Velma Episode 5 and 6 Review

1/26/2023

I can't believe we're already halfway through the series! I have to admit I didn't dislike these episodes as much as last week's, but the show is still by no means good IMO. More of the jokes landed for me this week, and I particularly liked the joke of somebody crashing headfirst through a window when the police said "intolerance." It was so goofy and ridiculous I'll admit it got a laugh out of me. As an aficionado of dad jokes, I also liked the "you must be this neander-tall to ride" pun haha. The Casey Kasem bit was fun too. I liked the little reference to him and I was happy they did something tasteful, given the show's track record of making everything as inappropriate as possible.

Speaking of which, the plot about Daphne's parents was really interesting. It still felt a bit rushed and could have been developed better than it was, but it was at least engaging unlike the constant shock humor in the last two episodes. I liked how Daphne's parents were dressed up like Captain Caveman, as well as the nod to Fred, Wilma and Pebbles, and the caveman from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?. The Jetsons reference was also interesting. I also noticed the eyes in the dark were drawn in the same style as The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and Shaggy has a poster of Charlie the Funland Robot on his wall. We also get to see Captain Cutler, whom Velma actually captures when fishing with her dad.

While there was a little bit of mystery on Velma's end, the whole marching band plot was initially interesting, but it turned into another "WTF" moment for me. The idea of a marching band sleepover where all the band members are playing their instruments at the party was funny, but it quickly devolved when the marching band started eating Velma's carpets and furniture because they hadn't been fed. I don't necessarily feel it was inappropriate or a bad joke, it was just kinda weird. I also thought the joke with the trombone was a great example of how this show takes what could have been funny and makes it mean-spirited. I thought the guy making the "wah wah" noise when Daphne didn't get what she wanted was funny, but then Daphne kicked the guy in the crotch. I don't like this show's tendency to make the characters cruel like that. The trombone joke was funny on its own, so I don't understand why the writers feel they need to turn the knob from 1 to 100 and make the jokes as in-your-face and antagonistic as possible.

That being said, there were actually a few extreme jokes that made me laugh this time. I liked the police putting out the "only murderers walk the streets at night" sign. The flashback where the mine's owner just randomly says "Mine's closed. Everyone's fired!" as all the lights shut off made me laugh quite a bit, just because it came so out of nowhere lol. That comment about Fred needing his previous actions covered up by an Israeli security firm also made me wonder what he did haha. The last joke I found funny was super quick and many people may have missed it, but I found it funny that the salad bag was marked "Salad!" with an exclamation point haha. I feel that these jokes demonstrate that the writers can actually write good material, so it's a shame they waste it on try-hard edgy stuff like Velma saying "no sweat off my underboobs!" and a cop intentionally running over Velma with his squad car.

Moving to episode 6, I enjoyed this one a little more too. I thought they did a decent job with the mystery elements this time, and I appreciated that we're starting to dive more into the mystery. Out of all the episodes so far, I would say the mystery felt least overshadowed in this episode. It was still overshadowed a bit by the weird stuff with Velma's dad, however, but I liked how the mystery at least didn't feel like an afterthought for a change.

It was really interesting to hear the backstory behind why Velma's mom disappeared. Given we're halfway through the show, I feel like we should have found out at least a few more details about that way before now, but better late than never I suppose haha. It was neat that the general's operation was named "SCOOBI," and how they incorporated masks and meddling kids into the plot. The bit at the end with the serial killer breathing heavily was really creepy, and I would say this is the first time in these three weeks that I've actually felt a little curious to find out what happens next. I felt they still cut corners a bit when it came to the mystery...like the explanation of how Daphne's parents found her felt rushed...but overall, I really appreciated that there was a bit more of a focus on the mystery.

I liked more of the humor than I did in previous episodes, although some of it still fell into the try-hard edgy category. I was surprised to find that a few of the "shock humor" jokes landed for me this time. Fred reading Yas Queens throughout History, only for his father to take it away and hand him a shot glass and loaded rifle was intense haha. Velma's mom and dad singing "just the three of us" as they spray mud all over Velma was similarly so shocking I have to admit I got a little chuckle out of it. One of my favorite jokes of the episode was Velma's father Googling "how to play catch." Let's hope that's not where our increasing reliance on the Internet is taking us lol. I also found it hilarious how Shaggy was acting tough and dressing up in a leather jacket that says "Mr. Bad Bear."

This episode also had the joke that I've probably laughed the hardest at, that being the part where Velma is outraged by her father installing a tracking app on her phone. His reaction of "Sophie installed it so you wouldn't catch us in bed talking smack about you!" was so shocking and random that I found it hilarious. Given how poorly characterized most of the characters are here, I have to admit it was pretty funny to have a meta-joke highlighting what terrible parents Velma has.

I still found some of the humor to be overly raunchy and try-hard edgy, most notably the bit where Velma's dad takes her to a strip club for lunch. One of the strippers being named "Chestiny" was particularly over-the-top. However, the biggest "WTF am I watching?" moment I've had in the episode, and the show thus far, was Velma deciding to do a pole dance because she's angry with her father, as guys shout things such as "Oh yeah baby, keep it all on!" This show certainly has a knack for creating unbearably weird moments to watch lol.

Oh, and we also learn Velma's previous catchphrase to Jinkies was "Keep it frosty!" which was very odd haha.

Overall, these two episodes were definitely an improvement on the last two, and I would say episode 6 might be the best in the show. That being said, "best" is a term to be taken lightly, since I still don't really enjoy for the show due to the poorly written characters, the try-hard edgy humor, and the cutting of corners when it comes to the mystery. However, these two episodes, particularly episode 6, were at least more tolerable and I found some enjoyment in them, whereas episode 3 and 4 were nearly unbearable slogs of nonsensical WTF moments. Perhaps a little bit of it is because I'm getting used to the inane weirdness of the show after seeing a few episodes, but I also did feel there was at least some meaningful mystery development in these episodes, which is definitely an improvement. I hope we continue to see more mystery development in the coming episodes.

Rankings:
1. The Sins of the Fathers and Some of the Mothers
2. Marching Band Sleepover
3. The Candy Man
4. Velma
5. Velma Makes a List
6. Velma Kai

39 Comments

Dzsasztin

1/26/2023 05:27:14 pm

It's so weird...
Velma and Fred are becoming better people. Shaggy and Daphne are also showing more signs of their original characterization. But the storylines seem worse this way. Because the plot just can't be taken seriously, which is the opposite of a supposedly 'mature' take we were promised. I know I shouldn't look for the virtues that aren't in this, and instead look at the positives it has, but it's hard to find any. I really wanted to like this series, and the hate it gets is absurd, but...
It really isn't good. At all. It's cringe most of the time, and it's sad, because some of the ideas included have a lot of potential. Daphne parents story is cliché, Shaggy talking about simping is not relatable or a realistic struggle, the idea that Velma and all the strippers are basing their decisions solely to get their father's attention as a rule is misogynistic. Only thing I remotely liked is Fred becoming a feminist. Not funny at all, but more relatable and kind than anything they did with him in the past episodes or the other characters.

WildwindVampire link

1/26/2023 06:09:27 pm

Yeah, I also find it kind of weird. They are becoming better characters but it's still hard to like them due to the strange and intentionally inappropriate nature of the plot.

I'm glad you mentioned the plot with Velma and the strippers, because I also found it misogynistic. There's so much weird crap packed into these episodes that I forget to mention some of it in my review lol. I kind of hope it was intended as a social commentary and the writers don't actually think this, but even if it is a social commentary, it's still a really shitty one.

Fred becoming a feminist is...fine, I guess. I want to like it, but the social commentary around it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The scene with Fred writing "Inspector of the Female Mind" on his chest, but he first wrote "Body" and crossed it out to say Mind, implies that all men are just feminists to get in women's pants, which is ridiculous and arguably very anti-feminist. The joke where Fred says like all other male allies, he'll make it 50% of the way and that's the furthest he can ever get, is also a really bad social commentary. It basically sends the message that "don't even try to be an ally; you're just gonna fail!" represents a very exclusionary view of feminism where the currently oppressed are going to rise up and oppress everyone else as punishment, which is awful and toxic. It's like someone else mentioned in the previous comment thread, where Mindy and the other writers are basically just coming up with one-liners you'd post on Twitter and making them into jokes. Fred becoming a feminist is good in theory, but I feel the execution of it is extremely poor which prevents me from enjoying it.

ScoobyVerse

1/26/2023 06:23:42 pm

One of the things I hate about this show, and I hated to comment before the series was over was the “Easter Eggs” they aren’t Easter Eggs if they are shoved in your face. Like the Caveman in this shop, or Captain Cutler, The Jetsons and the Flintstones. It just seems to be shown on screen for such a long amount of time that it isn’t even supposed to be hidden. It’s in your face like “we watched these shows. You see? Did you see what we did? Do you get it?” Like it’s super annoying because we already know the characters are super strained from what they are. Why force these to make sure people know you watched or I guess in their case read a Wikipedia article about the source material. I don’t see how these characters can become these Scooby-Doo Where Are You or I guess regular Scooby-Doo (if SDWAY isn’t the way they want to set this up, but it seems they will eventually solve the cases of Red Beard, Big Bob Oakley, and Ghost Clown since they are on the loose and again forced down your throat for you to see) characters by the end of this show without it feeling the most forced possible. They already revealed the culprit in the 6th episode, it doesn’t leave room besides “what happens next”. I don’t want to speak more on the entirety of my gripes without the final 4 episodes. But man it’s hard to sit here and watch these episodes knowing these are the Scooby characters and how crude, toxic, inappropriate, and violent they are and NOT review already. Hard to separate the characters when it feels they WANT you to think these are the Scooby gang who have “flaws” as they say, which is just blatant racism and sexism Mindy Kaling can put out without fear of getting canceled because it’s “Velma” saying these things. When this is just Mindy Kaling’s personality since she’s known for sexual harassment in the work place. And it shows here.

WildwindVampire link

1/26/2023 08:58:54 pm

Yeah, I can absolutely see why you'd be bothered by the Easter Eggs, and I agree with you they're not good references given they're shoved in your face so obviously. Honestly though, I'm just happy to have anything familiar in such a weird show, so I don't really mind I guess. There's enough else bad about the show that the references are the least of my criticisms about the show haha.

I also agree with you that the characters all feel really off-model from the classic gang we know and love. Like I've mentioned in the reviews, Velma in particular is awful and toxic, and Fred and Daphne aren't that much better. I don't mind Norville, but he retained virtually no characteristics of the typical Shaggy.

Becker

1/28/2023 05:48:47 pm

Who do you think the killer is? You said it's so clear that they basically already confirmed it in the episode. I think it's obviously Diya, but just to make sure we're on the same page.

Mr Neither

1/27/2023 08:01:56 am

Episode 5 - 8:50, Velma's dead hooray, this abomination is finally over. This episode started okayish then rapidly went downhill. Seriously, should have just left Velma on the museum floor. Ironically, letting Velma die was also the only thing Fred did right in this episode. Me at the end, FUCK, she's still alive, run her over some more. At least the Daphne's parents subplot is interesting and there were some neat cameos, 6/10.
Episode 6 - And bookmarked. Okay, maybe this series has some hope but I still want Velma dead.

WildwindVampire link

1/27/2023 08:20:56 am

Lol

James Dixon

1/27/2023 09:12:20 am

I need to see that Casey Kasem cameo.

And sorry about spoiling that thing about Velma being gay in Trick or Treat. I didn't realise that it was that big of a deal, especially since it was featured in a clip I assumed everybody had seen.

But I'm Anti-Spoiler Guy in every sense of the word (if you've seen that American Dad episode where the guy crashes his car to avoid House MD spoilers, you know what I mean), so again, sorry.

WildwindVampire link

1/27/2023 09:28:47 am

The Casey Kasem cameo is nice. He doesn't physically show up, it's just a brief voiceover when Daphne's in the caves that's an ode to his American Top 40 hosting.

No worries! I feel that's kind of part of the danger of running a site, I've had Scooby stuff spoiled quite a few times by accidentally running across spoilers. With these Velma episodes, I've just taken to not responding to blog comments on Thursday until I'm able to see the episodes. I may start doing that with the DTVs and future content as well.

I haven't seen the American Dad episode, but that sounds hilarious haha.

Gibby Norton

1/27/2023 09:53:25 am

I have been awaiting your opinion because we seem to be very in-tune with how we feel about the episodes! I as well agree that episodes 5 and 6 have been the best episodes thus far. For me, I actually really don't like or care for the overall murder mystery plot, it started out as an afterthought and characters also get brutally maimed all the time in this show and then end up fine and minimizing the stakes, and then now we finally are focused on it and I just don't care for it. I think the underground Captain Caveman people idea is stupid, I think that the whole brain science thing is stupid, and I just don't understand why a straightforward murder mystery was out of the question for these writers.

This all being said, I think that the key ingredient to these episodes' superiority over the others is summed up in one word: focus. These episodes feel way more focused, with less jokes per minute and longer scenes progressing plot. These episodes are what this show should have been from the start with their ability to balance all the characters with the plot and not overcrowd any one episode.

Overall, I do think that both of these episodes are each still a 5/10 because I didn't end up overall liking them (I also think its weird that each two episodes released keeps getting the same rating as each other from me, I promise it isn't intentional) and I'm definitely not growing too attached to this series. I still find Fred mostly funny, Norville isn't very funny but he is likable, Daphne is mildly interesting, and I definitely still think that Velma is just super unlikable.

I think a good comparison for Velma's character problems parallel the sitcom The Last Man on Earth. The first season of that series started off very funny I thought, but as the season moved forward and the main character remained selfish and unlikable, it just really damaged how I viewed the show. It wasn't funny anymore whenever I hated the lead. The second season would the immediately begin by overhauling his personality because of audience backlash and I think that if we get a second season of Velma that that is what needs to happen here, too. Even just little things like her needing her dad to believe her I felt wasn't an emotional moment, but more of an entitlement thing. Her dad was abandoned by his wife, he's allowed to grieve and process that in his own valid way, he doesn't have to blindly believe a child's theory that she was kidnapped and I don't think the lesson there was handled well at all. Him being a crappy father and him not believing that his wife was kidnapped are just two very different things and I don't like how they lumped them together.

WildwindVampire link

1/27/2023 11:47:21 am

Yeah, we definitely seem to have similar opinions on the episodes so far! I agree the murder mystery plot isn't the greatest, but I'm glad there's at least a bit more of a focus on it now, since that's one of the more likable aspects of the show. The trolling humor of the show definitely makes it pretty hard to take stuff seriously or feel like there's any sort of stakes, though.

Yes, I agree the focus of these episodes is what made them so much better than the last few! The show has felt a bit all over the place when it comes to plot, so it was nice to have a bit of a narrower focus. I think not having so many jokes every minute also really helped both the mystery and my ability to find some of the humor funny. I laughed more with these two episodes than I have with any of the previous four, and I think a big part of that was the show dialing back the constant attempts to shock the viewer with try-hard humor. Some of the jokes in these two episodes felt more natural and actually fit with the plot, rather than just random inappropriate stuff happening all the time like in the previous episodes. There was still some humor that felt try-hard, but the fact that it wasn't constant definitely helped me enjoy the humor a bit more.

I don't know if I really find any of the characters funny, tbh. Fred was at least a little bit less annoying in these, but he still wasn't great. Velma has become the most unlikeable to me, but Fred isn't far behind. Daphne is a little likable, but she's mostly unlikable, especially when she's written as so mean-spirited. Shaggy is likable, but not particularly funny.

I've not seen The Last Man on Earth, but I agree the show's bad writing and edgy humor would be more tolerable if they at least had likable characters. With all the backlash, I kinda feel like this probably won't get renewed for season 2, but if it did, I would also like to see her character overhauled, maybe by having some sort of plot where she realizes how judgmental and generally jerkish she is towards everyone around her.

I completely agree with your thoughts on her dad believing her hallucinations, and that's a great example of a major element that makes the show's writing so bad. The character development is all very two-dimensional and rushed. Big events in the show that are framed as emotional either are not really that emotional, or they aren't developed in any sort of depth. It's basically just the writers saying "bam, now this happened!" with no build-up or character development, and then they quickly move on to the next thing. Even the small character development we see is played up for comedy (like Fred becoming a feminist and writing "Inspector of the Female Mind" on his chest, but he wrote "Body" first), so it's hard to really take it seriously.

Becker

1/28/2023 05:39:00 pm

I didn't give much thought to the execution of Aman finally believing Velma's kindapping theory, but now I realize that it was conveyed as pretty shallow and forceful on Velma's part. Tbf, Aman recognizing Diya's handwriting on that piece of paper does show to me that he would've come to that conclusion himself anyway, but Velma's involvement in the matter wasn't handled that well, more so self-centered and rushed.

Amber noel

1/27/2023 04:21:20 pm

These are probably the best episodes of the show so far. I thought episode 5 was the funniest while episode six was the most interesting.

WildwindVampire link

1/27/2023 04:55:35 pm

Agreed, the humor and the mystery definitely improved in these even if they still aren't the greatest.

Amber noel

1/27/2023 07:21:24 pm

I wonder who the killer is.

WildwindVampire link

1/27/2023 10:07:37 pm

Honestly I have no idea at this point. This show seems to have a knack for zany humor, so I could even see them making the culprit someone ridiculous. I hope that's not the route they take, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Becker

1/28/2023 05:17:07 pm

First off, I'm surprised you barely mentioned Norville and Fred at all in the review. Because it's not like they did nothing or weren't significant. While they weren't center stage, they still had important roles to play, ie: their new dynamic with Velma, their new involvement in Velma's search for her mom, and even their own little subplots, and in Norville's case his new relationship with Gigi. That was the one that shocked me the most that you didn't talk about at all — Norville & Gigi. If I can give a piece of advice, I'd say that writing a paragraph dedicated to each of the 4 main characters and your thoughts on them in those specific episodes that are being reviewed would help create a better big picture on your opinion of the show overall. Focusing on the actions of only a couple of characters isn't as thorough or insightful as it could otherwise be.

Now on to my thoughts on these 2 episodes. Episode 5 is about what you'd expect from a standard Velma episode by now. While it does develop the main plot further than ep 3 and 4 did, that doesn't automatically make it good. The mayor and sheriff's new plan of the 9 p.m. curfew is the brand new lazy plot device this time around. Everything regarding the marching band side of the story was not fun or entertaining to watch either, the way they all went feral due to no food for their pills was weird af. Can't believe they're wasting Weird Al Yankovic on one of these generic nerd high schooler type of characters btw, strange casting choice. Hey, at least he didn't lose his leg this episode. But that doesn't mean this episode didn't have its fair share of gross shit. I could've lived just fine without seeing Velma's face after getting hit by the sheriff's car.

The humor in this episode is the typical Velma humor we already know and don't love. Aka often pretty garbage with a few decent ones here and there (although tbf, the ratio of bad and good isn't as disproportionate in ep 5 and 6 as the first 4 episodes). Velma really loves her white people jokes, doesn't she. There's some references thrown in the dialogue for laughs that I don't even know what they are; feels like the writers try to reference anything on Earth that their brain can go to. Fred owing an ex-cellmate notes for his screenplay is one of those unexpected jokes that actually works, for example. What's also an absolute joke is how Velma manages to ensure vital information about the overall mystery from Norville's mom — a bad joke at that. So yeah, par for the course with this series. Going along those lines, the forced "social commentary" is still present; never expected to hear the word "simp" in a Scooby production, but there's a first for everything in life I guess. Not sure if that's an achievement to be proud of. Entertainment is frighteningly nebulous in this show.

Norville and Gigi's relationship getting constantly interfered with by Velma was pretty irritating after a while. She's third wheeling so hard I can't even tell how well their relationship is actually going. Yet it's still better than any other attempted romance within the gang so far. That should tell ya something lol. Velma and Gigi's flute battle was awful to watch/hear. Thank God their kinda-beef seems to have been squashed by the end of that episode. I suppose Velma realizing how much she needs Norville once she lost him is neat, but they went about it in a rather unlikable way. Norville standing up for himself when shit goes too far is cool to see. Finally we get to know what his dad told him at the end of episode 3. The fact they ignored to even hint at that off-screen conversation throughout episode 4 was frustrating. It's pretty important information, and the fact that Norville was willing to tell Gigi says something. As expected, Fred's main occupation this episode was to pine over Velma, although he wasn't as annoying about it as I thought he would be. But the writers do seize the opportunity with Fred's new perspective on life. Also, him finally part in some mystery invesigation was well overdue when you consider he is literally Fred Jones.

I'm only gonna talk about Daphne in this paragraph, and for both episode 5 and 6, because it really feels like she's part of a completely separate show in these 2 episodes. She's on her own journey away from the gang and the overall plot. She only has a couple brief interactions with Velma and Norville in the first half of ep 5 and the only contribution to the story outside of her own side quest is that she provides the others the car with which to get out of the house in ep 5. Speaking of, we finally get a frame with all 4 main characters together — half-way through the show, wow. Too bad it's just a 5 second scene and only Velma talks. Anyway, regarding Daphne's plot and finding her real parents — not the greatest stuff. Her real parents are finally revealed (namely Darren and Carrol). I called it in my previous review that the mysterious person in the

Becker

1/28/2023 05:18:04 pm

I called it in my previous review that the mysterious person in the caves was that big bad criminal, I was right. I suspected he was Daphne's dad before the revelation too. The Captain Caveman suits are more peculiar than anything, and the idea of this criminal gang in the mines and sewers under the city is rather strange (the Casey Kasem Top 40 was a nice reference though). And of course Daphne's parents don't give a shit about her in reality, they're fucking criminals, didn't buy anything between them. How Daphne trusted them is puzzling. Her adoptive moms prove they're good parents and how much they love their daughter and capture Darren and all the criminals (except Carrol, who I'll talk about later) at the right time though, which is cool. It all feels pretty rushed too, it takes less than a whole episode between Daphne finding her parents to Daphne being done and over with them after trying to kill her, especially with all of Daphne's screentime in ep 6 being dedicated to this one storyline. Glad we're completely done with this plotline now honestly, cuz the scenes underground with Daphne and her real parents weren't compelling or interesting to go through. Oh, and I guess that the dad having Brenda's tank top amounted to nothing but a cheap shock revelation to make you think he's the killer for a bit when he's not.

Since I've transitioned into episode 6, I will say that this is the "best" episode so far, and the reason is because it focuses the most on the main plot and the least on the comedy (which is a good when the quality of the comedy is that of Velma's). Not too say this episode doesn't still feature the typical humor of this show, cuz it does, along with the "social commentary", namely the beta and alpha male stuff. Speaking of, why did they give Norville this random mini-subplot? I can't call it anything more than that, it takes up like 2 minutes of the episodes. Good thing he snapped out of his attempt to be a bad boy by the end of the episode, when Gigi almost died and tried calling Norville who wouldn't respond. Curious to see how that's gonna play out between the two of them when we see them talk. Tbf, I'd be lying if I said Norville's short alpha phase wasn't kinda funny. It did make me chuckle that he stole the jacket and sunglasses off a fucking teddy bear and literally sprayed the word "graffiti" on a wall, lol. Norville sewing Gigi's pants leading into the comment he makes later about who will now wear the pants did go over my head at first.

Fred still likes Velma, but his dad finds out, which throws a spanner into the works. Fred's dad trying to hook Fred up with a stripper to bring him back to how he was before is pretty crazy. I wager the stripper stealing an expensive painting and running away from the mansion right in Fred's face probably won't do it. The fact Fred actually pondered killing his dad for a bit is pretty concerning lol, caught me off guard. Same with his Khmer Rouge joke, didn't expect that, it got a laugh out of me. Also, Velma's dad finally not being an asshole is quite the sight to behold. Him and Velma reconciling and him trying to actually be a good father is nice. Still a few unlikable quarrels and jokes between the two of them here and there though (but stuff like "how to play catch" was a very good one). Velma's hallucinations are finally gone thanks to her dad believing her, too. I was clearly wrong about my early prediction that he would be the killer, no way he is after this episode.

Speaking of the killer, this mystery is finally getting interesting for probably the first time. Insane, right? Edna's backstory is intriguing (and we get a SCOOBI acronym along the way, kinda a cheap gag, but eh), so is the revelation of the room in the basement of the Jones' mansion. Another cool thing is we finally know the killer's costume, as we see the masked killer murder Carrol in the mines at the very end after escaping from the cops. And we see the same costume for a brief second running out of the lab when the brick wall falls over Velma and Fred. So, we know the killer and Diya's disappearance are related. But why was the killer in the mines at the end and how did they get there? And why did they not kill Velma and Fred when they had the opportunity? The 2 were unconcious under the bricks; it's becoming very likely that the killer is Diya — she wouldn't kill her own daughter or frame her for the murder of the person lying next to her, surely not. That's the thing keeping this mystery from being great: that it's almost certainly Diya. If it ends up not being her, I'll give the show credit for pulling off the mystery.

WildwindVampire link

1/28/2023 07:51:57 pm

I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but the marching band sleepover is similar to a scene in Weird Al's new documentary (would highly recommend watching it, it's hilarious) in which he goes to a polka party in high school. Yeah, it's a shame Weird Al is wasted on a random side character that doesn't even show up all that much. The show seems to use the sheriff and mayor imposing weird policies on the town quite a bit as a way to move the plot along, and it definitely feels really lazy. Clearly, that's going to continue, since we see in the preview for next week's episodes that the sheriff makes an announcement that the murderer is a ghost. It's clear the show likes amplifying the gross stuff as a way to assert their edginess. I can honestly envision the conversation in the writers' room when they were coming up with the scene where the sheriff hits Velma with his car. Seems like they were wanting to do a social commentary on police brutality, and they decided to make it as extreme as possible by having the sheriff intentionally plow into Velma with his squad car.

I liked more of the jokes in these two episodes than I did in any of the previous ones. The white people jokes aren't funny; wish they'd stop making them but it's doubtful that will happen. I agree that the screenplay joke was one of the funny ones. The "simp" comment was surprising and ridiculous.

I kept waiting to get a sense of Shaggy and Gigi's relationship, but Velma, being the judgmental jerk she is, overshadows it so much that we don't really get a sense of it. The flute battle was definitely hard to sit through, and I have to imagine it was one of those moments the writers intentionally tried to make as cringey as possible with hopes of it being funny (it wasn't, though). It's weird how much stuff this show has happen off-screen, or they'll have something happen and then randomly ignore it for a while. I thought the stuff with Velma realizing she needs Norville was executed in quite an annoying way. They could have made an endearing or emotional moment with it, but instead, the show made it as irritating and unlikeable as possible.

It definitely feels like Daphne is part of a whole different show these past few episodes. It's weird she's not really doing much connected to any of the other characters. I found the overarching plot of Daphne finding her parents interesting, but it was very rushed. The Captain Caveman suits were a little odd, I thought it worked well for what it was. I also thought it was very weird how instantly Daphne trusted them. Daphne's adoptive moms are honestly probably two of my favorite characters in the show; most of their scenes are genuinely likable and funny, which I can't say for any other character in the series besides maybe Shaggy. The thing with Brenda's tank top was weird since they didn't really go anywhere with it.

The focus on the plot and less comedy definitely helped the show. While I still don't like the comedy overall, this is the funniest of the episodes for me, mainly because the jokes were more spaced out and not interfering with the plot. The subplot with Norville acting tough was random, but tbh I found it pretty funny, so I'm not complaining. The teddy bear and writing the word "graffiti" (and signing his own graffiti, nonetheless) was hilarious.

The whole stripper scene was really weird to me. I was also pretty surprised that Fred wanted to kill his dad, definitely was something I never would have expected to happen. The feminist plot isn't particularly enjoyable to me; hard to take it seriously when it's being played up for comedy. It honestly seems like a social commentary to joke that it's clownish when men try to be feminists. Yeah, it was nice to see Velma's dad be a little less of a jerk. The "Sophie installed it so you wouldn't catch us in bed talking smack about you!" is one of my favorite jokes of the series so far. It was a hilarious meta way to address what a terrible father Aman had been to Velma up to that point. I'm not entirely sure Velma's hallucinations are gone; I could see them popping up again for some unresolved reason. I guess we'll have to see.

The "What did SCOOBI do?" line did feel very forced; it's just kinda whatever though. It's a bad line, but it pales in comparison to some of the other much worse crap in this show. Yeah, it was neat we finally got the see the murderer. I feel like it's Diya, but given this show's track record, I could see them totally screwing with the audience and making it someone random. I kind of hope it's not Diya since that'd be obvious, but the show's writing has ranged from poor to abysmal thus far, so I don't expect them to pull off any amazing reveal.

Becker

1/29/2023 04:08:23 am

What I wonder now is how Daphne will help with the main plot. She's been detached from it for a good chunk now cuz all her time has been spent on her own quest to find her own parents. But since that storyline is already done and dusted, she has nothing else to do but rejoin the others in the last 4 episodes. Great example of really strange pacing in this show. Daphne's got a lot of catching up to do from the last couple of episodes; Velma, Norville and Fred have all been advancing the main plot and are really involved. What Daphne bring to the table — I really don't know, they haven't set up any new possible threads with her.

I'm glad Norville's bad boy phase was as short as it was, cuz it was the type of joke that would've gotten old pretty quickly. The writers however had a field day with Fred's newfound feminism, which they use to the max to spout all sorts of social commentary or bad jokes or both at the same time. Oh, and what do you think will happen to Norville and Gigi's relationship after this? I can't even if the writers want it to be endgame or over as soon as next episode. As I said, I think they have more chemistry than any other romance between the gang so far in show.

I've also seen speculations online that Gigi is possibly the Scooby analog for this series, except instead of Shaggy's dog it's Shaggy's girlfriend. Which, just processing and thinking further about that statement, it becomes kinda icky. Their "Scooby" interpretation being Shaggy's human girlfriend rather than his dog best friend is crackfic level concept. Tbf, those speculations were a hoax, as they were based on a leaked image of Norville and Gigi having milkshakes together in ep 5 before ep 4 even came out, and the creator of the hoax was perpetrating that the girl's name was Scoobi, which we quivkly found out was not true onve ep 4 came out. So I don't really quite believe this theory yet, but I wouldn't put it past the show going for it, so I could also definitely see it being the case. This says a lot about the level of writing here that it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the show to make their version of Scooby Shaggy's gf. If by the end Gigi is with the other four in a van, we know what the deal is.

As many stupid things as this show has done, I can't see the killer being a random character that we've barely seen, like that "Handsome Jock" guy. But I can see it being quite predictable, because the main mystery of the show has literally been an afterthought in the first half the series. Now that they're finally starting to seemingly focus on the mystery, it might be too little too late, with not many established suspects up to this point. I feel like we've now gotten through the majority of the exposition and backstory regarding the mystery. So the remaining episodes are probably gonna be about the gang trying to find a trail that leads to the killer and then capture and unmask the killer.

They really should've thought a lot better about the fact that this a Scooby show that they're making. Scooby is almost always about mysteries. So sidelining the franchise's hook for so long in this show in favor of edgy/cringy/raunchy comedy and teen drama is one of the many, many reasons why most people have already given up on the show completely. I'm sure you've noticed the drop in reviews from people week by week, not only on the blog or ScoobyAddicts (that one in particular has flatlined, the only review of ep 5 and 6 on there is yours), but on all corners of the Internet as well. Feels like he whole Internet was lambasting Velma after its premiere. And then when the second pair of new episodes came out there was a huge decrease in people talking about or acknowledging them. Cuz so many people just watched the first 2 episodes and it was more than enough for them of what the could handle. At least 50% of the Internet gave up on Velma in its first week. And now we're at the third week mark and we've fallen down to a lot less than 50% of the people who initially discussed it. It's that bad of a show that most people only checked out to hate watch after hearing exclusively abysmal things about it and then stopped and never came back even to hate watch cuz it was too miserable of an experience.

Becker

1/29/2023 04:27:25 am

I meant I can't even tell if the writers want it to be endgame or over as soon as next episode*

WildwindVampire link

1/29/2023 10:18:47 am

I'll be very interested to see how she'll fit into the main plot too, although I fear it will be somehow tied to the love rectangle thing, since they haven't mentioned Velma's feelings for Daphne in a while now.

Yeah, I agree Shaggy being "Mr. Bad Bear" would have gotten tiresome if they let it go on for more than an episode. That's exactly what I don't like about the Fred being a feminist storyline. The writers are only using it for jokes that aren't even funny to begin with, which makes it hard to enjoy. I sort of feel like Norville and Gigi's relationship is going to somehow be used to advance the love rectangle plot. Perhaps Velma will find herself getting increasingly jealous of Gigi despite that she thought she was over it, and will accidentally admit her true feelings for Shaggy because she has no filter. It definitely works better than the love rectangle crap though, so I don't want that to be what happens, but I could see the writers pulling it in that direction.

I haven't seen that speculation, but that would be super awful. I hope that's not what the show is going for. Sadly though, as you said, I wouldn't exactly put it past this show to do something ridiculously terrible like that given their propensity to want to shock others.

I hope you're right. It's a little surprising that the show has had this long to build exposition and give us backstory, and has only given us what little bit they have. Even at the beginning of the show, I wasn't expecting it to take until episode 6 just to reveal the exposition and backstory, and finally start getting into the mystery. I'm hoping all the remaining episodes are about capturing the killer and solving the mystery, and that we don't get any more filler/comedy episodes like episodes 3 and 4.

While my biggest issue with the show is with the awfully written characters, them sidelining the mystery to be edgy is not far behind on my list of reasons why I'm not a fan of this show. Yeah, the reviews of the show have really declined; seems a decent majority of people have completely given up after the first two episodes. To be fair, there were not many reviewers on ScoobyAddicts to begin with (only 4 including myself), but yeah, it's definitely dropped off in the sense it's only just me. Which is kind of surprising, because one of those people was more enthusiastic about the show than anyone I've seen on the Internet. It will definitely go down in history as probably one of the worst Scooby shows ever. I still can't decide if I dislike this or the Scrappy shorts more; I feel both are bad for different reasons. While there is at least a semi-cohesive storyline here instead of 7 minutes of completely screwing around, the storyline we get is pretty awfully written and the humor ranges from pretty bad to atrocious most of the time.

Becker

1/29/2023 11:59:29 am

From the preview for next episode, I guess Daphne will just jump right back in the interactions and dynamic with the others as if she hadn't missed anything. Knowing this show, they'll probably make it so she learned everything that happened beforehand in ep 5 and 6 off-screen. And I assume we'll finally get a proper scene(s) with all 4 main characters interacting, since they're all at that Fog Dance. Or maybe 5 main characters? Cuz those previews sure don't dispel the speculations that Gigi is their reinterpretation of Scooby, she's with all of them there. And seems like she forgave Norville after the incident from ep 6, as she's having fun with him at the dance in a quick 1 second shot. Why are they even throwing this party/carnival? Cuz the killer is a ghost from what the sheriff says? That sounds pretty stupid. Anyway, seems like we'll finally see some resemblance of a typical Scooby-Doo episode structure, with the monster finally properly showing up to attack the place that the (whole) gang happens to be at, chases ensuing and, y'know, classic Scooby stuff that has been sorely missing so far. Velma's joke at the end of that teaser is terrible though (and basically directly confirming that all these characters that the show has been consistently exploiting sexually from as early as the very first scene of episode 1 are minors).

Oh God, I really hope Velma doesn't get jealous of Gigi and Norville and suddenly come to the conclusion she somehow has feelings for Norville despite never showing any kind of romantic attraction to him at all so far. She already has feelings for Daphne and had for Fred, this would be a nightmare.

Episode 2 had about as much main plot development as ep 3 and 4 too. In episode 1 we get the basic set up and premise, but in the next 3 episodes there's only really small bits of plot development sprinkled throughout them. Episode 5 had a bit more plot development than them, but episode 6 is when it finally became somewhat of a focus. But it's too little too late.

When I mentioned ScoobyAddicts, I wasn't referring to only the dedicated review thread under each episode, but more so topics in general where people were expressing their thoughts (or at least liking and agreeing with others' comments), like these two:
https://scoobyaddicts.proboards.com/thread/5778/announces-velma-adult-animated-series?page=18
https://scoobyaddicts.proboards.com/thread/6169/velma-first-thoughts-spoilers

I'd rather watch the Scrappy shorts because they're less annoying and infuriating and they can be so batshit crazy that I can get some ironic enjoyment out of them.

WildwindVampire link

1/29/2023 04:34:12 pm

Seems like it, yeah. It's crazy to think it took halfway through the show for all four of them to appear together, and they still haven't all had an interaction where they are talking to one another. I'll be interested to see how they explain Gigi forgiving Norville, if they even do (I could see it being another off-screen thing). I think the Fog Fest is supposed to be an annual thing the town does. I looked it up before the show started when the titles were announced, and a real-life city in California named Pacifica holds a Fog Fest every year. https://pacificcoastfogfest.com/ I hope we get a typical episode structure, and the preview seems to hint that we will, since we see that clip of the murderer chasing everyone at the Fog Fest. Yep, her joke at the end is pretty horrible; very on-par with this show, though.

With how terrible the show's writing has been so far, I could see them handling it that way. The other romantic plots were pretty nonsensical and sudden, so I wouldn't put it past the writers to do something like that, unfortunately.

Ah, gotcha. There were some people in that thread that were complaining without even having watched the show, but yeah, just in general pretty much all discussion of the show on there seems to have petered out beyond my own reviews.

That's true, the Scrappy shorts (while badly written) at least don't have the awful edgy humor and romantic crap lol.

Becker

1/29/2023 05:02:32 pm

Me to the SDMI Velma/Shaggy relationship after watching "Velma": *Perhaps I treated you too harshly*

WildwindVampire link

1/29/2023 06:12:33 pm

I'm pretty sure everyone's feeling that way haha. Honestly, I don't think I've seen a single person say that they think this Shaggy/Velma romance is better than the one in SDMI, and given how universally unliked that relationship is, that's saying something.

Becker

1/29/2023 08:19:44 am

I just realized I misremembered the scene where the brick wall falls over Fred and Velma. There was no killer costume there at all. I still think it's very likely Diya though.

Lamont

1/28/2023 07:05:24 pm

These really were the better episodes so far! I hope in the last 4 episodes of this season improve even more! I’m glad they went back to the murder/ missing mom mysteries. I don’t know, it feels like Diya could be the murderer or the other scientist lady, Norville’s grandmother.

The characters improved a bit also. I also like the Norville and Gigi relationship. Did they break up? I don’t remember at the moment, typing this. I felt that the whole Daphne and her parents plot moved WAY too fast, as if they wanted to get it out the way. I am glad the Velma’s dad is warming up to Velma now.
The SCOOBI acronym was unexpected. And I thought the references were neat, but they are so obvious and in your face at times. It makes me wonder if we’ll see other Hanna Barbera characters on the show.
I really want to see what happens next and hope more secrets get revealed in the next 2 episodes!
Also, this is the first time that Red haired guy on on screen and his leg didn’t come off! Good for him lol

WildwindVampire link

1/28/2023 07:22:59 pm

Seems like that's the unanimous opinion! I think it's Diya, but I could honestly see the show trolling us and just having it be a random person that makes no sense. I hope that's not what happens, but with the wackiness of this show, I wouldn't put it past them haha.

Norville and Gigi's plot is interesting, but it felt majorly overshadowed by Velma. No, they didn't break up. I agree with you that the plot with Daphne's parents moved too quickly. This show seems to have an issue with pacing. I could see other Hanna-Barbera characters appearing in the last four episodes. The references haven't been top-notch or anything, but honestly, it's been nice having a bit of familiarity amongst all the craziness haha.

Becker

1/29/2023 04:33:07 am

I think Norville's grandma is dead by now. They didn't say it upfront, but his mom was only using past tense when talking about her ("she really was a trailblazer").

Becker

1/29/2023 09:47:17 am

Actually, Norville's mom does say that her mother is dead when she explains that Jones family bought her house

Gatherer Hade

1/28/2023 07:32:47 pm

Hmmm.
Can I say I really enjoyed this pair of episodes. Yeah, they're not perfect, but they definitely aren't bad.
A number of the issues mentioned above just seem to me to be real life - the world is full of contradictions & not everyone is perfect in following their beliefs. Strikes me that's what we're seeing.

I heard a review of Velma on the radio this week. The review went for about 5 minutes.The reviewer acknowledged the hate around it, but as someone with no skin in the fight, so to speak, her main complaint was that it tried too hard - something we've mentioned here before. Overall she didn't hate it. She didn't love it either, she was "still on the fence" but was going to keep watching.

Personally, I think she was right.

I'm wondering how much of the hate and complaints are coming because we feel we need to complain. So we look for anything we don't quite like.

Yes, this is not Scooby-Doo as we know it, but it never said it was going to be.

Gatherer Hade

1/28/2023 07:55:14 pm

If you want to listen to it you can listen here:
https://www.abc.net.au/sydney/programs/drive/drive/14135776

The review starts at around 2:03:20

WildwindVampire link

1/28/2023 08:23:30 pm

Oops, I missed the link to the review when I first responded, but I just listened now. Overall her review was okay; I agree with her "on the fence" mindset. So far I'm not loving the show, but I'm holding out a little hope that the show might improve a bit based on these past two episodes being good. I don't think it's quite as black and white as she framed it; at least from what I've seen, a lot of people's criticisms come down to the show not being as well-written as it could be, rather than wanting it to be more like the original Scooby.

WildwindVampire link

1/28/2023 08:13:17 pm

I definitely see what you're saying, and I agree to an extent. For me at least, I think a little part of my liking these episodes more is that I'm used to the fact this show doesn't have the best writing or humor. The complaints about Velma being self-centered with her father not believing her just come down to Velma's character, not necessarily a badly written scene. I agree with your thoughts that people contradict themselves in real-life.

However, I think it also comes down to the show not being well-written in a number of ways. At least for me, everyone except Shaggy is really unlikeable, especially Velma. It's not necessarily that I'm wanting them to be more like their classic iterations. In Velma's case, she's incredibly rude and judgmental in pretty much every situation. Even if this was a character in a show not connected to Scooby-Doo, I still wouldn't like a character like this.

The show also cuts a lot of corners when it comes to developing stuff, and rushes things along too quickly. Daphne's plot with finding her parents quickly being rushed along in just one episode is a good example of that. The humor is also very try-hard.

That's not to say there aren't people out there that aren't giving this a chance because it's not classic Scooby-Doo. I think there are plenty of fans that have done that, and are looking for things to hate about the show. However, at least IMO, I think there are just as many who have given the show a chance, but feel the writing of the show isn't as strong as it could be, and find the humor to be overly try-hard.

I wouldn't say I hate the show. I don't really like it, but there are at least aspects of it that are moderately engaging. The show would be a lot better if the comedy wasn't so try-hard and the characters were more well-written, but there are still aspects that are enjoyable.

Gatherer Hade

1/29/2023 03:51:13 pm

I think the character development is doing what over the run it should - making the main characters better people and closer to what we're used to. But hey just started by making them too unlikable.

They are still trying too hard with the jokes, and trying to find humour where there isn't any, or where they shouldn't, or where there is a joke but they can't make it work. So yeah, that's the .big problem with show IMO.

But the overall plot has promise and interest, and I think we will only be able to properly judge it when it's done.

WildwindVampire link

1/29/2023 06:15:08 pm

Yeah, I totally agree with that. Velma did at least have moments of being a better person in this episode, like taking the blame in front of the police in episode 5. Even if it is played up for humor, Fred being a feminist is also a step in the right direction.

Yeah, the humor has not been good. I found more jokes funny in these past two episodes than the previous four, but I still wouldn't say I enjoy the majority of the humor overall.

I agree that there's definitely at least some promise/interest for the overall plot, even if they've cut some corners. I'm intrigued to see what happens and definitely don't plan to make my thoughts final until after I've seen the last episode.

Gatherer Hade

1/31/2023 09:09:49 pm

Re Fred the feminist:
I think while, yes, it's being played too much for laughs, as far as the character goes it seems 100% genuine. And strange lapses (like the wording change) can be easily explained as Fred's actions defaulting to the way he's been brought up, then realising it's wrong and changing it. Which to me seems totally realistic.

WildwindVampire link

2/1/2023 07:58:20 am

Oh yeah, I agree that Fred is definitely growing and developing as a character which is cool to see, especially when his parents have brought him up in such a rigid way. I wish they wouldn't play it up so much for laughs, but it is cool to see his character developing.

Velma Episode 5 and 6 Review

Leave a Reply.

Author

Categories

Archives