Nancy Drew delivered an intense and powerful episode that tackled police brutality in a way that was authentic to the series. 

The episode swapped the usual supernatural mystery for a who-dun-it set at the police precinct. 

Everyone that was trapped in the station that evening played some kind of role in the 2013 disappearance of a Black woman named Dolores Barrett.

The “arbiter” called upon Nancy Drew to figure out what happened, and Nancy was up for the challenge mainly because she wanted to redeem herself after the whole town thought she was a fraud for rescinding her statement against Everett Hudson. Heck, they even called her the “liar of Horsehoe Bay.”

Since the episode gave off murder mystery dinner party vibes, I didn’t expect it to take such a heartbreaking turn. 

Within a few hours, Nancy figured out that Dolores was deceived and harassed by Brandon, the married man she was seeing, humiliated by Mitzi, who couldn’t hide her racism, terrified and assaulted by Fraser, who hit her head while arresting her, and ignored by Hampton, who turned a blind eye as she died a slow and terrible death in her jail cell. 

The series often addressed dark storylines, but none of them are ever as gut-punching as this one since they’re set in a supernatural world.

Sadly, there was nothing supernatural about this. 

Dolores, a Black woman, was murdered at the hands of police while in police custody, and they didn’t even hesitate to cover it up.

Not even Horsehoe Bay is immune from police brutality. 

It’s no secret that Nick is one of the only men of color on the show, so it was nice that he was able to nudge Tamura into doing the right thing.  

Nick and Nancy are singlehandedly responsible for the police reform happening in their small town.

It’s striking how much pressure needed to be put on everyone in order to have them confess to such a terrible crime.

You’d think their conscience would eat at them, but instead, they needed to be threatened and put on the spot to come clean. 

Nancy was able to get justice for Dolores, and she even figured out that the Reverand was behind the whole thing. 

I know she wanted the truth but it seems a little extreme that a woman of God would think that threatening people with violence was the solution.

Tamura was even injured in the process, and though he made it out alive, it was still a little concerning at one point.

I also don’t know why the series is pushing a love story between Nancy and Gil when she and Tamura have obvious chemistry. 

Maybe Gil is supposed to represent the idea that Nancy isn’t feeling like herself. She doesn’t know what she stands for or who she is anymore. The only way she’s going to get back on track is if she remedies what happened with the Everett Hudson case. 

Tamura began asking questions about Nancy and Ryan Hudson’s relationship, and while Nick shut that down immediately by asking that they focus on the missing Black woman for once, it’s concerning that other people are beginning to notice how close they’ve gotten.

Realistically, why would someone like Nancy and someone like Ryan be that close unless there was more to the story?

People are going to talk and possibly figure it out. My money is on Tamura figuring it out first. 

Carson Drew may not be Nancy’s biological father, but he sure knows her well. 

When he came by the station, Nancy tried to get rid of him by telling him off. It seemed like a harsh approach, but she was actually sending him a secret message via a riddle from her childhood. 

Carson immediately knew Nancy was in danger and being held hostage. 

I wish that we saw more of his team-up with Bess and George because that’s a fun trio! No matter which of the show’s characters you put into a scene together, it just works!

Carson talking about scaling a building was downright hilarious. 

While Nancy handled things at the station, Bess and George were a bit busy summoning Aunt Mei’s spirit into Ace’s body. 

Is it just me or did he nail the mannerisms of an older Asian woman perfectly?

Aunt Mei helped them find Mary Clarke, Odette’s long-lost lover, but the news wasn’t what she wanted to hear. 

Odette couldn’t be reunited with the love of her life because she had moved on after living a long, prosperous, and happy life. 

Human or ghost — no one wants to hear that they were only a small part n someone’s story when they were a major part of yours. 

And sadly, reuniting Odette with Mary was their one shot at getting George back into her body exclusively. 

And now, the pressure is on because as Aunt Mei pointed out, her lifeline is merging with Odette’s and shortening greatly. 

George is running out of time to untangle Odette’s soul from hers. 

If only Aunt Mei had a solution!

Other Bayside Claw Musings

• Aunt Mei saying she took Ace’s body because she wanted to see what it’s like to be a tall white man was hilarious and so very valid. 


• I also couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that she blamed George’s ghost problem on the fact that she didn’t go to college. 


• Oh, and happy-n0t-real-birthday, Nancy. It surely was eventful. 

What did you think about the episode? Did you enjoy the real-world influence on the case-of-the-week?

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