Why did Ryan Hudson leave Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew season 2 marked the return of Everett Hudson but with a new actor now embodying the role — here are the likely reasons for the cast change. The Hudsons have served as one of the rich and corrupt families of Horsehoe Bay, rivaled only by the Marvins. As the uncompromising patriarch, Everett was introduced in Nancy Drew season 1, episode 4, "The Haunted Ring." Played by Martin Donovan, he attempted to cover-up the murder of his son's wife, Tiffany (Sinead Curry). Everett returned in later episodes in ever-more villainous ways. As well as causing a dozen deaths as part of an insurance scam, he was revealed to have been instrumental in causing the suicide of Lucy Sable (Stephanie Van Dyck).

Fortunately, Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) was able to unearth potential proof of his crimes. As a result, Everett was arrested and only seen thereafter in flashback sequences. The character ultimately made his dramatic return in Nancy Drew season 2, episode 1, "The Search for the Midnight Wraith". As Nancy and her friends tried to track down Gil Bobbsey (Praneet Akilla), they inadvertently stumbled upon a sinister lodge meeting. The amassed group were revealed to be associates of Everett, plotting to get him acquitted of his charges. Presumably out on bail, Everett confronted the Drew Crew personally regarding their interruption. Rather than Donovan, however, the character was dramatically revealed to now be played by Andrew Airlie.

The Nancy Drew showrunners haven't officially addressed the change. Still, scheduling issues were no doubt the most like reason behind the decision. Donovan has been an extremely busy actor in the last couple of years. He starred in several films that were released in 2020 or scheduled for 2021 — including Tenet. Many of these movies filmed at different locations around the world. Though Tenet likely wouldn't have conflicted, some still-unreleased efforts like Redemption Day and Crisis could have. The former movie filmed in New York and Morocco. As such, Donovan was likely too far removed from Nancy Drew's set in Vancouver to return for the scheduled time.

That fact would have no doubt been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. In the last year, every production has adhered to strict protocols. These have included strict quarantines ahead of even making it to set. As a result, traveling from one set to another hasn't been as easy as it once was. That has gone double when filming all across the globe. Given all of that, it was presumably easier to secure an actor that has confined his work in recent years to other Canada-based productions. Airlie has done just that. Several of his more recent credits have even included fellow CW shows like Supernatural. Between being readily available and Airlie's similar ability to convey arrogant authority and menace, the recasting decision would've made sense. It would've allowed production on Nancy Drew season 2 to move as efficiently as possible.

So far, Airlie's version of Everett Hudson has only appeared in one episode. However, the decision for the recast could also be down to the character having a bigger role in Nancy Drew season 2. Nancy has remained one of the few surviving factors in his downfall and with evidence against him. Now that it's been established that avoiding prison is his primary goal, that would mean he'll surely target Nancy and her friends in the future. Equally, the fact that Nancy is actually the daughter of Ryan Hudson (Riley Smith) and therefore Everett's grandaughter has thus far been kept hidden. Given the nature of secrets in Horseshoe Bay, it will no doubt come out in the end. As such, Nancy Drew season 2 needed an actor who could appear on a more recurring basis — for when the drama inevitably explodes.

More: Nancy Drew's Stephen King Reference Hints At The Show's Future

Nancy Drew, The CW’s supernatural hit starring Kennedy McMann, has shaken up life for everyone in Horseshoe Bay over the last three seasons. From the breakdown of the Hudson family, which practically ran Horseshoe Bay, to uncovering the truth about the folklore tale of Dead Lucy, Nancy and the Drew Crew’s actions and mystery-solving skills have changed the town — for the better, in most cases. But, the exploration of what these changes have done to the town has felt sidelined, as the series has primarily focused on the romantic relationships of those in the Drew Crew. The third season’s finale left off on a particularly dire note for Nancy’s growing romance with Ace (Alex Saxon), whose romance has been cursed by the late Temperance Hudson (Olivia Taylor Dudley). Should Nancy and Ace ever act on their feelings for one another, Ace will die.

Meanwhile, after getting engaged earlier in the season, George (Leah Lewis) and Nick (Tunji Kasim) broke off their engagement to focus on their own lives and how they want to move forward, particularly now that George no longer has certain death looming over her. As for Bess (Maddison Jaizani), she’s recently become involved with Addy Soctomah (Rachel Colwell), but things are still new. After three seasons, it feels like not enough attention has been paid to the aspects of their personal lives outside of romance.

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The upcoming fourth season is a chance to change things up and do something new. There are such exciting prospects on the horizon for each of the characters to delve into in the upcoming episodes that have nothing to do with romance, and still plenty of moments that were undercut in the first three seasons to do a better job of addressing. This is particularly true for the leading heroine, Nancy Drew, who has literally had her entire world fall apart over the course of the show. Nancy is still just a teenager, which the writers seem to forget from time to time. She recently lost her mom, just before finding out Dead Lucy is actually her birth mother and her parents had been lying to everyone for her entire life. While the series has done some to address this, it doesn’t feel like enough. Given the nature of the show, Nancy is repeatedly distracted by mysteries or impending death, so her emotions and personal struggles are constantly put to the side.

When Nancy isn’t facing off against a new supernatural being causing trouble in Horseshoe Bay, she’s been entangled with a variety of men. She dates Nick for a short time, has her slow-burning romance with Ace, and has also been romantically involved with Gil Bobbsey (Praneet Akilla), Owen Marvin (Miles Gaston Villanueva), and Agent Park (John Harlan Kim). All of these romances have had a fair amount of exploration over the series’ 49 episodes, cutting Nancy’s attention to other personal matters short. Entering Season 4, there’s a lot to explore with Nancy outside of romance. After the mess with Temperance and with her terrible experience with Horseshoe Bay’s police force, Nancy decided to open her own investigations firm. So, along with solving the mysteries, she also has a business to run. And, even without romance Nancy has several beautiful relationships that need far more exploration.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of Nancy’s issues with both of her fathers — Carson Drew (Scott Wolf) and Ryan Hudson (Riley Smith) — and Nancy dealing with her true parentage. There’s so much more that could be done. Additionally, Bess has been living with Nancy for quite a while now, but this has never come into play. How much time do Bess and Nancy spend together, and has it made them closer than they are with the others? Let’s take a break from romance and focus on some beautiful platonic relationships, as well as Nancy’s new business ventures, in addition to her unmatched crime-solving.

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Because Nancy is the titular character, there has always been more time allowed for her to split her attention. The others in the Drew Crew haven’t been quite as lucky. George and Nick are the two characters where romance has practically been their key reason for existence, particularly after they started dating each other toward the end of the first season. Since the beginning of Season 2, it truly feels like every story Nick and George have had has revolved around their relationship, as the few stories not about their relationship were lost in the deluge of stories that were. Both have had very hard, very emotional lives, and it’s time to see them really start to heal from that and move forward. It seems, from how the events of the third season played out, this may be the plan for future episodes, which is exciting. There’s so much to explore with both characters, and plenty of room for them to grow before their relationship becomes the focus again. George grew up with an absentee father and an absentee, alcoholic mother, who had more children but never carried the burden of supporting them. George has had to be an adult — and a mother, essentially — since she was far too young. Over the course of the show, we haven’t seen George’s mother around very often. George has been taking care of her sisters, though we don’t see it nearly as often as we should because George’s focus nearly always falls to Nick. Plus, George owns The Claw, her very own business, yet we hardly ever see her running the business. There are ample opportunities to help George grow and excel as a woman, a business owner, and a sister/mother. Instead, it feels like that often falls to the wayside for her romance with Nick. Likewise, Nick often feels like George’s boyfriend, rather than one of the principal characters on Nancy Drew. Season 3 did much better in undoing this, as Nick’s focus often fell on building up his youth center in Horseshoe Bay. But, now that Nick has stepped back from the youth center, what’s next? So much of his past is left unexplored, and given he’s quite a wealthy man, he has a number of options for what to do with his life. Let’s see him focus on healing himself from the trauma he’s endured and branch out into many things he loves before his relationship becomes front and center again.

Bess possibly has the most exciting opportunities moving forward. Over the last three seasons, we’ve seen very little of Bess outside of her romances. She has definitely felt like the writers’ last priority out of the Drew Crew members, which is absolutely unacceptable. Even when she was in relationships in the past, they were the least developed romances on the show. But, again, there’s a chance to change things up now. In the third season, Bess became a Woman in White (in training) with Temperance’s assistance, a magical being that protected Horseshoe Bay when it was first founded. Plus, she started watching over the archive that holds the town’s history and many magical artifacts. So much of Bess’ story has been left unexplored. In Season 2, she is ostracized by her family, the Marvins, which was her sole reason for coming to town. Since then, she hasn’t had any interactions with them, something that’s very surprising considering they’re one of the founding families of the town and were very much intertwined with everything going on in the first season. Little has been said about Bess and her life before coming to Horseshoe Bay. Bess’ story has been limited to romance, particularly in Season 2, and little effort has been put into her personal growth. Season 3 started to change that and left off in a place where Bess can easily become the most exciting character on the show. Bess and Addy are a great match, but her focus shouldn't be solely devoted to this new romance, like the writers did with Bess and Odette. Bess has so many options to be a key player in Horseshoe Bay, even if she's not involved with the Marvins anymore. It could be a beautiful story, really, if it's given the attention it deserves in the future. Meanwhile, Ace is in a very unusual position going into the next season. Because of Temperance’s curse, Nancy cannot act on her feelings, and Ace has absolutely no idea that any of this is going on. As far as he’s concerned, Nancy has ghosted him, which can help to take him in many directions, especially since the season ended with Ace deciding not to return to his parents’ house and to move forward in life on his own. Romance should be the last thing on Ace’s mind while figuring out how to survive the trials and tribulations of adulthood.

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Moving forward, there’s so much potential for everyone, but it’s time for Nancy Drew to switch things up. When not focused on a mystery, the characters have often turned their attention to their romantic lives. It’s been one of the primary sources of drama over the last three seasons, but it’s time to give that a rest. Love needs to be on the backburner as the characters really put in the effort to figure out their futures and what they want to do with their lives. After all, they’re all only in their late teens, maybe very early twenties at this point. There’s so much more that they could be doing with their time that would provide just as much drama and even more character development. Liven things up in Season 4 so the show can continue on.

Nancy Drew is streaming on HBO Max.