Nancy Drew brings back the Bobbsey Twins to tell you of its darkest stories thus far in”The Bargain of this Blood Shroud,” an hour that sees Gil Bobbsey steal the magic artifact that resurrected George and threaten to use it again even though he’s well aware that to do this will certainly mean her death.
Really, it’s a bit upsetting that Gil Bobbsey yet another fictional staple of my youth is really such a monster in this event he would willingly forfeit George’s lifetime for the slimmest chance of finding out whether a dying old man murdered his mother. Sure, him wanting closure makes sense, particularly in Horseshoe Bay, a town where almost everyone appears to be carrying excessive psychological baggage involving a deceased, ghostly, or historically murderous relative.
But George is still alive now, and also the notion that her life is somehow worth this information is simple. Well, it’s pretty damn chilly. Especially when it’s just thanks to Nancy and her friends who Gil or his sister are even alive themselves right now.
And it’s most assuredly not the perfect way to kick a potential new romance for Nancy, that seems attracted to Gil despite all his repeatedly awful choices here. I mean, we sort of understood our girl detective had less than stellar taste in men, but. whew. Of course, she’s drawn to someone who shares similar dead-mother-based emotional issues, and she probably sees something of a kindred spirit in Gil’s command of the various petty crime abilities that ordinarily come in handy while sleuthing. But in both of his appearances so far, we have seen him engage in some gentle extortion and indirectly endanger her buddy’s life. Not a terrific appearance.
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This week’s situation in which Nancy must fix the fourteen-season old murder of Rosemary Bobbsey in something such as a twelve-hour window involves art and insanity and is notable because once again its response doesn’t involve anything supernatural or otherworldly. (Unless you count the shroud that may bring back the dead, but really that’s only tangentially involved here.) And as it turns out, this supposed murder is not a murder at all. Rosemary is still living and nearly sure to appear again at some point in the long run. Instead of monsters or ghosts”The Bargain of this Blood Shroud” is really a story about a woman who loved her children but needed help, and left-handed them instead of forfeit them into the monstrous creature she believed was targeting her entire life.
In some ways, Gil discovering that Rosemary is not dead, but only hasn’t come back in fourteen decades, is the ultimate touchy situation for him, an event that will force him (ideally ) to reevaluate every facet of what he knew to be accurate about his life and the individual those circumstances have allowed (demanded?) him to be. Who’s he, if not a lost boy lashing out at having lost his mother? What pushes him if not being mad about her loss?
The thing is the addition of the Bobbsey twins into the Nancy Drew canvas is a great thing, and perhaps their unwavering loyalty to one another is something that Season 2 will delve into additional. For what it’s worth, I’d like to see more of their energy as a pair, since we’ve mostly had Gil or Amanda interacting with the Drew Crew on their own so far and their confrontation about their mother’s medical condition was among those episode’s most powerful scenes. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a Gil which was somewhat less of an extreme creep, is really what I’m saying.
Because Nancy Drew isn’t being terribly subtitle about the fact that Gil and Nancy are going to be a thing, romantically speaking. And at the moment, this isn’t a guy who in any manner deserves her in any capacity. (At least Amanda came to her senses and also did the right thing in the long run.) Gil needs to do some serious soul searching, and Nancy herself certainly deserves more than being stuck trying to convince this man to become a better person than we have observed any evidence of in the past.
Additional Thoughts
Who’d have ever expected that we could ever end up this invested in George and Nick’s relationship? Yet, here we are.
Other things I’m genuinely surprised by That Odette’s narrative has proven to actually be a moving one. (Especially since she spent many years as a murderous sea soul.) However, her desire to die so she could finally be reunited with her former love at last? It got me.
Nancy Drew is completely the type of series that would provide us the CW’s first throuple in George/Nick/Odette and I’m kind of here for it?
Cheers to Leah Lewis for the job she’s so clearly putting in pulling double duty as George and Odette-in-George’s-human body. The physical mannerisms and non-verbal distinctions she creates between these characters as she switches between these are really nicely done.
Ace specifically dodging the question of whether he’s obtained a sibling is merely one more sign he is a Hardy Boy and nobody will convince me differently.
Carson is really the best dad ever and ought to basically adopt the entire Drew Crew. He’s making up an opening statement to practice with Bess to distract her was so cute. You already have a family, girl! Ditch that the Marvins and their judge-y team text!
