When I was a kid I lived and breathed scooby doo, and that is not even an exaggeration, i watched every single animated movie, the live action movies, I watched every single episode of the animated shows from "where are you" to "whats new scooby doo", I even watched that one weird one called "shaggy and scooby doo get a clue". But in all of my years of watching scooby doo i never dreamed we would get such a mature and well written adaption of the series as this one. When this show came out in 2010, I was in euphoria, sure the character designs needed some getting used too, but everything about it was perfect to me. The scooby gang were the same people we loved with added depth and gravitas, the monsters were bigger and badder than ever, but the mystery that this show was unraveling with every episode, that was what kept me fully engaged for years while watching this series and why i still come back to it every year afterward.
Plot: The show keeps the classic formula of scooby doo going with the gang solving strange mysteries and defeating psychotic villains dressed as monsters and some not dressed as monsters. But unlike before there is an overall plot that gets very dark by the end of the first season. The majority of the series takes place in a coastal town called Crystal cove, where since its conception supernatural things have always occurred. A rich history that we uncover with the gang in each episode as they receive strange cases from an anonymous man who only goes by MR. E. Eventually the gang uncover a sinister plot that goes back generations with other mystery solver groups such as the original mystery inc before them and even a super cool group of steampunkers known as the benevolent lodge of mystery. These mystery solver groups each had a talking animal as a member and were all obsessed with finding pieces of a planispheric disc that when assembled can lead to a great treasure and curse. It is the ultimate mystery that will keep you 100% engaged as our mystery inc is determined to solve the mystery of crystal cove, no matter the dangers they will face along the journey.
Characters: Scooby doo in this version, feels like a real person, while he has always been a loveable friend to the group, i don't think he was ever seen as an equal by them before this show. Here he does get easily jealous of shaggy dating velma, but also is portrayed as more attentive to the other group members' emotional needs. By the end of the series scooby doo has received so much depth as well as a central role in the plot, that its hard to see him as the same heroic dog from the "where are you" series.
Shaggy is the same loveable coward we have always known him as, being played by the live action shaggy actor Matthew Lillard, really gives him a laid back attitude but eventually he does become more heroic as his friends face peril.
Fred in this version is still the self designated leader, but he really learns to own the role and be of service to the group, he is very obsessed with traps here to comedic levels, but he is still a person that loves his friends and will do anything to protect them, but he is portrayed to be quite dense towards common logic and especially daphne's romantic feelings.
Daphne in this version is the mother of the group, paying attention to the other members personal feelings while suppressing her own. In this version she is consumed with her romantic feelings toward Fred, almost to self destructive levels, which is why she gives up on him for a while. While she is still a damsel in some instances she is a badass in her own right.
Velma in this version is the most complicated member, she is the queen of sass and the most tech savvy of the group, this time around being in a romantic relationship with shaggy which displays her more negative traits as she tries to control him. This makes her kind of unlikeable at first, but eventually she is redeemed as she saves the group from life threatening dangers, albeit through scrupulous means.
The show does a great job establishing each member of the gang as an essential member of the group. While I adore the classic character traits of Scooby and the gang in the original series, these versions are much more three dimensional, and even some of the side characters are this as well. There is an entire cast of amazing side characters and greater scope villains that are so numerous that i will only be able to mention a few. Mr. E is the mysterious benefactor to mystery inc giving them clues and bigger problems to solve each episode through of course mysterious means. Vincent van ghoul is a horror actor this time around, always appearing in black/white horror films that scooby and shaggy love to watch. Angel dynamite is the gangs local disc jockey and confidant, who is carrying a dark secret of her own. The hex girls return to help the gang in amazing musical battle episodes. Mayor jones is fred's adoptive father who holds the secret to the mystery of crystal cove. Sheriff bronson stone is the loveable comic relief played by the great patrick warburton that adds much levity to the series. Professor pericles has the opposite effect, adding the more serious and darker tone as he serves as one of the most evil animated villains ever. The town of crystal cove feels like a character itself because of its rich history and population of such a wide variety of fascinating people.
Upgrade: I won't deny the classic scooby doo series of old like "where are you" or "The Scooby doo show" have become quite dated, whether its their animation or writing, but it cannot be denied those shows have maintained their charm and it is why they are still so beloved by people like me. But a reboot is sometimes necessary to keep a franchise alive, especially one as repetitive as scooby doo, in the early 2000s it was done with zombie island and the witches ghost which took scooby doo in a more edgy but still lighthearted way, and i feel mystery incorporated carries on that legacy. Unlike other modern reboots, this show does not try to insult the original material or try to change what made the characters and the concept so great, instead it builds upon them. Each character is given an extra level of depth they did not have in previous shows and allows character arcs to occur naturally over the series. It helps to keep the mysteries in one location, the gang's hometown of crystal cove that makes the scooby doo world fleshed out and lived in. The theme song has amazing theme music which makes you accept this new version, since you feel it is giving you something fresh and unsettling. The animation is a big step up with the cartoony designs allowing for more fluidity, even with the occasional cgi it still works in making the show look so fresh. The monsters are a special mention, while none of them are nearly as memorable or as iconic as classic scooby doo villains like captain cutler, the tar monster or the creeper, they are all menacing in their own respective episodes, alice may, que horrifico and the baby clown do a great job at being villains but perhaps they range too close to being supervillains. At the beginning of each episode we are totally convinced that whatever monster is terrorizing crystal cove is real, based on its movements and the scale of damage it causes with super strength or other superpowers, almost being too convincing to be proven fake by the end through elaborate explanations that are so over the top to be true. While scooby doo has always had some creepy villains, this show tackles true horror not just with its monsters but also with its darker themes. There are many episodes where the monsters seem to have killed people like with the gnome, the cicadas or the freak of crystal cove. Despite the horror aspects there is still plenty of golden humor that is done more in a deadpan way without the need of a laugh track. The most updated aspect of this show is the greater scope the series went in, while still a monster of the week type show, there was now a ongoing sinister plot that would be built each episode, injecting a new level of story writing and character writing that had never been done before.
Conclusion: In conclusion, at surface level this show seems like no different from any other version of the classic series, the scooby gang are just solving mysteries and unmasking mentally unstable people with great cosplay skills, except when you watch the show from beginning to end you realize that this series added so much lore and gravitas to the scooby doo world that it is truly the most well written scooby doo show ever created, dare I say it is the adult scooby doo show that lesser adaptations were attempting to be. This is a near perfect scooby doo show that I would recommend to anyone, with my only real complaint being that we didn't get spinoff episodes focusing on each of the generational groups of mystery solving gangs like the benevolent lodge of mystery. Sure this is still scooby doo, there is still a lot of wacky fun, weird monsters and jokes all around, but the overall execution of this series is something that deserves to be studied in creating a great reboot of a beloved show since it was so well written it felt fresh and still was able to pay a level of respect and love to the original scooby doo by adding to it instead of altering it completely. I am truly grateful i watched this series in 2010 before streaming was a thing or before i had purchased all the season dvds, since every episode left me hooked and wanting more with the twists and turns. What makes this series so great all these years later is that it was well planned out to tell its story within 52 episodes without the need of adding on to the story, ending it on a somber but worthwhile note. While this mystery may have come to an end, there is still potential to find greater mysteries out there and of course more scooby doo.
Plot: The show keeps the classic formula of scooby doo going with the gang solving strange mysteries and defeating psychotic villains dressed as monsters and some not dressed as monsters. But unlike before there is an overall plot that gets very dark by the end of the first season. The majority of the series takes place in a coastal town called Crystal cove, where since its conception supernatural things have always occurred. A rich history that we uncover with the gang in each episode as they receive strange cases from an anonymous man who only goes by MR. E. Eventually the gang uncover a sinister plot that goes back generations with other mystery solver groups such as the original mystery inc before them and even a super cool group of steampunkers known as the benevolent lodge of mystery. These mystery solver groups each had a talking animal as a member and were all obsessed with finding pieces of a planispheric disc that when assembled can lead to a great treasure and curse. It is the ultimate mystery that will keep you 100% engaged as our mystery inc is determined to solve the mystery of crystal cove, no matter the dangers they will face along the journey.
Characters: Scooby doo in this version, feels like a real person, while he has always been a loveable friend to the group, i don't think he was ever seen as an equal by them before this show. Here he does get easily jealous of shaggy dating velma, but also is portrayed as more attentive to the other group members' emotional needs. By the end of the series scooby doo has received so much depth as well as a central role in the plot, that its hard to see him as the same heroic dog from the "where are you" series.
Shaggy is the same loveable coward we have always known him as, being played by the live action shaggy actor Matthew Lillard, really gives him a laid back attitude but eventually he does become more heroic as his friends face peril.
Fred in this version is still the self designated leader, but he really learns to own the role and be of service to the group, he is very obsessed with traps here to comedic levels, but he is still a person that loves his friends and will do anything to protect them, but he is portrayed to be quite dense towards common logic and especially daphne's romantic feelings.
Daphne in this version is the mother of the group, paying attention to the other members personal feelings while suppressing her own. In this version she is consumed with her romantic feelings toward Fred, almost to self destructive levels, which is why she gives up on him for a while. While she is still a damsel in some instances she is a badass in her own right.
Velma in this version is the most complicated member, she is the queen of sass and the most tech savvy of the group, this time around being in a romantic relationship with shaggy which displays her more negative traits as she tries to control him. This makes her kind of unlikeable at first, but eventually she is redeemed as she saves the group from life threatening dangers, albeit through scrupulous means.
The show does a great job establishing each member of the gang as an essential member of the group. While I adore the classic character traits of Scooby and the gang in the original series, these versions are much more three dimensional, and even some of the side characters are this as well. There is an entire cast of amazing side characters and greater scope villains that are so numerous that i will only be able to mention a few. Mr. E is the mysterious benefactor to mystery inc giving them clues and bigger problems to solve each episode through of course mysterious means. Vincent van ghoul is a horror actor this time around, always appearing in black/white horror films that scooby and shaggy love to watch. Angel dynamite is the gangs local disc jockey and confidant, who is carrying a dark secret of her own. The hex girls return to help the gang in amazing musical battle episodes. Mayor jones is fred's adoptive father who holds the secret to the mystery of crystal cove. Sheriff bronson stone is the loveable comic relief played by the great patrick warburton that adds much levity to the series. Professor pericles has the opposite effect, adding the more serious and darker tone as he serves as one of the most evil animated villains ever. The town of crystal cove feels like a character itself because of its rich history and population of such a wide variety of fascinating people.
Upgrade: I won't deny the classic scooby doo series of old like "where are you" or "The Scooby doo show" have become quite dated, whether its their animation or writing, but it cannot be denied those shows have maintained their charm and it is why they are still so beloved by people like me. But a reboot is sometimes necessary to keep a franchise alive, especially one as repetitive as scooby doo, in the early 2000s it was done with zombie island and the witches ghost which took scooby doo in a more edgy but still lighthearted way, and i feel mystery incorporated carries on that legacy. Unlike other modern reboots, this show does not try to insult the original material or try to change what made the characters and the concept so great, instead it builds upon them. Each character is given an extra level of depth they did not have in previous shows and allows character arcs to occur naturally over the series. It helps to keep the mysteries in one location, the gang's hometown of crystal cove that makes the scooby doo world fleshed out and lived in. The theme song has amazing theme music which makes you accept this new version, since you feel it is giving you something fresh and unsettling. The animation is a big step up with the cartoony designs allowing for more fluidity, even with the occasional cgi it still works in making the show look so fresh. The monsters are a special mention, while none of them are nearly as memorable or as iconic as classic scooby doo villains like captain cutler, the tar monster or the creeper, they are all menacing in their own respective episodes, alice may, que horrifico and the baby clown do a great job at being villains but perhaps they range too close to being supervillains. At the beginning of each episode we are totally convinced that whatever monster is terrorizing crystal cove is real, based on its movements and the scale of damage it causes with super strength or other superpowers, almost being too convincing to be proven fake by the end through elaborate explanations that are so over the top to be true. While scooby doo has always had some creepy villains, this show tackles true horror not just with its monsters but also with its darker themes. There are many episodes where the monsters seem to have killed people like with the gnome, the cicadas or the freak of crystal cove. Despite the horror aspects there is still plenty of golden humor that is done more in a deadpan way without the need of a laugh track. The most updated aspect of this show is the greater scope the series went in, while still a monster of the week type show, there was now a ongoing sinister plot that would be built each episode, injecting a new level of story writing and character writing that had never been done before.
Conclusion: In conclusion, at surface level this show seems like no different from any other version of the classic series, the scooby gang are just solving mysteries and unmasking mentally unstable people with great cosplay skills, except when you watch the show from beginning to end you realize that this series added so much lore and gravitas to the scooby doo world that it is truly the most well written scooby doo show ever created, dare I say it is the adult scooby doo show that lesser adaptations were attempting to be. This is a near perfect scooby doo show that I would recommend to anyone, with my only real complaint being that we didn't get spinoff episodes focusing on each of the generational groups of mystery solving gangs like the benevolent lodge of mystery. Sure this is still scooby doo, there is still a lot of wacky fun, weird monsters and jokes all around, but the overall execution of this series is something that deserves to be studied in creating a great reboot of a beloved show since it was so well written it felt fresh and still was able to pay a level of respect and love to the original scooby doo by adding to it instead of altering it completely. I am truly grateful i watched this series in 2010 before streaming was a thing or before i had purchased all the season dvds, since every episode left me hooked and wanting more with the twists and turns. What makes this series so great all these years later is that it was well planned out to tell its story within 52 episodes without the need of adding on to the story, ending it on a somber but worthwhile note. While this mystery may have come to an end, there is still potential to find greater mysteries out there and of course more scooby doo.
