The Secret Serum is the eleventh episode of the first season of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
Premise[]
A vampire is stealing apparently random items, and Daphne suspects her mother is the culprit.
Synopsis[]
Nan Blake and her friend, Sheila Altoonian, host a charity art auction, but they are attacked by a vampire, who steals one of the paintings up for auction. Mystery Inc., hearing of the incident from Blake, attempt to investigate, but are still handling the tension caused by Velma and Shaggy's breakup. They decide to split themselves into two groups and investigate different locations.
Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby initially try to predict places the vampire would attack, such as a blood bank, but are unsuccessful. Then, they hear the vampire's screech and decide to follow it to a botanical garden. Meanwhile, Daphne and Velma stay at Daphne's mansion spa, but they begin to suspect Daphne's mother after she is seen suspiciously sneaking out of the house. They decide to follow her traces to the same botanical garden, where they reunite with Fred's group. The monster attacks them before leaving, strangely stealing a star orchid on the way out.
Mystery Inc. decides to research the vampire at the Crystal Cove Spook Museum, trying to deduce a connection between the two items the vampire stole. While reading in the library, one of the books flies off the shelves in front of Daphne, having been thrown off by an unseen figure. Inside the book, Daphne finds a magazine with a recipe for an "eternal youth serum" listing both items as ingredients; though the recipe was clearly intended as satire, Mystery Inc. deduces that the vampire is faithfully following the recipe.
To capture the vampire, Mystery Inc. travels to the Crab Net of Dr. Calimari, the only restaurant in Crystal Cove where the next ingredient, a specific type of wine, can be found. They infiltrate the restaurant, enter the wine cellar, and encounter the vampire, but are unable to stop her from stealing the wine and escaping. Because Nan Blake was spotted at the restaurant, Mystery Inc. is now convinced she is the culprit.
As their next move, they decide to follow the vampire to the location of the final ingredient, the Devil's Eye ruby on display at the Museum of Oddities. There, they prepare a trap and successfully lure the monster into appearing and taking the monster. The vampire takes the ruby, but Velma reveals that she switched the ruby with a fake. The first trap fails to capture the vampire, but Scooby activates a second trap which succeeds. Daphne prepares to drive a stake into the vampire's heart, and the vampire, out of fear, admits she is not a real vampire and unmasks herself.
The vampire turned out to be Sheila Altoonian, who envied Nan's youthful appearance. Altoonian believed Nan must be a vampire because she did not age, so she discovered the recipe at the Crystal Cove Spook Museum and disguised herself as a vampire (using her acrobatic abilities to simulate flight) to steal the serum's ingredients. As she explains, Nan Blake appears and reveals that she snuck away from home to secretly attend night classes and earn her notary degree. Though Mystery Inc. succeeds in unmasking another criminal, they do not celebrate as they continue to struggle with their personal issues. As Altoonian is handed over to authorities, Mystery Inc. is watched by one of Mr. E's agents.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
Villains:
- Vampire (only appearance)(Sheila Altoonian's disguise)
- Sheila Altoonian (first appearance)
Other characters:
- Auctioneer (first appearance)
- Gary Papluta (first appearance)(no lines)
- Crystal Cove Lady Banshees member (only appearance)(no lines)
- Stagehand (Don Knotts lookalike) (no lines)
- Citizen (Cass Elliot lookalike) (no lines)
- Maitre 'd (only appearance)
- Garden manager (only appearance)
- Ed Machine (cameo)
Locations[]
Objects[]
- Painting
- Star orchid
- Celebrity Weekly
- Countess Hagula's Youth Juice (drawing)
- Château Le Rouge Crimson Ruby Rosé Bordeau 1911
- Devil's Eye ruby
Vehicles[]
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Nan Blake | She went out one evening, with a lame excuse about shopping for pâté. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Sheila Altoonian as the Vampire | To make a youth potion. |
Cast[]
Continuity[]
- Mystery Inc. endures personal tensions caused by Velma and Shaggy's breakup, which occurs in the previous episode.
Notes/trivia[]
- This is the first crime since Beware the Beast from Below that Mystery Inc. does not receive a clue from Mr. E.
Miscellaneous[]
- Disguises: None.
- Traps: Two separate net traps meant to capture the vampire. The first failed but the second succeeded.
- Clues: A magazine with the "eternal youth serum" recipe.
Cultural references[]
- The auctioneer is a parody of David Dickinson, an Engish antiques expert, television presenter, and entrepreneur, who has been the host of BBC's The Antiques Show and Bargain Hunt, as well as ITV's Dickinson's Real Deal.
- A character resembling Cass Elliot appears in the teaser among the audience at the auction. She guest starred as herself in the The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode, The Haunted Candy Factory.
- The tourist resembling Don Knotts also appears again, at the auction, bringing a painting on stage.
- The restaurant's name parodies the title of a famous horror movie: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
- Angie Dinkley can be heard discussing the whereabouts of an order of Sumatran Rat-Monkeys from Skull Island. In the horror film Dead Alive (released as Braindead outside of North America) Sumatran Rat-Monkeys are the creatures responsible for turning residents of Wellington, New Zealand into ravenous zombies.
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches[]
- When Sheila is revealed to be the vampire, her costume switches colors between the costume's skin color and her own. It even keeps switching when she's taken away by sheriff Stone in his police car.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- Nan is out in the dark in this episode, although it was previously in implied in The Creeping Creatures that she would not pick up the gang from Gatorsburg because she was afraid of the dark.
In other languages[]
| Languages | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish (Latin America) | La Poción de la Juventud | The Youth Potion |
| Italy | La Pozione Segreta | The Secret Potion |
| French | L'Élixir du Vampire | The Elixir of the Vampire |
| Portuguese | O Soro Secreto | The Secret Serum |
| Hungarian | A Titkos Elixír | The Secret Elixir |
| Greek |
Η Μυστική Φόρμουλα (Star TV Dub) Ο Μυστικός Ορός (Boomerang TV Dub) |
The Secret Formula (Star TV Dub) The Secret Serum (Boomerang TV Dub) |
| Polish | Tajemne serum | The Secret serum |
Home media[]
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season One, Volume 3 DVD released by Warner Home Video on September 27, 2011.- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The Complete Season 1 DVD set released by Warner Home Video on October 8, 2013.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystères associés: L'intégrale de la saison 1 (Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The entirety of season 1) DVD set released by Warner Home Video on October 3, 2012.
Quotes[]
Daphne: Velma, here is the only thing you'll ever need to know about boys. They are stupid. If you give a boy two choices, a smart one and a stupid one, he will always make the stupid one. Every time! That's why you never give him a choice. |
Shaggy: Freddy. Where do you get this stuff? |
Fred: Guys. we have to work as a team if we’re gonna catch Daphne’s mom in the act, and prove once and for all that she’s an undead bloodsucker! |
External links[]
- TBA
| Previous episode: | Series: | Next episode: |
| Howl of the Fright Hound | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Season 1 |
The Shrieking Madness |