Now THAT is what we call a shocking twist! The CW’s Nancy Drew executed one hell of a jaw-dropping bomb that no one could’ve expected based on the events of “The Purloined Keys.” Did you suspect that something was amiss about Celia Hudson? Her behavior seemed a bit odd at first, but everyone had brushed it away like it was a common thing during any event planning. For Nancy Drew to reveal Celia had been dead the whole time will rank as one of the Top 5 best twists of the series.
During the events of “The Purloined Keys,” Celia’s delays and quick movements were shown as her character’s natural habit. It’s a trait that made sense since she’s been so consumed with party planning and Hudson socialite activities. In the instances we’ve seen Celia chat with Nancy, she’s always on the move, consistently warning Nancy they needed to be on guard against Everett. Plus, in the overall story of Nancy Drew, Celia seemed like the one character who had the best odds of not being harmed by Everett, always willing to play ball and do what it took to protect the family name. For her to fall victim, it completely changed the game and set the tone that no one was safe from death in Horseshoe Bay.
Celia wasn’t a minor character in the world of Nancy Drew; she developed into a close familial figure for Nancy that she needed from the Hudson side. The framework of Nancy walking into the storage room (with an “alive” Celia) to find a dead Celia was a perfect double-take scene that catches you off-guard. The scene leaves you questioning whether it’s a ghost before it’s revealed Celia was dead the whole time. The twist is a shocking moment because it’s both unexpected and believable based on what we know of Everett’s behavior. He probably killed Celia because he knew she held a secret—he just didn’t know that it was about Nancy being his granddaughter.
“The Purloined Keys” is an interesting mystery, involving two sides to solve the case. This was the first time two separate groups worked together to find the answer and worked against each other by withholding clues. If both sides had just been honest with one another, they would’ve avoided becoming Everett’s next target. The brunt of the blame falls mostly on Nick, Ryan, and Val. They made the conscious choice to keep evidence away from Nancy and cut her out of the loop for fear of her working with Everett. Nancy tried many times to reach out and work with them, but they were the ones refusing to believe her.
The big question here: why did they suddenly believe Nancy had become a villain and flipped sides? Nothing Nancy had done should’ve made them think otherwise; beyond recanting her testimony, she was still the same friend they always knew. Nancy didn’t lie to them, but Nick, Ryan, and Val withheld information. Nancy told them upfront she wasn’t going to spill key information to Everett if it hurt the others in any way; it’s not her fault her own friends didn’t believe it. Nick, Ryan, and Val should take a long hard look at their decisions. They wouldn’t have ended up in front of the camera if they had only listened to Nancy once (or picked up any of her phone calls).
Everett setting up Howard’s death showed that he is many steps ahead of the Drew Crew. Nancy even pointed out, once she found Celia’s dead body, that Everett was too far ahead and had planned moves to test everyone. By the time the group figured out there was something going on, two people had already died. The Drew Crew needs to be smart with their next moves because they don’t have much room for error if things go wrong. Nancy kidnapping Everett in the limo seemed like a rash decision brought on by Celia’s death; it will either work out great for her or it will blow back in her face. Chances are his wrath will unleash in Horseshoe Bay if they don’t get him arrested or strike a deal fast. Everett killed his wife; he’ll no doubt do the same to his son and granddaughter if they get in his way.
“The Purloined Keys” is a tension-filled mystery that pits the Drew Crew members against each other. It almost felt like the first season when Nancy kept going rogue to solve the mysteries without the others involved, except in this case, it was in reverse, with the others cutting Nancy out. Celia dying and existing as a ghost flipped the pacing on its head—the next death will need to step it up to match the shock factor. Bess should start swiping on her dating app fast because it seems like the Drew Crew will face their biggest challenge yet with Everett in their clutches. Nancy’s out for revenge, but who will come out on top by Season 2’s end?
Nancy Drew airs new episodes Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on The CW and streams Thursdays on cwtv.com.
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