Was really interested in seeing how the gang would interact with such a famous historical character in Abraham Lincoln on first watch, before being very disappointed seeing how underused he is in favour of the other gang. "A Mystery Gang Divided" was a good episode on first watch and generally superior to the previous episode "Revenge of the Swamp Monster", but the balance in screen time didn't seem quite right.
"A Mystery Gang Divided" is still good on rewatch and it is still superior to "Revenge of the Swamp Monster". It does have the same reservations as before, but the many plus points are also the same and more obvious this time. Better and more inspired episodes of 'Scooby Doo and Guess Who' (which was a very pleasant surprise of a show) followed, but for a show that was still in its infancy this was pretty impressive and has a lot to recommend.
Those recommendable things are going to be mentioned first. The animation has a lot of atmosphere, rich colour and even richer attention to detail. The music is dynamic and groovy, also loved the modern spin on the iconic classic theme tune for 'Scooby Doo Where are You', although it is too short. A vast majority of the voice acting is very good, with Matthew Lillard nailing it as Shaggy. The ghosts are very creepy, despite being under-utilised and did appreciate that the reveal wasn't as obvious.
Furthermore, the writing is funny and smart on the whole, the classic Shaggy and Scooby goofiness endears. The mystery is a stronger one here and is much better paced from having more eventful content. Really enjoyed the interaction between the two gangs, there is a lot of bickering here but it was entertaining bickering and didn't become headache inducing. Speed Buggy's appearance was a welcome one. The character writing for Mystery Inc is spot on, did like particularly Daphne's calmness.
On the other hand, Skip comes over as far too antagonistic and his voice acting doesn't come over involved as the rest of the voice cast. While it was great that the reveal wasn't obvious, the ending did feel rushed and like it needed more time to fully explain itself.
Most disappointing was how Abraham Lincoln was written and used, he is very underused here to the point of being forgettable. For the guest billing, he is barely in it and he ended up being pretty useless. His dialogue is pretty bad as well.
Good episode all in all. 7/10.
"A Mystery Gang Divided" is still good on rewatch and it is still superior to "Revenge of the Swamp Monster". It does have the same reservations as before, but the many plus points are also the same and more obvious this time. Better and more inspired episodes of 'Scooby Doo and Guess Who' (which was a very pleasant surprise of a show) followed, but for a show that was still in its infancy this was pretty impressive and has a lot to recommend.
Those recommendable things are going to be mentioned first. The animation has a lot of atmosphere, rich colour and even richer attention to detail. The music is dynamic and groovy, also loved the modern spin on the iconic classic theme tune for 'Scooby Doo Where are You', although it is too short. A vast majority of the voice acting is very good, with Matthew Lillard nailing it as Shaggy. The ghosts are very creepy, despite being under-utilised and did appreciate that the reveal wasn't as obvious.
Furthermore, the writing is funny and smart on the whole, the classic Shaggy and Scooby goofiness endears. The mystery is a stronger one here and is much better paced from having more eventful content. Really enjoyed the interaction between the two gangs, there is a lot of bickering here but it was entertaining bickering and didn't become headache inducing. Speed Buggy's appearance was a welcome one. The character writing for Mystery Inc is spot on, did like particularly Daphne's calmness.
On the other hand, Skip comes over as far too antagonistic and his voice acting doesn't come over involved as the rest of the voice cast. While it was great that the reveal wasn't obvious, the ending did feel rushed and like it needed more time to fully explain itself.
Most disappointing was how Abraham Lincoln was written and used, he is very underused here to the point of being forgettable. For the guest billing, he is barely in it and he ended up being pretty useless. His dialogue is pretty bad as well.
Good episode all in all. 7/10.
