Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated- Series 2 Review
Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated season 2 kicks off a few months after the downbeat ending of the first season. Last we saw, the gang are all split up and scattered to the winds. Within the first few minutes we find that Scooby is in a pound and kept in the hotbox Steve McQueen 'Great Escape' style, Shaggy is Private Hippy in a military school, Fred is a hobo going door to door looking for his real parents and Velma is alone In Crystal Cove watching the whole place go to wrack and ruin due to a clown man baby (naturally)
We see the gang reunite but initially without Daphne, who rejoins later. That is one of the most wonderful thing about this series, the writers make the many moments feel earned and true to the characters that they have spent many episodes rounding out.
As the series progresses the team start gathering the remaining segments of the planespheric discs, the fate of the original Mystery Incorporated is revealed and Fred and Daphne's will they/ won't they relationship dynamic is finally resolved in the most dramatic and powerful way. There are moments of true drama as some characters have heel turns, turn good and die in the most heartbreaking way. However there is lots of levity with pop culture references sprinkled throughout including Rorschach (yes, of Watchmen fame), the Man from Another Place (the backwards talking little man) from Twin Peaks, Werner Herzog, Nosferatu, Johnny Quest, The Brady Bunch and many other eclectic series and movies.
I've said it before in my first series review but this series is the best that Scooby Doo has ever been, in fact it is one of the finest animated series I have ever seen and I've seen hundreds! The fact that a 'children's' cartoon deals with Mayan legends, end of the world prophecies, parallel universes and extra-dimensional beings like the Anunaki yet still retains its wide eyed innocence and playfulness is astonishing. Next to Gravity Falls this is one of the best animated series ever in my humble opinion and the fact that it leans heavily on Twin Peaks confirms that it is a series with some serious pedigree and solid foundations on which to build off.