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Post by cometcrystal on Mar 28, 2021 18:16:48 GMT -5
SDMI was my introduction to Scooby Doo as a franchise (aside from the 2002 movie). Thus, I have a lot of fondness for it, and it's one of my favorite series. But there's a lot to criticize about it, too, so I always feel weird talking about it one way or the other.
This show has my least favorite Daphne. I still love her dearly, but she doesn't really.... get a proper arc? And she has so much potential for that. There's so much potential for parallels drawn between her parents and Fred's, and to explore the abuse and neglect she goes through; she's obviously desperate for someone to truly, genuinely love her, and that's why she's so possessive of Fred and trying to make his love fit the image that's in her head. By the end of the series, she's grown out of this, and she accepts that Fred expresses things differently than she does, but we don't get to see much of her internal process for this change. I just wanna see her character development treated with the same focus and depth as Fred's (who by far has the best arc in this series).
Speaking of the Fraphne, a positive of the series is the way this pairing ends up. They go through a lot of miscommunication and frustration, but they end the series with a true understanding of each other, both of them accommodating for the other. And their relationship is never treated as a joke (no more of a joke than anything else, anyway). As an autistic person, it's hard to express how important it was for me to see an autistic-coded character (Fred) getting a romance that's treated seriously. The Fraphne is FAAARRR from perfect, but the place they end up?? Is leagues beyond what I'd expect from another show. Both of them make mistakes, and both of them own up to it and apologize. Can you imagine the SDMI Fraphne if they BOTH got deep character arcs??
Anyway. I digress. I wanted to mention a negative and a positive about the series to show that it's not all black and white. It seems like the majority of the Scooby fanbase either loves this series or hates it. Either acts like it's beyond reproach and is the best Scooby media because it has an overarching plot, or acts like it ruined Scooby's image forever and the melodrama is stupid. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, of course, but both of those extremes seem to be pretty common.
I love the show's overarching, cosmic plot/mystery. I hate the show's Shelma. I love the secondary original characters. I hate the way the gang's friendship just feels like lip service and doesn't feel organic. I love how dramatic and serious it is. I hate The Dandy Highwayman. I love the Fraphne, I hate the Fraphne. And so on and so forth. What's everyone else's thoughts on this series?
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Post by matt on Mar 28, 2021 19:52:21 GMT -5
Personally, I love this series. It's not one of my very favorites because it isn't true Scooby Doo to me, but it is a very excellent series regardless. The overall plot was phenomenal and the early season 1 episodes before they get too deep into the main plot of the series are also great normal Scooby episodes.
Ever since you first mentioned it, I've found that I love the autistic interpretation of Fred and it makes me think that was what was intended without ever explicitly being stated, similar to Velma being a lesbian. It really makes Fred and his character development much more powerful, and it makes Gary and Ethan picking on and yelling at Fred pretty heartbreaking
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Post by cometcrystal on Mar 28, 2021 20:01:56 GMT -5
Personally, I love this series. It's not one of my very favorites because it isn't true Scooby Doo to me, but it is a very excellent series regardless. The overall plot was phenomenal and the early season 1 episodes before they get too deep into the main plot of the series are also great normal Scooby episodes. Ever since you first mentioned it, I've found that I love the autistic interpretation of Fred and it makes me think that was what was intended without ever explicitly being stated, similar to Velma being a lesbian. It really makes Fred and his character development much more powerful, and it makes Gary and Ethan picking on and yelling at Fred pretty heartbreaking It's tied with Be Cool for my favorite Scooby series, TBH. Despite all I said, there's a lot to love about it.
Also, I'm glad you think so! Every other autistic person I've seen that has also watched the show has the same takeaway from it, so it makes me think there had to be at least a LITTLE intention behind it.
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Post by matt on Mar 28, 2021 21:33:42 GMT -5
Personally, I love this series. It's not one of my very favorites because it isn't true Scooby Doo to me, but it is a very excellent series regardless. The overall plot was phenomenal and the early season 1 episodes before they get too deep into the main plot of the series are also great normal Scooby episodes. Ever since you first mentioned it, I've found that I love the autistic interpretation of Fred and it makes me think that was what was intended without ever explicitly being stated, similar to Velma being a lesbian. It really makes Fred and his character development much more powerful, and it makes Gary and Ethan picking on and yelling at Fred pretty heartbreaking It's tied with Be Cool for my favorite Scooby series, TBH. Despite all I said, there's a lot to love about it.
Also, I'm glad you think so! Every other autistic person I've seen that has also watched the show has the same takeaway from it, so it makes me think there had to be at least a LITTLE intention behind it.
I think for what it is, it is an extremely great series. I don't think there's anything that could be made that would top my top 5 of SDWAY, TNSDM, TSDS, WNSD, or APNSD as those are just classics to me and my biggest childhood series. SDMI is directly after that though and the direction Scooby Doo is going (not necessarily bad, but still) makes me think that one is there to stay as well |
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Post by Doo on Mar 29, 2021 15:28:13 GMT -5
I really like SDMI for what it is as well, but I agree she doesn't really get a proper arc outside of pining for Fred, which is unfortunate. I love how dark and mature of a series it is though and that we do get character development for a lot of the characters. I would agree that it's about on equal footing with Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! for me as a series, but in a different way.
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Post by cometcrystal on Mar 29, 2021 17:52:16 GMT -5
I really like SDMI for what it is as well, but I agree she doesn't really get a proper arc outside of pining for Fred, which is unfortunate. I love how dark and mature of a series it is though and that we do get character development for a lot of the characters. I would agree that it's about on equal footing with Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! for me as a series, but in a different way. SDMI and BCSD are tied for first for me, but like you said, they're VERY different. I can't really rank one over the other because I feel like it's unfair to compare them. Their intentions and concepts are nowhere near the same. |
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Post by mattpricetime on Mar 30, 2021 3:09:43 GMT -5
In hindsight, I feel the same way about Mystery Incorporated as I do about the first season of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. It has a lot of cool ideas, but at the same time felt it strayed a bit too far to really feel like what the concept could fully become.
Personally I still prefer other Scoobs, but there were totally things MI did great and concepts I would love to see used again or tweaked in the future.
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