History Recap / ScoobyDooMysteryIncS1E14MysterySolversClubStateFinals

* ArtShift: Scooby-Doo's dream is done in the style of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' There's even subtle blips and film scratches throughout. The episode notably has less-detailed animation and thicker lines, with no ConspicuousCGI being used either.

* AffectionateParody: The entire episode attempts to be a loving send-up of the old cartoons YMMV on how well it achieved that. Considering it foregrounds itself as Scooby fever dream after being called a "sidekick" this can somewhat excuse the stars of their respective shows being called sidekicks in-universe. It doesn't however absolve it from criticism that while all of them starred in YouMeddlingKids cartoons, calling Speed Buggy or Jabberjaw mystery solvers is a stretch and every single one of these seemingly helpless characters rescued their meddling kid partners pretty often in their respective shows.

* ArtShift: Scooby-Doo's dream is done in the style of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' There's even subtle blips and film scratches throughout.

* {{Filler}}: The episode contributes nothing to the main plot other than possibly world-building by suggesting that the other cartoons exist in the ''Mystery Incorporated'' universe (and as we learn later, ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' and ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'' exist as well) and introducing the Crystal Cove High School's principal (albeit she's a OneShotCharacter).
** Velma treats Scooby decently rather than abrasively despite the events of the previous episodes (which continues after this episode).
** This episode can also easily be skipped when binge-watching without any interference to the plot.

-->'''Scooby''': Aahh! It's him! Funky Phantom! Funky Phantom!\\
'''Chairman''': Heavens to Delaware! Was it something I said?

-->'''Mudsy:''' It was perfect. Genius, even. Until your ridiculous dog started acting like a hero instead of a sidekick.

* KickTheDog: Fred ''really'' wants to go to the meeting, even if it means leaving Scooby behind. The rest of the gang had to convince him otherwise, but he's clear he didn't get over it anyway. Possibly InnocentlyInsensitive, given Fred seems to have an AmbiguousDisorder (and he does excuse himself to cry rather than complain in front of the others) and the rest of the gang don't seem irritated by his behavior.

* BalefulPolymorph: Scooby and the other sidekicks find what appear to be their human friends turned into guinea pigs ([[MorphicResonance with their normal hairstyles and appropriately sized Iconic Outfits]]). Scooby has an OutOfCharacterAlert when Guinea Pig!"Shaggy" violently rejects an offered Scooby Snack.

* RewatchBonus:

** The episode is AllJustADream... but after certain revelations in Season 2, that raises the question of [[OrWasItADream whether or not there actually was some truth in this dream]]. [[spoiler:To put it briefly, dreams can be manifestations of space-time shenanigans (like the Entity's influence) interacting with your mind. Scooby is also the first to access the dream realm, so this episode was possibly {{Foreshadowing}} that dreams may be able to see through different points in space and time.]]
** In addition, Jabberjaw is probably the most similar to Scooby in that they're both {{Talking Animal}}s in a group consisting of them and four humans. [[spoiler:Which would mean the Neptunes could've been a result of the Entity's influence. This is stopped since the Entity is destroyed before the Neptunes could possibly come to existence.]]
** Though Mudsy isn't a TalkingAnimal, [[spoiler:his betrayal as their team mascot might've been {{Foreshadowing}} that Pericles and his predecessors in previous mystery-solving groups are destined to FaceHeelTurn and turn against their team.]]
** Angel. [[spoiler:She lost her friends to a mysterious monster threatening to hurt them too, and of course, they were both betrayed by a team mascot. Her presence at the state finals, unknowingly or not to her, indirectly represented the original Mystery Incorporated.]]

* AffectionateParody: The entire episode is a loving send-up of the old cartoons. It also parodies the sort of unlikely explanations for monsters that were used in older ''Scooby-Doo'' series.