Welcome back Nancy Drew fans! This week Nancy and her crew deal with amnesia, mixed with groundhog day, mixed with a maybe time loop? I’m not really sure about the last one, but it did seem like they were repeating the same day over and over again. More on that later, because at present, Nick is accused of murder, Nancy’s grandmother wants to have a meeting with her, and Ace is still looking for his brother.
Thankfully, Odette only showed up for a brief period, and I didn’t have to hear that dreadful French accent coming from George. Thank you writers for the little things. Everyone stayed true to themselves, even with amnesia and I loved that. Det. Tamura did not make an appearance and try to ruin everything and I was very pleased about that. There is a lot to discuss in this week’s episode of Nancy Drew “The Scourge of the Forgotten Ruin,” so let’s dive in shall we.
Nick, Everyone Else, and the Viking Monster

Poor Nick, he always tries to do the right thing and this time he ends up getting blamed for yet another murder. Remember that guy who got smart with Nancy on that ghost tour? Yeah, me either, and he’s only important because he dies. Which leads to Nick being accused of killing him. Does no one in this town, except Nancy, know they live on a Hellmouth?
Bad stuff happens in Horseshoe Bay all of the time, you could set your watch by all the unsolved mysteries in this town. All of the cops on this show are inept and not reading the clues. I get so mad and I have to tell myself this shit is not real – lean into the genre. Sigh. Anyway. Apparently, some kind of Viking entity killed a bunch of Vikings who once lived in Horseshoe Bay, and if you summon it by calling out its name it kills you. Very Bloody Mary typeish.
Before the tour guide dies, he tells Nick the only way to live is to erase his memory and guess who has just such a memory-erasing device? Yup, Hannah and Historical Society. The bad thing is the device erases all of your memories, not just the ones you want to forget. Bummer.
Nick has amnesia, but leaves clues for himself, which is actually quite smart. Too bad Nancy is also highly intelligent and speaks the entity’s name pushing them all into a time loop/memory-erasing black hole. Listen I’m not gonna lie, I was confused at what the hell was going on! I know this machine erases their memories, but I swear they kept reliving the same day over and over again trying to change the outcome to no avail. Ground Hog Day right? I digress.
I got really bogged down with the semantics of this plot and I just should have enjoyed my wine. Nancy and the crew leave themselves clues all throughout the Claw and that was refreshing. Nick’s clue was like “you have been accused of murder before, but you are innocent.” George’s clue was “shares body with a ghost named Odette.” I felt like these were very accurate and succinct. I cracked up when Ace tried to rekindle his crush on Bess, and her clue was “into girls.” LMAO. Sorry Ace!
Celia Gets Caught in the Crossfire

Nancy’s grandmother Celia is a bitch, but once her memory gets erased she is actually a sweetheart who always wanted a granddaughter to dote on. Nancy actually erases her grandmother’s memory in order to not only protect herself from her evil grandfather but Celia too. Celia is drawn to Nancy and she doesn’t know why.
She brings her donuts to the Claw and dances with her to the tune of her favorite song on the jukebox. It was sweet to watch and Celia and Nancy do have chemistry. I dig the relationship, I just think Nancy will get close to her and Celia will die because we all know Nancy’s grandfather is capable of murder. He would totally kill his wife if she got in his way.
Did anyone else notice that Nancy was the only one who really knew how to work that machine? I mean Ace did kinda, but Nancy took the lead. Nancy is the one who figures out if enough people know this entity’s name it stops hunting you and just becomes a totem again.
How she gathered that from some runes and some Viking cliff notes is Nancy Drew at its best. Social media saves the day and saves Nancy and her friends from being eaten alive. Nancy restores Celia’s memories and I thought Celia would be really angry at Nancy, but I was pleasantly surprised. Celia kept all of her memories from the last couple of days with Nancy and vowed to help her get in good with her grandfather. Celia does have a heart after all. Let’s just hope she sticks to her word and doesn’t try to double-cross Nancy.
A couple of last minute, random things in this episode:
- Carson moves back home with Nancy and out of the loft
- Nick moves into the loft and buys the whole building
- Ace’s brother is the “new guy” at the claw
- New guy, asks for Ace’s help in finding his mother at the tail end of the episode
What did you think of “The Scourge of the Forgotten Ruin”? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Nancy Drew airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.