Welcome to the first edition of our Chris-Hardwick themed Gravity Falls column, Gravity Talks. When planning this new column I figured we could do this bi-monthly and do two episodes per column, but I had forgotten about one of the few consistencies in “Gravity Falls”: its godawful scheduling. So from now on we’ll just do a column per episode.
As to be expected, heavy spoilers are going to be discussed. For now, let’s jump in.
So in case you didn’t see it the first time around, I loved the first two episodes. They were as funny as the show’s first season but also delved deep into mythology of the town that the first season had spent so long masterfully building up. We addressed Stan’s knowledge of the supernatural events going on around town, got a glimpse of who wrote the books that have driven the series, and saw a confrontation of Dipper’s actions during “Boyz Crazy”. It was everything I wanted from a show that wasn’t afraid to address the horrors lurking around the characters, the flaws that drive them, and how those same flaws can draw them together.
“The Golf War” was, uh, less that.
Don’t get me wrong, I love crazy premises and “The Golf War” absolutely delivered with its mini golf course full of tiny Lilliputtians led by Patton Oswalt. The only problem was it came off this momentous high from watching Mabel and Dipper come so close to finding out the truth behind the journals. Naturally it’s too early in the show for the truth to be revealed, but going straight from “Into The Bunker” to “The Golf War” was a little jarring. The first two episodes seemed dedicating to getting right to the mystery of Gravity Falls but this episode did very little to serve the overall plot.
That said, this was still a really fun episode. Patton Oswalt can make anything funny and the entire plot of these Lilliputtian societies vying for The Mystery Twins’ approval was the type of wackiness the show can get away with while still making the threat seem somewhat grounded and real. Seriously, the Lilliputtians just not getting how murdering Pacifica and her Russian Luke Wilson is bad in the short runtime of this episode is great, but we also got an in-depth look at their society, especially that of the sacrifice of Big Henry:
Remember the time Gravity Falls spent a solid minute on watching a golfball die from gas poisoning while staring at a picture of his best friend just so Mabel could get a good score in mini golf? Remember how this show airs on Disney?
Despite the abrupt silliness of “The Golf War” in the face of “Scaryoke” and “Into the Bunker”, it still offered one really great piece of development I hope we see more of: the growth of Pacifica Northwest. Pacifica has been an incredibly one-dimensional spoiled brat stereotype that made for a great tertiary villain. Here, we get to see some insight into her life with her parents, and it’s actually pretty upsetting. In one of the episodes’s many weirdly sad moments, Pacifica reveals that she was never taught how to say the word “share”. In an episode where someone just allowed themselves to die of gas poisoning so a little girl could win a petty competition, that is heartbreaking. I really hope we get a deeper look into the Northwest family this year, which we likely will since Nathan Goddamn Fillion is voicing their patriarch this season. Bonus points if he spends three minutes bragging about owning his own space ship.
“The Golf War” is far from being the best episode of Gravity Falls but that’s not really its fault. On its own merit, “Golf War” is a really fun and random episode that would have been a highlight in season one when we were still setting up crazy creatures and creating the cornerstones for interpersonal conflicts the show would build upon.
Final Verdict: 7.4 – For any other show, “The Golf War” would be a triumph but its placement in the season somewhat killed the show’s momentum. Though, to be fair, its placement may have worked in Gravity Falls‘s favor.
After “The Golf War”, I was expecting “Sock Opera” to be another wacky adventure with talking socks and a pink cow or something. I fully expected this season to go back to the formula of only teasing the larger mystery in the background while focusing on mermen and boy bands. What I did not expect was this entire goddamn episode.
“Sock War” begins with Dipper and Mabel indulging their usual obsessions: The Big Mystery™ and ponytailed men who perform puppet shows at libraries. Surprisingly, the latter wasn’t a murderer of any sort. Mabel decides to create her own puppet show to impress the guy while Dipper tries to hack into the diary author’s laptop and it seems like we’re just going to watch another wacky episode of sock-filled hijinks.
Then this shot happens:
My actual reaction:
It is practically illegal how good of a villain Bill Cipher is. Even though he was always in the background for the first season and has only actually appeared in one episode, his presence is such a large part of what Gravity Falls is now that his shadow crossing against a wall is enough for me to wake up my roommates. My girlfriend barely even watches the show and her reaction was just as loud as mine. Bill Cipher is hands down one of the best villains in animation just because he’s such an obviously immediate threat who never fails to be horrifying. Even his plan in this episode, while pretty straightforward, is filled with enough details to definitely have given at least one child somewhere nightmares, like the eternally screaming head that peels away to reveal its flesh and bones while still screaming.
While Mabel is orchestrating her puppet show, Cipher agrees to help Dipper crack the laptop in exchange for a puppet and if you’ve read enough Faustian stories like I have, you know where this will end up. Dipper agrees, thinking Bill means one of Mabel’s sock puppets, and Bill straight up possesses Dipper to become Bipper who is the worst character in animation please for the love of god help me. This isn’t just a “Superior Spider-Man” incident where Cipher’s just in control; Bipper is a horrifyingly subtle amalgamation of Bill and Dipper who looks like if the final frame of the “Thriller” music video took over your body. Just the literal worst.
But really, hats off to the animators for going above and beyond to changing Dipper’s body language to create a terrifying (sort of) new character. From the violent way he moved and fell down the stairs (it keeps happening) to his arcane aesthetic in the priest outfit later on, Bipper became just as terrifying a figure as regular Bill is and I don’t think we should see more of him but it would definitely make for good TV. Plus he inspired a lot of fan art. Good fan art. Don’t ask me questions.
If I can continue to talk about Bill (AND I WILL), another aspect of Cipher that makes him such a great villain (besides his eldritch undertones) is how he doesn’t just randomly show up, but rather he targets the weaknesses in the relationships between the characters. Dipper’s made tons of sacrifices for Mabel before and Bill exploiting any slight resentment Dipper may have in that moment leads to a greater cohesion between all the episode’s threads.
Like “The Golf War” and even “Into the Bunker” to some extent, “Sock Opera” doesn’t offer many answers but it still shows progress in the form of the growing relationship between the twins. Mabel’s an amazing character, and her musical definitely showed some, uh, insight into how her mind works, but the line she says to Bipper is quite possibly the most cathartic line in the show thus far: “Dipper would.” It’s not a case of one character agreeing the other is superior, it’s a recognition of the love they share for each other — and it’s this love which ultimately allows them to defeat Bill.
Also, a fireworks show where a burning Stan puppet flies into the audience while “Ave Maria” plays. Gravity Falls is a miracle of animation.
Final Verdict: 9.3 – “Sock Opera” is without a doubt one of the best episodes of Gravity Falls yet. It combined the horror and humor that’s made the show a hit while never forgetting the heart that earned the creative team their dedicated fan base. If every episode of the season comes even close to “Sock Opera” then we can just stop making cartoons. We’ll have reached the apex.
Bonus: Look closely at the audience members sitting behind Wendy and Soos during the play. The FBI isn’t done with the Pines yet, especially if the tracking box in the Mystery Shack seen when Dipper is falling through the floors is any indication.
Next Time (Two Weeks): “Soos and The Real Girl” which sounds like the most potentially messed up episode ever. I cannot wait.
