The Hardy Boys have been around for nearly 100 years.  The creation of Edward Stratemeyer, Frank, and Joe Hardy first appeared in 1927 with the publication of the first three books in their series.  For nearly a century, these brothers have been solving mysteries and fighting crime in one format or another – in books, comic books, video games, and, of course, television shows. 

In the late 1970s, NBC/Universal premiered the first Hardy Boys television show starring Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively.  The show lasted for three seasons before being canceled by the network.  In 1995, the Canadian production company, Nelvana Ltd., in conjunction with New Line Television, produced a new Hardy Boys show featuring Colin Gray and Paul Popowich as the title characters.  That show only made it one season before the plug was pulled.

Now, here we are more than fifteen years later, and Nelvana has brought The Hardy Boys back to television with the latest incarnation of the crime-solving duo.  This new series premiered on the streaming network, Hulu, in December 2020, followed by a second season in April 2022.  While this version has steered away from some of the original cannon (the boys’ mother died under mysterious circumstances, their friend Biff is now a girl, their Aunt Gertrude a/k/a “Trudy” is quite young and is a lesbian, and the boys’ ages are now farther apart – Frank is 16 and Joe is only 12), the writers have remained true to the heart of the characters.  Frank and Joe are dedicated to helping others, they are not afraid to put themselves in danger to protect their friends and family, and they will not stop until they uncover the truth of any mystery they stumble across.  

Set in the 1980s, the first season starts with a stolen artifact that seems to be the focus of a lot of people, including the Hardys’ grandmother.  Frank and Joe begin to investigate and find a lot more than they bargained for, including a secret society, a slippery con man, a society known as “The Circle,” and a dangerous secret that relates to their mother’s death.  That first series ends with Frank absorbing a strange power connected with the artifact.  The second season finds the boys looking for a missing classmate, which leads them to uncover a shocking conspiracy involving the Stratemeyer Global company and secret testing in the area called Project Midnight.  The power inside of Frank is affecting him, and there is a shadow man determined to get that power at all costs.  The second season ends with a rather unexpected cliffhanger, leaving Frank’s life on the line!

The third and final season opens with a flashback to Bridgeport, 20 years before the time of the show, taking the viewer back to where it all began with the Hardys’ great-grandfather.  Flash-forward to the “present,” where the Hardys are prepared to attend another funeral.  Frank (Rohan Campbell) is definitely not himself, and Joe (Alexander Elliott) is beginning to suspect something is wrong.  Callie (Keana Lyn) is heading off to Rosegrave with some plans of her own, while J.B. (Atticus Mitchel) returns to help the boys locate the missing scroll. 

The boys’ father, Fenton Hardy (Anthony Lemke) is off on his own investigation following the big revelation at the end of season two, and Aunt Trudy (Bea Santos) finds herself in the middle of it all.  Chet (Adam Swain), Phil (Cristian Perri), Belinda (Krista Nazaire), and Biff (Riley O’Donnell) are all on hand to help solve the big mystery.  Some characters and stories from the previous seasons come back into play, and for one of them, viewers are treated to a payoff that is worth the wait.

The first episode introduces a couple of new characters.  One is a student at Rosegrave, Drew Darrow (Bailee Madison), whose name is clearly a derivative of Nancy “Drew” and Ruth “Darrow,” who was a character created by Mildred Wirt Benson, the original ghostwriter of the Nancy Drew series.  The fact that Drew is from a city called River Heights (the home of Nancy Drew in the books) only confirms the nod.  This is just one of the many nods this series has given to fans, referencing book titles, characters, and other various Easter eggs related to the Hardy Boys and series books in general.  Drew is Callie’s roommate at the prestigious school, and the two team up to uncover the truth about what is going on at Rosegrave.  The other new character is Agent Driscoll (Joe Dinicol), who is working to expose Project Midnight and is keeping an eye on the Hardys and their friends.  He comes across as a bit dimwitted at times, and there are some signs that Driscoll may not be everything he claims to be.

From the opening scene of the first episode to the final climax of the last episode, Season Three of The Hardy Boys is filled with suspense, adventure, and mystery.  The story is filled with the standard elements of a Hardy Boys adventure – treasure maps, secret tunnels, hidden passages, coded messages, double-crosses, mistaken identities, and everything else it takes to make a great mystery.  And when the boys are given an offer from a mysterious benefactor to obtain the one thing they want more than anything else, they will have to team up with their enemy in a race against time to find the last relic and put an end to the madness once and for all.  But not without a cost – this season sees a heartbreaking loss for one of the brothers, a devastating loss that only spurs them on to stop the evil mastermind before the world is destroyed.

After two seasons, the writers have a firm grasp of these characters.  Campbell does an exceptional job as a very troubled Frank.  Perhaps his role in Halloween Ends helped prepare him for this season. Mitchel, as the Hardys’ guardian angel of sorts, really steps up this season, and despite his cons and games, he proves himself an integral part of the Hardy Boys’ team. Madison may be a new addition to the cast, but the actress has come a long way since her days as the young Snow White in Once Upon a Time.  She definitely steals the show with her strength and quick wit, and I could easily see her as Nancy Drew.  And the rest of the supporting cast meld so perfectly, their dialogue and interactions so natural, it’s easy to get lost in their fictional world and believe everything that is going on, no matter how fantastic it is.  Supernatural powers, magical crystals, and otherworldly stones do not seem so unrealistic, which is the mark of not only good writing but also talented acting.  And with such a young cast, it is impressive the amount of talent these actors have.

Is the show perfect?  No show is perfect.  There are a few plot elements that do not work; such as Aunt Trudy’s relationship with Biff’s mother is probably the biggest flaw.  It’s not the fact that she is a lesbian, but rather, the fact that their relationship is so easily accepted in the 1980s, which would not have been the case during that decade.  It seemed almost as if the writers forgot the decade in which they had set the story (just like one of the characters saying “rando” for random, a slang term that was not used back then.  However, they are not so severe that they cannot be overlooked, and they certainly don’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the show.  

If you watched the first and second seasons of The Hardy Boys, the third season is a must-see!  There are enough twists and turns in the mystery this season that you’ll never see the end coming!  If this series had to come to conclude, there is no doubt this was the way to end it.  So, until the next incarnation of The Hardy Boys comes along, this is the swansong the boys so richly deserve.

4 1/2 stars

Todd Latoski