since you can’t have a show called Nancy Drew without Nancy Drew herself. But we also know that there will be lots of twists and turns along the way, and we cannot wait.

And with this new information, Nancy and George now have so much more in common.

In fact, Nancy has been haunted by this supernatural entity longer than George has had Odette with her. But George has a few more years to live than Nancy does.

George and Odette will most likely not be separating by the time the season comes to an end since Nancy should be the main priority right now. And we are definitely not complaining because Leah Lewis plays both characters so wonderfully.

On the other side of the hour, Nick dealt with a disgruntled, racist, and bigoted tenant.

All season long, Nick has struggled with his place in Horseshoe Bay as a rich man, smart businessman, former convict, and a Black man.

Jake: Was setting up your center in the next town over really that big of a deal?

Nick: Allowing kids to thrive in their own community is a big deal. Letting them know that they belong here is a big deal. And setting up a rival cafe in my new building…that’s going to be a huge deal. So, good luck, Jake.

It all came full circle, though, with him buying a building where he could start his youth center with the support of Tamura and the police department.

This is a story that could have felt out of place amongst the other storylines that were rooted in mystery and the supernatural. However, it felt like a natural progression, and we’re so happy to see Nick happy and fulfilling his dreams.

What did you think, Nancy Drew Fanatics?

Are you surprised that Everett wasn’t the one who had Celia killed? How frightened are you for Nancy’s life? Do you love how Nancy and Ryan’s relationship has progressed over the course of the season?

And who else spotted that almost-kiss between Nancy and Ace in the preview for Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 18?

Let me know in the comments, and do not forget that you can watch Nancy Drew online right here via TV Fanatic!

Nancy Drew airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

Sarah Little is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.