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"The Secret of Solitary Scribe" is the third episode of season 2 of The CW's 2019 television series Nancy Drew, and the twenty-first episode overall. It aired on February 3, 2021.

Synopsis[]

Official synopsis of The Secret of Solitary Scribe from The CW:

TICK TOCK – With time running out, Nancy and the Drew Crew come up with a plan that they think might help reverse the curse that the Aglaeca placed on them.[1]

Plot summary[]

COLD OPEN: Nancy stands outside a closed flower shop, waiting for it to open so she can ask about the flowers found at the 1975 victims’ graves. At The Claw, George tries to convince Nick to look at a new house but he can’t focus on anything but the Aglaeca. Bess can’t believe that Ace is washing dishes near the cooler, but he can’t go home as he and his father have been arguing. Bess thinks they should give the bones back to the Aglaeca to get rid of her. She found documents of cases where it worked. Ace worries that it won’t work as Lucy’s skull is missing. She thinks Tamura found it. Ace puts her in charge of talking to Hannah while he retrieves the skull. At the flower shop, Nancy asks who for the information of the customer who bought the wreaths, but the owner, Lily, refuses to give her the information. Nancy decides to look around while she texts Ace to try Plan B. Ace calls the shop feigning a wedding emergency that gets Lily away from the computer. Nancy snoops on the tablet and finds a phone number. She calls it and listens to Carson’s voicemail.

ACT ONE: George clarifies that Carson sent the flowers to the 1975 victims every year for a decade, and there’s no mention of AJ in the records. The only connection to the Aglaeca survivor is Carson, so Nancy has to meet him in The Claw to talk, with her friends monitoring. They sit down but Nancy skips the chit-chat and asks him why he sends flowers to the graves every year on the same day. Carson knows AJ as AJ Crane, the horror novelist. He was his lawyer and arranged for the flower delivery. AJ is a total recluse and refuses to deal with the outside world. Carson refuses to give Nancy his address but offers to take her there on a two-hour car drive. They arrive at AJ’s residence where Nancy removes her AirPods. AJ reluctantly opens the front gate, with Nancy noticing a strange figurine hanging above the doorway. Once inside, strange drawings cover the walls and Nancy immediately asks about AJ’s five dead friends. She pleads with him for answers as her seven days are almost up, which Carson doesn’t understand. AJ refuses to help her as she doesn’t want what he has. He warns that “they” are coming as wind gusts blow. He pushes them out of his house, but Nancy grabs the strange figurine before running off. AJ covers his ears with headphones as he falls to the ground. After a few moments, the shrieking and wailing stop as he looks out the window.

ACT TWO: Nancy visits the Historical Society with the talisman just as Bess enters. Nancy fills her in on finding AJ Crane, who Bess is a fan of. Hannah promises to check the records for the talisman, but Bess brings up returning the bones instead. Nancy refuses even though everyone else wants to try it. Tamura leaves the police station as Ace enters with a basket of bread for Fred, who isn’t on desk duty anymore. Ace brings up the human skull but the new officer doesn’t know what Ace is talking about. Ace sneaks into Tamura’s office to look for the skull, finding it inside a tin. He steals it back and escapes the station until he runs into his father, Tom. Tom has returned to work much to Ace’s chagrin, as Tom is supposed to be retired. Tom wants him to come to Shabbat dinner, but Ace blows it off as he has plans. Tom offers next Friday instead, but Ace changes his mind to go tonight. George tries to find Nick a nice shirt to look for a lease as she doesn’t want to focus on the Aglaeca. She doesn’t want them to be apart if they are going to die in three dies. They worry about what they will miss as a couple. They kiss but Nancy walks in before things get too heated, so the couple nervously leaves. Carson answers a call from AJ who is angry that the talisman is missing as “Hell is coming for Nancy” now. He hangs up before explaining. At the Drew house, Nancy tries to research the talisman but a soft breeze blows through her room. Hannah calls Nancy to warns her to get rid of the talisman, as it’s the mark of the bhoot. It attracts malevolent spirits and draws the most viscous and Evil spirits in the area to the holder. A hand reaches behind Nancy and grabs at her, but when she turns, dozens of hands are reaching out to her. She runs downstairs as AJ grabs her, places her under a table, and tells her to cover her ears. He is dragged away seconds later as glass shatters. When it passes, she checks on him but before he can tell her anything, Detective Tamura and the police arrive to arrest AJ for trespassing, per Carson’s request.

ACT THREE: Nancy sits outside a grocery store where she sees Ryan getting groceries for Lucy’s mom, Patrice. He’s been visiting her as she’s alone. Nancy needs a favor which he isn’t surprised by, but she brings up all the times she didn’t ask him for a favor growing up so he gives in. She asks him to help her get AJ freed. In prison, AJ is panicked and requests a lawyer. He hears breathing behind him moments before The Aglaeca screams at him. Nancy approaches with the talisman and returns it, apologizing for taking it. Ace comes home to celebrate Shabbat but promises Bess that he will be back for low tide. Tamura is visiting for the dinner, much to Ace’s surprise. Tom explains that Tamura is also Jewish but didn’t have anyone to celebrate with as he’s new to town. Tamura subtly mentions bones but Tom is oblivious. Ace thinks Tamura is lying about his heritage and asks him to say the Motzi. Tamura’s happy to try and succeeds, but Ace just wants to eat. At the jail, AJ explains that there were six stupid teens in the car and Mac was driving fast to scare Rita. They hit a station wag that burst into flames. The other driver and his wife were both killed, but they pulled a three-year-old girl out of the wreckage. They felt compelled to do something and they asked the Aglaeca to ensure that the girl lived. They couldn’t pay the toll. The girl was released from the burn unit and adopted by the couple who ran the historical society. Nancy realizes that the girl was Hannah Gruen. Seven days later, the five friends were dead. AJ found the talisman in New Orleans to attract the malevolent spirits to keep the Aglaeca away. Every day for forty-five years, the spirits come in waves to inflict pain and anguish on him. He tells her to try anything that will work, though returning what he asked for isn’t an option. The spirits approach so AJ makes Nancy leave. She calls Bess to tell her she’s in and will give the bones back.

ACT FOUR: Nick and George return to his hotel room and he worries the condition of it isn’t good enough. She thinks it’s perfect since they’re together. They fall onto the bed, but George is haunted by memories of them dying in Nick’s car. She can only think about what’s waiting for them in the truck, and he admits to also being plagued by the thought of it. At Ace’s, Tamura confronts Ace about taking the skull. He tries to lie but Tamura knows better. He becomes annoyed and demands an answer from Ace. Tom enters and asks what is going on, to which Tamura tells him everything including how the skull went missing. Ace pretends that this is a shock though Tamura is barely convinced. He threatens to search the house, but Tom refuses and tells him to get a warrant. Tamura thanks Tom for dinner and leaves. When he’s gone, Ace tells Tom that he didn’t do anything wrong but they are in trouble. He’s going to fix it right now, and Tom gives him his blessing though makes him promise to tell him everything tonight. The Drew Crew and Nancy place the bones at the edge of the sea, with Nancy apologizing to Lucy for not giving her a better burial. Bess comforts Nancy as Lucy is saving her life. Nancy calls to the Aglaeca asking her to take back the bones in exchange for forgiving their debt. Nothing happens, so Nancy slices her palm and bleeds into the water, and repeats her request for forgiveness. The Aglaeca takes the bones back just as Tamura calls asking how AJ escaped. Bess knows how he escaped as she’s read his book and the police work to stop AJ. Nancy worries that AJ is going to return what he asked for - Hannah Gruen’s life.

ACT FIVE: Nancy and the Drew Crew try to find Hannah, but Bess and George don’t have any luck. Nancy hears Hannah’s phone ringing on the ground and follows the trail to the garage where AJ is about to kill Hannah in a car fire. Nancy tries to reason with him that he isn’t a monster but a survivor, asking for the matches he’s holding. He gives them over as the Drew Crew runs over to help Hannah and they call 911. AJ, however, leaves without his talisman. He decides to let the Aglaeca come for him. Nancy and the Drew Crew return to The Claw to celebrate as they hope they have beaten the Aglaeca. They go inside to find Lucy’s bones covering the floor, with Bess eerily noting that the Aglaeca doesn’t have a return policy.

ACT SIX: They clean up the diner while Bess apologizes to Nancy for using Lucy’s bones as a sacrifice. Nancy is just grateful they have the bones back, though she’s still confident they can beat the Aglaeca. Ace tells them to check their phones, as a national story has broken that AJ Crane has died after an errant weather vane fell from a rooftop and impaled him. Bess eerily notes that AJ’s latest book cover showed his character being impaled by a weather vane. Nick offers to walk George home but she suggests they go in the truck instead. She doesn’t care if they die anymore as she’s tired of being afraid. The next morning, Nancy remembers AJ’s words to her about being stuck with his demons. She visits Carson and asks him to accompany her to say goodbye to Lucy. He agrees, and they venture to the woods since Lucy’s tombstone in the cemetery gets vandalized every ear. She thinks Lucy would have wanted her bones buried somewhere else. She decides on Sylvan Woods, as Lucy wrote about loving the area in her journal. Carson suggests inviting Ryan, but Nancy smiles as she already has. Together, the men dig a grave while Nancy traces Lucy’s previously engraved symbols on a tree. Bess and Ace wake Nick and George who are asleep in the truck. Nancy and the Drew Crew bury the talisman at AJ’s place, but before they leave, they go inside to retrieve AJ’s notes on defeating the Aglaeca. Ace finds an unfinished dybbuk box, which he explains can be used to trap spirits and might work on the Aglaeca. A gush of wind blows and Nancy warns that the spirits are coming, so they grab everything they can before leaving. As they run to their car, the Aglaeca eerily watches them from the trees.

Cast and characters[]

Starring:

Guest-starring:

Co-starring:

  • Ellie Harvie as Florist Lily
  • Warren Abbot as Officer
  • Benjamin Arce as "No-Nonsense Unicop"
  • Jenaya Ross as Aglaeca

Quotes[]

Nancy: "Bess, I'm in. Let's give that bitch the bones back."
Nancy: "I wanted to say goodbye to my mother. To Lucy. And I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me."
Carson: "Always."
George: "When I close my eyes all I can think about is what's waiting for us. For the both of us."

Gallery[]

Images[]

Video[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Navigation[]

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References[]

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