#bethanyactually

To recap, this is right after the veil. Nancy comes back to The Claw, saves Ryan's life, and soon after, the rest of the crew arrives. They discuss damage, casualties, and what's next. Nick and George are off to the youth center to open it as a shelter. Bess and Ace are going to empty the freezer and cook food for people.

Ace watches Bess and the others go, and immediately turns to Nancy: "We could use some help if you're up for it."

The important thing to note here is this is right after the veil. The last Ace interacted with Nancy, she told him to run from the veil ("I'm doing this for us, okay?") and right after, grabbed the front of his jacket, apologized in tears, and left. So he's definitely concerned!

Yet instead of being like "what happened back there at the veil?" he takes the I know Nancy route, and invites her to help him and Bess.

It's comparable to 3x01. There, Ace could tell Nancy was off. So when she says this:

He says, "I can help you carry it."

And it works! She accepts. Whereas he's asking if she literally wants help carrying it, it's also his way of saying "hey, I'm here if you want to talk." It gets them alone and leaves the decision to then talk up to Nancy (who we all know tends to not want to do that) (unless it's to Ace 😉).

But in the finale, that method does not work. Nancy does not want to talk. She shakes her head and tells him she's going with Nick and George instead.

In terms of the camera work here (gif below), it's incredibly quick. We jump from Ace, to Nancy saying no, to her grabbing the first aid kit and making a run for it.

It highlights how badly Nancy needs to get away from him. She just held him dead in her arms, found out that wasn't even real, came back to reality only to give him up to save the town, and now here she is at The Claw - needing to pretend none of that happened. Which is more or less impossible because she just experienced some of The Worst moments of her life.

Yet this time, Ace doesn't let her run.

Technically, this is uncharacteristic for him. He never pushes Nancy. He knows that only pushes her away. But this is really important. He also knows it involves him.

So Ace follows her into the back of The Claw. The camera as Ace follows Nancy is another example of how much movement there is in the scene.

We stay right behind him as he practically jogs after her. The camera is a bit shaky, and that highlights the lack of stability in the scene. He knows something's wrong (is probably panicking because of that). Nancy is incredibly upset (needing to get away so he doesn't see her cry, further proving that something is wrong).

Here's where we end up next, with Nancy in the back putting the first aid kit on a shelf. Maybe expecting Ace to not follow, she begins to let herself cry. She's alone now.

Which does not last. Ace arrives and as soon as she realizes that, she has to put all that emotion away.

Interesting to note here is that Ace wastes zero time before asking Nancy what's up. He needs to know, and maybe he's thinking if he doesn't hurry and ask, she'll slip away again.

What I like about this part is the camera is focused on Ace. Yet we can see Nancy too. Ace is focused on Nancy. The perspective doesn't change much from when Nancy puts the kit away and when Ace shows up. He's there that fast, so all she can do is turn to him. I think because of that, the way it's filmed feels personal. To stay with the idea of movement, we've moved with them. We're with Nancy, and then Ace shows up, and we see that from her perspective.

Since Nancy can't run, she gives him an answer. She hesitated because she's never killed someone.

For what it's worth, it's a decent attempt at an answer. Even if it's entirely a lie, as Nancy already killed Temperance once before in the future forecast. But in that sense, there's still truth to it because killing Temperance is something she struggled with in the forecast too.

To discuss perspective, we are now from Ace's. Nancy is now the one talking and Ace is the one listening. Yet look how close we are to Ace, basically at his shoulder. It still feels personal. This entire scene is very personal for them. The camera is still not steady. Even as Nancy gives her explanation, she's starting to move away from him. She's talking fast too, sniffling as she does. There's an urgency here, just like there is in the entire scene.

The second she's said what she needs to, Nancy leaves. She doesn't give him a chance to ask follow-up questions or even respond.

She pushes past him as she leaves, and the camera responds to that.

The camera pushes back as she pushes past Ace. The perspective ends lower and further back than where it started. This distance works in contrast to the moment prior, where we were very close to Nancy and Ace. This shows how alone Ace is. Literally alone because Nancy is gone, and also figuratively as he has no idea what's going on.

I'll also point out that Ace does not move. So much of this scene is movement because the camera is following them. Jumping from Ace to Nancy, the walk to the back room, Nancy leaving, etc.

Now, he's still as the camera moves without him. The camera moving shows the tension isn't gone, but Ace is now at a loss. His attempt to talk to Nancy failed because all he got was a lie (or half-truth). He can't follow her as he knows she's upset. Following her would further upset her, increase the emotional distance between them, etc. He's doing the right thing in letting her go.

As the scene ends on this new angle, he just looks smaller. He looks helpless. He's left to contemplate what just happened, and we don't learn his conclusion until a month later during the famous Apartment Scene. (Where he blames himself, completely unaware of the moth curse via great aunt).

But to wrap things up and return to the point, I don't know that Nancy Drew is a show with a ton of noticeable camera work in every episode. Or maybe it's just that I've only recently started paying attention to it. I'm no expert lol, but I will say 3x13 is a very standout episode.

Another good 3x13 example is after the car crash. How the camera goes low to show Temperance towering over Nancy. Temperance is powerful, and she is in control.

There's also the odd angle (a disoriented feeling after the crash combined with the realization this is not reality). That's in addition to the (not pictured) close-ups on Nancy's face. Getting close and personal highlights how distraught she is.

With Nancy Drew, if there's episodes with cool camera work, there's a good chance Larry Teng directed. Recently when I rewatched 1x17, I was all of ten seconds in when I realized it reminded me of 3x13. And no surprise! Larry Teng directed that one too.

So I feel like it's one thing to just film what's happening, but another entirely to use the camera to emphasize emotions/the story itself. 3x13 is just a perfect example of that, and that's interesting to me.