‘Nancy Drew’ 3×03 review: “The Testimony of the Executed Man” searches for The Frozen Heart Killer

Nancy, George, and Ace investigate a spirit on The CW's Nancy Drew

Michael Courtney/The CW

The Drew Crew’s latest adventure was the epitome of a Nancy Drew mystery on The CW. “The Testimony of the Executed Man” offered plenty of mysterious thrills and supernatural chills during its hunt to capture The Frozen Heart Killer. The mystery team plots weaved together to close out this 3-episode arc while perfectly setting up and teasing the next phase of this case. It’s rare when Nancy Drew can wrap up an investigation within a single episode, but the connection to stealing the hearts may prove to be a thrilling story for the Drew Crew in the next few weeks. This episode is a great balance against the witchy plots happening in Horseshoe Bay.

Nancy made another rash decision that could’ve had terrible consequences. Once George started her warnings, and Nancy kept ignoring her, it was clear that something bad was bound to happen. I mean, the smoke from the box alone was a warning sign! The poltergeist didn’t want their secrets exposed; trapping Ace, Nancy, and George in the abandoned factory was a huge indication the spirit wasn’t playing around with trying to keep the truth a secret. Luckily, that solution fell into Nancy’s lap, and the spirit was placed at rest, but this mishap could’ve gone worse. Nancy needs to start listening to her friends because sometimes her intuition leads her into danger.

Also, Ace has become the punchline for all the paranormal shenanigans. He’s now been haunted by a poltergeist, had a faulty protection spell placed on him, a death curse from the Aglaeca, and so much more. Whoever messed with his luck needs to reverse and fix it. We can’t lose Ace from the Drew Crew, and he’s getting so close to dating Nancy. Nancy’s longing looks to Ace was a gift for the “Nace” shippers.

I liked how the poltergeist storyline tied into the separate case of The Frozen Heart Killer. The poltergeist wasn’t the main focus, but how it affected the Drew Crew impacted how they handled the killer at DetectiveCon. Laci helping them changed everything, so the team should be thankful Laci didn’t turn her back after they gave her fake evidence; this main case wouldn’t have been solved without Laci’s help. Hopefully, Laci comes back for more Nancy Drew episodes (or she joins the spin-off) because she’s as resourceful and investigative as Nancy, and she’s willing to call Nancy out on her sketchy behavior. George can only do so much before Nancy ignores her warnings.

What are your theories for The Frozen Heart Killer and the deeper conspiracy? “FHK” collected these hearts for a specific reason, and they were able to go around the country making these attacks. His reasoning may have been for pride and people to analyze his work, but the hearts were needed for something. Could this be a network of serial killers? Will these hearts be used in rituals? Our past reviews theorized that the hearts were tied to Temperance Hudson, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for the killings to be connected to a supernatural reason. The CW’s Nancy Drew loves finding a way to bring in the paranormal.

George and Nick’s issues would’ve been resolved sooner had they spoken and talked things out. Both are busy people with a lot of stuff on the go, so it’s not surprising they’re feeling overwhelmed. DetectiveCon and the Fan stories were a great way to bring the couple together to work as a unit. As we’ve chatted before in past reviews, they’re great together and work better when they’re on the same page. The stories are probably fun and a curious read, especially since they’re from George’s point of view. Hopefully, Nancy Drew showcases some of these stories as an unexpected twist. Could you imagine an episode starting where George played the Nancy role and Nancy had to act like a sidekick?

Bess got relegated to the limbo storyline for “The Testimony of the Executed Man.” She has no real storyline for her character yet, so she’s just floating from person to person until she’s pulled into her main arc. It’s a shame that Ace felt like he had to exclude Bess to get peace of mind, but his friend truly cared about him. And, she’s not wrong: Mr. Bobbsey is a sketchy man that shouldn’t be trusted. I don’t think Bess’ new hook-up relationship will last long-term, but she’ll provide a good foil to balance Bess’s general behavior.

“The Testimony of the Executed Man” brought Nancy Drew back to its “mystery cases-meets-paranormal” theme. We got everything that would make us smile in a typical case of the week: the Drew Crew teaming up, a new character aiding the team, paranormal ghosts, real-life murders in the mix, and a case to solve. Both cases were a fun time that made this an exciting week, and it continued to prove why you should be watching Nancy Drew too if you haven’t started.

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Nancy Drew airs Fridays at 9 p.m. EST and streams the next day on cwtv.com.

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