Nancy Drew season 4, episode 8 brings us a supernatural show staple, the body swap episode. It was only a matter of time, and frankly, I’m glad they finally delivered.

I’ve been watching genre TV for a long time, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Smallville and a whole host of other shows along the way. A very popular episode for these types of shows is the body swap, and I was a little surprised when I realized Nancy Drew has yet to gift us this common supernatural trope in its first 3 seasons. It seems that Nancy Drew season 4, episode 8 is the limit though, as we get to see our characters swap bodies to great effect for a good portion of this episode. And it causes just the right amount of havoc, in my opinion.

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Nancy as Ace

Looking at Ace’s body and seeing Nancy’s mannerisms was quite the trip. You can almost imagine Kennedy McMann standing in Alex Saxon’s place and delivering the lines. I love these episodes, because it really gives the actors a chance to have a little fun and try some fun new things, take a few risks.

My favorite part was probably Nancy’s reluctance to wear her mom’s necklace despite desperately wanting to at the same time. If this had happened on any other day, besides the one year anniversary of her mother’s death, she probably would have been okay, but this is a rough day to be without her most dear connection to her adoptive mom.

Ace as Nancy

It was only fitting that these two switched with each other. It might have made slightly more logical sense for the whole group to do a five way switch, instead of a pair swapping and a trio trading 3 ways, but who cares. It’s more effective storytelling-wise to have Nancy and Ace spend some time in the other’s shoes. Ace got a reminder in the form of Carson Drew about how much exactly Nancy has lost in such a short time, and Nancy was given a glimpse into Ace’s relationship with his dad.

My favorite moment here was definitely the sign language. I wonder how they plan to explain Nancy’s devolution in ASL when she next visits with Ace’s family, but that’s future Nancy’s problem. Maybe this will inspire her to really devote some time to learning, even if she and Ace are (currently) still not giving in to their feelings. It’s a very useful language to know, after all.

George as Nick

And of course, this body swap day had to be so full of appointments and presentations, right? George, Nick, and Bess all have important things to do. And while Bess (in Nick’s body) is off to give a speech, and George (in Bess’ body) is trying to figure out how to handle this client Bess has promised to help, Nick (in George’s body) has the somewhat awkward, but ultimately really endearing task of surviving a Torts study session with one of George’s new law classmates.

Nick is surprisingly deft at handling every curveball thrown his way. Which is why watching him use his unique knowledge of George to give his newcomer a pretty realistic, if not sometimes awkward, idea of what future study dates might be like without things getting weird is my favorite moment, in addition to being so damn sweet. Nick and George have a forever bond in a way no one else could understand. He wants what is best for her, and if she likes this guy and wants to get to know him, he will not do anything to get in her way.

Nick as Bess

I’m really glad it wasn’t just a one-to-one body switch for like, Nancy and Ace, but that George, Nick, and Bess got to play, too. Mostly because it gave us the chance to see Tunji Kasim play Bess. The accent, the mannerisms, the barely restrained panic that tried to take over at the thought of giving a speech in a room full of somewhat hostile people, it was all perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Tunji stretch his acting skills a bit here, mostly because it was just hilarious.

My favorite part was Bess being a little shocked at the size of her muscles now that she’s in Nick’s body. As the only Drew Crew lady who hasn’t gotten up close and friendly with Mr. Nickerson, it was the perfect way to shake things up as we get closer and closer to the dreaded series finale.

Bess as George

This portrayal was the most understated, which is easy to understand when you think about internalized George usually is. She’s not one to wear her emotions on her sleeves, but Maddison Jaizani did a superb job of capturing George’s subtle, yet frank way of being. Where all the rest would usually talk out a problem, George has always been more action oriented. So, when they’re all taking stock of what needs to happen as they wait for Ryan to get his hands on the other half of Bennu’s Diamond, George just starts to walk out the door in the most pragmatic way possible. She needs to go try and turn away this young man Bess has planned to help, so she just turns to go handle it, but thank goodness Bess came up with a different strategy.

My favorite part is probably watching all of George’s facial expressions on Bess’ face as Bess in Nick’s body is performing the ritual and summarizing what needs to happen. It’s just so fun seeing what is typically written all over George’s face come out in a very different way.

Some other stuff happened in ‘Nancy Drew’ season 4, episode 8, too

We see Carson figuring out how to balance his mourning with Nancy’s, Ryan going to the mat for the Drew Crew and really showing up when they needed him, and, finally, Nancy acknowledging the anniversary of her mother’s death.

Watching the final few scenes of Nancy Drew season 4, episode 8, and seeing her celebrating her mother’s life with a cake fight, just the way Kate would want, was a perfect touch to the episode. The only thing I missed was that Ace wasn’t a part of it. He needed some bonding time with his dad, and I’m glad he got it, but I wish it wouldnt have been at the expense of such a light-hearted moment with his crew. I would have liked to see that unreserved smile once again. Alas, maybe next time.

Oh, and did we mention Nancy found the black door?! Can’t wait to see how that plays out in the next episode.

Check out all our other great Nancy Drew-related coverage here, and if you’re just a massive Kennedy McMann fan (like us), you won’t want to miss this great article about her next new project.

You can find all the official Nancy Drew Season 4 info, as well as catch the latest episode, on the CW’s website.