‘Velma’ Season One Finale Spoiler Free Review

TV & Film

Feb 13

The two-episode season one finale Velma is here, and it seals the season with a disappointing and chaotic mess. This will contain spoilers for episodes one - eight!

Last week’s episodes were the first disappointing episodes of the season. Episode seven seemed to forget that there was even a mystery to solve because Velma was excited to dress as a man and reap those rewards. The episode was a complete mess that only saved itself because of a classic Scooby-Doo chase scene that brightened the mood. Episode eight got back to the mystery but still spent more time on the characters fighting than actually trying to solve anything. The episode ended with Velma finding her mom but quickly realizing that she couldn’t remember anything about who took her or why.

Episode nine picks up right where we left off last week with Velma’s mom being rushed into the hospital for treatment. The group learns that they have to get her mom’s memories back in the next 72 hours, or they will be lost forever. Norville’s dad tells Velma that her mom cannot get upset, so she kicks out Sophie and her new baby and Daphne and then tries to make the house look just like it did before. Once her mom gets home, we realize that Velma is so terrible because she is exactly like her mom. Velma’s desperation results in her willingly ruining things for Norville again and lying about her relationship with Daphne. Norville finally calls Velma out for how horrible she is, but she still acts like she is the victim.

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Episode ten is an absolute mess. Velma’s mom reveals the identity of the killer and their motive, but it makes no sense. Rather than trying to solve the case, the police double down on their incompetence by auctioning off all of the evidence from the case and refusing to allow anyone to talk to Velma’s mom. Norville gets his revenge on Velma and then leaves to transfer to a new school. Gigi confronts Velma about how she treated Norville, and this leads her to finally listen to the voicemails he has been leaving her for two years! As Velma descends into Dr. Edna Purdue’s lab, she calls and leaves Norville a message saying she is sorry. She finds Daphne and Fred trapped by the real killer, and they work together to capture them and then unmask them in the classic Scooby-Doo format. Of course, the show can’t end there because there is another twist and a new motive that leads to Norville coming to the rescue, accidentally killing the serial killer, an awkward kiss between Velma and Daphne, and the entire group, except Norville and Velma, fighting. The episode ends with the set up of a new mystery and murder hinting at a season two of the series.

What started out as an interesting collaboration of Rick and Morty-style comedy with newly imagined Scooby-Doo characters turned into an absolute train wreck. The show fell headfirst into the most toxic jokes I’ve seen on TV in a while and made the characters so unlikable no one cared if they lived or died. Relationships were teased but never carried out, and every character, including the police and parents, cared more about themselves than their community or children. In the end, the mystery was less exciting than one of the old classic episodes and yet they spent an entire 10-episode season dragging it out. If the show is renewed for season two, I hope they will cut back on the toxic commentary and horrible characters and spend more time on the actual mystery. Or at least better developing their characters into people we can actually root for.

Season one of Velma is available to stream on HBO Max.

Rating: 2/10

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