A death metal show is performed by some lobotomized high school girls (now brains in jars) in Velma Season 2. While Mindy Kaling’s Velma Dinkley compares a Beyoncé concert to a religious experience and hangs out with her new Wiccan girlfriend, Constance Wu’s Daphne Blake, Norville “Shaggy” Rogers (Sam Richardson) has nightmares of dead people while Fred Jones becomes a Catholic to attract more clients for his “spooky stuff hunting business” (Glenn Howerton as Fred Jones). That group of interfring kids?, this is not your’ parents’ Mystery, Inc. Neither does it feel like anyone else’s. Latest installment of Charlie Grandy meandering acerbic Scooby-Doo update is for noone really. Even though Season 2 manages to make its lead heroine slightly more palatable, as an overall package, Velma goes back several irrevocable steps.
The core point around which the show revolves and Velma’s supposed main drive is to solve mysteries. The most interesting thing about this book is that it fails to maintain the genital-mutilating killer now on loose in Crystal Cove who’s constantly relegated into secondary position due to storytelling dilemmas that reek of writerly cornerback-painting. Followers are presented with the dual campaigned by Daphne’s two adoptive mothers for co-sheriff! In particular, Norville continues hallucinating! He also feels bad about what happened to his mother at the end of season one! That all gets exhausting when all you really want is just a simple plot unfolding naturally from one episode to another. But even that much is beyond Velma.
Instead, Season 2 mostly consists of unamusing gags coming from the same cast that struggled through similar material last time round. For example, there is yet another absurd “explanation” about why Norville is more and more looking like Shaggy from the last 55 years of Scooby-Doo cartoons. The next moment, Velma wastes her time trying to convince her classmates that Daphne isn’t really a new Wiccan at all. None of these vignettes are particularly well-written or gratifying. It’s only the tip of the iceberg.
These distractions have come at the cost of introducing new characters such as Amber, which is mysterious (Sara Ramirez). Instead, rather than focusing on their relationship with their mom-former Hex Girl Thorn (Jennifer Hale), the writers would prefer to toss Amber into an episode long “Breakfast Club detention” scenario with Velma’s core quartet. Fred still has some of the funniest lines thanks to Howerton’s performance, but his character is wasted on pining for his mother and solving paranormal mysteries off screen.
Fortunately, Velma herself has become a less insufferable figure since then. She understands empathy somewhat now and mostly reserves fast-paced sarcasm in herself although she speaks mostly wryly and ironically something akin to being aware that there is an invisible audience she should please. While everyone else in this cast appears oblivious about things around them, Velma remains obsessed with appearing smart in order to satisfy others. But one thing never changes: she loves Daphne; or at least she says so. That way she treats her supposed girlfriend you wouldn’t even think they were together
Although season one ended with Velma trying to admit love to Daphne, the two did eventually kiss. It appeared to be a sign of a great future relationship, yet instead Season 2 gives us two quarrelsome girls who end up in silly misunderstandings. This is continuous throughout these ten episodes. They have known each other for so long, when did their romantic feelings blossom? Why do they treat each other as if it were their first encounter? The show has proceeded towards completely absurd ending by the time Velma and Daphne really connect in a deep way, but this does not give any confidence concerning their future.
Velma’s second season had every opportunity to take the fiery feedback from the first one and turn into an amusing twist on Scooby-Doo’s classic heroine. However, it seems like it has leaned more into everything that made its first season unwatchable. It is an almost complete mess of convoluted plotlines, perplexing twists and terrible jokes; it seems happy just to burn its source material while subverting expectations—just not in a good way! This is why this sequel fails to mesmerize audiences though I am not sure whether this version of Velma would be able to solve it if asked.
Velma Season 2 was unfocused drudgery without improvement compared to Season 1. A lifeless joke delivery system plus bloated storylines and efforts at breaking away from tradition make you feel like you are watching some nonsensical comedy while also relegating Velma and Daphne becoming canon couple as something that happened after all else. As for what lies ahead next, this play on Hanna-Barbera’s iconic character has unquestionably turned its back on its roots but doesn’t know where else to go.
Watch Velma Season 2 on Kisscartoon
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