Velma attempts to jog her mother’s memory and get closer to solving the mystery of the killer as her relationships with Daphne and Norville hit unsteady waters. The episodes are streaming on HBO Max.
Episode 9 recap: Family (Wo)man
Diya is diagnosed with amnesia and Velma is informed that she has 72 hours to unlock Diya’s memories until they are lost forever. For that to happen, she must ensure that her mother doesn’t encounter anything that upsets her.
They start by keeping Aman’s relationship with Sophie a secret. Velma kicks Sophie out of the house as her mother moves back in and gets snippets of her memory back.
Daphne is excited to be in a relationship with Velma and she wants to make a big deal of it by showing up together at Kelly, Brenda, and Sophie’s party.
However, she soon learns that her popularity has been revoked after she wanted to leave the brains back in the cave while it was collapsing. Fred is similarly an outcast after cheating on the brains with each other while they were down there.
Velma approaches Norville for help improving her mother’s mood by asking him to fabricate her report card. She once again exploits him for her own benefit without considering his feelings even once.
Sophie sneaks back into the house to get her baby’s blanket but Diya wakes up and wonders why Sophie is in the house with a child. Velma claims that the baby is hers and that Norville is the father.
She then has to keep the facade going but is more focused on pleasing her mother while Norville is left taking care of the baby and Sophie is cast aside altogether.
Daphne comes up with the idea to pretend that she and Fred are in a relationship to regain their popularity and it works. Fred’s mother, Victoria is quite impressed by Daphne’s intellect and decision-making.
Velma finds a welder’s mask in Lamont’s office when she goes there to drop off the baby and assumes that he’s the killer. The police storm the Rogers’ residence but it turns out to be a false alarm and Norville is hurt by Velma’s accusation.
Victoria tells Daphne that she has a knack for sales after convincing everyone of their popularity with her ruse and she asks Daphne if she would like to be an intern at Jones’ company.
Fred and Daphne attend the party at Spooner’s Malt Shop together and have to kiss to prove that their love is real. Velma walks in right there with the baby and is shocked to see Fred and Daphne kiss.
Diya and Aman arrive at the party as well and Diya asks Velma why she keeps handing the baby to Sophie. Aman finally admits the truth about his dating Sophie and having a baby with her.
Diya feels lighter now that her soulless marriage is truly over and remembers who the killer is. She then reveals to everyone present that she herself was the killer all along.
Episode 10 recap: The Brains of the Operation
Diya is arrested after her confession and Velma tries to wrap her head around the whole situation. Meanwhile, Norville is still mad at her and she’s mad at Daphne.
Linda and Donna invite Velma to the station and show her Diya’s interrogation. Diya admits that she committed the murders so that she could switch Velma’s brain with a popular girl’s brain.
Velma wants to speak to her mother but Linda and Donna tell her that the only way that can happen is if Sheriff Cogburn arrests her and he won’t settle for anything less than murder.
Daphne begins her internship under Victoria while Fred has a tantrum because his mother doesn’t trust him to take over the company. Velma visits Fred and asks for his help in getting arrested.
Daphne finds a geode in her locker from her birth mother. Inside it is a pocket watch which turns out to be a clue to finding the real killer. Velma successfully gets arrested after Fred claims that he was being harassed by her.
When she meets her mother in the jail cell, Diya repeats her confession and Velma discovers that Diya has been hypnotized into thinking she’s the killer. Sheriff Cogburn shows up and takes Diya away to be sentenced as Velma watches on.
Daphne shows up with the pocket watch and tells Velma that she’s got a major clue. Velma regains a memory of her being hypnotized by the killer the same day that her mother was kidnapped.
Daphne promises to help Velma solve the case together but she gets a call from Fred and has to leave. Velma goes to the school locker room and asks the brains if they recognize the pocket watch but they have no clue.
Gigi tells Velma that Norville is changing schools because he can’t bear to be around Velma anymore. She forgets the case and thinks about all the times she disrespected Norville while listening to all his voicemails.
His oldest voicemail mentions her glasses, which previously belonged to Diya. Velma notices that the glasses were made by the Jones Gentleman’s accessories. She also learns that the pocketwatch is made by the same company.
She does a bit of research and figures out who the killer is.
Velma season 1 ending explained in detail:
What does Velma find out?
The pocket watch and the hypnosis led Velma to research General Harry Meeting, the man behind project SCOOBI that hired Dr. Edna Purdue. She also remembers that Harry was an expert in hypnosis.
She asks her dad to take her to Fred’s mansion because she believes that they might be in trouble. She sneaks down into the underground lab and finds Daphne and Fred restrained over there.
While she’s sneaking down, she leaves a voicemail for Norville and ends up telling him that she loves him.
Who is the real killer?
After successfully subduing the killer, Velma reveals to Fred and Daphne that the killer is Victoria Jones, Fred’s mother. She then explains all the clues leading to her discovery. ‘
The first two bodies were meant to frame Velma but after Fred was arrested for his outburst in court, Victoria had no choice but to produce a third body quickly and exonerate her son.
Velma also found out that Victoria is General Harry Metting’s daughter who married into the Jones family so that she could build their fortune and gain access to Edna’s lab.
But when Diya discovered the journals first, she chose to hypnotize Diya and make her set up the lab instead.
What is Victoria’s plan?
Victoria’s initial plan was to swap the brains of Fred and Daphne so that her son would finally be capable enough to take over the family business. But when Velma foils her attempts, she decides to put Velma’s brain into Fred instead.
She calls out to a hypnotized William, Fred’s father, who attacks them and restrains Velma. Velma enrages Fred to the point that he breaks out his restraints, forcing Victoria to flee.
Fred goes after his mother as Velma and Daphne try to escape. Victoria takes advantage of her idiot son to get a hold of his gun and goes after Velma and Daphne.
She’s about to shoot them when Norville arrives in the cave after hearing Velma’s declaration of love in the voicemail. He deflects her bullet with a sword and the bullet knocks a stalagmite loose, which drops and kills Victoria.
What happens to Velma and the gang?
Velma and Daphne are so happy that they’re still alive that they kiss but when they say “I love you” to each other, Velma says Norville’s name instead.
Fred is mad at Norville for killing his mother because she had convinced him that she was possessed by the ghost of Edna Purdue and he would rather believe that than confront the truth.
Velma, Daphne, Fred, and Norville are felicitated by the city for finding the killer but they’re all mad at each other and move on to different things. Velma gets to have a life with her mother again, Daphne receives an ominous letter with a blood pentagram on it.
Norville suffers from the guilt of killing Victoria Jones and Fred appears to have started his own venture as a “spooky stuff hunter”.
Review
- Beneath all the ridiculous humor is a decent mystery narrative that can be considered one of the few positives of the series. The mystery is well constructed and the reveal of the killer does come as a surprise.
- The over-reliance on edgy humor leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the audience. The incessant racist and sexist jokes come across as ignorant rather than self-aware as the writers must have intended.
- The characters continue to be unlikeable right up till the end and do not show significant growth to elicit any sort of interest in their futures going forward. Velma is a poorly-written protagonist surrounded by reprehensible companions in a series that has no shortage of them.
Velma season 1 episodes 9 and 10
Director: Meg Wadlow, Gina Gress
Date Created: 2023-02-09 13:30
Editor's Rating:
2
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