Previously: A ghost jumped all up into George.
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Marines: George, possessed by the spirit of Tiffany, henceforth known as Tiffany!George, walks into the Hudson house. She leans over a sleeping Ryan creepily, and Ryan just turns over in his sleep. She heads into the bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror, letting her hair down before using a straight razor to cut the end of her finger. She uses the blood to spell I KNOW on the mirror. We see Tiffany reflected, but when the camera moves away from the mirror, we are looking at George. Tiffany!George walks out, smiling.
Sweeney: I know you hate it, Mari, but I still have to celebrate: FUCK YEAH SPOOKY ASS GHOSTS!
Mari: Someone should be happy.
NANCY DPEW.
At the Drew Domicile, Nancy is looking at that old high school photo of Lucy Sable and Karen. Nancy Drew’s Voice Over [NDVO] reminds us that Lucy is the ghost haunting her and Karen is the detective who lied to her about knowing Lucy. Nancy would rather not talk to Karen, but Dead Lucy wanted her to find that photo so she kind of has to. She calls Karen, but it goes straight to voicemail.
Claw. Bess is combining ketchup bottles in the empty restaurant. She asks Ace when they should worry about the lack of customers. George comes barreling out of the back with a first aid kit in hand, looking for an appropriately sized band-aid. She woke up and her finger was bleeding. Bess tells her to disinfect the cut, but George snits back that Bess should worry about calling back Lisbeth, who has left 4 messages for Bess.
This is all interrupted when a man walks into the Claw and asks if they can cater a party for today. There is a charity gala, which the Marvins were supposed to host, but the Hudsons commandeered it in order to announce the Tiffany Hudson charity. So, their caterer dropped out. Ace points out that it’s real weird, the place that served Tiffany her last meal, catering her charity gala. Party Man admits he’s tried a few places before this but no one can do it. George accepts the challenge, but leaves Ace to take the order when her phone starts ringing.
She answer in the back room. It’s Ryan, wondering why George was at his house last night. She’s the only one, besides Tiffany, who knows the alarm code. Someone broke in, ran the shower, and wrote on the mirror in blood. George looks down at her cut finger suspiciously, but tells Ryan he must’ve been sleep waking and ends the call.
Police station. Nancy’s come to see Karen, but an officer stops her and says Karen isn’t there. Nancy wants to go into the station and leave a note on Karen’s desk, but the officer can’t let her do that. Chief McGinnis has a new, stricter no civilians policy to protect their “new” investigation. Nancy figures this means they are investigating Tiffany’s murder as a homicide after what Papa Drew said at the press conference last episode. She tries to get more information out of the officer, but it doesn’t work. Nancy gets texts from Ace and Bess telling her to get to the Claw ASAP because George is acting weird.
Sweeney: The fact that the gang is already this deep into the supernatural in episode 5 means that it’s only a matter of time before we get to a place where this happens and everyone immediately goes “aw shit, she’s possessed” and I love that for me.
Mari: Now you are just rubbing it in.
Claw. Nancy walks in to see some blood on the floor. She asks what’s up. and Ace explains that George cut her hand pretty bad while chopping celery and she just stood there, staring at it for a long time. But then she locked herself in her office. Nancy walks over and calls for George, but hears weird noises from inside. Nancy busts in and finds George making weird ghost moans while scratching her own face out of photos with her bloody hands. Her friends look on like w h a t t h e h e l l.
Sara: An exact vision of what I wish I could do when I’m tagged in unflattering pictures on Facebook.
Mari: With the same amount of rage, honestly.
After a break, George is calm now, but zoned out, sitting alone at one of the restaurant booths. Nancy is trying to reason out what could’ve happened and Bess is like hello? Ghosts. Nancy isn’t sure about that yet. We aren’t yet to ghosts as the answer all the time. Ace suggests that something went wrong with the Tiffany ghost ritual.
Inside the locker, Nancy quickly finds the mirror. Bess is like SEE? POSSESSED.
Ned walks in and sees Ace still mopping up blood. He’s here to discuss Laura Tandy, though. He shows Ace the footage of Laura breaking into the garage, ignoring the bonds, and stealing the memory stick. Ned wants Ace’s help getting it back, because if Tiffany wanted her sister to have it, she wouldn’t have left it to Ned.
At that, Tiffany!George creepily turns to face them. Ned is like “uh, didn’t see you there George…” Ace is freaked out because when Tiffany!George is moving, it’s bad news. Nancy and Bess join them with the news that George is totally possessed. Tiffany!George grabs the mirror out of Bess’s hand and when she looks in it, she sees herself as Tiffany. Nancy snaps a quick picture of Tiffany!George and explains to everyone that if they are going with the whole possession explanation, then Tiffany doesn’t know she’s George. Nancy shows Tiffany!George the picture and she freaks out and faints.
Sweeney: Already reasoning with ghosts! I mean, like, kind of. Needs a little work. But attempts to understand the psyche of a ghost are being made.
Mari: This attempt leaves George back in her own body. She sees everyone standing around and starts yelling about all the work they have to get done, so now her friends have to explain that she’s possessed. Ace shows George what Tiffany did to the pictures of her. George is like, “bitch!” Ace says the bad news is that that Tiffany doesn’t like George. The good news is Tiffany is dead. Ned gives Ace A LOOK, so he apologizes, and adds that the more bad news that Tiffany has been hitching a ride in George’s body. Nancy suggests they take George home, which Bess says is good news because they can ask Mama George for help.
Cut to George’s… Grotto. Gotta keep the alliteration where I can. NDVO tells us that George is the breadwinner and the real adult in the Fan house. All of George’s sisters have different dads and none of them stuck around. Mama George calls out for the little sisters to turn down the music. “Your sister’s fighting off a ghost!” A very cute child comes out and wants to see, but George tells Ted to go help Jesse with her hair. I literally only recapped this bit so you knew that George has sisters named Ted and Jesse and that’s adorable.
Sweeney: I love this whole family very much.
Mari: Mama George [MG] asks what happened and if George messed up the ritual. Bess answer for her that yes, she forgot the mirror. Her mom is like IT WAS A TWO STEP RITUAL, which is kind of fair. (S: YOU HAD TWO JOBS!) George says she was under a lot of pressure, which is also fair. Mama George is upset because they are dealing with a new ghost and this is very dangerous. George wants to go, but Nancy stops her. She’s blacking out and hurting herself. MG points out that she could also hurt her little sisters. (S: sobs in sister feels) MG calms down and says that in order to help, she has to have the full picture. Bess hands over the literal picture, and MG asks why this spirit hates George so much she scratched out her face. George confesses that she was having an affair with Tiffany’s husband. Her mom snaps again, partly because of the having an affair with a married man, and partly because this is really bad. This spirit has a reason to hate George and soon it will be strong enough to take up permanent residence in George’s body, meaning George will be gone forever.
Sweeney: The moral of this story is to not sleep with married men or otherwise be enough of a bitch for someone’s ghost to carry a grudge into the afterlife. The other moral of this story is that Tiffany was solidly Team Haunt Earth. Obviously George was her only option for haunting, but I sense a commitment to the petty ideals of sticking around to fuck shit up that are central to Team Haunt Earth’s philosophy.
Sara: Tiffany really won the Ghost Jackpot with George being the person she was able to possess.
Mari: I mean, yes, when Tiffany found herself back in George’s body, she was like “I will take this time to scratch this girl’s face out of pictures.” Petty for sure.
After another break, MG is making some tea to build up George’s yang, which should keep Tiffany out for an unknown amount of time. The longer she stays in body, the stronger Tiffany will get and the more memories she’ll gain. Nancy is like, “oh! Can I ask her questions!” Everyone else points out that, uh, she’s playing with George’s life there. George isn’t really keen on trusting her mother, but she drinks the yang tea anyway. Bess suggests tying George to a chair, but MG says no way. Stress is bad for George right now. She needs to stay calm. Unfortunately, there’s still a catering event to do, and George wants the money. MG says little sister Charlie has some money under her bed, and George yells that that money is for BTS. Again, just mentioning it because Charlie!
Sara: Like George, I also have a strong love for That Money. But perhaps, with a ghost possessing you and potentially taking your body away from you forever, now is not the time.
Mari: As someone who is also big into getting money, I cosign pressing pause on those endeavors when a ghost is trying to kill you.
Bess asks Ned to fill in for her at the Claw because she figures she can stay with MG (whose name is Victoria!) and work on a plan. Nancy has to keep George calm and call if Tiffany shows up again.
Charity Event. The kids are all working. Party Man (Owen) comes back to the kitchen to offer his help, specifically to Nancy, and specifically with a sexy smile. Ned sees it and slams down a chafing dish… jealously. Nancy tells Owen she’s got it, but thanks him.
Out in the party, Nancy is keeping a close eye on George, who tells her they can’t actually pass out food in the same place. She insists she’s fine, and heads out to the garden. Nancy follows her anyway. Out there, she hears some creepy child ghost singing and notices a fresh mound of dirt. She puts down her serving platter and heads for it, noticing that there is a scrap of fabric buried there. She pulls on it when suddenly, an arm reaches out of the dirt and grabs her. She struggles against it and ends up falling backward into Karen. When Nancy looks back at where the grave was, it’s gone.
Sweeney: Lotsa ghosts with grudges in this town.
Mari: Nancy recovers and says she didn’t know Karen would be there. Karen is on the board for the Tiffany Hudson charity. That seems weirdly conflict-of-interst-y, but okay. Nancy turns talk to why she’s been trying to call Karen: Lucy Sable. She shows Karen the picture and asks why she lied. Karen says out of guilt. She was BFFs with Lucy until Junior year, until Lucy suddenly pulled away from Karen. A year later, she was dead. The rift started after Lucy went to some sort of exclusive party. Karen wants to know why Nancy is so fixated on this. Nancy says it’s a long story, but she does think she has a new angle on the Tiffany Hudson case. Karen reminds her she’s about to be arraigned for breaking and entering and should lay low. Nancy says that’s not her style.
Sweeney: Sorry Karen, Nancy’s got a whole B&E wardrobe, you know?
Mari: Those clothes aren’t going to wear themselves.
Owen interrupts, freshly in a suit and looking cleaned up, and returns the serving platter to Nancy. Karen recognizes him and thanks him for the building donation he made to the charity and excuses herself. Nancy realizes that Owen is Owen Marvin. They chit chat for a second, but then Nancy realizes she’s lost George. She hoists the serving platter back on Owen and runs off.
Ace is in the kitchen putting together some single servings. Ned walks in and asks if he got the drive back. He says yes, but it came with a Laura. On cue, she walks in, her only apology for breaking and entering is “I have impulse control issues.” Ned repeats that Tiffany probably didn’t want Laura to have the drive. Laura counters that Tiffany left it in a place only she would know about. Ace suggests they team up and share information. Problem is that the only thing on the drive is a link to a password protected site and she’s only got one more try to get the password correct. Ace pointedly says they could ask ~George~ for the password. Laura doesn’t know what’s going on, but she does say that either they do this together or not at all.
Ryan finds Owen and says that he owes him a call about a business deal. Owen says he’s heard some things about Ryan– not about his dead wife, but about his bad business dealings. Ryan smarms that risk is how you do business. Owen says that’s not how he does business.
George is watching Ryan from afar when suddenly, she gets possession face. (S: Love a ghost who makes an entrance.) She drops her serving platter and follows after Ryan, picking up a knife from a nearby table. On the way, she sees a parked dry cleaning van with some dresses in it. This ghost has got some amazing priorities. If you are gonna haunt, haunt in style.
Sweeney: I love this ghost so much! What a great ghost!
Sara: Pick a new body to take over (who isn’t a character we like) and stick around, Ghost!
Mari: Steal a haunting wardrobe from all around town!
Inside, Nancy tells Ned that George is definitely missing. She’s called Bess and Victoria for backup. Ace joins them and wonders if Tiffany is back. Ned says either way, they have to find George. They decide to split up. Laura is nearby and she heard Ace mention Tiffany. Ace is a bad liar, and also Laura kisses him before demanding to know everything.
Bess arrives at the charity event and is immediately stopped by Lisbeth, who is a driver for the Hudsons. Oh no, is she the murderer? Bess apologizes for blowing her off and gives Lisbeth her cell phone number, but their moment is cut short because Bess sees Tiffany!George walking by wearing a red dress and carrying a knife. Bess runs after her.
Nancy finds Bess in the kitchen with the news that Tiffany!George is back and Victoria is on her way. They came separately for some reason. Nancy says she’ll text Ace. They have to hurry if she’s going to get the answers to her questions. Bess reminds her they are trying to save George’s life and Nancy is like yeah, uh huh, that too.
Outside, Tiffany!George is stalking towards Ryan. He spots her and starts telling her to get out of here. Tiffany!George tells him in ghost voice that she knows about him and the waitress and then kisses him, but murderously. Ryan pulls away and still assuming it’s just George tells her to stop and leave. Nancy comes to his rescue, telling him that they are asking for him inside for a photo op. She then tells Tiffany!George that they are asking for her too and directs her to the kitchen.
Once there, Nancy tells Tiffany!George that she doesn’t mean to scare her, but she needs to know what happened the night she died. Tiffany!George says she isn’t dead. And then Victoria shows up to demand that Tiffany leave her daughter’s body.
Sweeney: I love this ghost, but I also love a fierce mother moment.
Mari: Victoria and Bess set up incense and a ritual to get Tiffany out while Nancy is trying to get Tiffany!George to talk about her murder. Ned walks in, and Tiffany!George recognizes him, but then gets upset when they keep talking about murder and death and her leaving forever. Ace and Laura bust into the kitchen, Ace having told Laura about everything. Tiffany!George reaches for her sister and wants to talk to her, but there is no time. Victoria starts the incantation, but Laura doesn’t care about George and smashes the incense. In the scuffle, Tiffany!George runs away. I know that Nancy did something similar-ish a couple of times in this episode, albeit it to a lesser degree, with wanting to talk to Tiffany, but I don’t know Laura and I don’t like Laura. She needs to go away.
Sweeney: OK but she just wants her sister back? In a deeply fucked up way, but, you know… this rad ghost is her sister???
Mari: In a real person’s body! It’s just like a lot to come in here and smash some life saving incense in front of this teen’s mom.
Out in the hall, Tiffany!George runs into Ryan. He pulls her into a nearby room and wonders what the heck is going on. George briefly comes into herself and asks Ryan for help. But then Tiffany!George is back. Ryan tells her to stop playing (basically), but then Victoria and Nancy bust into the room, demanding for the ghost to leave. Ryan takes that as his cue.
Bess and Ned join now, too, incense back and lit. Victoria starts the incantation again, directing the gang where to stand. Magical Indoor Wind starts up as we see a pained Tiffany!George realize what’s going on. Ned begs her to not kill George. He promises her that Nancy won’t stop looking for her killer, and he won’t either. Tiffany!George tells him to keep Laura safe, and he says he will. And he’ll stay with her until the end. Tiffany!George says “Dantes,” and then goes. George passes out.
And she comes to to Nancy saying her name, making sure it’s really her. George asks what happened to Ryan. She remembers seeing him. Nancy says he split. Victoria says that George should be fine now as they banished Tiffany from the earthly realm. She makes a joke about summoning an Uber and splits. It’s weird, but I guess it’s time for a solo-teen scene.
Sweeney: I know you almost lost your daughter to demonic possession, but you gotta go MG. The episode is almost done and an established rule of CW shows is that the resolution zone has a No Parents Allowed policy.
Mari: Nancy asks Ned if he’s okay. He says he is. and he thinks he knows what Tiffany was trying to tell him. Nancy tells him to go and they kiss before he does. Bess asks George what it was like to be possessed. She says it was like being tuned to a radio of pure emotions and she hated it. (S: Nobody chooses the Team Feels Life; it chooses you.) Nancy puts an awkward hand on George’s knee to comfort her, but George is like no.
Ace and Ned are trying to convince Laura to hand over the drive. Ned says that Tiffany wanted her out of this, and he has to respect her last wishes. Ace asks Laura to trust him. She says she does, but she’s beginning to regret it. She hands over the drive. No one mentions that she kind of tried to murder George.
Sara: To be fair, I would kind of try to murder to let my sister’s ghost hang around, too, probably.
Mari: I also have sisters so I feel like I have to say for the record that I would totally try to save them by trying to murder someone else by smashing incense.
Nancy walks up to Owen and clarifies that he works in real estate and construction, right? Maybe he can help her. She walks away and he follows. Ned sees this and doesn’t look very happy about it.
Sweeney: And he’s all out of dishes to slam jealously!
Mari: Claw. Ace and Ned enter the password Dantes and get into Tiffany’s file. The last thing she added was a note about Ryan getting desperate and inviting their rivals to dinner. Tiffany says that “Pine Hill” won’t be happy to see her there. Ned sees that Tiffany also had a file called Pine Hill with shareholder reports and insurance statements. The newer ones are signed by Owen Marvin. Ace wonders if he had something to do with Tiffany’s death. Ned immediately calls Nancy.
Nancy declines his call. She’s with Owen at some sort of property yard where he keeps construction vehicles. Nancy was thinking a little smaller scale, not so extreme. Owen smiles that he’s an extremely useful guy. How old is this guy? Does he know Nancy is 18? Does he not care because he is a murderer? 🤔
Sweeney: Classic CW show questions!
Mari: Nancy needed something to help her dig at her old school and shows Owen the picture of Karen and Lucy. Owen says this is the most fun he’s had in a long time. Nancy says that’s depressing.
Music video time! An apparently unreleased Matthew Perryman Jones song plays as we watch Bess text Lisbeth and invite her to dinner. Lisbeth accepts. Victoria is cooking, but there is already a plate set out for George. She sits at the table and looks at it pensively.
At home, Nancy has got her stolen time capsule. She sorts through some of the useless stuff, including an old Nokia and a toothbrush, until she gets to a CD with “messages from the past.” She loads it into a CD drive and fast forwards through it until she spots Lucy smiling and handing a boy some cookies. Nancy keeps watching and another student says that he’s trying to imagine what senior year will look like. The CD starts skipping, repeating the student saying “trying” over and over. Nancy heads back and sees that the boy Lucy Sable is giving cookies to? Ryan Hudson.
I appreciate the lengths Lucy went to get Nancy to dig up a time capsule to watch a video with Ryan Hudson, but surely, surely there was an easier way to get her here? You know, never mind. I’m sure Dead Lucy is doing her best.
Next time on Nancy Drew: Nancy tries to figure out the connection between Lucy and Ryan in S01 E06 – They Mystery of Blackwood Lodge.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
Nicole is the co-captain of Snark Squad and these days she spends most of her time editing podcasts. She spends too much time on Twitter and very occasionally vlogs and blogs. In her day job she's a producer, editor, director, and sometimes host of educational YouTube channels. She loves travel, maps, panda gifs, and semicolons. Writing biographies stresses her out; she crowd sourced this one years ago and has been using a version of it ever since. She would like to thank Twitter for their help.
I'm a 30-something with three kids who spends an embarrassing amount of time watching teen television dramas. There's a whole lot of Internet out there, and I plan on reading all of it before I die.
