The following contains spoilers for Velma Season 1, Episode 1, "Velma," and Episode 2, "The Candy Man," now streaming on HBO Max.
As Velma's first season kicks off, fans are introduced to Mindy Kaling's take on the character, diving deep into Velma Dinkley's high school past. Velma is wrestling with her emotions after the disappearance of her mom, Diya, years back and nursing a crush on Daphne in this Mystery Inc. origin story. Velma thinks there's something more to Diya's disappearance, which leaves her draped in anger issues.
However, the nerdy Velma gets distracted when a serial killer hits town, murdering Brenda and leaving her in the locker room. Shockingly, a second death occurs with Krista later on, who's also had her brains removed. Velma's investigations lead to Fred, a toxic version of the iconic Scooby-Doo character, taking the rap, but if certain clues turn out to be right, Velma may well be retooling the most twisted storyline from HBO's Euphoria.
Euphoria Painted Cal as a Predator
On Euphoria, Nate Jacobs was the high school jock everyone hated. He had an ego, sought control, womanized and came off as violent. He got this from his dad Cal, who was a sexual predator. Cal couldn't properly handle his emotions when he was younger and staying in the closet left him with anger issues.
Fans have criticized the show for how this manifested, with Cal having a fetish for preying on younger people and filming sexual trysts without permission. Jules was one of these victims, with Cal later admitting he loved the power and god complex of it all. Nate served as a smoke screen, blinding the family while Cal would have nights away to lure people from apps. The show eventually outed him for his actions, sending him on a bender as he left the family high and dry.
Velma Teases William Is the Monster
Fred is mistreating women, which is something Velma gleans quickly. He also objectifies them, which leads to Velma trying to force a confession from him. He's arrested for getting angry, and the case is pinned on him. However, Velma notices that Fred is a victim, with his dad William (voiced by Frank Welker, who portrayed Fred for years in cartoons) constantly berating him.
Fred hasn't gone through puberty and is scared because William thinks it's not the mark of a man. Certain sequences, such as the Joneses family having dinner showcase William in the same light as Cal -- an alpha who's overcompensating and wants his son to be an apex, too. Notably, when Fred loses his temper in court and is deemed someone who'd become a maniac and kill women, William is gleefully approving while everyone else is shocked.
It's a telling sign, hinting that William is the one murdering young women and kicking it up a notch from Cal, which could tie back into when Diya went missing. Velma tracks her phone to the Jones' that night, and seeing as Fred would have been a kid, it suggests Diya's own sleuthing might have unraveled info on William's secret shenanigans, which led to her disappearance. Ultimately, Velma is going to be monitoring the Joneses more, not just to get justice for all these women she knew, but to exonerate Fred from the potential tyrant who gaslit him and who may well be a monster hiding in town for decades.
Velma debuts new episodes every Thursday on HBO Max.