Welcome back to Gravity Talks, the Gravity Falls review column that has never felt more validated than at the end of last night’s episode. Massive spoilers are ahead as we talk about “Not What He Seems”.
In a sentence, “Not What He Seems” was like the “Ozymandias” of cartoons. If you’re not familiar with Breaking Bad (in which case you likely don’t exist), “Ozymandias” is the episode when Walter White’s whole empire falls down. Without delving into spoiler territory on two fronts, that episode not only sees Walt lose everything he worked for with his meth empire, but explores the consequences that his secrets had on his family. “Not What He Seems” explores the same issues, albeit with substantially less meth and, like “Ozymandias”, feels like a foregone conclusion. We always knew Stan had a secret, we always knew the twins would find out, and we always knew it would hurt.
As has been per usual for the show, specifically the last few weeks without Stan, the story focuses deeply on the Pines Twins and their mission to find out what Stan’s hiding after the Mystery Shack is raided by the FBI, led by Nick Offerman’s Agent Powers. Again, we see the difference between the Mystery Twins – Mabel’s trying to find the best in Stan and Dipper is livid that Stan lied to them the whole summer. Soon, that difference is only further divided in the ending when, while Stan’s universe-threatening portal is about to end the world, Mabel decides to not press the button and allow the portal to destroy the world.
And then comes the awkward moment where the world didn’t end. Everyone’s still alive (in the cabin at least, I’m sure the gravity fluctuations probably killed some poor idiot) but, to sound utterly cliche, the world the Pines knew is over. Mabel chose to trust Stan over her brother, which is sure to drive a wedge between the two. It wasn’t necessarily a betrayal, but Mabel still trying to find the best in her uncle directly clashed with Dipper’s refusal to forgive him. There’s a scene in the beginning of the episode, before all the hurly burly, when Stan notes just how unnaturally nice the Pines are to each other. If that, along with the frame of the twins in breaking in the void, not a tease for a new and less trusting shift in their relationship I will eat my clothes.
Of course, that’s not the only twin magic going on in “Not What He Seems”. After the clock counts down and gravity falls (ugh), out of the portal steps the author of the journals, the six-fingered man, Stan’s brother. That sound you heard last night was two years of internet speculation turning into rabid and validated cheering. If you ever want proof that a storyteller’s goal is to tell a good story and not just shock the audience, look toward’s Stan’s brother. People have been discussing the theory that Stan’s had a twin brother since approximately the second episode. Said theory (which involved Stan’s brother being lost in the doomsday portal) has practically become a running joke and last night every part of it happened and it was actually amazing. Maybe a lot of people saw Stanley (the de-facto name for the brother) coming, but did they see him returning with inter-dimensional warrior gear? Did they see him coming in at a moment where the Pines family was falling apart? Stanley’s arrival may have been obvious to some people who go on the internet a bit too much, but it still opened a whole new world of change for the Pines family. Truly, nothing can be the same after this reveal.
On the flip side, I would have lost my goddamn mind if the author took off his cloak and was a Rick from Rick and Morty.
As fun compelling as this episode’s writing was, it cannot be possibly understated just how much of a factor the animation was for this episode’s success. The gravity fluctuations in this episode were just beautiful, especially the shots of the Mystery Shack floating and the town falling into the sky – or as Cute Biker and Lazy Susan note, “having a baby hiccup”. Scenes like Stan’s aerial escape from the police station and Mabel floating away from the button are some of the most visually ambitious moments this series has ever had. The art was even great during the smaller moments. When Stan enters the basement, for the first time after the twins and Soos find out about him, his face is obscured in shadow, making him look less trustworthy than he ever has. Really, the animation in Gravity Falls has always been stellar but this episode reached a height that other episodes haven’t.
If there is one glaringly bad thing about Gravity Falls, it’s the release schedule. After this pipe bomb of an episode, we wont’ hear from the Pines Family for at least sev’ral weeks. Still, that time will give plenty of time for fans to go over the details of this episode. Why did we see Dipper’s birthmark again at the end? Why did Stan seemingly fake his (or his brother’s death)? If Stan and his brother were working on this machine then why were there three shut-down switches? I mean, the answer to that is likely just McGuckett, but it’s these small details that can open a world of speculation. Hell, over a year ago someone noted how Stan has had different haircuts in his flashbacks and here we are with the confirmation that they were in fact two different people. No detail’s too small for Gravity Falls. Assonance!
Final Verdict: 9.8 – “What He Seems” was a roller coaster of emotion, culminating in a groundbreaking reveal before finding itself somewhere calmer, with the original Mystery Twins on a swing set at the beach. There’s a lot I’m looking forward to from Gravity Falls Season 2.5 but I’m thrilled to find out what happened between that moment and the ruined swing set scene in “Dreamscaperers.”
