'Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated's' first season was great and had huge promise, with a high number of great episode. Season 2 on the whole was every bit as good, despite a few episodes being uneven, despite the number of great episodes not being quite as high it also has a darker and more mysterious tone with deeper character writing and the Crystal Cove mystery being more intricate and more intriguing with each episode. My opinion on "The Night the Clown Cried" on first watch was high.
It still is very high on rewatch. To me it actually fared better on rewatch, thanks to appreciating the villain more and also finding the character writing deeper and the atmosphere darker. Which is absolutely great, as ideally a following season should maintain what was so great about what happened previous while building upon it. Something that Season 2 on the whole did brilliantly and is already evident in "The Night the Clown Cried", despite it being only the season's first episode.
"The Night the Clown Cried" isn't perfect. Did feel that the ending was on the abrupt side, though in a way that's understandable as it was clear that a Part 2 was intended.
Was a little mixed on Scooby, he is still very relatable, fun and has good intentions but for my tastes he talks too much and comes over as too intelligent, obvious in the long talky sentences that he never did before.
However, so much is good. The elaborately detailed and atmospheric animation quality still remains, and the character designs are more appealing now than they were on first watch. Crybaby Clown's character design is wonderfully strange, which is fitting with his personality, and a lot less goofier than remembered. The music is a mix of energetic, melancholic and spooky with it never jarring. The voice acting is near-uniformly excellent, with my only reservation being Frank Welker's slightly too human voice work for Scooby.
Furthermore, the writing is smart and thought provoking. The story is very absorbing throughout, with no over simplicity or convolution and a real creepiness, and sets things up for the season in a way that is intriguing. Really liked the darker and more dramatic tone, also that all the gang have come on a long way personality wise. Daphne's personality change in particular here is drastic, but it was fitting considering what happened at the end of "All Fear the Freak". The Velma reveal was a surprise and the Crystal Cove mystery is deepening and moving forward all the time. Crybaby Clown is not going to change the minds of anybody who already fears clowns, he is freaky and also memorably strange.
Overall, very good start to the season. 8/10.
It still is very high on rewatch. To me it actually fared better on rewatch, thanks to appreciating the villain more and also finding the character writing deeper and the atmosphere darker. Which is absolutely great, as ideally a following season should maintain what was so great about what happened previous while building upon it. Something that Season 2 on the whole did brilliantly and is already evident in "The Night the Clown Cried", despite it being only the season's first episode.
"The Night the Clown Cried" isn't perfect. Did feel that the ending was on the abrupt side, though in a way that's understandable as it was clear that a Part 2 was intended.
Was a little mixed on Scooby, he is still very relatable, fun and has good intentions but for my tastes he talks too much and comes over as too intelligent, obvious in the long talky sentences that he never did before.
However, so much is good. The elaborately detailed and atmospheric animation quality still remains, and the character designs are more appealing now than they were on first watch. Crybaby Clown's character design is wonderfully strange, which is fitting with his personality, and a lot less goofier than remembered. The music is a mix of energetic, melancholic and spooky with it never jarring. The voice acting is near-uniformly excellent, with my only reservation being Frank Welker's slightly too human voice work for Scooby.
Furthermore, the writing is smart and thought provoking. The story is very absorbing throughout, with no over simplicity or convolution and a real creepiness, and sets things up for the season in a way that is intriguing. Really liked the darker and more dramatic tone, also that all the gang have come on a long way personality wise. Daphne's personality change in particular here is drastic, but it was fitting considering what happened at the end of "All Fear the Freak". The Velma reveal was a surprise and the Crystal Cove mystery is deepening and moving forward all the time. Crybaby Clown is not going to change the minds of anybody who already fears clowns, he is freaky and also memorably strange.
Overall, very good start to the season. 8/10.
