Velma's aunt gets the gang passes to a Hollywood set, where they can watch the company film the remake of teen superspy movie Spy Me a River. However, once the gang arrives, Shaggy and Scooby's feelings of security and Velma and Daphne's swooning over the star, Chip Hernandez Jr., receive a rude interruption with the appearance of the Faceless Phantom, the ghost of the original star who wants production halted no matter what.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Creator Killer: In-Universe, the episode has the Keanu Reeves-esque star not wishing to star in the remake of Spy Me a River, which is poorly written and cheesy. To make matters worse, the ghost of the original star attacks the set. It turns out the phantom was the director since it the movie would tank his career if it released, and he is allowed to go free since he hadn't hurt anyone.
- Decoy Getaway: After Chip returns, the group prepares to shoot a traintop rescue scene. However, the ghost cuts off the car Derek is bound on, keeping Daphne (the stunt double for Derek's love interest) from intervening. He encroaches on the tied-up figure... only to discover Shaggy, who tells him that this wasn't his idea.
- Karma Houdini: Played for Laughs: the villain gets off scot-free because everybody agrees with him (including the gang, who point out no one really got hurt). Instead, they end up covering up his crimes and thinking up a solution that gives everyone what they want, complete with the catchphrase being played with as Vincent thanks "those wonderful, meddling kids."
- Minor Injury Overreaction: The original star, Rip Bannon, turns out to have survived the studio fire that seemingly killed him. However, he got a scar on his chin as a result, and let everyone think he'd died because he couldn't stand for his fans to see him this way. Daphne says that she's never seen a smaller scar, assuring him.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Vincent Wong and Chip Hernandez Jr. are expies of John Woo and Keanu Reeves.
- Plot Allergy: After putting on his makeup, Chip returns in a snit, face covered in hives. When the gang investigate, they find that somebody snuck avocado into his facial makeup. Chip is allergic to avocados.
- Scars Are Ugly: Played for Laughs. The reason why Rip Bannon went into hiding was because the injuries he had in the accident left him with a scar which he hides under a fake beard. Even without the beard it's barely noticeable.
- Sympathy for the Devil: After it’s revealed that the director was the ghost all along, the gang and his own film crew choose not to turn him over to the police despite his insistence because they know how much he hated working on the film. Even his costume designer points out that nobody was happy doing this.
- Took a Third Option: When it's found out that both of the would-be ghosts in the director and the original film's star don't want the movie to be, combined with the remake's newer head star himself wanting out as well, the episode's resolved by all three agreeing not to press charges since no one got hurt, and simply canceling the film production altogether.
- Take That!: In-Universe, Velma discounted Chip as the Phantom because the Phantom showed off multiple talents and Chip is a star more for his looks than his acting ability.
- Varying Competency Alibi: The phantom is unmasked and revealed to be the movie's director, Vincent Wong. When actor Roderick Kingston asks why the gang didn't suspect film's lead actor Chip Hernandez, Jr., Velma responds that Chip lacked any of the skills needed to pull off a good "Scooby-Doo" Hoax.
- When Harry Met Svetlana: Teen superspy Derek Rivers apparently has a Love Interest/foreign contact called Major Smoochy, who is passingly mentioned to be Russian.
- Would Rather Suffer: Vincent Wong, after being caught, laments that he'd rather go to jail than have his first foray outside of martial arts action be such a terrible movie. Fred, however, says that he shouldn't need to go to jail, because no one got hurt as a result of the "Scooby-Doo" Hoax.
- You Meddling Kids: Played with; the ending has the "villain" of the week thanking the gang for their meddling, saying that he couldn't have gotten away with making another (much better) film without them.
