Secrets and Lies
Episode 4 of The Hardy Boys begins down on the beach as police swarm to the remnants of where the fugitive was hiding out. Joe spies from afar, watching from behind the bushes as he pleads with them not to find the toolbox. Given the officers all sport evidence boxes, he soon learns that they do have it and hurries off to figure out what to do next given his soldering iron is inside with his initials. Emma breaks up with Frank, telling him they both need to move on. Frank remains distraught and distracted in the wake of Joe talking about the box and the fugitive. If the police open the toolbox then that will link back to Aunt Trudy’s and worse, Joe could be in a lot of trouble. Downstairs, Frank speaks to Trudy who warns him about Gloria and her interference with the family. There’s definitely something up with her but for now it remains a mystery. Instead, Frank heads in to the library and hands back the book about Bridgeport mysteries. The librarian there realizes it’s Laura’s and apologizes to him for his loss. She tells Frank that the chapter was torn out after check-out and she came down several times from the city to access the archives. Apparently the day she took out the book she was drinking a coffee while reading – which isn’t allowed. Drinking coffee though obviously brings things back to Wilt’s given he’s the only shop in town. Frank heads back to work and takes Wilt aside where he learns that Laura was there the day she died. He’s obviously not happy that Wilt lied but he reveals that Laura definitely seemed to be upset when she showed. She had had an argument with someone but didn’t want to get involved with the “family business”. Could this link back to Gloria? Well, Frank seems to think so and speaks to Gloria, who just gets off the phone to the Mayor about an upcoming deal prior to his arrival. Frank asks her about the last conversation she and Laura had together. Apparently Laura was concerned about Frank’s schooling; she didn’t want Frank to go to Rosegrave and it seems to hint that she and Gloria had a falling out about this. Gloria admits to being a little “forceful” but didn’t think Laura was upset. Frank is not convinced and starts to express his concerns, especially given this schooling is a conversation she should have had with him. Jesse heads to the hospital and learns that the Tall Man survived the electric shock. How? We don’t know but there’s definitely something not quite right about him. She tells the doctors to call if there’s any change, but as she leaves the room the Tall Man opens his eyes again. Joe struggles to concentrate and decides to head out to the police station. There, he notices the toolbox lying in the evidence box but doesn’t have a good alibi for being there and is told to leave. Back home, Biff catches up with Joe and decides to help him get the soldering iron back. Only when they get there, they’re immediately stopped by Jesse who catches Joe snooping around her office after getting his soldering iron back. Biff however, is nowhere to be seen for now. Alone with Jesse, Joe doesn’t give up anything except admitting that he’s “good at keeping secrets”. Eventually she drives him back home. Callie catches up with Frank at work and tells him that Gloria and Laura did have an argument and it ended with Laura telling her that “this has to stop.” This conversation was definitely not referring to Frank. Realizing that his grandmother lied, Frank and Callie head out to investigate and find evidence pertaining to a letter from the past about the Demon’s Paw issue. After the explosion, Bridgeport suddenly boomed and became a prosperous place to live in. At the heart of this seems to be a powerful group pulling the strings. Only, they don’t get to investigate much more given security show and force them out. Back home, Frank returns to find Joe in Jesse’s police car. Joe and Frank head inside while Jesse hangs back and talks to Trudy. There’s clearly a weird sense of romance here that seems to be in the wings but for now that’s not really spoken about. Instead, Trudy heads in and implements some rules for the boys to follow. In the morning, Biff heads over with a book holding evidence from the police station inside. This evidence comes in the form of a Wanted poster and now it becomes clear that the fugitive’s name is actually J.B. Meanwhile, Khan receives word back from her associate, Nigel, that the Prime Minister is onboard with what she has cooking up. Kanika wants to know how Gloria is getting on too and believes that things are going to get worse in the near future.
The Episode Review
Secrets and Lies is an apt title for this episode as both come tumbling out in big ways. It’s very obvious now that Gloria is hiding something and it seems like she’s at the heart of everything going on in town. Demon’s Paw obviously has a massive part to play in this tale too and the central mystery is intriguing enough to keep watching to find out what happens next. However, the teen triangle between Emma, Frank and Callie does feel a bit shoehorned in. Given how much emphasis is on the actual mystery, do we really need some romance in here too? I’m not so sure. For now though, the series leaves the door wide open for where this one may go next.
