This show caught me off guard. I watched the first episode expecting another cute little Scooby series I'd watch when nothing else is on. When Mr. E first called and gave his ominous warning, I was hooked. Even so, season 2 sat untouched in my iTunes library for a while. When I finally watched, I ended up binging them.
I was a little fuzzy on some of the plot points of season one, but it didn't interfere too much. This continues right where that season left off, and progresses more tightly. There is less filler this round, which is a good thing. It starts with the gang getting back together, and from there the spoilers start so fast and so quick I cannot type anything else without giving too much away.
This show hits the right notes. When it needs to be funny, it's funny. The Frank Miller-esque version of the Blue Falcon and Dyno-Mutt was great, as was the Dandy Highwayman. When it needs to be scary, it's scary. The villains are absolutely terrifying, and when one of them is a parrot, that's not an easy feat to pull off.When it needs to hit emotions, like Cassidy and Ricky's relationship, or the flashback with Ricky and Pericles, it pulls it off.
Doug Walker said, in his editorial on The Looney Tunes Show, that great characters never change, but times and situations do. I think that applies here. The characters are the same I grew up with (okay, Shaggy's a bit braver, and Fred is closer to A Pup Named Scooby Doo than the original series), but the show has matured. The monsters are still crooks in suits (usually...) but they're still scary, because they are trying to kill the gang either way. Things you just accepted in the Sixties get explanations. Everything's darker, but not bleak, and it's well done.
Some highlights this season:
The Gathering Gloom: A great lampshading on the whole "Scooby Doo Hoax"
The Midnight Zone: Another great use of an old Hanna-Barbera property, and the first big Wham Episode of the season.
Wrath of the Krampus: I can't say why this one's great without spoiling the ending.
Heart of Evil: The above mentioned Dyno-Mutt episode, with appearances from Jonny Quest villain Dr. Zin.
The Horrible Heard: Where Pericles starts to lose it.
The epic music battle at the end of Dance of the Dead.
Pretty much everything in the last six episodes.
Watch this series, even if you haven't liked any other Scooby Doo. You won't be disappointed.
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