Scooby and the gang visit Italy, where they discover the new and the old side by side...including a zombie gladiator who's been terrorizing the ruins of Pompeii.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Chekhov's Gun:
- One of the locals mentions to the gang that companies aren't allowed to build on land that has artifacts in it. This turns out to be the motive behind the villains' plot.
- While on a garbage scow, Shaggy finds a Nero-era coin. The captain turns out to be one of the bad guys.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Early on, Fred's botched Italian gets the gang passage on a garbage scow. The owner turns out to be one of the culprits in the spooky hoax of the week.
- Chekhov's Volcano: Subverted. The volcano does turn out to be important to the villains' plot (they're raising the lava levels to destroy the artifacts that they find, allowing the company they work for to build on the land). However, it doesn't actually erupt (no thanks to the machine they use to manipulate it).
- Dinner Order Flub: Fred continually misreads his Italian phrasebook but keeps trying to speak Italian anyway. The episode ends with him unintentionally ordering a potted plant at a restaurant.
- Gladiator Games: The villains stage a scene at the Colosseum to add spooky atmosphere. Fred initially does all right, but then the gladiator tangles his feet with a net, forcing Daphne to come to the rescue in a golf cart.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Fred's attempts to use an Italian phrasebook keep resulting in his making mistakes.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: When the zombie gladiator almost attacks Shaggy while he's posing as him, Fred jumps the gladiator and knocks him out. However, it turns out the gladiator was the mechanical mastermind. Without his help, the other culprit doesn't know how to fix the overloading lava level controller.
- Percussive Maintenance: As the lava rises and the gang can't figure out how to fix the machine that regulates it, Daphne kicks the machine, which causes the overload process to reverse. She says that she uses the same trick on her home exercise equipment when it jams.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title refers to the musical piece "Pomp and Circumstance."
- Running Gag: Fred trying to speak Italian with a phrasebook keeps mangling phrases.
- Spaghetti Kiss: Shaggy and Scooby share a plate of spaghetti near the end, and accidentally "kiss" while trying to eat the same noodle. They both pull away and make disgusted faces.
