"Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" Trading Chases (TV Episode 2015) Poster

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7/10
A worthwhile chase
TheLittleSongbird23 June 2022
Despite being a massive Scooby Doo fan for goodness knows how long, expectations were somehow not high for 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' prior to giving it a chance. The advertising in my mind was terrible and the animation style, one of the franchise's least appealing, was very off putting. Still gave it a chance as a fan of the franchise and of animation in general and there are films and shows that have bad advertising but turn out to be good.

"Trading Chases" is another good episode of 'Be Cool Scooby Doo', while not one of the best episodes of the show it continues the very promising standard set by most of the previous episodes (all watchable and more). My issues with the previous episodes and the show in general are present in "Trading Chases", but the triumph in humour and mostly refreshing character writing present in most 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' episodes are absolutely here. Not a great instalment, but there is more than enough here to show what made the show work.

A lot is good. The story is a lot of fun and very energetic. Really did love Jeff's interpretation of the story, which was a clever and knowing piece of writing. "Trading Chases" once again delivers on the humour, not just with Shaggy and Scooby but also with Daphne and the falcon. The writing in the episode is very good, but it especially shines in the humour, of which there is thankfully a lot.

Can't fault most of the character writing. Have always enjoyed Shaggy and Scooby throughout the franchise's history and Daphne's character writing has been refreshingly quirky without being over the top. The supporting characters are very colourful, including the very cool and creepy villain. The music is groovy and adds to the energy and quirkiness present in the writing and story. Have no issues with the voice acting too.

It isn't a perfect episode though. The animation never did it for me on this show and "Trading Chases" does nothing to change my mind. . The flat and garish colours don't appeal, neither do the sparse backgrounds. Even less appealing are the character designs that have such a rushed drugged out look and it looks ugly.

Like most of 'Be Cool Scooby Doo's' episodes, the reveal is too obvious with the suspects being too few and is very rushed. Also really disliked Fred's attitude, he comes over as a real jerk and his treatment of Jeff was completely uncalled for.

On the whole though, good entertaining episode. 7/10.
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2/10
A Fred Bashing Episode
jeremycrimsonfox18 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Be Cool Scooby-Doo is one of the worst series in the franchise's history. Basically, it takes the classic Scooby-Doo formula and tries to inject some of the stuff seen in Teen Titans Go into it.

This episode, however, is one of my most hated episodes of the series, mainly because it portrays Fred out of character. In past series, he is seen as a good leader who is willing to investigate mysteries and even makes the traps, but in Be Cool, he has been made into a power-hungry jerk like Robin, which episodes tend to employ. Here, he challenges Jeff, a tour guide, in leading the gang on a mystery, and when he sees how he treats the gang (which is correctly), he gets jealous and tries to make kids who were attending a tour his new gang, even going as far as to take one girl's glasses and put them on another girl to make her like Velma. That is some bad character derailment, as the real Fred would never resort to doing that.

Also, the gags are not funny. Which include two characters arguing about some elements of Sobek's legend, and Daphne taking up falconry, with a falcon named Dwayne that is used for some scenes of comedy. While Scooby-Doo is known for its comedy, the comedy in this episode (as well as the series) is not funny.

In conclusion, there is a reason why this series is disliked by most Scooby fans. This episode basically made Fred into a power hungry jerk like the Teen Titans Go incarnation of Robin, and the jokes are not funny. Thankfully, Fred and Jeff do make up and team up to capture Sobek, but Jeff also gets arrested when he misreads the clues and tries to unmask the culprit who was Sobek, who was one of the characters arguing, believing she was really his third grade teacher. Again, done as a joke, but not funny considering how insane and mean-spirited it is. I recommend showing your children the older Scooby-Doo shows and give this poor attempt a pass.
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