In season 2, Velma raises a giant middle finger to its haters

Warning: this post contains spoilers for Velma season two.

The conspiratorial face Velma Dinkley (Mindy Kaling) is making in the image above is how I imagine Velma’s team looked while mapping out season two of the show. Yes, Max’s animated comedy dropped 10 new episodes on April 25 despite the vicious haters of its 2023 debut run. Seemingly everyone lost their goddamn minds in response to Charlie Grandy’s innocuous, subpar, and occasionally fun—there, I said it—series. Far worse TV shows haven’t elicited such a strong reaction. So the show’s return feels like a big fuck you to the cynics, essentially doubling down on the all meta-ness and humor.

Does Velma’s wry storytelling land this time? No. And this comes from a defender of a ludicrous yet entertaining season one, with its cool voice performances, peculiar world-building, and endless pop-culture quips. Those qualities are retained early in season two before it spirals into a convoluted mess. The show is out of control with subplots that are hard to keep track of or care about, like brain-switching, a double wedding, a “dong removing serial killer,” a Breakfast Club-themed musical, and talking dogs that are much different than the Great Dane of the original show. Still, Velma intends to create maximum chaos amid these missteps, taking huge swings in response to that aforementioned backlash.

So—spoiler alert—it goes for the jugular in the finale with the closing moments: Velma Dinkley dies. The writers said, “Oh you detest Kaling’s version of an iconic character? Look at what we’re going to do to her next.” After spending all season trying to unmask new villains, she accomplishes it only to fall off a balcony while fending off a rabid Scrappy-Doo (Jason Mantzoukas). She’s now a ghost floating around her small town of Crystal Cove, much to the horror of her loved ones. Velma’s existence literally boils down to the words haunting and unnecessary. Say what you will about it, but this is a ballsy if not batshit retort.

The only way for Velma to move forward in season two was by being self-aware and addressing its vocal valid and invalid criticisms. The writers don’t ace their responses, but at the very least, they give some fascinating attempts. Part of the show’s unjustified condemnation was changing the ethnicities of the familiar lead characters. Velma and Daphne Blake (Constance Wu) are Asian, while Norville “Shaggy” Rogers (Sam Richardson) is Black. Their cultural identities don’t impact the story whatsoever and the racist vitriol is unnecessary. In fact, adding more of their background would’ve probably made the show richer.

Another big criticism was the lack of Scooby-Doo because Velma is a prequel, following the four high-schoolers, including Fred Jones (Glenn Howerton), before they establish Mystery Inc. Season two references this with lines about why bringing a puppy in a van to solve crimes is such a gimmick. Despite that, various dogs play a seminal role in furthering the narrative here, including a ravenous Scrappy. All the while, the mysterious murderer goes by the name Project Scoobi. It’s a lot, and the execution of the suspense—one of the most fun aspects of any Scooby story—is hella choppy. But that’s because the writers don’t seem invested in it, and that’s the ultimate downfall of the show.

Velma crams so many comebacks, hoping they’ll string together into a cohesive story. It doesn’t work. Beloved figures like the Hex Girls are introduced but not developed, and new romances are blooming but they don’t make a lick of sense. (Velma’s mom and Fred’s dad? Why?) Velma’s own feelings for Daphne take up a huge chunk of time but sadly, these two might be one of TV’s most irritating couples ever. Meanwhile, Fred and Norville seem to merely exist. Season two’s worst crime is that it’s both too much and somehow still boring.

But who knows? Velma as a spirit could fuse new life into the Max show if it’s renewed again. (Imagine the angry tweets!) But it doesn’t feel like the creators care about continuing it. This might explain why every insane storyline and twist feels jammed into the last few installments instead of saved for later. They probably know that getting season two was a bit of good luck—HBO/Warner Bros. hasn’t been great to its animated projects—but getting a third would be a freaking miracle. All criticism aside, though, if this is the end, at least the contentious show managed to raise a proud middle finger to those incredibly angry folks with keyboards.