Welcome back to Gravity Talks, the Gravity Falls column with a worse schedule than the show it’s about. We’re back after I had to do some real-life things like move to a different country. So we’ll quickly go through “Dungeons Dungeons & More Dungeons” and “The Stanchurian Candidate” before discussing “The Last Mabelcorn.” As always, spoilers
Dungeons Dungeons & More Dungeons
I’m never going to say that Gravity Falls ever wastes an episode on filler. “Dungeons Dungeons & More Dungeons” helped humanize the already super-ominous Ford and even subtly introduced a relevant plot device that’d reappear in “The Last Mabelcorn.” And I’ll never speak badly on anything that has Weird Al Yankovic as a wizard. After the whirlwind that was “Not What He Seems” and “A Tale of Two Stans”, “DD&MD” felt like a season one episode. It’s still a good episode, just one that didn’t leave as much of an impact as there episodes.
Final Verdict: 8.2 – A run-of-the-mill episode of Gravity Falls is still better than most television. I appreciated the growing bond between Dipper and Ford but was left wanting.
The Stanchurian Candidate
Like “DD&MD”, “The Stanchurian Candidate” felt like a season one episode which, again, isn’t bad. Not every episode needs to offer LIFE-SHATTERING REVELATIONS or whatever. And this episode ended up being a pretty great showcase for Stan who looks like he’s going to be taking a backseat in the next few episodes as Ford takes up the mantle of moving the plot along (if “The Last Mabelcorn”) is any indication. Plus, there’s literally nothing bad that could be said about Li’l Gideon’s return. He’s 90% of why I started watching this show.
Although “Stanchurian Candidate” and “DD&MD” don’t have the immediate stakes that some other episodes have had, they do set future events in motion in interesting ways. Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Gravity Fall’s long dead cousin did something similar with their season-long plots. Scooby Doo would always have a couple moments at the end of an episode to remind viewers that something bigger was going on, but it always felt a bit inorganic. Like the Mystery Gang would go on an adventure fighting a werewolf rabbit and at the end Fred would just pick up a scribbled note that read “YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF CHILD TRAFFICKING” in blood. It was weird. Gravity Falls has done a much more natural job of letting its story unfold, and I think that’s evident in the impact these two episodes have on “The Last Mabelcorn.”
Final Verdict: 8.4 – As much as I liked this episode, I refuse to believe that the town of Gravity Falls wouldn’t be all for invading other towns. I’m sure Sheriff Blubs annexed some poor town at some point.
The Last Mabelcorn
With all the hoopla surrounding Ford’s return and his subsequent palling around with Dipper, I’m glad “The Last Mabelcorn” still focused on Mabel and her friends, including Wendy who was last seen in like season one or something. The girls’ quest to find a unicorn hair ended up being an insane adventure that involved a sting operation on some gnomes, druidic chanting, and Mabel punching a unicorn so hard she made it bleed rainbows. Yeah, that last part happened. Anyway, it was good to see Mabel still retain her top billing. There’s been a real potential for Gravity Falls to slide into the Dipper & Ford show and just focus on the Bill Cipher storyline. Gravity Falls hooked people with its mysteries, certainly, but it was its crowd of great characters that made people stick around.
And, as she’s always proven to be, Mabel is super good at solving unorthodox problems when compared to Dipper. Dipper freaks out, gets paranoid, and tries to shoot his grunkle in the face. Mabel follows through and gets stuff done. Even if that involves knocking a unicorn senseless. There better be an extended deleted scene of that fight. Although honestly, I’m kind of upset that Mabel didn’t respond to the unicorn’s demand for a person pure of heart by bringing Toby Determined along.
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Speaking of Dipper, he’s like 80% paranoia at this point, they’re really playing up the parallels between him nd Ford ain’t they? Both have been possessed by Bill, both are paranoid geniuses whose insecurities can get the better of them, and both have adorable hair. If anyone’s going to have a moment where they’re given a final temptation from Bill, Dipper’s absolutely that person.
Hopefully, Bill won’t be back soon as his master plan turned out to be a nightmare. Literally. Bill wants to separate the wall between reality and the shadow realm from Yu-Gi-Oh or something so he tricked a young Ford into becoming his protege and building the portal that everyone freaked out over for a year. Truth be told, I’m kind of glad the mysteries of Gravity Falls are winding down. Everything’s settling into the molds that people have been theorizing about for a while as the show heads into its climax. Ford’s relationship with Bill wasn’t exactly a game-changer, but it did help establish some more parallels between himself and Dipper.
Final Verdict: 8.7 – A strong episode that encapsulates what people like about Gravity Falls. Strong characters, well-executed jokes, and a unicorn getting the utter crap punched out of it.
We’ll be back with future episodes of Gravity Falls now that my life is not falling apart as much. We’ll see you in two weeks for “Roadside Attraction.” If you’ve got any comments or theories regarding the ever-approaching finale (which looks like it’ll be timed to air near Halloween), let us know in the comments.
