In
the strange little town of Gravity Falls, twin siblings named Dipper and Mable
spend their summer going on wild and hilarious supernatural adventures.
Watching over the kids is there cranky old uncle named Stan, who makes his
living as an expert con-artist. This show came well after my childhood had
passed, but word of mouth got around to me, and upon my first viewing I realized
that this series was right up my alley. It’s got the spooky charms of shows like “Goosebumps”
or “Courage the Cowardly Dog”, combined with the brilliant comedy one would
expect from shows like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” or “The Simpsons”.
Unlike other Disney programs, I was quiet surprised with just how funny this
show got, as well as how exciting it got. It had an engaging mystery plot that
was slowly unraveled, but more to the point, it just had a splendid cast of
characters that I loved going on adventures with. I loved the
atmosphere, I loved the creepy moments and the cast was solid. Rather then
spoil the experience by covering the show as a whole, here are my personal 10
favorite episodes that might just win over anyone not familiar with the series.
#10 The Deep End (Season 1 – Ep. 15)
It’s
the hottest day in Gravity Falls history, so our Treo head to the public
swimming pool to cool off. Upon arriving they break up and
have three separate little adventures in this one location. Mabel befriends a
merman trapped in the deep end of the pool, Dipper is put through intense life
guard training and Stan is competing with his arch enemy little Gideon for
ownership of the best sun-tanning chair. I love how this episode can take a
small location like a swimming pool, and give it a large variety of funny side ventures.
There’s some hilarious jokes involving the detention center for misbehaving swimmers,
an uptight life gourd who’s more like a drill sergeant, and Mable’s relation
with the stranded Merman is every bit as charming as it funny. The episode
actually ends with a surprisingly wild car-chase involving mini-carts, and everything closes with a nice little wink to “Free
Wily”. It’s charming, it’s funny and a refreshing offset to some of the
stranger and scarier things our hero’s come across in the show.
#9 Scary-oke (Season 2 – Ep. 21)
Following
up on the epic season one finally, season two picks up with our hero’s throwing
a party to celebrate their resent victory. The one person who’s not in the
party mood is Dipper, who’s more eager then every to solve all the supernatural
mysteries of Gravity Falls. When two government agents make a sudden arrival to
investigate, Dipper instantly wants to join them, and tries showing them his
special magic journal as proof that he can help crack the case. In a
hilariously dark turn of events Dipper unintentionally brings to life an army
of Zombies, and nothing quite livens up a party better than an army of the dead.
Most of my favorite episodes tend to be the really spooky ones, and this Zombie
themed episode just hits it out of the park with some really cool creature
designs, and awesome zombie action. This is also a very colorful episode and
features some terrific animation highlights. There's also some really funny
lines from Uncle Stan’s remarks at the dead. Best of all, this is the first time Stan
reveals to the kids that he’s known all along about the oddities of the town,
and aids the kids in saving the day. Needless to say, it was a real treat to
finally see all three of our hero’s together. This leads into one of my
favorite finales in which the group need to sing karaoke to defeat the Zombies,
which is hilarious.
#8 Little Dipper (Season 1 – Ep. 10)
When Mable learns that she’s slightly taller than her twin brother Dipper,
she finally has an excuse to upstage him at something. In order to get back on
even ground (or in this case height) with his sister, Dipper discovers some
magic stones and uses them to create a device that can shrink or grow items.
His efforts to grow himself fall short (pun intended) when their arch enemy
little Gideon steals the shrink gun, reduces both Mable and Dipper to the size
of ants, and threatens to use the shrink ray as a weapon against Uncle Stan in
an effort to claim his mystery Shack. Now brother and sister find themselves
off on a grand adventure of a small scale. This is the mandatory shrunken kids
adventure, which I’m a sucker for. I love when characters explore regular every
day surroundings that appear larger in scale. Its just a cool way to make the familiar, everyday world feel so much more epic. While not a very original concept it’s still
executed very well in this show, with no shortage of funny situations, and lots
of creativity. I especially love how the shrink gun is simply a flashlight with
a multi-colored lens. Also Dipper and Mable’s sibling relationship is always at
the heart of the show, so it’s great to see them resolve issues together and
share an adventure.
#7 Gideon Rises (Season 1 – Ep. 20)
Little Gideon had been the main antagonist of season one, and it’s here in the
season finally that we see him unhinged. He steals the deed to Uncle Stan’s
shack, banishes our hero’s from town, becomes the towns idle and learns of
Dippers magic journals. Outmatched and beaten, Dipper and Mable decide to head
home, but not before battling a giant Gideon robot. Meanwhile, Uncle Stan is
looking for a way to expose the little monster for the fraud he is. I was quiet surprised with this one and never would have expected things to
get as epic as this riveting season finally did. The climactic showdown with the
giant robot is both funny yet quiet intense, and features one of Dippers most
heroic moments as he faces the villain head on. It’s beautifully animated, and
highlights Little Gideon as a surprisingly fun antagonist. Plus, the episode
closes on a nail biting surprise cliff hanger that’s among the shows best, and
was bound to bring in fans for another season.
#6 Summerween (Season 1 – Ep. 12)
This was
the episode I was looking forward to the most, as I love Halloween episodes,
and to see the possibilities of what “Gravity Falls” could
bring to my favorite holiday was beyond exciting. Now while the show is set
during the summer time, the people of Gravity Falls love the holiday so much
that they celebrate it twice, and one of them is during the summer in which it’s
lovingly called Summerween. That premise alone is ingenious and makes me
wish I could have grown up in that town. As the episode continues we see that Dipper
is ready to grow up, and spend Halloween with the older guys as opposed to his
sister. This causes a rift between the two as Mable wants to savor every
Halloween she can with her brother before they become teenagers. To make matters
worse, the kids are soon chased by a deadly entity called The Trickster who threatens
to harm all who don’t keep the holiday spirit alive. The details in this
episode are great as it creates a perfect Halloween atmosphere, and feels like
a special I’d watch yearly around the season. The back-story behind the
Trickster is brilliant, the spooky action sequences are great, and there’s yet
another really sweet sibling story going on between Mable and Dipper. It’s a
solid episode and personally one of my all time favorite Halloween themed episodes
I’ve ever seen from any TV series.
#5 Dreamscaperers (Season 1 – Ep. 19)
Just before the events of the season 1 finale, we see Little Gideon hatch a plan
to steal the deed to Uncle Stan’s mystery shack, and it all starts by summoning
an ancient demon called Bill Cipher. With the evil entity unleashed he probes
Stan’s mind to uncover his most valuable secrets. Once the kids learn of the
threat, they follow Bill into their Uncles mind, which leads into one heck of a trippy dreamscape adventure. The setting of Stan’s mind is one of my favorite
locations from the show, with twisted visuals, and literally features a lot of
imagination at work. There’s even some great morals revolving around the “tough
love” some family members inflict on their kids in order to make them both physically
and mentally stronger. This also marked an important introduction to the shows
greatest antagonist Bill Cipher, who’s every bit as charismatic as he is
threatening. Throw in one of the shows most entertaining final battles, along
with an exciting cliffhanger leading into the season one finale and you got a
solid episode.
#4 Northwest Mansion Mystery (Season 2 –
Ep. 10)
Of all the dark spooky adventure episodes, this one is my personal
favorite by far, and probably features some of the creepiest imagery. Bratty rich
girl Pacifica Northwest, who’s always been a rival of our hero’s now finds
herself in a situation where she needs their help, or more specifically Dippers
help. Her home is haunted by a mysterious ghost and is threatening to ruin her parents
party. I love seeing two enemies paired together to solve a problem, and both
Dipper and Pacifica actually make for a terrific match. As the two look for
clues and battle all kinds of haunted house obstacles, more and more dark clues
about both the ghosts past, and Pacifica’s cruel parents are slowly being revealed.
It’s a captivating dive into the study of a bully character whom we the
audience didn’t initially care for. The animation in this episode is also gorgeous,
with some downright terrifying haunted house imagery that could have been right out of
the “Evil Dead” movies. Also the back-story
of the ghost himself is one of the darkest the show has ever gone, and proves
that this series wasn’t afraid to take risks. The episodes haunting atmosphere is
sensational, the colors pop on the screen and it made one of the shows least
likeable characters quiet interesting by the end.
#3 Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future (Season
2 – Ep. 17)
With one week left of Summer vacation, Dipper and Mabel prepare
for their 13th birthday party which promises to be a huge turning
point in their lives. However, change is both an exciting and frightening
concept as both the twins soon discover. Dipper on the one hand after rescuing
his Uncle Ford from an Alien space craft is offered a chance to take his life
in an exciting new direction where he can live his dream. Mabel mean while is
terrified of the changes she’ll have to face when she grows up, is also bummed
about leaving town, and worse yet may be separate from her brother for quite
some time. This for me is one of the shows most emotional episodes, and one
that I can honestly relate too. I remember what it was like to face big changes
in my life, I still face changes every day, but I also learned to compromise,
grow and it’s a thoughtful message to convey to a new generation of kids
watching this show. Of course one of the shows greatest strengths is Dipper’s
sibling relationship with Mable, the challenges they face and it’s very
touching to see them face the unknown that lies ahead. The episode then closes
on a deeply thrilling segue into the three part series finally and leaves you
exhilarated to see how their story will come to a close in the following
arch.
#2 Not What he Seems (Season 2 – Ep. 11)
This episode is often described by fans and critics as arguably the best of the
show, and who can blame them because it’s an amazing episode that changes
everything. The episode begins with our three principle characters having a fun
morning bonding together, which is both funny and always gets me in the feels.
Then things take a sudden turn when strange gravity anomalies start to spike up
in town, and Uncle Stan is arrested by the government agents on charges of
creating a secret dooms day device. Dipper and Mable begin investigating to
prove their great uncles innocents, but only discover more and more odd secrets
about him that throws all their trust in a loop. Maybe their uncle isn’t even
their real uncle at all, and worse yet, he might just be creating some kind of
dooms day weapon. This was a surprisingly dark episode, with a very different
tone then anything previous. This was an episode that had fans second guising a
character we thought we knew, and it just keeps delivering one exciting twist
after another. More than anything, this episode features one of the most
emotionally resonant finals of the whole series, and possibly my favorite
moment of the show. Sure enough the kids discover a secret machine hidden under
their shack, and its slowly ticking away to something big. At this point Mable’s
trust in her uncle is put to the ultimate test, dose she destroy the machine
before the final countdown, or dose she trust the mysterious uncle she still
loves. It all builds to an incredibly beautiful visual of her surrendering to her
faith in Uncle Stan, as well as a long awaited reveal as to what’s been going
on. It’s an emotional ending with a great cliffhanger and without a doubt one
of the shows greatest achievements ... but there is still one more episode I
personally like more.
Before I
reveal my #1 favorite episode here are some special Honorable Mentions ...
Little Gift Shop of Horrors
Dungeons, Dongeons & More Dungeons
Soos and the Real
Girl
The Inconveniencing
#1 Weirdmageddon (Season 2 – Ep. 18-20)
When
I first started watching “Gravity Falls”,
it felt mostly derivative, just a little slice of fun and creativity, but as the
story began to unravel and the characters became more interesting I slowly
found myself getting more and more submersed into this series. Then the journey
reached its end with the epic three part ark titled “Weirdmagedoon” and I couldn’t even find the words to describe how amazed
I was with this show. Following immediately after the events of “Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future”, the
demonic entity Bill Cipher is released, at fool power, and ready to kick start
the end of the world. For good measure he traps Mabel in a prison bubble where
she lives in a colorful fantasy that’s making all her dreams come true.
Meanwhile the apocalypse is raging outside, armies of monsters have taken over the
city and it’s up to Dipper to rally as many friends as he can to stop Bill. It
seems that all the best shows have similar series finalizes in which a super
villain is threatening to end the world, the sky permanently turns red, cities
are brought to ruins, and our hero’s make a desperate last stand against
improbable odds. “Avatar: The Last Air bender”
had a similar series finally, as did the initial series finally for “Teen Titans”, and heck even “Pokémon: XYZ” had a similar series finally.
“Gravity Falls” however dose
something wildly different with its apocalyptic final, as the design resembles
the cover of a heavy metal album, and it seems to pay homage to ever popular “end
of times” setting including “The Walking
Dead” and “Mad Max”. There’s a
wild car chase that takes many odd turns, including a moment in which the
characters are live action for a second.
I also love the internal conflicts of
Mable’s arch and how she’s torn between living in either her beautiful fantasy
world or the terrifying real world, which reaches a very emotional and poignant
conclusion. One of my favorite moments is when Mable and dippers awkward
sibling
hug becomes a sincere
one. subsequently, the world of Mable's mind is one of the wildest and most creative I've ever seen, and I love how all the bright colors of her world clash with the darkness of Bills fiery Apocalypse
. The final battle with Bill Cipher is nothing short of epic as the mystery
shack comes to life like a giant anime robot and battles various monsters, all
while matched to a thrilling rendition of the show’s theme song. On a side
note, Bill Cipher had already proven to be an awesome villain, but this arch
really made him stand out as one of the greatest cartoon villains of the millennium.
When all the exciting action is said and done, we’re treated to a very heartfelt
epilogue that ties up everything beautifully, and gives the audience a chance
to say good-bye to the characters we’ve come to know and love.
It’s simply the
perfect ending to a great series, and a perfect final episode usually stands as
my personal favorite. As the credits of the last episode rolled by, I slowly realized
that “Gravity Falls” wasn’t just a derivative
piece of fluff, it was actually an experience, and one that I’d gladly keep
with me. It was a show that proved almost too good for Disney channel, it was
creative, it was funny, it had fairly good morals and just a wonderful cast of
characters. I don’t watch cartoon shows that often unless I have some kind of nostalgic
connection with it, but “Gravity Falls”
was a special treat that took me by surprise and proved to be a fantastic series
that I wouldn’t mind experiencing again. If you’ve never seen this show I
highly recommend it to anyone that loves fun, imaginative, coming of age stories,
fantasies or spooky mysteries, because this show has it all ... and then some.
The End
