Mystery on the Avalanche Express

While I'm generally a fan of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, I'm not such a fan that I can't spot a bad episode. And it seems that in Season 2, there are a lot of bad episodes. Mystery of the Avalanche Express is one of the worst. To begin with, the plot it just ridiculous. War profiteers? Asylum seekers? That's not the kind of stuff I associate the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew getting mixed up in. What happened to the haunted barns or the UFOs or the other cool mysteries? Neither the Hardys nor Nancy Drew do much of anything to solve a case or bring about a resolution to the situation. It's almost as if it's someone else's plot they just accidentally got involved in. For lack of a better word, Mystery of the Avalanche Express doesn't have the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew "feel" to it.

Next, I never cared for Janet Julian taking over the role of Nancy Drew, but in this episode, she's absolutely terrible. She's got some of the most unnaturally delivery I've heard. And she just doesn't fit the part. She looks too young. Like the scene where she's announces she a private investigator - it reminded me of a child with an overactive imagination making things up.

Finally, when The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries originally aired, they were geared toward a young demographic. Can someone please explain to me the bizarre casting decision to hire the likes of Fabian, Edd Byrnes (complete with laughable accent), Deborah Walley, Vic Damone, and a bunch of other has-beens for this episode? I'm sure the kids in 1978 were beside themselves with the anticipation of seeing Tommy Sands! I can't remember, but I'm sure I was. It's so lame!