Sent on an investigation by Mr. E, the Mystery Machine breaks down in the nearby town of Gatorsburg, so the gang stays the night at a creepy hotel to wait till the van's fixed. But creepy creatures have been popping up, and it's up to the gang to find out why.
The episode provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: None of the gang's parents can pick them up from Gatorsburg. None of them. Mayor Jones's excuse might be the most pathetic - he can't be bothered getting out of his recliner.
- Almost Kiss: Between Shaggy and Velma.
- Berserk Button: The Gator People don't take kindly to being called crocodiles.
- Captain Obvious: Fred's astute observation skills when he shows the gang the problem under the Mystery Machine's hood. The engine is gone.
- Epic Fail: The family in the cold open, or specifically the dad, were looking for New York. He manages to wind up in Gatorburg, which not only looks nothing like NY but is over two thousand miles away.
- Ghost Town: Gatorsburg. Once a thriving gator-based town, the collapse of the town's economy due to over-farming gators means it's been abandoned for a century. Current population, a mechanic, and his creepy sister and her creepy son.
- Hell Hotel: A creepy run-down hotel run by weird hillbilly types who don't see anything unusual about the claw marks on the wall, and insist no-one leave their rooms during the night, no matter what they hear, even "wailing, screaming, tearing, or the sound of a body being dragged across the floor."
- Implausible Deniability:Shaggy: Are those... claw marks?Greta leans in close to look directly at the huge gash in the wall.Greta: I don't see any marks.
- I Read It for the Articles: Fred's response to Daphne discovering a "Traps Illustrated" magazine with a bikini-clad girl on the cover. Given his personality in this series, it's very likely he's telling the truth.
- It Runs on Nonsensoleum: Gatorsburg mined alligators. No, that's not some unusual wording. They literally mined them like oil.
- Lampshade Hanging: Sheriff Stone arrests the culprits even as he points out that, since Gatorsburg isn't in his jurisdiction, he actually has no authority to do so. Seems he's tetchy about his fake gator-skin tracksuit.
- Monster of the Week: The Creeping Creatures/Gator People, Humanoid Animalistic Abominations haunting the abandoned Gatorsburg.
- My Car Hates Me: The Mystery Machine's engine is stolen, forcing the gang to stay in Gatorsburg. The minute the mystery is solved, the engine is returned without them seeing who did it.
- Mythology Gag: When the Mystery Machine roars back to life at the end of the episode, Shaggy's initial reaction is to assume the van is haunted and came to life on its own. This was the exact premise of the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode; "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine!"
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: The Monster of the Week are criminals who dress up as alligators.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The Gator People's faces, hairstyles, and even their voices exactly match those of the criminals underneath. The fact that there's literally no one else in town that they could be doesn't help.
- Pilfering Proprietor: The Mystery Gang, vehicle breaks down in a Ghost Town, forcing them to stay a night in a creepy hotel run by an equally creepy hillbilly family. They were initially hospitable enough to let the gang stay. But later, the family dressed as gator creators so they could scare away the gang.
- Plot Allergy: Daphne's allergy to imitation animal skin clues the gang in that the Gatorsburg accessories are fake.
- Signs of Disrepair: The Drowsy Gator. Pool, Food and Sundries.
- Trunk Shot: Used when the gang discover that the Mystery Machine's engine is missing.
- Viewer Gender Confusion: In-Universe, the hotel manager forbids boys and girls from being in the same rooms, saying "no exceptions" to Velma and Daphne. Velma has to point this out.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Crystal Cove is established to be roughly (give or take three miles) two thousand miles from New York City.
- Daphne: <reading the letter from Mr.E> Hope you had a good time in Gatorsburg. But be warned, there are more mysteries to come. This is only one piece of the puzzle.
Fred: Puzzle? What's that supposed to mean?
Shaggy: Like, I've got a bad feeling we're gonna find out.
