Nancy Drew (2019)

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.

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.

This grown-up re-imagination of the teen detective series fits right in the The CW's mold of shows with a gloomy small-town atmosphere and a broody, reluctant hero with a tragic history at the center (see also: Pretty Little Liars, Riverdale). If you're looking for a show that combines that signature mood with a friendly poltergeist element, well, this oughta do it.

The pilot offers fine post-teen drama, but it lacks the nod and wink of lead-in “Riverdale” and so far is more grounded and less insane, a positive or negative depending on one’s love of the crazy.

This series has some considerable flaws, and as you might guess, can be fairly derivative, but it’s got a great lead in Kennedy McCann.

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.

The main mystery surrounding this show, as initially constituted, is what would prompt an audience immersed in so much similar content to stick around.

[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.”

Newcomer Kennedy McMahon, who plays the title role in The CW's new version of Nancy Drew, certainly passes the cuteness test. But her Nancy falls short in every other respect.

Given the degree to which “Nancy Drew” attempts to coast by on sheer attitude, it should come as no surprise that the mystery is fundamentally uninteresting and that Nancy’s friends, in the show’s first two hours, are undistinguished. The show is less a series with characters and plot than an attempt at a haunted mood.