'Scooby Doo and Guess Who' "Caveman and the Half Pipe" (2020)
Opening thoughts: Although some episodes and guest stars were better than others (a lot so in a few cases), 'Scooby Doo and Guess Who' is very enjoyable on the whole with a huge amount to recommend it. While some episodes disappointed, others were very good and more. All the Scooby Doo shows have at least one winter themed episode and mostly very well indeed, "The Nutcracker Scoob", "Ghost of Bigfoot" and "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" being standouts.
"Caveman and the Half-Pipe" is not one of the best or very well done winter themed episodes, if anything it is one of the weakest. This is the second winter themed episode of 'Scooby Doo and Guess Who' in a row, the first being the infinitely better "Scooby on Ice", and overall it is one of the weaker outings of the show (or at least from Season 2). Not a terrible episode, but very average and pretty unmemorable with not enough spark.
Good things: There are good things here. The animation is great, especially the wintery backgrounds, which have a huge amount of atmosphere of the nostalgic and spooky kind, and the caveman design. Liked the mix of old and new. The music is groovy and atmospheric and although too short on this show hearing the iconic theme song is always a pleasure.
Shaggy and Scooby are delightful as ever and the gang are in character and well characterized generally. The caveman is a fun and menacing villain and it was nice and nostalgic to see a variation of an older villain in a new setting. There is some nice self awareness here and there, like the acknowledgement from the gang of the villain and the mystery being familiar.
Bad things: However, "Caveman and the Half-Pipe" could have been a lot better. Chloe Kim is an incredibly bland and forgettable guest star, it was good that she wasn't written in an over dominant way like some other guest stars (looking at you for example Steve Urkel) but the episode went much too far in the other direction that she was devoid of personality. Nothing stands out character moments wise between her the gang and actually so little is done with her that the episode was actually better off without her. There is very little chemistry between her and the gang.
When it comes to the writing, only the sporadic self awareness stands out. Jokes are too few and are mildly amusing at best and mostly uninspired. The story is too thin and was in serious need of more energy and atmosphere. Also found no aspect of the reveal surprising, which was too obvious and rushed with too much of a derivative feel. Due to it being another episode to follow the person one least suspects route, which was already getting predictable and was overused in the show.
Concluding thoughts: In summary, watchable but average.
5/10.
Opening thoughts: Although some episodes and guest stars were better than others (a lot so in a few cases), 'Scooby Doo and Guess Who' is very enjoyable on the whole with a huge amount to recommend it. While some episodes disappointed, others were very good and more. All the Scooby Doo shows have at least one winter themed episode and mostly very well indeed, "The Nutcracker Scoob", "Ghost of Bigfoot" and "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" being standouts.
"Caveman and the Half-Pipe" is not one of the best or very well done winter themed episodes, if anything it is one of the weakest. This is the second winter themed episode of 'Scooby Doo and Guess Who' in a row, the first being the infinitely better "Scooby on Ice", and overall it is one of the weaker outings of the show (or at least from Season 2). Not a terrible episode, but very average and pretty unmemorable with not enough spark.
Good things: There are good things here. The animation is great, especially the wintery backgrounds, which have a huge amount of atmosphere of the nostalgic and spooky kind, and the caveman design. Liked the mix of old and new. The music is groovy and atmospheric and although too short on this show hearing the iconic theme song is always a pleasure.
Shaggy and Scooby are delightful as ever and the gang are in character and well characterized generally. The caveman is a fun and menacing villain and it was nice and nostalgic to see a variation of an older villain in a new setting. There is some nice self awareness here and there, like the acknowledgement from the gang of the villain and the mystery being familiar.
Bad things: However, "Caveman and the Half-Pipe" could have been a lot better. Chloe Kim is an incredibly bland and forgettable guest star, it was good that she wasn't written in an over dominant way like some other guest stars (looking at you for example Steve Urkel) but the episode went much too far in the other direction that she was devoid of personality. Nothing stands out character moments wise between her the gang and actually so little is done with her that the episode was actually better off without her. There is very little chemistry between her and the gang.
When it comes to the writing, only the sporadic self awareness stands out. Jokes are too few and are mildly amusing at best and mostly uninspired. The story is too thin and was in serious need of more energy and atmosphere. Also found no aspect of the reveal surprising, which was too obvious and rushed with too much of a derivative feel. Due to it being another episode to follow the person one least suspects route, which was already getting predictable and was overused in the show.
Concluding thoughts: In summary, watchable but average.
5/10.
