Nancy and Ace just can’t seem to catch a break as they deal with their newest obstacle — her soul being entangled with Tristan’s.
In an Us Weekly exclusive sneak peek from the Nancy Drew series finale, which airs on Wednesday, August 23, Nancy (Kennedy McMann) discusses her options with the Drew Crew after discovering that she has an unexpected connection with Tristan (Henry Zaga) that goes way back.
“Tristan and I will attempt a shared memory weave that will take us to the moment in our past lives where our souls entwined,” Nancy tells her group of friends.
Meanwhile, George (Leah Lewis) points out that they have silver scissors to help guide the pair “like a mystical compass” through the ritual. Nick (Tunji Kasim) adds that Bess (Maddison Jaizani) will be performing the “dangerous” ceremony as a way to help Nancy and Tristan.
“It’s a metaphysical force that will burn Nancy’s soul away from Tristan’s,” Bess shares. “One last little thing. For all of this to work, Nancy and Tristan need to be on the brink of death.”
After voicing concerns about the process being “fatal,” Nancy doesn’t look too thrilled by Tristan checking in on her while Ace (Alex Saxon) watches from afar. She becomes even more worried when Bess points out that another person will be taking part in the ritual.
“Because the brain must be dying for the subconscious to mix with the conscious mind,” Tristan notes about the unexpected addition. In response, Bess explains the process of bringing another person with them, saying, “We send in a lifeguard. A third person that can bring you back.”
Nancy asks, “If we are both dying, how do we escape the weave once we have disentangled our souls?” She gets upset when Ace volunteers for the plan.
“No. A dying mind is not safe. You could easily lose us and then what? You die in there too?” she says before Bess jumps in, adding, “This could actually work. Both of your souls are linked to the death curse. Ace will always be able to find you.”
The worrisome plan comes as Nancy and Ace continue to struggle with their feelings for each other amid a death curse. Earlier in season 4, Nancy and Ace attempted to break the curse that Temperance placed on them, which prevents the couple from acting on their romantic connection or else one of them will die.
Nancy ultimately started to move on with Tristan — who turned out to be a Sin Eater. Ace, for his part, got back into the dating scene by developing an interest in a ghost. In the show’s penultimate episode, Ace realized he was inadvertently responsible for the ghost’s death, which is how they ended up crossing paths before she found peace.
Before season 4 premiered on The CW, McMann, 26, hinted that things would get complicated for the fan-favorite duo before they got better.
“They both are super raw in their love for each other and their incredible pain surrounding this inability to be together. So, I think it makes them both a little irrational at times,” she exclusively told Us in May. “It’s really interesting to see them contend with this high intensity emotion that they’re both experiencing and [how they] so deeply need each other. But at the same time, they are so at odds with each other in terms of how to go about dealing with it.”
The actress also joked that fans should “always” be worried about Nancy and Ace’s future together, saying, “Tristan is a very interesting addition to the cast this season and adds a really interesting dynamic in very unexpected ways. I really don’t think that audiences will have him completely figured out until the finale. So, he’s very intriguing and a really critical part of the story this season, so we shall see how it all plays out.”
While reflecting on the show’s last season, McMann praised the final chapter of the story.
“In terms of how the series ends — without spoiling anything — I think it will be unexpected in a lot of ways. But I am very happy with it and I think it was handled with great care by the writers and they did justice to the series,” she shared with Us. “It was really such a gift to be able to bring all these characters to a solid conclusion and to do that for the fans, but also for us. I feel like I put Nancy to bed in a way that felt really good and gave me a lot of personal closure and that’s such a gift.”
The series finale of Nancy Drew airs on The CW Wednesday, August 23, at 8 p.m. ET.
