Velma – Season 1 Episode 10 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

The Brains of the Operation

Is Diya Dinkley the serial killer?

In Velma Season 1 Episode 10, the sheriff arrests Diya, but Velma doesn’t think it makes sense that her mom is the killer. Diya confesses to the sheriff, however, that she wanted to put the brain of a popular girl into Velma’s head. 

To get close to her mom to question her, Velma decides to get arrested. She finds Fred raging out because of his mom’s doubt over his capabilities and is able to enlist his help to get arrested.

Velma gets put in a cell with Diya, who robotically tells Velma the same thing she told Sheriff Cogburn. When she tries to say what actually happened, that’s the only thing that comes out. She thinks she was hypnotized. The sheriff then takes Diya away.

What caused Velma’s hallucinations?

Meanwhile, Daphne finds a note and pocket watch from her birth mother. Carol says she almost died finding it and that it has something to do with the killer.

Daphne breaks Velma out of jail and shows her the pocket watch. Velma then remembers someone in a welder’s mask hypnotizing her to cause her hallucinations and keep her from finding her mom. The pocket watch is inscribed with General Harry Meeting’s name, and he was a master of hypnosis.

Who does the pocket watch belong to?

Velma asks the Brains if they recognize the pocket watch, but they don’t. Gigi only yells at her for betraying Norville, who is transferring schools because of her. Velma didn’t know because, as always, she ignored Norville’s voicemail.

Velma goes back and listens to all the voicemails Norville ever left her. Two years ago, he left a voicemail to apologize that her mom got taken and compliment her new glasses, the ones her mom left behind.

She then realizes that Diya’s glasses were made by Jones Gentlemens’ Accessories. The pocket watch, she realizes, belongs to Victoria. While Aman gets the cops, Velma sneaks into the Jones’ underground lab. As she does, she leaves Norville a message to tell him he’ll always be her best friend. Unintentionally, she ends the voicemail by saying, “Love you.”

Is Victoria Jones the serial killer?

Velma finds Daphne and Fred tied up in the lab. She frees them and sets bats on the serial killer. She tells Daphne and Fred her theory. The third body wasn’t used to frame her (it was just used to get Fred out of prison) it makes sense that the killer is Victoria Jones. Victoria Meeting Jones, that is–General Meeting’s daughter.

Velma unmasks Victoria, who reveals she wanted to replace Fred’s brain with someone more capable to run the company, like Daphne. She reveals Dr. Perdue succeeded in her brain swapping procedure but Harry tried to take all the credit. So Edna undid the experiment and hid her journals.  Harry had her institutionalized, but he couldn’t replicate her experiments without the journals. 

Since Diya had been snooping around the journals, Victoria hypnotized her into complying with her plan. She originally wanted Daphne’s brain, but now sees that Velma’s is the perfect brain for Fred.

A hypnotized William Jones then comes in and knocks out Velma. They tie up the teenagers, but Fred is able to free them. Daphne and Velma run while he distracts his mom.

Who kills Victoria Jones?

Victoria is able to trick Fred. She catches up with Velma and Daphne and pulls a gun on them. Thinking they’re going to die, Daphne tells Velma she loves her. Velma reiterates the sentiment, but she accidentally addresses Daphne as Norville.

Just then, Norville swings in to save them. He tells Velma he loves her too as he pulls out his sword to reflect Victoria’s bullet. It ricochets, causing a rock to fall on Victoria and kill her.

How does ‘Velma’ Season 1 end?

In the end, the meddling kids are saved. They currently make up a pretty toxic group together, but Velma doesn’t care as long as she has her mom back.

But trouble isn’t over for Crystal Cove, it seems. The season concludes with Sheriff Cogburn putting Velma’s case file into the archives. Someone comes after him, and he screams as blood splatters against the window.

It seems there’s another killer out there. Maybe there’s something in the case file this new killer can’t allow to get out.

The Episode Review

At the end of episode 6, Carroll comes across a gold chain. In this episode, that chain is revealed to be a pocket watch. In hindsight, then, that last scene of episode 6 is sloppily animated. Why have Carroll pick up the watch (with her small hands somehow completely concealing the watch part) and intently study the chain as if it’s all that matters? The show obviously wanted to keep the existence of the pocket watch from viewers and chose the poorest and most nonsensical way to misdirect our attention.

The reveal of whom the true serial killer is makes sense, at least–but it’s entirely too rushed to be able to enjoy and understand all the clues that had to come together. The finale drops the ball, too, on the only aspect of the show that may have been able to manage it: the character arcs.

Velma has had hit-or-miss character arcs, but I’ve enjoyed the few pockets of her personal growth. The finale, however, doesn’t care about any of the character’s deeper emotional arcs, preferring to wrap up complex relationship issues with rushed, unfunny, and unfeeling “gotcha” moments. I suppose they may address these further in the next season, but I can’t bring myself to care.