While in the Lake Michigan area to visit Fred's uncle Karl, the gang stumbles on triple trouble — an undead lighthouse keeper, a ghost ship and its skeleton crew, and Verona Dempsey, a rival sleuth whose condescending nature and uncanny skill quickly rouse Velma's temper.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Always Someone Better: The episode introduces a girl named Verona Dempsey who finds clues and catches crooks all on her own (all while being bitchy to Velma), and also finds time to run a clothing shop with wares that Daphne squees over. It turns out Verona is one of the episode's two villains.
- Berserk Button: Freddy tells Shaggy and Scooby that the Monster of the Week was badmouthing Scooby Snacks; this gets them riled up enough to be bait without the usual bribe.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Shaggy has a ringtone of the show's theme song.
- Disguised in Drag:
- During the musical chase scene, the Creepy Keeper passes by a fisherman, a large fish, and a barrel to get to Shaggy and Scooby. The aforementioned people/items turn out to be Daphne, Velma, and Fred (respectively) in disguise, with Daphne including a fake beard in her fisherman costume.
- The Creepy Keeper turns out to be Verona Dempsey in a male costume.
- Disney Villain Death: According to legend, the Creepy Keeper died when the storm flung a branch through the lighthouse windows. It hit him and he plummeted down the open trap door to his death.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Velma is very jealous of Verona Dempsey, due to her being very similar to Velma herself (and rubbing Velma's nose in it).
- Inspirational Insult: Fred convinces Shaggy and Scooby to act as bait by telling them that the Creepy Keeper said Scooby Snacks were disgusting and that he wouldn't eat them even if no other snacks existed.
- Karmic Death: According to legend, the ghost was originally a greedy lighthouse keeper who turned off the light in the middle of a horrible storm, leaving an incoming ship, the Dauntless to crash on the rocks. The Dauntless was carrying treasure, and he planned to retrieve it using his knowledge of where the ship sank. However, he died immediately thereafter when a branch thrown by the storm knocked him down the trapdoor.
- Lighthouse Point: The plot revolves around the gang investigating a supposedly haunted lighthouse.
- Meaningful Echo: Near the beginning, Verona notes a strange van, which Velma claims the gang already saw. Verona asks if she already photographed the plates and sent the photo in for testing, then, leaving Velma fumbling. At the end, Velma reveals that according to her research, the van belonged to some storm chasers. Verona unconvincingly claims that she knew that, begging the gang to believe her.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: According to legend, the lighthouse keeper successfully sank the Dauntless, making him the only one to know where to look for the treasure she was carrying. However, debris from the storm killed him immediately thereafter. As Uncle Karl says, he never even made it out of the lighthouse.
- Near-Villain Victory: When Verona catches Crusty McPete and shows off evidence that he was behind the ghost ship, the gang initially assumes the mystery is solved. Had Daphne not kept harping on the clothing Verona gave her, Velma wouldn't have realized that Verona was the Creepy Keeper. She would have been free to continue driving her competitors out of business by keeping the lighthouse off when their ships were due.Verona: Only I didn't count on one thing: Velma Dinkley.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Verona giving Daphne some of her clothing winds up unraveling her entire plot. Though Velma disliked her, she only realized that Verona had to be the Creepy Keeper because the clothing was made of imported fabric. The fabric had to come through the harbor, and it was too big a coincidence that the Creepy Keeper's habit of messing with the light never harmed her business.
- Prophet Eyes: The ghost has glowing blank eyes, or, as Shaggy puts it, "eyes like spooky spotlights."
- Red Herring: The suspicious-looking van had nothing to do with the mystery. It belonged to a team of storm chasers who were hoping to witness another storm like the one that sank the Dauntless.
- Stating the Simple Solution: When Verona says they need a trap, Fred quickly begins reeling off a list of Noodle Implements that they need to catch the villain. Verona snaps at him to just use a net.
- You Just Had to Say It: Shaggy states with relief that he doesn't see the Creepy Keeper around - only to hear said Keeper clear his throat. Shaggy then screams: "I had to open my big fat mouth!".
- You Remind Me of X: At the end of the episode, Fred says Velma's Evil Counterpart, Verona, reminded him of someone, but he can't think exactly who. Daphne and Velma are amused by it.
