WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Nancy Drew Season 2, Episode 4, available now on the CW.
Nancy Drew always highlights the strength and power of women. From the titular detective and her friends Bess and George to the powerful sea spirit the Aglaeca that's hunting them down, women always carry the story. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Season 2, Episode 4, "The Fate of the Burried Treasure," when Nancy truly takes a historian to task for his exclusion of women from the history of their shared town. Even better? The historian is clearly a stand-in for Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
The most recent episode follows Nancy and her friends on their continued quest to break the Aglaeca's curse. Their journey takes them to the Horsheshoe Bay Historical Society and walking tour leader named Aristotle, who might know more information on the Aglaeca's original human form, Odette Lamar. Nancy and Aristotle's conversation quickly uncovers his prejudices in understanding history and turns into a viral diatribe against writing off the past influence of women.
What makes Nancy's attack against Aristotle so cool is that it also works as an attack on the most famous guy to bear that name. The episode sets its historian character Aristotle up to be a clear reference to the famous Greek philosopher — not only in name but in action. His role of walking tour guide feels like a direct reference to the older Aristotle's Peripatetic school of philosophy that relied on walking as a part of the thinking and philosophizing process. Both Aristotles are therefore leaders of groups of walkers and lovers of logic.
More problematic, Nancy Drew's Aristotle seems to also mirror some of the philosopher Aristotle's misogynistic ideas. The Ancient Greek believed that women were less than men, and should therefore be subordinate to male rule. While the tour guide Aristotle doesn't go quite that far, he is vocal about Odette's unimportance, claiming that "the only reason she matters in Horseshoe Bay is that she married a town founder." Yet reducing her to only the role of wife writes off her history and lived experience, including her murder.
Nancy takes the modern Aristotle to task, reminding him that women are more important than just their social roles. She describes Odette's life before coming to Horseshoe Bay running an olive oil empire in France, and how the town's founders subsequently murdered her for her money in order to build the town. Not only was Odette more than just the wife that Aristotle presented, it was her toil and her blood that enabled the town.
Aristotle tries to combat Nancy's comments, claiming that "history isn't feeling, it's fact." Immediately grasping onto logic to retain his upper hand feels exactly like the move a philosopher would make, reinforcing his connection to his ancient namesake. Yet history is rarely as easy as "fact" -- Nancy reminds him that historical sources like wedding documents can tell a biased or false story and are subject to later interpretation. While an Aristotelian objectivity may be a worthwhile goal for the historian, it's rarely possible.
Bringing in an Ancient Greek philosopher was an unexpected move for modern supernatural drama Nancy Drew. But regardless of whether it fits with the rest of the show's vibe, Nancy's pitch-perfect attack reasserted a contingent view of history and the often forgotten impact of women. While the character is a strange addition, Nancy's feminist stance is certainly familiar.