Scooby-Doo and Guess Who Episode 5 Review

7/29/2019

This was just a mediocre episode for me.

Location-wise, this episode had a really spooky feeling setting in the museum. I didn't quite understand why the gang was in Ricky Gervais's apartment, but maybe I just missed that part.

My biggest complaint was that Ricky Gervais seemed to completely overshadow the gang. Most of the lines in this episode were him making jokes, none of which were particularly funny. The only two I enjoyed were him pointing out that Scooby was just saying his name, and the reference he made to Laurel and Hardy ("Ollie, that's another fine mess you've gotten me into."). I thought it was cool that they called back to The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

It was very easy to figure out who the villain was. I liked the Cat-Headed Mummy as a villain, and it was fun that they referenced "Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too" with his catchphrase being similar to the original mummy's "coin!" and a jewel/valuable item being hidden inside a statue. It was also interesting to see almost an exact replica of Professor Hyde-White from "What a Night for a Knight."

Side note, I thought Fred's catchphrase officially being made "Hold the phone! was a bit weird, especially in the opening title where they say the name of the guest star.

Overall, a mediocre episode mainly because Ricky Gervais had too big of a role in the episode. I'm hoping we can get back to the kind of dynamic we saw in the previous episode with Sherlock Holmes in the next episode.

10 Comments

Nathan Fleischman

7/30/2019 01:29:33 pm

I could say Ricky Gervais was being his usual self. By the way, I wonder if you noticed the similarities to The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode The Frickert Fracas, starring Jonathan Winters.

WildwindVampire link

7/30/2019 02:35:44 pm

I didn't! Do you just mean that Ricky acted similarly to Jonathan Winters?

Samuel Kirkwood

7/31/2019 08:20:29 am

I wondered if you would notice that reference I did to having recently re-watched the new Scooby Doo Movies. Contrary to yourself I actually really enjoyed this episode and it actually flowed nicely from the last episode. Most likely after the Screaming Skull debacle Ricky heard of their exploits and got a hold of them to assist in his problem. Yes Ricky does overshadow the gang a lot, but I love the fact that he's constantly picking holes in their mystery solving ability, but I think this depends on whether you are a fan of Ricky's comedy style. Bast was a cool villain to have but yeah, once again the villain was a bit predictable. Also, phones weren't common in 1969, so Fred's catchphrase is a little meh. It's Trapping time or let's split up gang I think suits him better. Overall though a 7/10 in my eyes.

WildwindVampire link

7/31/2019 09:45:21 am

I definitely didn't hate this episode, it just was a bit mediocre compared to the last in my opinion. I enjoyed some of Ricky's jokes, but they started to get a bit old towards the end given the gang felt like they were completely overshadowed. I love how nicely it flowed from the last episode. I totally agree that "It's trapping time" and "Let's split up gang" are far better catchphrases. "Hold the phone" just sounds odd, especially when he said it when announcing the guest star during the title sequence.

Nikki link

7/31/2019 10:15:10 am

I wasn't happy with how Ricky was rude to the gang and he pretty much took over the whole episode. I really want to see this series get better.

WildwindVampire link

7/31/2019 11:28:15 am

I agree! I felt that Ricky's comedy could have been done in a way that didn't completely overshadow the gang for the entire episode. I hope the Wonder Woman episode is better.

Matt The Pirate

8/3/2019 05:12:43 am

I actually thought this was one of the best episodes. I'm not really familiar with this Gervais chap, but I thought he did a great job. Obviously, he did overshadow the gang and that was openly mocked within the episode, but in this case I didn't mind because it did sorta seem like his personality to do that and I actually did think he was funny "most" of the time and his casual delivery makes it not much of a whiff when he misses.

I loved the gags in this one. The ol' Chair Lamp gag with Fred and Daphe was classic. The ancient egypt outfits in the back n forth mix up chase scene and also the big wheel small wheel bicycle ridden by Velma in that. Velma getting snagged on the sword for the ol' Domino of Knights gag. Good stuff. I thought overall the humor in this one was great. I love cats so all the cat stuff was cool.

The culprit was obvious and only a small wrinkle with him being a Jewel thief kept the entire details of the mystery from being obvious. I think anybody could have figured out Dumbass sold the Cat statue when he shouldn't have and that there was a Jewel inside that the Antique owner had stolen and that he was trying to get back, thus the offer to accept the Cat Statue as a return. Also, Antique Dealer falling through the floor into dark and cowering from a mummy you don't actually see was OBVIOUSLY going to be there was no actual attack, it was just him.

Also, I agree with a writer above on the nasty exchange at the end where Ricky dismisses the kids summarily was both unappealing and unnecessary. This is where an editor is supposed to step in and say, "why are we doing this?" I mean, I get it that Ricky is supposed to be a smart ass, but he had a good re pore with the kids the entire episode even though he was hilariously calling them out for "Scoobyisms" ... so, to then just be a dick for no reason at the end didn't really fit the vibe of the episode and just made Ricky look bad for no reason.

Still, two thumbs up from me. Not a perfect episode but I really enjoyed it.

WildwindVampire link

8/3/2019 06:15:08 pm

I think like Samuel Kirkwood said above, it really depends on whether you're a fan of Ricky's comedy style on if you enjoy the episode or not (which can be a dangerous thing to bet on). The classic gags in this episode were fun. I also love cats so that was a bonus. :)

The culprit was super obvious, especially with the falling through the floor scene as you said. The nasty exchange seemed unnecessary to me too! I'm glad someone else pointed that out. I agree that "smart ass" doesn't necessarily have to mean that he's a complete jerk, so I think the lines were blurred a bit on this one for the writers as they seem to act like it was in character for him to do something like that.

Matt The Pirate

8/3/2019 09:26:53 pm

Well said. That's exactly it. ... you know, for a second, I was thinking well I guess they had him dismiss the kids in that odd final exchange just to get to his "steal Scooby's line" gag that wrapped up the episode.

But then I got smart and said. Wait, he could have simply graciously thanked the kids and escorted them to the door and still pulled the same gag as soon as the door was closed ... so it really was a puzzling decision by the writers and as decent to good as this series has been so far, it's not the first time they have made what seems to be an obvious and consensus bad move that belies some of the other, higher quality writing along the way.

WildwindVampire link

8/3/2019 09:45:31 pm

The writing seems really inconsistent in general with this series. We get great episodes like Sherlock Holmes, and then we get trainwrecks like the Funky Phantom episode or things feel rushed like in the Chris Paul episode.

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who Episode 5 Review

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