Velma – Season 1 Episode 3 “Velma Kai” Recap & Review

Velma Kai

In Velma Season 1 Episode 3, Norville’s dad Lamont, the school guidance counselor, runs a mental health assembly to help students process the recent murders. Additionally, the school invites Daphne’s moms to teach a self-defense class for the female students.

Velma and Norville go to the jail to see Fred, but Velma first gets distracted by hallucinations brought on by her mom’s case file and fueled by confusions about her sexuality. This causes her to act uncontrollably and become banned from prison. Velma and Norville have to leave without seeing Fred.

Velma and Daphne excuse themselves from self-defense class to talk about their kiss. They each prevent themselves from being vulnerable, however, and insist they don’t like each other. The bad blood between them resurfaces. And when the Blakes reveal that they will be holding a self-defense competition, Velma and Daphne each want to win against the other.

Norville goes back to the jail to talk to Fred alone. He claims he wants to give him therapy as a guise to ask Fred about Velma’s mom going missing at his house, but it doesn’t work as he planned.

Norville admits to his dad he doesn’t feel like a good therapist, so his dad gifts him with the only thing a therapist needs to make people feel compelled to talk to him: a cardigan. Norville returns to the jail, cardigan on, and prompts Fred to talk about his “feelings” the night Diya went missing.

Fred says his dad just bought their house. The night they were going to burn down it down for insurance money, his dad stood him up on his birthday, then Diya pulled up.

Both Velma and Daphne advance to the finals in the tournament. In the bathroom, Velma admits to Daphne she does like her. But Daphne doesn’t reciprocate, claiming she has more at stake than Velma does. Velma assumes she means her popularity.

So Velma becomes more determined to beat Daphne in the tournament than ever. She steals Daphne’s journal and tells everyone that Daphne has a daily session with the guidance counselor. She thinks by making Daphne vulnerable that she’s won the tournament, but everyone cheers for Daphne (“mental health is no joke”). 

Velma’s plan didn’t work, she loses the tournament, and faces suspension unless she apologizes to Daphne. By talking to Lamont, she realizes that by refusing to confront her feelings for Daphne, she created a mess.

Norville shares with Velma his finding that Fred is likely not connected to her mom’s disappearance, which leaves her with no leads. Velma goes to apologize to Daphne. She wants an apology in return, but Daphne insists nothing was ever about popularity for her.

She talks to Lamont every day because searching for her birth parents has caused her to feel abandoned. And when Velma’s mom went missing, Velma abandoned her too. Each thinks the other shut them out first, and Velma eventually takes some of the blame for their falling out.

Daphne says their kiss was amazing, but it freaked her out that Velma might go away again. At the end of their conversation, they decide (though they both like each other) to become friends again. It’s what they need right now.

Norville forgets to lead a group therapy session at the jail, causing a riot to take place and his father to take back his cardigan. When Norville hands it over, a card for the Crystal Cove Insane Asylum falls out. His father acts strangely, so Norville puts back on the cardigan and asks his dad to tell him about it. Lamont starts to confess something about Norville’s mother.

The Episode Review

There are some lazy catalysts in this installment for sure (Velma’s hallucination causing her ban, and Norville’s cardigan to name a couple), but I’m at least a huge fan of this episode’s romantic tension and intrigue.

Something is obviously up with Norville’s mom, Principal Rogers. She looks at Velma like she wants her to suffer, and now is somehow tied to the insane asylum? Could it be that Diya is being held there, and Principal Rogers knows?