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Nancy Drew (2019)

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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55

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Ratings

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5.1

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5.1	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Ratings

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Nancy Drew (2019)

Series Details & Credits

The CW | Release Date: October 9, 2019

Summary: 18-year-old Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) was ready to leave for college when the death of her mother delays things and she becomes involved in a murder investigation in the series based on the classic mystery novels.

Genre(s): Drama, Suspense

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Recent Episodes

No episode information is currently available for this season

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Metascore

55

Positive:

4

Mixed:

7

Negative:

1

Critic Reviews

91

Sioux City Journal

Bruce Miller

Sep 23, 2019

Season 1 Review: It’s gritty in a new way and, yes, lots of fun. Read full review

75

Time

Judy Berman

Sep 23, 2019

Season 1 Review: There’s nothing life-changing about the show, but it combines the most appealing elements of the increasingly off-the-rails Riverdale—an updated cultural archetype, retro production design, fast-paced storytelling and even a ’90s teen-idol dad (Party of Five‘s Scott Wolf)—in a way that’s pretty satisfying. Read full review

75

IndieWire LaToya Ferguson

Oct 9, 2019

Season 1 Review: While this series goes forth as a supernatural thriller approach to the Nancy Drew story, it doesn’t go overboard with the supernatural element, realizing that less is more in this type of story. ... McMann’s Nancy Drew is quite likable early on, save for the character’s obvious flaws and immature reactions to certain things. Read full review

50

The New York Times

Mike Hale

Oct 3, 2019

Season 1 Review: [Kennedy] McCann has some presence — she’s credible as the wised-up, slightly jaded, imperfect version of the spunky teenage sleuth — but there’s a dullness to the ensemble; no one’s striking sparks off one another the way performers like Adam Brody, Rachel Bilson, Peter Gallagher and Tate Donovan did in Schwartz’s first beachside drama, “The O.C.” Read full review

50

The Hollywood Reporter

Dan Fienberg

Oct 9, 2019

Season 1 Review: There are elements to this sexed-up and murdered-up version of Nancy Drew that feel entertaining and nicely updated and the cast is decent, albeit extraordinarily CW-y. But somehow fiction's original teenage girl detective has been brought back to TV in a way that feels primarily derivative. Read full review

50

CNN

Brian Lowry

Oct 4, 2019

Season 1 Review: The main mystery surrounding this show, as initially constituted, is what would prompt an audience immersed in so much similar content to stick around. Read full review

20

Washington Post

Hank Stuever

Oct 3, 2019

Season 1 Review: Instead of seeming empowered and cool, the show is dreadful, putting far too much effort in giving Nancy and her world a darker edge. ... Shoddy attempt to remold her. Read full review

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5.1

User Reviews

8

Davrosdaleks1

Apr 16, 2020

This show takes a page from Riverdale: make a children's property edgier and darker for a young adult audience. Also, they added ghosts; so, there's that. I was more entertained by this than I thought I would be.

Though I've compared this to Riverdale, this show may have learned a lessonThis show takes a page from Riverdale: make a children's property edgier and darker for a young adult audience. Also, they added ghosts; so, there's that. I was more entertained by this than I thought I would be.

Though I've compared this to Riverdale, this show may have learned a lesson from it. If you're one of those people who complain about Riverdale not making logical sense, then this show may be more your speed. Despite the ghosts, this Nancy Drew is more grounded. In fact, it is pretty well told. The writers do a wonderful job of blending episodic stories with the overarching storylines and mysteries. Reveals are satisfying.

Fans of the original Nancy Drew might be put off by the addition of ghosts, but I thought they were woven into the plot surprisingly well. Though, the number of them popping up does push credibility. The ghost designs are effectively creepy.

There is an Achille's heel to this show and that is the depiction of older rich people. They are written so over-the-top and almost cartoonishly that if there were a scene where one of the rich used a servant as a footstool, it wouldn't feel out-of-place at all.

I like the look of the coastal town this takes place in; some nice set choices.

Nancy (Kennedy McMann), though she does start off as too much of a straight man, grows on you due to her character's sheer bullheaded drive to see something through regardless of the consequences. Supporting cast works well, including Leah Lewis as the grumpy, cynical friend and Maddison Jaizani as the "posh," optimistic friend.

This was one of the CW shows that ended early due to the coronavirus. Don't worry about an unsatisfying or abrupt conclusion. From my understanding, they at least had one or more filmed episodes that had gone through postproduction, but the showrunners decided to end on the eighteenth episode. This episode is a fortuitously fine spot to end on.

I suppose that ND fans may not like the changes, but as it is I find this show to be engrossing and well done.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

7

Elthor

Oct 10, 2019

This review is based on the first episode.
The first thing you have to realize is this is a CW series panned by the WaPo, NYT and CNN. Translation: It isn't woke enough for its network home.
If you took the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, made them artificially diverse and dropped themThis review is based on the first episode.
The first thing you have to realize is this is a CW series panned by the WaPo, NYT and CNN. Translation: It isn't woke enough for its network home.

If you took the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, made them artificially diverse and dropped them into Veronica Mars, and removed the sharp dialog from both series, you'd have a good idea what to expect from Nancy Drew.

It has potential, but it doesn't sparkle. Good enough to stick around for a few episodes and see.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

5

omegp57

Mar 19, 2020

I’ve been a Nancy Drew fan all my life. To say I’ve been disappointed by all other modern day media is a great understatement. Everything time something new comes out I cringe for Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts movie, ughhhhhhh !!!!!!!). This tv show HAS FINALLY captured Nancy and the Drew Crew inI’ve been a Nancy Drew fan all my life. To say I’ve been disappointed by all other modern day media is a great understatement. Everything time something new comes out I cringe for Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts movie, ughhhhhhh !!!!!!!). This tv show HAS FINALLY captured Nancy and the Drew Crew in the modern essence that it has needed and for which fans have been clamoring !!!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

2

Talbis

Nov 8, 2019

Nancy Drew is a staple of mystery genre of books, movies, videogames and TV shows. My mum got into the mystery genre because of Nancy Drew, I got into the genre because of my mum... and Columbo. And Agatha Christie. At this point in my life, I know a lot about Nancy Drew and while I can'tNancy Drew is a staple of mystery genre of books, movies, videogames and TV shows. My mum got into the mystery genre because of Nancy Drew, I got into the genre because of my mum... and Columbo. And Agatha Christie. At this point in my life, I know a lot about Nancy Drew and while I can't say that I'm attached to the character and her adventures, I can see the appeal. But I also know one thing - the best mystery is solvable by the reader/viewer alongside the detective, written and shown in such a way that an observant audience member can piece the whole thing all alone, at that point the detective provides us with the solution... and we either go "aha! I knew it" or "OMG! How did I miss it!?". To this day, the only story that had me fooled is "The Murder on the Orient Express".

This TV show takes the promising murder case adds the name of Nancy Drew and... ruins it all with ghosts. Supernatural elements are chaotic, you need to know all the rules of the fictional world to come to any conclusion on your own! That's why supernatural elements are often a tool for bad writers, who can at any point in time pull a ghost out of their... behind and point to a clue that nobody could possibly know of. It's cheating, it's low, it's a bad mystery and it doesn't belong in Nancy Drew. It seems the writers of the show thought that "ghostwriter" means there are ghosts. This is just stupid. And I won't even get into all the "modern updates" because that would bring any fan of the book series to the brink of insanity. I will, however, add that modernising the technology levels and language would've been enough. Having to deal with changes to the core of who characters of Nancy Drew books are however required work, consideration and respect for the original source... CW didn't spend any time and effort in this modern adaptation of a classic. My mum, who's a huge fan of the books, called this show "Nancy Drew in name only". I call it Nancy Boo and change the channel.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

0

Unseelie_Faerie

Nov 14, 2019

This show has little to do with it's source material. It's not Nancy Drew
It doesn't have the heart that the books and games have. The only connection it has with the books is that they randomly throw a title into a sentence. And most of the time it's not even right! Obviously the next wrongThis show has little to do with it's source material. It's not Nancy Drew
It doesn't have the heart that the books and games have. The only connection it has with the books is that they randomly throw a title into a sentence. And most of the time it's not even right! Obviously the next wrong thing is the fact that ghosts now exists. Ghosts shouldn't be in Nancy Drew and this proves it. I know a bit about ghostlore(ghost-folklore) and the pseudoscience behind ghosts, They're making pretty much everything up. There's a ritual that doesn't actually exists in the show as well as an exorcism that I think is loosely based on a Taoist one(I'm not sure how accurate it is, the only ones I've seen are kinda different). Not to mention the fact that the ghost is honestly doing more work on this mystery than the teen-angst bs personification that is the CWs "Nancy". They wanted her to be flawed, sure it's not a new concept other's have done it before, but they took away any good qualities she had. This Nancy isn't a good person or even somewhat likeable. Most of the characters are totally unlikeable. The only exception may be Ned. The one character who strangely has the most in common with his book counterpart. Besides the fact they made him an ex-convict. Which is kinda uncool when the first time this is a part of his character he's black. Like "white Ned" has no criminal record but "black Ned" does...Ok CW. And then the other main characters were basically ready to pin the crime on him even though he could've been 100% innocent. So not chill. Also hate that they're calling him Nick, that's lame. George basically has no personality besides having a leather jacket and "snarky" one-liners the writer's totally spent way too long thinking of. Also have to mention the grossness of having her have sex with a guy who was 40(and married) when she was 16, makes me wanna puke. This Carson is a major jerk. This is the worst Carson Drew of all of them. I really don't like that they moved up Nancy's mom's death(from 3/10 to 18) just to cause drama. I've never really been against him having a love interest but here I am. He basically starts sleeping with his wife's best friend right after she died, I've been using this word a lot but gross. Also he's supposed to be hella shady or something, like...um did they read any books? He's a dorky dad not a criminal mastermind. And lastly, "Bess Marvin". Bess Marvin is supposed to be a big girl and who did they higher? Some size 2 model. It's 2019, we're supposed to be for body positivity this is literally the opposite. They could've done something by hiring a plus-size actress to play the beautiful chubby girl but no they failed. However, they're trying to get around it by giving the girl a new backstory and name. Essentially wiping out Bess' character. They even made the most boy-obsessed of the girls gay lmao. Look considering most of the people my age (like the character's are supposed to be) it's not often someone isn't straight and Bess easily could be not straight. If the writers weren't using diversity to try and hide how much they messed up it would be cooler. It would be cooler if they didn't just slap Nancy's name on it for attention and actually read the books and didn't get all their knowledge off of Wikipedia. The special effects are all tired and dated. I've seen them thousands of times before, they're so basic. There are so many other things ghosts can do(in theory) and they just stick to boring electrical malfunctions and full-bodied apparitions. So over-used and so seizure-inducing. There's a lot of complicated things about ghosts and the stories,theories, and pseudoscience behind them. They could've done some research into it before making a show that centers around a ghost. There's so much wrong with this that I don't even have enough characters left to finish explaining it. Finally to bring back my favorite word, it's kinda gross to "sex up" something that's for kids. What were they thinking?? Just go the last step and change the names and you've got yourself an original concept. Slap on "Nancy Drew" and you've got a terrible adaption.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

0

Lindahof1

Oct 16, 2019

Puhlease...if anyone actually read books they would "detect" how disgusting this perversion of a genre is. I turned it off after 5 minutes...really...you had to have sex to get viewers? I think the producers underestimate the intelligence of the average viewer. If you have read Nancy drew orPuhlease...if anyone actually read books they would "detect" how disgusting this perversion of a genre is. I turned it off after 5 minutes...really...you had to have sex to get viewers? I think the producers underestimate the intelligence of the average viewer. If you have read Nancy drew or hardy boys - it's target is a teen audience. I was so excited that this was being revived - but you have sullied the whole series. Shame on you - can't you target an audience of pre-teen and teens along with the original audience of the books?… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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Seasons & Episodes

55

Series Overview
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: January 20, 2021
- No episode information is currently available for this season
Season 1

55
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: October 9, 2019