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* EvilGloating: Pretty much everything out of Drew's mouth qualifies once she holds the Hardys at gunpoint, mocking them about how they're too late to stop her EvilPlan, but especially once they all see the boys' friends on camera trying to break into the house, with Drew stating that they'll never get inside and will all get caught in the Sim. Which makes it all the more satisfying when Callie and the Hardys turn the tables.
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* WishFulfillment: In-universe, Drew explains to the Hardy Boys that the Sim works like this for the people in it, and no matter how much it may defy all logic, they'll still nearly always choose to believe this over "a flawed reality," using Fenton as an example. He desperately wishes Laura were still alive, so the prototype Sim came up with the scenario that she'd had her death faked; however, since that didn't really make sense (seeing as he'd buried her dead body), he then subconsciously invented a storyline of his best friend Sam being a DirtyCop and Olivia being a government agent, and believed it even though this ''also'' didn't make sense so he could plausibly have Laura back.
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* AntiEscapismAesop: Drew's EvilPlan is to use the Core and the ley lines with her virtual reality simulation, which she calls the Sim, to trap the entire world inside of it. She seems to see herself as some kind of WellIntentionedExtremist, referring to this as "an upgrade" for the people in it (such as how Fenton, Frank, and Joe were able to imagine Laura being alive again, and JB as well in Joe's case). This does not make her any more sympathetic in or out of universe, and the heroes reject the idea of living in a fake world, with Frank pointing out that he and Joe willingly chose to escape the prototype Sim and accept the truth once they realized it wasn't real even though it meant losing their mom for good.
* AssholeVictim: Olivia, as TheDragon to Drew, was fully complicit in and even supportive of her EvilPlan, has killed many people with zero remorse to help advance said plan (including JB, Quill, and [=McFarlane=]), and has always shown a near-total LackOfEmpathy towards everyone, including Drew herself. So it's hard to say she didn't have it coming when Drew turns on her and fatally shoots her (even if her reasons for doing so somewhat fall under DisproportionateRetribution).
* AssholeVictim: Olivia, as TheDragon to Drew, was fully complicit in and even supportive of her EvilPlan, has killed many people with zero remorse to help advance said plan (including JB, Quill, and [=McFarlane=]), and has always shown a near-total LackOfEmpathy towards everyone, including Drew herself. So it's hard to say she didn't have it coming when Drew turns on her and fatally shoots her (even if her reasons for doing so somewhat fall under DisproportionateRetribution).
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* BoundAndGagged: Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie tied to chairs back-to-back with tape over their mouths. Just as he frees them, they all get caught in Drew's worldwide LotusEaterMachine.
to:
* BoundAndGagged: Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie Jesse tied to chairs back-to-back with tape over their mouths. Just as he frees them, they all get caught in Drew's worldwide LotusEaterMachine.
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* ButNowIMustGo: Downplayed. Trudy Hardy moves out of the Hardy home--which she grew up in with her family, and has lived in ever since--in the SeriesFinale, but only to move in with Jessie Hooper, her girlfriend, so she'll still be living in Bridgeport and will be able to see her brother and nephews and their friends all the time, especially since this also means she's living in the same house as Biff.
to:
* ButNowIMustGo: Downplayed. In the ending, Trudy Hardy moves out of the Hardy home--which she grew up in with her family, and has lived in ever since--in the SeriesFinale, but since--but only to move in with Jessie Jesse Hooper, her girlfriend, so she'll still be living in Bridgeport and will be able to see her brother and nephews and their friends all the time, especially since this also means she's living in the same house as Biff.
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* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Drew steals Olivia's gun and goes on a rant about how her sister never made any attempt to stop Hurd from sending William away or shipping her off to boarding school. Olivia doesn't apologize or seem contrite about any of this, just responding to the part about boarding school with "You came back!" and dismisses William as "just a chauffeur" and then "just some guy," rather than showing any sympathy for her. Needless to say, this doesn't exactly appease Drew, who concludes Olivia doesn't deserve to be part of her vision and shoots her.
* DiesWideOpen: Olivia, after being shot [[SiblingMurder by her own sister]]. Fenton closes her eyes after she's dead.
* DistressedDude and DamselInDistress:
** Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie BoundAndGagged and frees them, only for all of them to temporarily be put in Drew's LotusEaterMachine along with the rest of the world until their kids save the day.
* DiesWideOpen: Olivia, after being shot [[SiblingMurder by her own sister]]. Fenton closes her eyes after she's dead.
* DistressedDude and DamselInDistress:
** Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie BoundAndGagged and frees them, only for all of them to temporarily be put in Drew's LotusEaterMachine along with the rest of the world until their kids save the day.
to:
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Drew steals Olivia's gun and goes on a rant about how her sister never made any attempt to stop Hurd from sending William away (despite knowing that Drew cared for him) or shipping her off to boarding school. Olivia doesn't apologize or seem contrite about any of this, just responding to the part about boarding school with "You came back!" and dismisses William as "just a chauffeur" and then "just some guy," rather than showing any sympathy for her. Needless to say, this doesn't exactly appease Drew, who concludes Olivia doesn't deserve to be part of her vision and shoots her.
* DiesWideOpen: Olivia, after being shot [[SiblingMurder by her own sister]]. Fenton finds her right before she dies, and closes her eyesafter she's dead.
afterward.
*DistressedDude and DamselInDistress:
DistressedDude:
** Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, andJessie Jesse BoundAndGagged and frees them, only for all of them to temporarily be put in Drew's LotusEaterMachine along with the rest of the world until their kids save the day.
* DiesWideOpen: Olivia, after being shot [[SiblingMurder by her own sister]]. Fenton finds her right before she dies, and closes her eyes
*
** Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and
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* ICanRuleAlone: The BigBad, Drew, ends up shooting TheDragon to death ([[SiblingMurder her own sister Olivia]]), with the reasoning that she feels Olivia didn't do a good enough job of standing up for her interests to their dad when they were kids, so she "doesn't deserve to be part of" the new sim-world that Drew has created. Still, it's not something she's particularly happy about doing, as she's shown shedding a few tears while and after killing her.
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* HiddenDisdainReveal: In a [[MoodWhiplash sudden turn of events]], Drew steals Olivia's gun and goes on a rant that reveals she's had this for her sister for a very long time. Despite Olivia being Hurd's favorite (or so Drew claims) and having his ear in a way she didn't, and even with knowing how much their chauffeur, William, meant to her sister, she didn't do anything to prevent Hurd from sending William away or later shipping Drew off to boarding school. Olivia [[NotHelpingYourCase doesn't help her case]] by showing her usual LackOfEmpathy while trying to talk her sister down and referring to William as "just some guy," and Drew shoots her dead (though she doesn't take any enjoyment from it).
* ICanRuleAlone: The BigBad, Drew, ends up shooting TheDragon to death ([[SiblingMurder her own sister Olivia]]), with the reasoning that she feels Olivia didn'tdo a good enough job of standing make any attempt to stick up for her interests to their dad when they were kids, so she "doesn't deserve to be part of" the new sim-world that Drew has created. Still, it's not something she's particularly happy about doing, as she's shown shedding a few tears while and after killing her.
* ICanRuleAlone: The BigBad, Drew, ends up shooting TheDragon to death ([[SiblingMurder her own sister Olivia]]), with the reasoning that she feels Olivia didn't
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** Olivia left a trail of bodies in her wake in the previous season trying to bring down the Circle, tried to frame Fenton for it, [[ILied lied to him]] about having info on Laura's death, as well as who she's related to, and as TheDragon to Drew, is complicit in her putting Fenton, then the Hardy Boys, then the ''whole world'' in her LotusEaterMachine. Olivia herself dies when someone she really ''is'' related to, her sister, [[ICanRuleAlone betrays]] and [[SiblingMurder kills]] her.
to:
** Olivia left a trail of bodies in her wake in the previous season trying to bring down the Circle, tried to frame Fenton for it, [[ILied lied to him]] about who she's related to and having info on Laura's death, as well as who she's related to, and as TheDragon to Drew, killed numerous people on her behalf (like [=McFarlane=], JB, and their own subordiate Quill) and is complicit in her putting Fenton, then the Hardy Boys, then the ''whole world'' in her LotusEaterMachine. Olivia herself dies when someone she really ''is'' related to, her sister, [[ICanRuleAlone betrays]] and [[SiblingMurder kills]] her.
* KickTheDog: Just to make it extra clear to the audience that Drew is not the WellIntentionedExtremist she tries to pretend to be and is not in any way sympathetic, when mentioning how people in the Sim are willing to find any way to make their WishFulfillment come true and believe that over a "flawed" reality, she mocks Joe for having seen JB alive inside the prototype Sim even though it didn't make any sense and rubs it in his face how he essentially had to lose JB a second time upon realizing it wasn't real. Joe even warningly tells her to watch it.
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* LoopholeAbuse: Once the main characters save the day, are pressured into [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain signing an NDA]] [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold about everything that happened]], and are all given Sparewell laptops as bribes/rewards, Callie decides to go through with Drew's plan of "going nuclear" with all the info she gathered about the Circle of the Eye, Project Midnight, and Rosegrave and its secrets. When pointed out that this would immediately violate her NDA, Callie states that she's posting it on Drew's behalf, under her identity, since ''she'' never signed an NDA (having not been able to on account of being rendered catatonic after the events of the climax).
to:
* LoopholeAbuse: Once the main characters save the day, are pressured into [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain signing an NDA]] a Non-Disclosure Agreement]] [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold about everything that happened]], and are all given Sparewell laptops as bribes/rewards, Callie decides to go follow through with on Drew's plan of "going intention to "go nuclear" with all the info she gathered about the Circle of the Eye, Project Midnight, and Rosegrave Academy and its their secrets. When pointed out that this would immediately violate her NDA, Callie states that she's posting it on Drew's behalf, under her identity, since ''she'' never signed an NDA (having not been able to on account of being rendered catatonic after the events of the climax).
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* SiblingMurder: As Drew is about to succeed in her goal of trapping everyone inside her simulation, she turns against TheDragon, her own older sister Olivia, out of lingering resentment that, despite being Hurd's favorite (or so Drew claims) and having his ear in a way she didn't, and even with knowing how much their chauffeur, William, meant to Drew, Olivia didn't do anything to prevent Hurd from sending William away or later shipping her off to boarding school. Olivia tries to plead with her not to by reminding her that they're sisters, but Drew kills her anyway, although she takes no pleasure in doing so and sheds a few tears.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: Downplayed. The fact that magic exists in this universe in the form of supernatural relics of non-Earth origins was, for most of the series, only known to a precious few people; even most of those who knew about the Circle of the Eye were just aware that it was a major conspiracy and not that actual magic was involved. But then at the climax of this season, Drew uses the Core to temporarily put the ''entire planet'' into a simulation until the TrueCompanions stop her, at which point ''everyone'' in the world wakes up, on the ground, at the same time. While the gang has to sign an NDA promising not to mention the ''details'' of what went down, there's no way to avoid the world knowing that ''something'' happened that can't be dismissed by mundane explanations, especially because Drew's use of the Core [[RealEventFictionalCause apparently greatly sped up the advance of technology and the internet]] in this universe. It's further hammered home by Callie "going nuclear" like Drew planned to and posting all the dirt Drew got on Rosegrave, the Circle, and Project Midnight online for anyone to find and read.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: Downplayed. The fact that magic exists in this universe in the form of supernatural relics of non-Earth origins was, for most of the series, only known to a precious few people; even most of those who knew about the Circle of the Eye were just aware that it was a major conspiracy and not that actual magic was involved. But then at the climax of this season, Drew uses the Core to temporarily put the ''entire planet'' into a simulation until the TrueCompanions stop her, at which point ''everyone'' in the world wakes up, on the ground, at the same time. While the gang has to sign an NDA promising not to mention the ''details'' of what went down, there's no way to avoid the world knowing that ''something'' happened that can't be dismissed by mundane explanations, especially because Drew's use of the Core [[RealEventFictionalCause apparently greatly sped up the advance of technology and the internet]] in this universe. It's further hammered home by Callie "going nuclear" like Drew planned to and posting all the dirt Drew got on Rosegrave, the Circle, and Project Midnight online for anyone to find and read.
to:
* SiblingMurder: As Drew is about to succeed in her goal of trapping everyone inside her simulation, the Sim, she turns against TheDragon, her own older sister Olivia, out of lingering resentment that, despite being Hurd's favorite (or so Drew claims) and having his ear in a way she didn't, and even with knowing how much from their chauffeur, William, meant to Drew, Olivia didn't do anything to prevent Hurd from sending William away or later shipping her off to boarding school. childhood. Olivia tries to plead with her not to by reminding her that they're sisters, but Drew kills her anyway, although she takes no pleasure in doing so and sheds a few tears.
tears.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: Downplayed. The fact that magic exists in this universe in the form of supernatural relics of non-Earth origins was, for most of the series, only known to a precious fewpeople; people (whose numbers have been gradually whittled down even more from being killed off); even most of those who knew about the Circle of the Eye were just aware that it was a major conspiracy and not that actual magic was involved. But then at the climax of this season, Drew uses the Core to temporarily put the ''entire planet'' into a simulation until the TrueCompanions stop her, at which point ''everyone'' in the world wakes up, on the ground, at the same time. While the gang has to sign an NDA promising not to mention the ''details'' of what went down, there's no way to avoid the world knowing that ''something'' happened that can't be dismissed by mundane explanations, especially because Drew's use of the Core [[RealEventFictionalCause apparently greatly sped up the advance of technology and the internet]] in this universe. It's further hammered home by Callie "going nuclear" like Drew planned to and posting all the dirt Drew got on Rosegrave, the Circle, and Project Midnight online for anyone to find and read.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: Downplayed. The fact that magic exists in this universe in the form of supernatural relics of non-Earth origins was, for most of the series, only known to a precious few
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* VillainousBreakdown: Drew has a huge one inside her own simulation, after Callie tricks her into revealing (through a SarcasticConfession) the "kill switch" for the Core and then escapes. Drew realizes that the heroes can now thwart her plot while she's still stuck in there and can't stop them, and is reduced to a screaming temper tantrum.
to:
* VillainousBreakdown: Drew has a huge one inside her own simulation, after Callie tricks her into revealing (through a SarcasticConfession) the "kill switch" for the Core and then escapes. escapes when the Hardys pull her out. Drew realizes that the heroes can now thwart her plot in the real world while she's still stuck in there the Sim and can't has no way of getting out to stop them, and is reduced to a screaming temper tantrum.
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* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Drew steals Olivia's gun and goes on a rant about how her sister never made any attempt to stop Hurd from sending William away or shipping her off to boarding school. Olivia doesn't apologize or seem contrite about any of this, just responding to the part about boarding school with "You came back!" and dismisses William as "just a chauffeur" and then "just some guy," rather than showing any sympathy for her. Needless to say, this doesn't exactly appease Drew, who concludes Olivia doesn't deserve to be part of her vision and shoots her.
* DissonantSerenity: Downplayed after Drew murders Olivia. She ''does'' shed a few tears right afterward, but wipes them away and otherwise doesn't show much emotion, and in her next scene right after this, is cheerfully humming to herself since her plan's about to be set in motion.
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* LetsSplitUpGang: The three Hardys have broken out of Drew's simulation and go off to find and stop her, only to reach a fork in the hallway and decide to split up. Fenton actually attempts to buck the usual trend by offering Joe to come with him, but he chooses to stick with his brother, citing their dad's serial DistressedDude tendencies. Sure enough, while the boys' path leads them to a confrontation with Drew, Fenton finds the dying Olivia and then the [[ParentsInDistress three captured parents]], freeing them just in time for all four of them to be put in Drew's completed worldwide LotusEaterMachine.
to:
* LetsSplitUpGang: The three Hardys have broken out of Drew's simulation and go off to find and stop her, only to reach a fork in the hallway and decide to split up. Fenton actually attempts to buck the usual trend by offering Joe to come with him, but he chooses to stick with his brother, citing their dad's serial DistressedDude tendencies. Sure enough, while the boys' path leads them to a confrontation with Drew, Fenton finds the dying Olivia and then the [[ParentsInDistress three captured parents]], freeing them just in time for all four of them to be put in Drew's completed worldwide global LotusEaterMachine.
* MoodWhiplash: Drew shares a (darkly) heartwarming moment with Olivia where she thanks her older sister for believing in her vision and the two of them share a hug...which Drew uses as an opportunity to steal her gun and point it at her. Olivia tries and fails to talk her sister down, and is shot to death for her trouble.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: Downplayed. The fact that magic exists in this universe in the form of supernatural relics of non-Earth origins was, for most of the series, only known to a precious few people; even most of those who knew about the Circle of the Eye were just aware that it was a major conspiracy and not that actual magic was involved. But then at the climax of this season, Drew uses the Core to temporarily put the ''entire planet'' into a simulation until the TrueCompanions stop her, at which point ''everyone'' in the world wakes up, on the ground, at the same time. While the gang has to sign an NDA promising not to mention the ''details'' of what went down, there's no way to avoid the world knowing that ''something'' happened that can't be dismissed by mundane explanations, especially because Drew's use of the Core [[RealEventFictionalCause apparently greatly sped up the advance of technology and the internet]] in this universe. It's further hammered home by Callie "going nuclear" like Drew planned to and posting all the dirt Drew got on Rosegrave, the Circle, and Project Midnight online for anyone to find and read.
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** Drew's original claim to Callie of what she's doing at Rosegrave Prep is to find enough dirt about the school, the Circle, and Project Midnight to bring them down, due to Project Midnight causing the death of her brother, Orrin. But we learn much later that this was a bald-faced lie and Drew never even had a brother, lending the question of why she really came to Rosegrave and was so interested in their dirty secrets. She did need to get the Crystal to use with the Core for her plan, and since she deals in information, which she calls "the new atomic bomb", it's possible she was either planning to blackmail them or actually go nuclear and expose it all (like she told Callie she wants to) as a way of eliminating a potential rival to her power, but it's not made entirely clear.
to:
** Drew's original claim to Callie of what she's doing at Rosegrave Prep is to find enough dirt about the school, the Circle, and Project Midnight to bring them down, due to Project Midnight causing the death of her brother, Orrin. But we learn learned much later that this was a bald-faced lie and Drew never even had a brother, lending the question of why she really came to Rosegrave and was so interested in their dirty secrets. She did need to get the Crystal to use with the Core for her plan, plan and could've come there to find it, and since she deals in information, which she calls "the new atomic bomb", it's possible she was either planning to blackmail them or actually go nuclear and expose it all (like she told Callie she wants to) as a way of eliminating a potential rival to her power, but it's not none of this is made entirely clear.
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* AndTheAdventureContinues: The series ending. In the denouement, Joe and Frank are debating whether to keep solving mysteries or try to just be normal teenagers, but then Sam brings Fenton a new case involving missing stamps, and since he's now retired, Fenton gives it to the boys instead. The final scenes show the brothers sharing the details of the case with their friends and discussing possible theories (making it quite clear that yes, the Hardy Boys and friends will continue solving local mysteries), and then ends on a BrickJoke of Wilt being shown to have some involvement in it and being worried that someone's onto him (in a scene completely PlayedForLaughs rather than any kind of foreboding).
* BaitAndSwitch: After Drew's EvilPlan to put the whole world in her LotusEaterMachine has succeeded, she's shot the Hardy Boys dead, and there's no one left to stop her, she goes upstairs, blasts loud music, and indulges in [[DancePartyEnding some victory dancing to celebrate]]...and then looks up to see ''[[WhamShot Chet]]''--whom she and the audience saw get caught in the simulation--staring in her window at her. Then Callie comes up from behind and casually greets her, and Drew [[OhCrap realizes with horror]] that ''she herself'' is in the simulation too and only imagined everything that just happened.
* {{Bookends}}: The opening scene of the series was Frank and Joe playing a video game together, bickering about how to beat it, then Joe getting a GameOver thanks to them scuffling over the controls. The brothers' final scene in the SeriesFinale features the same video game, but this time with Belinda at the controls and all their friends present, and she successfully overcomes that same obstacle and wins.
* BoundAndGagged: Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie tied to chairs back-to-back with tape over their mouths. Just as he frees them, they all get caught in Drew's worldwide LotusEaterMachine.
* BrickJoke: The series ends on a hilarious one. Simulation-Laura previously Frank that she always thought Wilt might be hiding something, which Frank was incredulous about. In the finale, once the friends are given a new case to investigate related to some missing stamps, Phil suggests Wilt could be involved, and the rest of them don't take it seriously. Then [[AndTheAdventureContinues the final shot of the series]], which is PlayedForLaughs, has Wilt take a phone call from some mystery boss and tell them that someone's onto him and they need to move the stamps that night.
* ButNowIMustGo: Downplayed. Trudy Hardy moves out of the Hardy home--which she grew up in with her family, and has lived in ever since--in the SeriesFinale, but only to move in with Jessie Hooper, her girlfriend, so she'll still be living in Bridgeport and will be able to see her brother and nephews and their friends all the time, especially since this also means she's living in the same house as Biff.
* ChainOfPeople: Used to stop Drew's plan with ThePowerOfFriendship. Frank tries to shut down the Core by himself with the Eye's power, but in an echo of the Season 1 finale, starts to become overwhelmed. Joe grabs onto him to try to share the burden, then Callie grabs Joe, Chet grabs her, Belinda grabs him, Biff grabs her, and Phil grabs Biff. Joe then shouts for Phil to touch the Eye, completing the human circuit between the two relics and deactivating the Core.
* CharacterDeath: Olivia Sparewell, alias Olivia Kowalsky, meets her end at the hands of [[SiblingMurder her own younger sister Drew]], who has apparently carried some resentment for her for years and decides that ICanRuleAlone. Olivia doesn't die right away after being shot and tries to crawl out of the compound so she'll get caught in the simulation and can pass more painlessly that way, but is too weak to make it, and Fenton finds her on the stairs just before she succumbs.
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The Sparewell Tech commercial first shown in "A Strange Inheritance", which has been shown again and proven important several times. At the time, Phil gushed to the other kids about how much he'd love to own one of the portable laptop computers it's advertising; by the denouement here, after the gang has saved the day, they all receive one of these Sparewell laptops "in exchange" for signing the [=NDAs=].
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: In the [[AndTheAdventureContinues new case that Sam gives the kids]] in the denouement of the finale to find some missing stamps, Phil's theory that Wilt is involved somehow is regarded as pretty "out there" by the rest of the gang, with Joe jokingly telling him he's off the case. Funny enough, the simulation version of Laura also previously suggested to Frank that Wilt is secretly shady. Then the very last scene consists of a BrickJoke confirming that Wilt is, indeed, part of the operation, and is worried that someone's onto him.
* DiesWideOpen: Olivia, after being shot [[SiblingMurder by her own sister]]. Fenton closes her eyes after she's dead.
* DistressedDude and DamselInDistress:
** Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie BoundAndGagged and frees them, only for all of them to temporarily be put in Drew's LotusEaterMachine along with the rest of the world until their kids save the day.
** Once Drew uses the Core to launch her simulation worldwide, Chet is the only one of the TrueCompanions who doesn't make into the compound (the only place not affected by it) in time, and temporarily gets caught in it along with the rest of the world. Thanks to having some faint remains of the Eye's power in them, the Hardy Boys are able to go outside while avoiding getting pulled in themselves, bring Chet inside, and wake him up from it.
* EmptyShell: Drew's final fate. When the DSA attempts to take her out of her own simulation that Callie put her in, the system experiences some kind of glitch ([[AmbiguousSituation not made clear]] if it was caused by Drew resisting being removed, something else she did to avoid the consequences of her crimes, or a just a freak accident) that prevents her from waking up in the real world and leaves her mind stuck somewhere in limbo, rendering her catatonic and admitted to a mental hospital for the rest of her life.
* FriendshipMoment: Belinda goes into a HeroicBSOD, breaking down in sobs, after Chet gets caught by and pulled into Drew's worldwide simulation while buying enough time for the rest of his friends to reach the compound, where they'll be safe from it. Callie gives her a big hug before going off to catch up with Drew and help the Hardys, while Biff and Phil stay with Belinda to comfort her.
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Subverted. Once our heroes defeat the BigBad and save the day, they're asked to LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain and sign an NDA about all that went down. They each get their own shiny-new, advanced-tech Sparewell laptops in exchange, and Callie promptly uses hers for some LoopholeAbuse, exploiting the fact that ''Drew'' never signed an NDA (having been left an EmptyShell) to publicly air all of the Circle's and Rosegrave's dirty laundry on the now-greatly-advanced internet under Drew's name so the rest of the world ''can'' hear about it.
* ICanRuleAlone: The BigBad, Drew, ends up shooting TheDragon to death ([[SiblingMurder her own sister Olivia]]), with the reasoning that she feels Olivia didn't do a good enough job of standing up for her interests to their dad when they were kids, so she "doesn't deserve to be part of" the new sim-world that Drew has created. Still, it's not something she's particularly happy about doing, as she's shown shedding a few tears while and after killing her.
* KarmicDeath:
** Olivia left a trail of bodies in her wake in the previous season trying to bring down the Circle, tried to frame Fenton for it, [[ILied lied to him]] about having info on Laura's death, as well as who she's related to, and as TheDragon to Drew, is complicit in her putting Fenton, then the Hardy Boys, then the ''whole world'' in her LotusEaterMachine. Olivia herself dies when someone she really ''is'' related to, her sister, [[ICanRuleAlone betrays]] and [[SiblingMurder kills]] her.
** A karmic FateWorseThanDeath: Drew put the Hardy family through an emotionally traumatic experience by sticking them in her LotusEaterMachine, and briefly does the same to the ''whole world''. Then the TrueCompanions turn the tables by putting ''her'' in her own simulation, and once they've shut down the Core and thwarted her plans, Drew experiences some kind of glitch when the DSA tries to wake her up from it, leaving her in limbo and catatonic for the rest of her life.
* LetsSplitUpGang: The three Hardys have broken out of Drew's simulation and go off to find and stop her, only to reach a fork in the hallway and decide to split up. Fenton actually attempts to buck the usual trend by offering Joe to come with him, but he chooses to stick with his brother, citing their dad's serial DistressedDude tendencies. Sure enough, while the boys' path leads them to a confrontation with Drew, Fenton finds the dying Olivia and then the [[ParentsInDistress three captured parents]], freeing them just in time for all four of them to be put in Drew's completed worldwide LotusEaterMachine.
* LoopholeAbuse: Once the main characters save the day, are pressured into [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain signing an NDA]] [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold about everything that happened]], and are all given Sparewell laptops as bribes/rewards, Callie decides to go through with Drew's plan of "going nuclear" with all the info she gathered about the Circle of the Eye, Project Midnight, and Rosegrave and its secrets. When pointed out that this would immediately violate her NDA, Callie states that she's posting it on Drew's behalf, under her identity, since ''she'' never signed an NDA (having not been able to on account of being rendered catatonic after the events of the climax).
* LotusEaterMachine: Drew's ultimate plan for the completed version of her simulation is to use the Core's power to put ''everyone in the world'' into it, and [[NearVillainVictory temporarily succeeds]] before the good guys stop her and shut it down. Even Chet is briefly put under, too, before the Hardys save him and snap him out of it.
* NearVillainVictory: Drew really does succeed in using the Core to launch her LotusEaterMachine worldwide, capturing Chet, the parents, and everyone else in the world in it except for the rest of the TrueCompanions, and she even appears to shoot the Hardy Boys dead when they try to stop her. But Callie actually sneaks up on Drew and clocks her in head, they put her in her own simulation (where she just ''imagines'' that she shot the boys), and she tricks her into revealing the secret of how to shut down the Core, which the friends (including Chet, who was rescued) succeed in doing, breaking the simulation and saving the day while Drew remains trapped inside her own creation.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: How the gang deactivates Drew's LotusEaterMachine: Frank, Joe, and their friends form a ChainOfPeople between the Core and the Eye, so the Eye's power is conducted and passed through each of them to reach, react with, and destabilize the Core, shutting it down and breaking the worldwide simulation. This is also hammered home by each of the kids experiencing [[FreezeFrameBonus brief flashback snippets]] of {{Friendship Moment}}s and/or romantic encounters they've experienced with each other throughout the series.
* RealEventFictionalCause: Apparently, the way Drew hooked up the Core to spread her simulation worldwide is what causes the advent of the internet and improvement of computer technology in this universe, and it's implied to have advanced much further, much faster here than it did in the RealLife timeline.
* SeriesFinale: As well as the SeasonFinale for Season 3. The creators knew ahead of time when the show was renewed once again that the third season would be its last, so they're able to give the series its planned wrap-up, with an AndTheAdventureContinues-style ending.
* SiblingMurder: As Drew is about to succeed in her goal of trapping everyone inside her simulation, she turns against TheDragon, her own older sister Olivia, out of lingering resentment that, despite being Hurd's favorite (or so Drew claims) and having his ear in a way she didn't, and even with knowing how much their chauffeur, William, meant to Drew, Olivia didn't do anything to prevent Hurd from sending William away or later shipping her off to boarding school. Olivia tries to plead with her not to by reminding her that they're sisters, but Drew kills her anyway, although she takes no pleasure in doing so and sheds a few tears.
* TheUnReveal:
** Drew's original claim to Callie of what she's doing at Rosegrave Prep is to find enough dirt about the school, the Circle, and Project Midnight to bring them down, due to Project Midnight causing the death of her brother, Orrin. But we learn much later that this was a bald-faced lie and Drew never even had a brother, lending the question of why she really came to Rosegrave and was so interested in their dirty secrets. She did need to get the Crystal to use with the Core for her plan, and since she deals in information, which she calls "the new atomic bomb", it's possible she was either planning to blackmail them or actually go nuclear and expose it all (like she told Callie she wants to) as a way of eliminating a potential rival to her power, but it's not made entirely clear.
** Once the TrueCompanions use the Eye to deactivate the Core (which also had the Crystal in it), it's not stated what happened to the relics afterwards. Since the Core's and Eye's magic "don't like each other" and the gang had to form a ChainOfPeople to connect them, it's implied that this may have [[TheMagicGoesAway drained the magic out of all of the relics]] and rendered them inert, but it's not confirmed.
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Subverted when the boys tell their friends of their plan to go outside the compound to get Chet and the Eye and bring him back indoors, but are aware that their lingering powers from the Eye may not be enough to protect them from being caught and pulled into the simulation, too, and bid their friends farewell in case they don't make it back. Then they're able to retrieve and wake Chet with no issues, meaning their plan works more perfectly than even they expected.
* VillainousBreakdown: Drew has a huge one inside her own simulation, after Callie tricks her into revealing (through a SarcasticConfession) the "kill switch" for the Core and then escapes. Drew realizes that the heroes can now thwart her plot while she's still stuck in there and can't stop them, and is reduced to a screaming temper tantrum.
* YouWouldntShootMe: Joe says this to Drew when she has him and Frank cornered at gunpoint, only for her to shoot both of them before he even finishes the sentence. Then we see a moment later that Callie actually snuck up on Drew and knocked her out before she could fire, and then they put her in her own simulation, where she just ''imagined'' that she shot them.
* BaitAndSwitch: After Drew's EvilPlan to put the whole world in her LotusEaterMachine has succeeded, she's shot the Hardy Boys dead, and there's no one left to stop her, she goes upstairs, blasts loud music, and indulges in [[DancePartyEnding some victory dancing to celebrate]]...and then looks up to see ''[[WhamShot Chet]]''--whom she and the audience saw get caught in the simulation--staring in her window at her. Then Callie comes up from behind and casually greets her, and Drew [[OhCrap realizes with horror]] that ''she herself'' is in the simulation too and only imagined everything that just happened.
* {{Bookends}}: The opening scene of the series was Frank and Joe playing a video game together, bickering about how to beat it, then Joe getting a GameOver thanks to them scuffling over the controls. The brothers' final scene in the SeriesFinale features the same video game, but this time with Belinda at the controls and all their friends present, and she successfully overcomes that same obstacle and wins.
* BoundAndGagged: Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie tied to chairs back-to-back with tape over their mouths. Just as he frees them, they all get caught in Drew's worldwide LotusEaterMachine.
* BrickJoke: The series ends on a hilarious one. Simulation-Laura previously Frank that she always thought Wilt might be hiding something, which Frank was incredulous about. In the finale, once the friends are given a new case to investigate related to some missing stamps, Phil suggests Wilt could be involved, and the rest of them don't take it seriously. Then [[AndTheAdventureContinues the final shot of the series]], which is PlayedForLaughs, has Wilt take a phone call from some mystery boss and tell them that someone's onto him and they need to move the stamps that night.
* ButNowIMustGo: Downplayed. Trudy Hardy moves out of the Hardy home--which she grew up in with her family, and has lived in ever since--in the SeriesFinale, but only to move in with Jessie Hooper, her girlfriend, so she'll still be living in Bridgeport and will be able to see her brother and nephews and their friends all the time, especially since this also means she's living in the same house as Biff.
* ChainOfPeople: Used to stop Drew's plan with ThePowerOfFriendship. Frank tries to shut down the Core by himself with the Eye's power, but in an echo of the Season 1 finale, starts to become overwhelmed. Joe grabs onto him to try to share the burden, then Callie grabs Joe, Chet grabs her, Belinda grabs him, Biff grabs her, and Phil grabs Biff. Joe then shouts for Phil to touch the Eye, completing the human circuit between the two relics and deactivating the Core.
* CharacterDeath: Olivia Sparewell, alias Olivia Kowalsky, meets her end at the hands of [[SiblingMurder her own younger sister Drew]], who has apparently carried some resentment for her for years and decides that ICanRuleAlone. Olivia doesn't die right away after being shot and tries to crawl out of the compound so she'll get caught in the simulation and can pass more painlessly that way, but is too weak to make it, and Fenton finds her on the stairs just before she succumbs.
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The Sparewell Tech commercial first shown in "A Strange Inheritance", which has been shown again and proven important several times. At the time, Phil gushed to the other kids about how much he'd love to own one of the portable laptop computers it's advertising; by the denouement here, after the gang has saved the day, they all receive one of these Sparewell laptops "in exchange" for signing the [=NDAs=].
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: In the [[AndTheAdventureContinues new case that Sam gives the kids]] in the denouement of the finale to find some missing stamps, Phil's theory that Wilt is involved somehow is regarded as pretty "out there" by the rest of the gang, with Joe jokingly telling him he's off the case. Funny enough, the simulation version of Laura also previously suggested to Frank that Wilt is secretly shady. Then the very last scene consists of a BrickJoke confirming that Wilt is, indeed, part of the operation, and is worried that someone's onto him.
* DiesWideOpen: Olivia, after being shot [[SiblingMurder by her own sister]]. Fenton closes her eyes after she's dead.
* DistressedDude and DamselInDistress:
** Fenton finds Trudy, Brian, and Jessie BoundAndGagged and frees them, only for all of them to temporarily be put in Drew's LotusEaterMachine along with the rest of the world until their kids save the day.
** Once Drew uses the Core to launch her simulation worldwide, Chet is the only one of the TrueCompanions who doesn't make into the compound (the only place not affected by it) in time, and temporarily gets caught in it along with the rest of the world. Thanks to having some faint remains of the Eye's power in them, the Hardy Boys are able to go outside while avoiding getting pulled in themselves, bring Chet inside, and wake him up from it.
* EmptyShell: Drew's final fate. When the DSA attempts to take her out of her own simulation that Callie put her in, the system experiences some kind of glitch ([[AmbiguousSituation not made clear]] if it was caused by Drew resisting being removed, something else she did to avoid the consequences of her crimes, or a just a freak accident) that prevents her from waking up in the real world and leaves her mind stuck somewhere in limbo, rendering her catatonic and admitted to a mental hospital for the rest of her life.
* FriendshipMoment: Belinda goes into a HeroicBSOD, breaking down in sobs, after Chet gets caught by and pulled into Drew's worldwide simulation while buying enough time for the rest of his friends to reach the compound, where they'll be safe from it. Callie gives her a big hug before going off to catch up with Drew and help the Hardys, while Biff and Phil stay with Belinda to comfort her.
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Subverted. Once our heroes defeat the BigBad and save the day, they're asked to LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain and sign an NDA about all that went down. They each get their own shiny-new, advanced-tech Sparewell laptops in exchange, and Callie promptly uses hers for some LoopholeAbuse, exploiting the fact that ''Drew'' never signed an NDA (having been left an EmptyShell) to publicly air all of the Circle's and Rosegrave's dirty laundry on the now-greatly-advanced internet under Drew's name so the rest of the world ''can'' hear about it.
* ICanRuleAlone: The BigBad, Drew, ends up shooting TheDragon to death ([[SiblingMurder her own sister Olivia]]), with the reasoning that she feels Olivia didn't do a good enough job of standing up for her interests to their dad when they were kids, so she "doesn't deserve to be part of" the new sim-world that Drew has created. Still, it's not something she's particularly happy about doing, as she's shown shedding a few tears while and after killing her.
* KarmicDeath:
** Olivia left a trail of bodies in her wake in the previous season trying to bring down the Circle, tried to frame Fenton for it, [[ILied lied to him]] about having info on Laura's death, as well as who she's related to, and as TheDragon to Drew, is complicit in her putting Fenton, then the Hardy Boys, then the ''whole world'' in her LotusEaterMachine. Olivia herself dies when someone she really ''is'' related to, her sister, [[ICanRuleAlone betrays]] and [[SiblingMurder kills]] her.
** A karmic FateWorseThanDeath: Drew put the Hardy family through an emotionally traumatic experience by sticking them in her LotusEaterMachine, and briefly does the same to the ''whole world''. Then the TrueCompanions turn the tables by putting ''her'' in her own simulation, and once they've shut down the Core and thwarted her plans, Drew experiences some kind of glitch when the DSA tries to wake her up from it, leaving her in limbo and catatonic for the rest of her life.
* LetsSplitUpGang: The three Hardys have broken out of Drew's simulation and go off to find and stop her, only to reach a fork in the hallway and decide to split up. Fenton actually attempts to buck the usual trend by offering Joe to come with him, but he chooses to stick with his brother, citing their dad's serial DistressedDude tendencies. Sure enough, while the boys' path leads them to a confrontation with Drew, Fenton finds the dying Olivia and then the [[ParentsInDistress three captured parents]], freeing them just in time for all four of them to be put in Drew's completed worldwide LotusEaterMachine.
* LoopholeAbuse: Once the main characters save the day, are pressured into [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain signing an NDA]] [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold about everything that happened]], and are all given Sparewell laptops as bribes/rewards, Callie decides to go through with Drew's plan of "going nuclear" with all the info she gathered about the Circle of the Eye, Project Midnight, and Rosegrave and its secrets. When pointed out that this would immediately violate her NDA, Callie states that she's posting it on Drew's behalf, under her identity, since ''she'' never signed an NDA (having not been able to on account of being rendered catatonic after the events of the climax).
* LotusEaterMachine: Drew's ultimate plan for the completed version of her simulation is to use the Core's power to put ''everyone in the world'' into it, and [[NearVillainVictory temporarily succeeds]] before the good guys stop her and shut it down. Even Chet is briefly put under, too, before the Hardys save him and snap him out of it.
* NearVillainVictory: Drew really does succeed in using the Core to launch her LotusEaterMachine worldwide, capturing Chet, the parents, and everyone else in the world in it except for the rest of the TrueCompanions, and she even appears to shoot the Hardy Boys dead when they try to stop her. But Callie actually sneaks up on Drew and clocks her in head, they put her in her own simulation (where she just ''imagines'' that she shot the boys), and she tricks her into revealing the secret of how to shut down the Core, which the friends (including Chet, who was rescued) succeed in doing, breaking the simulation and saving the day while Drew remains trapped inside her own creation.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: How the gang deactivates Drew's LotusEaterMachine: Frank, Joe, and their friends form a ChainOfPeople between the Core and the Eye, so the Eye's power is conducted and passed through each of them to reach, react with, and destabilize the Core, shutting it down and breaking the worldwide simulation. This is also hammered home by each of the kids experiencing [[FreezeFrameBonus brief flashback snippets]] of {{Friendship Moment}}s and/or romantic encounters they've experienced with each other throughout the series.
* RealEventFictionalCause: Apparently, the way Drew hooked up the Core to spread her simulation worldwide is what causes the advent of the internet and improvement of computer technology in this universe, and it's implied to have advanced much further, much faster here than it did in the RealLife timeline.
* SeriesFinale: As well as the SeasonFinale for Season 3. The creators knew ahead of time when the show was renewed once again that the third season would be its last, so they're able to give the series its planned wrap-up, with an AndTheAdventureContinues-style ending.
* SiblingMurder: As Drew is about to succeed in her goal of trapping everyone inside her simulation, she turns against TheDragon, her own older sister Olivia, out of lingering resentment that, despite being Hurd's favorite (or so Drew claims) and having his ear in a way she didn't, and even with knowing how much their chauffeur, William, meant to Drew, Olivia didn't do anything to prevent Hurd from sending William away or later shipping her off to boarding school. Olivia tries to plead with her not to by reminding her that they're sisters, but Drew kills her anyway, although she takes no pleasure in doing so and sheds a few tears.
* TheUnReveal:
** Drew's original claim to Callie of what she's doing at Rosegrave Prep is to find enough dirt about the school, the Circle, and Project Midnight to bring them down, due to Project Midnight causing the death of her brother, Orrin. But we learn much later that this was a bald-faced lie and Drew never even had a brother, lending the question of why she really came to Rosegrave and was so interested in their dirty secrets. She did need to get the Crystal to use with the Core for her plan, and since she deals in information, which she calls "the new atomic bomb", it's possible she was either planning to blackmail them or actually go nuclear and expose it all (like she told Callie she wants to) as a way of eliminating a potential rival to her power, but it's not made entirely clear.
** Once the TrueCompanions use the Eye to deactivate the Core (which also had the Crystal in it), it's not stated what happened to the relics afterwards. Since the Core's and Eye's magic "don't like each other" and the gang had to form a ChainOfPeople to connect them, it's implied that this may have [[TheMagicGoesAway drained the magic out of all of the relics]] and rendered them inert, but it's not confirmed.
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Subverted when the boys tell their friends of their plan to go outside the compound to get Chet and the Eye and bring him back indoors, but are aware that their lingering powers from the Eye may not be enough to protect them from being caught and pulled into the simulation, too, and bid their friends farewell in case they don't make it back. Then they're able to retrieve and wake Chet with no issues, meaning their plan works more perfectly than even they expected.
* VillainousBreakdown: Drew has a huge one inside her own simulation, after Callie tricks her into revealing (through a SarcasticConfession) the "kill switch" for the Core and then escapes. Drew realizes that the heroes can now thwart her plot while she's still stuck in there and can't stop them, and is reduced to a screaming temper tantrum.
* YouWouldntShootMe: Joe says this to Drew when she has him and Frank cornered at gunpoint, only for her to shoot both of them before he even finishes the sentence. Then we see a moment later that Callie actually snuck up on Drew and knocked her out before she could fire, and then they put her in her own simulation, where she just ''imagined'' that she shot them.
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Added DiffLines:
'''Season 3, Episode 8:'''
!A Wild Ride
As the Core’s true purpose is revealed, the Hardy Boys and their friends must band together to save themselves, and the world, from an unheard-of technology that could forever change life as they know it.
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!!This episode contains examples of:
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!A Wild Ride
As the Core’s true purpose is revealed, the Hardy Boys and their friends must band together to save themselves, and the world, from an unheard-of technology that could forever change life as they know it.
----
!!This episode contains examples of:
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