Though the series is inspired by a traditional set of novels, the CW’s Nancy Drew series has veered hard from puzzle to the supernatural in the next season. Amongst the ghost stories, however, Nancy Drew and her friends still maintain their love of puzzles out of the books.
Also maintained in the show is slipping in clues to upcoming events and nods to previous versions of Nancy Drew. The second season features a lot of Easter eggs for lovers of the books. It also has nods to books connected only by the publisher into the Nancy Drew collection, starting to expand the world for the screen.
When Nancy and her friends get their hands on a mirror that is supposed to help against the Aglaeca, she strikes them by breaking the mirror. That is because, as Nancy educates them she learned a thing or 2 on her”bungalow case.”
This is a reference to the next Nancy Drew novel ever released. Called The Bungalow Mystery, it featured Nancy helping a fellow teenager who discovered the man intent on adopting her was actually a burglar. Originally published in 1930, a revised edition was released 30 decades later. This nod is a sign in the very first episode of the season that the writers intend to continue referencing the original source material, even as the stories are wildly different.
Though the friends head into Gorham Woods and face off against the wraith indoors at the beginning of the season, there is also a reference made to Stratemeyer Woods. Carson namechecks it when educating Ace about an orphanage. That title might seem familiar to fans of the novels.
The Stratemeyer Syndicate, known for its creator, was responsible for publishing the original series of Nancy Drew’s books. It also published Hardy Boys novels plus a ton of additional shows targeted at kids and young adults. Most involved puzzles or adventures. A group of writers all using the same pen name composed the numerous books released by the group.
Gil and Amanda Bobbsey, twins, make their debut season two. They’re set to recur through the season, but the show is not their sole connection to Nancy Drew. Though they did not cross over into her books, they did seem in their own series from the Stratemeyer Syndicate – though the first versions of these characters were not thieves.
This abandoned orphanage can be found in Stratemeyer Woods, so it’s an Easter egg within an Easter egg. The spooky location is referenced in the Nancy Drew novels as well.
It is a place seen when Nancy is trying to monitor somebody’s family. It gets its mention in the novel The indication Of The Twisted Candles, but it is not a significant recurring place in the novels and does not seem in the 1980s revamp of the series.
Rita Howell makes her first appearance in the year among Nancy Drew. She and all the other members of the”Aglaeca class of’75” do. That’s why she’s an Easter egg. Her name is in fact shared with a character in a few of those games from Her Interactive: Warnings At Waverly Academy. That is not all!
Rita appears at The Claw during a huge storm when George is cursed by the bloodstream bucket. When she leaves, she tells George to be more cautious of the harpoon on the wall, but George thinks nothing of it, noting that it’s only a decoration. It is the same harpoon that goes right through her when Nancy and her friends try to stop the Aglaeca in season two.
When Nancy should find out who is leaving flowers on the graves of all Aglaeca victims, she visits Lilly, the local gentleman, introducing a new character to the crowd. Nancy also appears to be performing community service for laws that she broke from the coroner’s office in town this season. Those 2 things, astonishingly, are connected.
The coroner references which the mother of his son (who he doesn’t appear to get along with at all) is a florist. In line with the authors for the series, that bride is exactly the exact same one Nancy meets. Some fans were quick to pick up on the off-hand mention, so maybe the viewer will see more of these characters later in this season.
When a volleyball player goes lost an infamous hotel, her teammates call in Nancy to get assistance. They are convinced a ghost shot her, but Nancy doesn’t think so – especially when she discovers key passages and animal blood in storage to help maintain the hotel’s”haunted” reputation. Fans paying attention, though, will also notice that the owner of the resort is called”Mr. Holmes.” Some might have thought this was a nod to another literary detective, and while it may be, it’s also a reference to this real-life murder hotel.
H.H. Holmes is the first person to officially be classified as a serial killer in the USA. Not all of his victims were discovered, but he did conduct a”murder resort” in which he’d elaborately built secret chambers to torture people. A fictional account of the resort is also used at the time travel drama Classic.
Katherine DiSavino is one of the authors on the show and she snuck in an Easter egg that fans would not even know to look for. In the seventh installment of the season, there is a book that delivers a nod to a few of her real-life pals.