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The Bargain of the Blood Shroud is the ninth episode of season 2 of The CW television series Nancy Drew, and the twenty-seventh episode of the series overall. It aired on March 24, 2021.

Synopsis[]

Official synopsis of The Bargain of the Blood Shroud from The CW:

HELP WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT – Nancy and the Drew Crew strike a deal with Gil Bobbsey. Meanwhile, Carson runs into a distraught Bess. Alex Saxon, Tunji Kasim and Riley Smith also star.

Plot summary[]

COLD OPEN: Bess lays on the Drew family’s couch crying while Ace lays on the floor in an attempt to console her. She is depressed over her exile from the Marvin family. Ace receives a text that Nancy needs them at The Claw, but Bess is too depressed to get off the couch so he leaves without her. Meanwhile, Odette stands in front of the bedroom mirror annoyed by the new day. She turns around to see Nick and asks him what he wants, calling him Nicolas. He was wondering when they might meet but she just wants him to go away. She permits him to leave as she lays back down in bed, trying to go back to sleep. Her phone buzzes with Nancy’s call and an annoyed Nick demands Odette to speak with him, but George takes control back of her body and sits up, confused as to why he’s out of bed. He explains that they had a visit from Odette before she answers a call from Nancy, in which she panics that someone stole the shroud. George tells Nick that someone stole the shroud.

ACT ONE: Nancy recaps what she thinks happened - that an experienced thief with a short attention span broke into the lockers. Nancy asks if anything else is missing and Ace solemnly admits that a banana cream pie was taken. Nick wonders who else knew about the shroud, as the only people they told are the Drew Crew. George and Nick didn’t say anything and everyone gives a guilty Ace a pointed look. They sit at a booth where he admits that he told Amanda about the shroud, claiming that something about her opens him up. Nick thinks Gil stole the shroud and is selling it, but Ace is insistent that Amanda wouldn’t betray his confidence. They go to the trailer park where Gil and Amanda live and catch him taking out the trash. He greets Nancy and her friends, to which she confronts him about freelancing for antique artifacts. He claims he knows nothing about the shroud but asks if they have leads on the break-in. An angry Nick notices the pie crust crumbs on Gil’s shirt and angrily pushes him as he goes inside to look for the shroud. Nick finds the pie tin on the counter. Amanda enters and smiles at Ace until Gil asks her to leave to handle the disposal issue, with Ace piping up that he can help. The pair leave while Gil watches in disbelief. Nancy knows Gil took the shroud and Nick offers to buy it back for any price, but Gil isn’t selling it. He looks over at photographs of his mother who was murdered 14 years ago. Her body wasn’t found but he knows who did it - Eddie Collins, an old creep that lives on Pulpit Hill. He can’t tell the police as they won’t build a case against him now that he’s dying. He plans to use the shroud tonight to revive Eddie and interrogate him about his mother’s death. George asks if he knows what happens when he uses the shroud, but Nick angrily realizes he does know where it is. He confronts Gil and threatens to tear the trailer apart to find it. Nancy asks George if she trusts her, which George does, so Nancy then asks if they can have the shroud back if she gets him answers about his mother. He gives her until 6:00 tonight but warns that he won’t let the truth die with Eddie.

ACT TWO: Nancy tells George and Nick that Carson is filing an amicus brief to try and delay termination of life support. Nick thinks solving the murder is just a way to side-track Gil but Nancy explains that it isn’t. She assures him that she won’t let anything happen to George, and George wants to go with Nancy’s plan. Nick can’t believe their decision and leaves to call Ace to see if he made any headway with Amanda. Meanwhile, Bess stays on the couch when Carson enters. He is startled to see Bess but assures her that he’s only picking up some books before leaving. She begins to cry so he comforts her, though she is heartbroken when the Marvin’s remove her from a group chat. He decides to work from home but he’ll be in his office if she needs him. At the park, Amanda assures Ace that she didn’t tell Gil about the shroud as he reads her texts. She doesn’t think she can convince him to give the shroud back, as her brother goes dark sometimes. Gil and Nancy walk through the woods as he explains what happened to his mom, with Amanda doing the same with Ace at the trailer park. Their father was in country jail for six months so it was just the three of them. They describe their mother as mercurial, though she would sometimes forget to buy them shoes. She would drop them off at school, hike the trails, and come back to pick them up until the day she didn’t. The police found evidence of a struggle in the woods while a witness saw her arguing with Eddie Collins. The police searched his house and found artifacts of her clothing. Nancy notices a specter carved into a tree where Rosemary went missing. Gil elaborates that they were having an affair but Eddie never confessed to killing her and they never found a body, so Eddie was never charged. Gil tells Nancy that if Eddie dies before giving him answers that a part of him will die too, which Nancy understands. She wants to visit Eddie Collins one more time. Ace asks Amanda for a list of Gil’s hiding spots. She tells him that after their mom died Gil packed up all of Rosemary’s belongings so Amanda didn’t have to see them, explaining that they look after each other. Ace presses that if Gil uses the shroud George will die and he will never come back from that. Amanda reluctantly agrees to give him some locations. At The Claw, Nick tries to find exorcisms for Odette but George is adamant that she tried everything but he assures her that if they beat the death curse and the Aglaeca then can fight this too. She wants to live with this but tells him he has a choice if he wants to stay with her, as she and Odette are a packaged deal. Ace calls to tell them he has a list of Gil’s stash spots. Nancy and Ace arrive at the home of Eddie Collins. Nancy tries to pick the lock but an inpatient Gil decides to hotwire the caretaker’s van to get her out of the house. The duo enters the home when the caretaker leaves to save her van.

ACT THREE: Bess is sobbing when Carson emerges to ask for her help with his opening statement. She agrees to help him but he coaxes her to sit up under the guise of helping with eye contact. She interrupts his first sentence to tell him to add “if it pleases the court, or even if it doesn’t” which he agrees is stronger. He starts from the top with a smile. Nancy and Gil find Eddie in bed and then stairs to a basement. Gil returns to Eddie’s bedside to look at him. Eddie has a death rattle where he sits upright suddenly, but Gil explains the medical condition to Gil. They venture to the basement where he asks how she knows about a death rattle, which explains that she researched it when her mom was dying even though it didn’t help at the time. They find a newly boarded-up wall that Gil knocks down with a hammer, revealing beautiful portraits of Rosemary. Ace and Amanda go to the police station, where Gil’s favorite hiding spot exists in a false bottom of a trash can. They don’t find the shroud in the drawer, but she explains they aren’t partners in the scheme. Nick searches the stones for a hollow mossy limestone but has no luck. Odette stands in front of a tombstone and chastises Nick for constantly asking George what is going on, as she thinks George’s thoughts should remain in her head. She wishes she could be like the tombstone in front of her. Her bones in the earth and her spirit reunited with her love rather than imprisoned in George’s small body. She calls Nick her idiot cellmate and scolds him for not knowing the difference between granite and limestone. She points them out for him and returns to the stone. Nick finds a tin behind one of the rocks, but it only has a baby album detailing Amanda and Gil’s childhood. Odette switches back to George and he tells her about his findings. Meanwhile, Nancy and Gil look at the portraits of Rosemary on the walls. She doesn’t think Eddie killed her, but Gil angrily points out that Eddie was obsessed. He angrily leaves but she stops him, pleading with him to give her the shroud while she has time to investigate. He refuses but she doesn’t understand why Eddie would tell him anything different than his story 14 years ago, to which Gil darkly admits that he will make Eddie tell him. He storms off while Nancy goes back to the room when the light flickers. She takes photos of the portraits and finds a key on the floor. The caretaker catches Nancy trying to leave and exposes Nancy’s lie about being Eddie’s niece, as he doesn’t have nieces. She also points out that Eddie is legally blind and has never painted in his life.

ACT FOUR: Ace and Nancy go to an art gallery since the lockbox key only had another locked box inside it. She assures Ace that Gil isn’t going to use the shroud until 6. She thinks if they find the painter of Rosemary’s portrait they will find the killer, though she also wonders if the mysterious specter is responsible since it was also carved into a tree near Rosemary’s last sighting. The owner of the gallery arrives and tells them that the artist of the portraits is Unknown, and shows them the signature on the photograph Nancy took. He matches it to an abstract painting on a wall with the same signature. He can’t tell her anything else about it as everything is Unknown. The price of the painting is $1,500 so she decides to buy it. At the Drew house, Bess gives Carson more notes on his statement as she eats a grilled cheese he made her. He’s glad to see her better and she realizes that there was never a hearing, to which admits that the judge denied the hearing but he filed a written motion that morning. He assures her that he would have taken all of her notes and applauds her work. He just wanted to give her something else to think about though he understands that things can be overwhelming. She asks how he’s doing, to which he reveals that he’s scared but also freed, for the first time since Nancy’s birth he doesn’t have to worry about keeping his story straight. He can just be himself. He tells her about a spider monkey documentary and how they swing from vine to vine and how they never falter once they let go of one vine because they know the next vine will be there. He tells her that her next vine will be there and to just have faith. At The Claw, Bess, Nancy, and the Drew Crew examine the painting. The numbers 5962 seem familiar to George and Nick points out that the numbers were in Gil and Amanda’s baby book. Bess reveals that there are two paintings on the canvas, as under the abstract piece, is a portrait of Rosemary Bobbsey looking 14 years older than the portraits in Eddie’s basement. Carson calls Nancy to tell her the judge denied the motion, and Nancy tells the Drew Crew that Eddie Collins just died.

ACT FIVE: Gil breaks into Eddie Collins’ house and is confronted by Nancy, who stops him from using the shroud. She tells him that Eddie Collins didn’t kill Rosemary, as the paintings are self-portraits with 5962 being Gil and Amanda’s birth weights and her signature. She tells Gil that Rosemary is still alive as Gil pulls back a blanket to find pillows. She explains his body is on the way to a morgue. Amanda appears to tell Gil that she believes Nancy. Amanda emotionally reveals their mother was being treated for psychiatric delusions and thought she was being haunted by a monster - a Burning Thing. Nancy elaborates that Rosemary met Eddie in group therapy and confided that drawing the thing eased her fear so he let her paint here. Amanda tells him to read Rosemary’s medical reports. He still doesn’t believe her and is angry that Eddie, the only person who can tell them what happened, is dead. She shows him a sketch that her mother made when Amanda was four and afraid of monsters under her bed. Rosemary gave the image of a specter to Amanda, saying that it was the only monster to be afraid of but promised to never let it find her. She tells Gil to give the shroud back to Nancy and he apologizes to Nancy and returns it to her as he leaves. At The Claw, Nick and Bess talk about Odette possessing George. He opens about how mean Odette is and that things are going to be complicated. He doesn’t know who he’s going to bed with at night or waking up to in the morning, not to mention the in-between when they may have sex. He wants to set ground rules with Odette, a schedule, or full-time solitary confinement. Unbeknownst to them, Odette eavesdrops on their conversation from the office. She sets down a letter from her English lover. Bess and Nick check on George to find the office empty, the window open, George’s belongings still there, and the laptop open to tidal charts to ensure there wasn’t water to break her fall. Odette stands at the bluffs looking down at the water.

ACT SIX: Nick and Bess find Odette at the cliffs but she doesn’t want to speak with Nick as she heard his rules and doesn’t want to be confined. Bess tries to appeal to Odette by sympathizing with her losing her true love and her reason to get up in the morning. She calls her a spider monkey but Odette reveals that her lover’s name was Mary, and all she has to do is take one step to be reunited. Bess and Nick try to get Odette to see things logically, as they don’t know what happened to Mary or where she even is. Odette believes they were robbed of life together so Nick pleads with Odette to let George live so they can all make this work. Nick promises that if she doesn’t listen to him he will follow her off the cliff and spend an eternity making her feel his pain. He loves George and they are in this together, all three of them. She repeats Bess’s former statement of “if it pleases the court or even if it doesn’t” before letting George back. George embraces Nick before kissing him. The next morning at The Claw, Ace goes over the newsprints Rosemary used to make the abstract art when Nancy stands next to him. He pieced together that thirty of the strips came from the same newspaper, and hopes he can use that to track Rosemary down. She finds it sweet that he wants to do this for Amanda, and she thought about doing that for Gil but he didn’t ask her so she doesn’t think it’s her mystery to solve. He thinks that’s a good instinct, but warns her that Gil would have killed George so she shouldn’t trust him. He knows her and she seems attached to him, to which Nancy counters that he’s dating Amanda. He tries to deny it but she points out his lucky blue pullover, stating that she knows him too. Gil enters the diner and Ace points out that they could have the new guy wait on Gil, which she thinks is a good instinct, but goes out anyway. She asks Gil if he wants a slice of banana cream pie then sits across from him in the booth. She takes his hand and they sit in silence. Ace and Amanda walk down the pier and discuss Rosemary. Amanda wonders if she should go looking for her mom so Ace tells her that if she’s ever ready, he can tell her to start in Santa Fe New Mexico. She is happy and kisses him until his phone chimes but he kisses her again quickly and is surprised to see that it’s his brother.

Cast and characters[]

Starring:

Guest-starring:

Co-starring:

  • Shannon Kook as Grant
  • Ken Lawson as Gary Hill
  • Beatrice Zeilinger as Nurse
  • Bill Morris as Eddie Collins

Additional:

  • Rosemary Bobbsey (painting)

Quotes[]

Bess: "If it please the court...and even if it doesn't. This isn't about Nick. Okay? When you were killed, you lost your true love, your reason to get up in the morning. And now you're just a spider monkey...in the jungle...between vines."
Odette: "Mary. Her name was Mary. One step forward and we can be reunited."
Odette: "Why should I trust you?"
Nick: "Because if you don't, if you kill George, I will have no choice but to follow you off that cliff, and I will spend eternity making sure you feel my pain...Odette, I love her. Which means for better or for worse, we're in this together."
Odette: "If it please the court."
Bess: "...and even if it doesn't."
Nancy: "Are you telling me to stay away from Gil Bobbsey?"
Ace: "I'm just telling you that I know you and you seem...attached."

Trivia[]

  • The Carson and Bess storyline was the first thing the writers thought of when outlining this episode. They wanted to show Carson's fatherly side and explore Maddison Jaizani's comedic side.[1]
  • Alex Taub, the writer of the episode enjoyed, "the moment where emotionally devastated Bess, in exile on the Drew couch, uses a fireplace tool to snag a bag of Cheetos. It's like they say, heartbreak plus just-out-of-reach snacks is the mother of invention."[2]
  • Amanda Row, the director of the episode, had such an attention to detail that she designed specific artwork for the basement.[3]
  • Alex Taub also loved Nancy and Ace's final scene together saying on Twitter, "I love Nancy & Ace's last scene together. Both actors brought a subtle vulnerability & intimacy to the scene. Though starting down separate romantic paths, there's also a hint that maybe they know each other better than anyone else ever will."[4]
  • Nick's scene with Odette the bluffs, "wasn't just him telling Odette he loves George and will do whatever it takes to save her life - he's letting George and the rest of the universe know where he stands."[5]
  • Alex Taub opened up about his view of Nancy and Gil's relationship and their final scene in the diner, saying, "The loss & tragedy Nancy has been through gives her a natural entry point with Gil. Nancy sees the boy behind the thief -- the one who lost his mom and can't get past it. Her extraordinary ability to empathize informs both her skill set & her blind spots."[6]
  • Amanda Row didn't want to go the direction of photoshopping images to look like paintings, so two real portrait artists were hired to replicate Rosemary's mental health and progression as an artist.[7] Each painting was done with distinct intention[8], and the final oil painting was still wet when Tunji Kasim had to handle it on-camera.[9]
  • Odette calls Bess "amie" which is French for a female friend, a girlfriend, or a female lover. It is often used as a term of endearment.

Gallery[]

Images[]

Video[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Navigation[]

External links[]

References[]

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