1. Nace slow burn

A ship that you can get emotionally invested in can make a good show into a great one, and the dynamic between Nancy and Ace has captured the hearts of fans everywhere. Watching the pair go from essentially strangers, to coworkers, to friends, to mutually pining idiots who definitely have feelings for each other but won’t admit has been such a fun ride. Nace fans everywhere are eagerly awaiting to see what happens with the pairing in season 3 now that Nancy has admitted to herself that she has feelings for him.

2. They’re not high schoolers

All of the main characters have graduated high school and are supposed to be in their late teens/early 20s. So many TV shows focus on high school drama and make it seem like getting into a good college is the end-all-be-all, but Nancy and her friends are either taking a gap year or don’t have any plans to go to college and I find that refreshingly realistic. Going to a four year university isn’t the right path for everyone and I love that this show doesn’t shame the main characters for not aspiring to get a degree.

3. There’s a mix of supernatural and normal episodes

One of the things I love the most about Nancy Drew is how they have both supernatural cases and normal human cases. Some shows only focus on the supernatural and you know that a ghost, ghoul, or demon is responsible for the case of the week and other shows are completely grounded in reality and only have human killers. Nancy Drew has a nice blend of both worlds and keeps you on your toes as you wonder whether or not the baddie of the week is a ghost or just a regular old human.

4. The show seamlessly blends horror and humor

While the ghostly horror elements of Nancy Drew have made me jump on more than one occasion, some of the best moments in the series occur when the show doesn’t take itself too seriously. Whether it be a deadpan one-liner from Ace or a snide sarcastic comment from George, the show proves that it can make you laugh just as easily as it can make you jump out of your seat. While mystery and horror are defining features of the show, I personally don’t think the amount of horror should be a dealbreaker for anyone who doesn’t like scary movies/TV shows and I think that almost all the episodes are suitable for everyone 14 and up.

5.  It starts slow but finds its footing later

Unlike TV shows that have an amazing first season and then goes off the rails (cough Sleepy Hollow cough), Nancy Drew has gotten better with age. In the first few episodes, you’re not really emotionally invested with the characters yet and the writers struggled to find the right tone, but in the back half of season 1 and into season 2, they really found their rhythm and delivered some of the most engaging episodes of the series. Early reviews for the season 3 premiere are already overwhelmingly positive, which bodes well for the shelf life of the series.

6. All of the main characters are three-dimensional characters with rich backstories

Another thing I love about Nancy Drew is how all of the main characters have rich backstories and lives outside of the Drew Crew. In many TV shows, the characters only exist to serve the main character and we don’t get to see much of their families/lives if it doesn’t somehow benefit the main character. This isn’t the case with Nancy Drew. We’ve met Nick’s mom, George’s mom and three sisters, Ace’s dad, mom, and half brother, and countless Marvin cousins and aunts from Bess’s extended family in addition to Nancy’s parents. The show thrives when it focuses on the dynamics between characters, whether it be a familial dynamic, relationships, or friendships.

7. Nancy is a strong female lead played perfectly by Kennedy McMann

Over the years, the character of Nancy Drew has been one of history’s most iconic strong female characters and Kennedy McMann continues that tradition. One of the things that the show does well is that it shows that a strong female character can be vulnerable too. Nancy can cry and be vulnerable and hurt but that doesn’t make her any less of a badass and the other characters in the show never make her feel lesser when she shows her softer side. Nancy has had a rough couple years between the loss of her mom, all her shallow high school friends abandoning her, and her feeling like a failure for tanking her senior year grades. She has every right to cry every now and then and her friends and dad Carson are always there to comfort her and pick her back up when she falls.

8. The Claw and Horseshoe Bay in general are both hella aesthetic

While it’s obvious to any Pacific Northwest Native that the show is filmed in beautiful British Columbia, the small seaside town of Horseshoe Bay, Maine is a character in and of itself. From its endless fog to its lighthouses and craggy seaside shores, Horseshoe Bay is the perfect setting for a haunting. Like Nick’s mom said when she came up for a visit, “Stephen King is right: Maine is filled with terrifying ghosts!”

9. It’s not a carbon copy of the books

Let’s be real, it would be a pretty boring series if all it did was re-enact the original Nancy Drew books. Times change and so do narratives, so while some Nancy Drew purists might be disappointed with some of the creative liberties the show runners take, I for one love the modern take on the timeless classic. There are plenty of easter eggs and references to cases that Nancy solved as a tween for those who read the books, but it’s not a requirement to understand the series. In the almost 100 years since the first Nancy Drew book was published, there have been many TV and film adaptations, and while I’ve enjoyed many of them, the current series holds a special place in my heart.

10. It highlights the profound effect of loss

Finally, I really appreciate how the show highlights the profound effect the loss of a loved one can have on someone. The death of Nancy’s mom Kate Drew is the impetus for the entire series. After Nancy loses her mother to cancer she tanks her grades and bombs senior year so hard that she doesn’t even bother applying to Columbia and instead takes a gap year. Nancy takes a job at the Claw as a waitress to earn some money during her gap year and this is where she meets the other four members of the Drew Crew. Even though Kate Drew is only shown in flashbacks, her presence looms large over the series.

With the season 3 premiere of Nancy Drew coming on Friday, October 8th, now is the perfect time to give the mystery series a chance. The first two seasons are available to stream on HBO Max.