‘Velma’ Delivers On Mystery, But Still Disappoints In Season Finale

In its season finale, Velma finally delivered on the type of Scooby-Doo story that it promised in its premise. Right from the start, the show showed great potential for witty jokes, one liners, and sharp social commentary that remain prevalent throughout the season. Nevertheless, the mystery it promised was sidelined for high school drama that wasn’t all that entertaining. To further detract from the plot, the characters aren’t all that appealing either. So it becomes hard to root for them in that drama. If suspense and danger were inserted into the story, it might distract a little from their flawed characterization. It’s just a shame it took until the very last episode for that to happen.

As Velma’s mother (Sarayu Rao) remembered that she was the killer last episode, Velma (Mindy Kaling) made it her mission to figure out exactly what happened and clear her name. The investigation led to a secret lair, where she discovered Fred’s mother (Cherry Jones) was behind everything. In fact, she hypnotized many people into following through with her plans. Ultimately, she wanted to place someone’s smart brain into Fred’s body so that he can competently run their company. In the end, Norville (Sam Richardson) saved the day by accidentally killing Fred’s mother.

While the episode finally delivered some classic Scooby-Doo mystery and danger, it still wasn’t particularly good. The rationale and motivations behinds the killer’s actions were contrived and forced. None of it felt natural. In fact, the red herrings placed along the way did more harm than good as they didn’t come about from episodes of mystery. Rather, they were just added notes to episodes that were all about drama. So while the show did deliver on its mystery in the end, it was just too late. There weren’t enough clues placed in earlier episodes to justify the big reveal.

Velma is now streaming on HBO Max.