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The Beacon of Moonstone Island is the thirteenth episode of season 2 of The CW television series Nancy Drew, and the thirty-first episode of the series overall. It aired on April 28, 2021.

Synopsis[]

Official synopsis of The Beacon of Moonstone Island from The CW:

IT'S COMPLICATED - Gil insists on helping Nancy investigate a hunch on Moonstone Island, but Ace and Amanda are forced to step in when he is unable to be there for her. Meanwhile, Nick begins questioning Nancy's loyalty. Lastly, Odette is getting on George's last nerve. Scott Wolf, Maddison Jaizani and Riley Smith also star.

Plot summary[]

COLD OPEN: Nancy wakes up in Gil Bobbsey’s bedroom and notices the newspaper headline that states Everett Hudson is walking free thanks to a lying Nancy Drew. It questions what other cases she’s lied about and references Carson. He calls to check on her and thinks she needs a day off, which Gil agrees with as they could take a road trip. She invites him along on her father’s newest case of a sea captain being sued for losing merch after it wrecked. He warns the waters around Moonstone Island are dangerous but she needs it to restore her reputation so he agrees to help her. They call it a first date and kiss. Meanwhile, Ace and Amanda sleep together and he unties her hands from the headboard. He tells her about having a half-brother who had to leave and how his dad is angry but won’t talk about it. She tells him to avoid the whole thing until it blows over. She asks him to take a passport photo of her as she wants to take a solo hike, but Gil doesn’t know. Ace remarks that he’ll miss her but she assures him it won’t be forever as she’s still saving. She opens a coffee can and finds it empty so she storms into Gil’s and confronts him. As she searches, Nancy and Ace meet in the kitchen and Gil tells Ace about taking her to Moonstone Island. Amanda reminds Gil that he can’t so Amanda offers instead. Ace awkwardly watches Nancy and Gil kiss.

ACT ONE: George rummages through the house as she shouts for her sisters to wake up. She learns that Odette threw away all her hoodies and bought Charlie a parakeet. At The Claw, Nancy receives a gift from Celia which Nick hopes is worth setting Everett free. She doesn’t regret it as Ace’s life was at stake which he knows, but his case against Everett is gone. She promises to help him find a way to help him after she clears her head. Nick asks about the beanie that Celia gifted her, but Nancy plans to just donate it to Goodwill. Meanwhile, George finds that her office is rearranged and confronts Odette’s reflection on her black laptop screen. Bess walks in to apologize and George suddenly decides to hide Odette’s love letter to the English woman to teach her not to hide her stuff. Meanwhile, Nancy, Ace, and Amanda arrive at Moonstone Island. Carson’s client saw a beacon from the lighthouse which has been inoperable for fifty years. The trio treks to the rubble lighthouse but instead find fresh embers with blood, tally marks in terms of seven instead of five. They hear rustling and Amanda takes Ace’s hand. They follow the sound and find a campsite and a young girl with a wounded leg.

ACT TWO: Nancy asks the girl if she’s hurt and introduces the group to her, learning her name is Birdie. Her father isn’t with her as she lives here alone. She has an infected leg wound and sprained ligament, but Birdie makes the promise to take her back to the island when they’re done. As they leave, embers begin to fall from the sky. At The Claw, Bess and George gossip over Amanda and Ace with Nancy remarking that Amanda is competent. She then confirms that the pickle jars at the campsite were from the captain’s order. Nick searched missing persons but didn’t find anything, though Ace notes that she’s taken care of so she hasn’t been on the island for long. Amanda treated her the best she could but recommends seeing a doctor. They hear a smash and check on Birdie who wants to eat something else. She asks for grilled cheese and peanut butter. Nancy tells Nick to call social services but will stay with her until someone arrives. In the kitchen, George remembers her first order being grilled cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. Nancy remembers the tally marks which are almost five years. Ace pulls up an article from November 30, 2014, where Paul Klohs the owner of Marine Mechanics went sailing with his wife and daughter. The boat washed ashore but no bodies were recovered. The grandparents had a vigil where they served grilled cheese and peanut butter sandwiches as they were Elizabeth’s favorite snack. She somehow kept herself alive over the years. Fire embers begin to fall again and Birdie screams, so Nancy rushes in to see a parakeet dead and Birdie shaking. When Nancy leaves, Birdie begins to scream why “they” are doing this. Ashes keep falling and Nancy finds Birdie hunched over crying, talking about how they’re mad she left. They decide to take her to Nick’s loft as it’s fire-resistant due to the bricks and nearly tenant-less.

ACT THREE: Nancy talks with Birdie about the beings she calls the fire souls who protect her. They didn’t mean to kill the bird or break the plate. Nancy isn’t so sure which is why they placed her in a salt circle to make it more difficult for the spirits to find her. While they won’t hurt Birdie they might hurt others. Birdie saw them in the water when she couldn’t breathe, so they saved her and kept her warm. She remembers only seeing water but doesn’t remember anything from before that. Nancy and the Drew Crew learn about The USS Bannister; a privateer ship that fought in the war of 1812. The crew wrecked 34 British vessels but never left any survivors. An enemy ship blew up the Bannister with a cannonball which killed everyone in a deadly fire. In 1816 a schooner named September cracked during a storm, and since then, dozens of shipwrecks have taken place in the area. In 1923, a Boston family built a private beach house on the island. They had a big party but there was a massive fire that killed everyone. In 1970, Hill toppers built homes on the island but they were all destroyed by a massive fire. Nancy wonders about the blanket of fifteen stars to keep warm, and Nick knows that the American flag has 15 stars on it until the war of 1818. Amanda eagerly notes that the ghosts are the USS Bannister employees. Nancy wonders what murderous ghosts could want with Birdie, and George wants to call Veronica. Ash begins to fall and Birdie panics, so Nancy tells her that her name is Elizabeth Kohls and tells her about the accident in which she was the only survivor. She begins to remember the moments before the water. Nancy tells Birdie about her surviving family members and that she can be safe with them but the fire souls can’t come. George remarks that there is a ritual to separate ghosts who attach themselves to humans, but they need a totem from Birdie’s past from before the shipwreck. Bess chimes in that fires are being reported all over town. Nancy still doesn’t understand why the ghosts were taking care of Birdie, but then realizes that it was out of guilt. She relates as Celia told her to light herself on fire with the recanting then gave her a gift out of guilt. The ghosts must be desperate to walk something back with Birdie and sees the accident photos of a charred ship. The ghosts caused Birdie’s parents to die. Birdie gives them a time capsule she made in sixth grade while Nancy gives her a rum bottle to trap the souls. George instructs her to say a chant as the fire souls arrive very angry. They throw Birdie backward and Nancy urges her to get rid of the spirits and they explode in fire and are sucked into the bottle. Once they are gone, Nancy hugs Birdie.

ACT FOUR: Odette talks to George about the letter she’s holding and tells her that their souls are entwined so a ritual won’t help them. George wants her hoodie back but Odette reminds her that the fabric is replaceable but not the letter. She rushes out of the loft past Nick and Bess. Bess tells him about her being terrified of being alone and lies that that’s why she’s been writing the history of her life. Nick trusts her to make the right choice about the history and whatever else is on her mind. Nancy brings Birdie to her Uncle’s as a paramedic wraps Nancy’s burned arm. As she gets ready to leave the Uncle asks for her advice on what to say so Nancy tells her not to overwhelm Birdie. He gives Nancy his card for a free boat repair. She goes back to The Claw and asks Ace to pull up photos of the boat from after the accident. She notices the ashes are different colors and her arm stings. Amanda offers to change the bandage but when she does, they see a brand on Nancy’s arm - give no quarter. Ace recognizes it as the pirates’ motto. Nancy realizes that they didn’t sink Birdie’s boat which explains the ash. The boat was registered to a trust - Marine Mechanics, which is the Uncle’s shop. They head to the shop where they read an entry log which Amanda notes is wrong as the mechanics are wrong. Nancy realizes the handwriting is Frank’s as he sabotaged the boat. They find a secret compartment with a safe, which Nancy cracks with Ace’s help as she needs another ear. Amanda watches them work together as they open the safe. Inside are documents that prove Frank used the shop to launder money. She answers a call from Carolyn and learns that Birdie is missing.

ACT FIVE: Nancy confronts Frank about sabotaging the boat and doing something to Birdie. A cop is there and is angered by her spreading more lies but Nancy claims she has proof, but the officer refuses to listen as she snips that Nancy will recant it later. Nancy sneaks in through the back to speak with Carolyn to show her the papers. In return, she gives Nancy the time capsule. Ace and Amanda arrive at The Claw and she asks him if he ever hooked up with Nancy but he claims they’re just friends. Gil emerges from The Claw angrily to confront Amanda about where she was all day but she’s still mad about her money. He wants to know what it’s for so she tells him about backpacking through Europe which he calls basic. She storms into the restaurant upset. Ace asks why he’s such a dick since codependency is a code and she can do what she wants. Inside, she asks Ace if he’s still thinking about Grant and recommends talking to his dad as she didn’t want to go there with him before. She is worried as they skipped over the weirdness and into good which scared her. He kisses her. Nancy goes to the docks where she finds Birdie who is overwhelmed by the memories she has. Nancy tells her she has to learn to live with the memories by staying here and growing. She tells her to make Horseshoe Bay her home and that the fire souls didn’t cause the accident but did save her. She wants to see them but Nancy worries it’s too dangerous, but Birdie knows it’s different now as she’s safe. They aren’t all bad as they did love her. Nancy agrees to free the souls to let her say goodbye. The souls fade away.

ACT SIX: Frank is arrested and the cop notes that Nancy did good work. George folds laundry as her sister enters to tell her she got an extension and thanks, Odette, for getting it for her. She apologizes for not being fair as she didn’t recognize what Odette went through. She wants to help Odette find Mary, so they agree that the clothes and Claw are off-limits. Nancy calls Carson and leaves a voicemail about the captains. Ace finds her to tell her that he understands why she did it but doesn’t like that she worked with the Hudson’s. She doesn’t know what he wants from her and he admits that Gil isn’t the right person for her. He worries that Gil is controlling and takes up energy, but Nancy issues him that she’s fine. He leaves her alone on the bench. Bess answers the door to find Odette who respects the boundaries set between George and Bess but wants to maintain a friendship. They decide to Netflix and chill with Odette critiquing the period pieces. They both reach for the popcorn and pull away. Nancy visits Nick inside The Claw where he’s drawing the empty units as he wants to turn them into a youth drop-in center. She finds it amazing but he still has to figure out a lot of stuff. He asks how she is and she is also thinking about Birdie and the pirates. She doesn’t think good and evil are as clear-cut and pulls the beanie out and wonders if it’s a token of love. Nick tells her that Celia Hudson won’t change but Nancy hopes people will surprise her. She leaves The Claw and puts the beanie on. Nick calls Ryan to tell him that they’ve lost Nancy.

Cast and characters[]

Starring:

Guest-starring:

Co-starring:

  • Mercedes de la Zerda as Officer Hampton
  • Catherine Barroll as Grandma Carolyn
  • Anja Savcic as Odette Lamar
  • Joshua Hinkson as Uncle Frank
  • Sam Krochmal as Fire Soul leader

Mentioned:

Quotes[]

George: "So Ace and Amanda are a thing now?"
Bess: "Oh, do we like her?"
Nancy: "She's competent."
Bess: "You know, I have this pattern of relying on other people to make myself feel loved. And I know it's unhealthy, but I'm just terrified of being alone."

Trivia[]

  • Initially slated to air on April 21, 2021, The CW postponed the episode an additional week to April 28, 2021.[1]
  • Celine Granger live-tweeted the episode from the Nancy Drew Writers Twitter account.
    • "It took me at least an hour to cycle through a million potential one-liners Nancy would use to describe Amanda. "Competent" was such a perfectly respectful yet deeply cutting dig."[2]
    • “Ruben Garcia created such a classic horror movie frame in Nancy's discovery of the dead bird. I got chills the first time I saw that!”[3]
    • "When dealing with trauma you never know when you might be triggered, but you can't be paralyzed by that fear. You have to embrace life, & surround yourself in the things that bring you joy. That's something both Nancy & Birdie are learning."[4]
    • "Very grateful for the opportunity to write a sex scene that ends with a woman going to pee. We need to normalize peeing after sex onscreen! That's my PSA for the week."[5]
    • "Birdie's goodbye to the Fire Souls is so lovely on every level: the performances from @kennedymcmann and @aligthornton, the magical floating embers from our VFX team, the editing, the score, the beauty of the dock at night. Weeping!"[6]
    • "Noga Landau took a lot of thought and care in prep and production building Birdie's world on the island, creating this warm, safe place where Birdie was loved."[7]
    • "I loved writing the final scenes between Nancy & Ace, and Nancy & Nick. Nancy's trying so hard not to lose herself, and Ace & Nick both know it, and they care so much about her, but they both know it's ultimately her journey to figure out."[8]

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Behind the Scenes[]

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