Gravity Falls (Season 2)

Season 2 of Gravity Falls was overall a massive improvement on the first, keeping the same strong humor and characters that made it great while bumping up the mythology and serialization to turn Gravity Falls from a solid show into a truly excellent one.

Since Season 2 is pretty much divided into two halves, I'll be talking about Seasons 2A & 2B separately:

Season 2A: This half of the season was pretty much perfect. The overall storyline of Dipper trying to figure out who the author is along with Grunkle Stan's portal progresses at a solid pace throughout, all culminating in the outstanding midseason finale. There are also a lot of fun standalone episodes as well, so it never feels like this half of the season is overwhelmed with plot. Side characters like Wendy and Pacifica get more of a focus, as they get to join Dipper and Mabel on their adventures. Soos even gets a bunch of episodes for himself, which is always a fun time. It's a well-paced, enjoyable, and satisfying first half of the season.

Season 2B: This is where Season 2 gets a bit shakier. Unlike the first half, Season 2B does have plenty of issues. Characters like Wendy and Pacifica ended up getting sidelined until the finale, pretty much every episode had some plot importance, there were several frustrating character decisions, and the humor was overall not as solid. This is probably due to the arrival of Stan's brother Ford who lacked many comedic moments and was mostly there to provide exposition and forcing the plot along. Regardless, there were still some strong episodes, Bill Cypher was an amazing final villain, and the final quadrilogy was a phenomenal way to end the series. It's just a shame this half of the season couldn't be as good as the first.

Now for the most notable episodes of the season:

Into The Bunker: One of the scariest episodes of the show, packing in some truly terrifying imagery while still allowing for plenty of fun adventures. I also liked that they actually resolved the romantic subplot between Dipper and Wendy, which I just found annoying in Season 1.

Society Of The Blind Eye: The titular society was a genius way of explaining one of the biggest mysteries of the first season, and I'm genuinely surprised at how much they fleshed out Old Man McGucket, who was mostly just a comic relief in Season 1. It's also impressive how important the memory gun became throughout the rest of the season.

Northwest Mansion Mystery: Pacifica's strong character arc throughout Season 2A comes to a satisfying conclusion as she finally turns against her parents in what's probably the show's scariest episode. Some points genuinely left me wondering how Disney even let this episode aired. I also really like the ending cliffhanger which sets up the midseason finale perfectly.

Not What He Seems: Easily Gravity Falls' best half hour, Not What He Seems brings the entire show to a head as Dipper and Mabel finally learn about the basement portal. There's a strong sense of tension throughout that feels so different from the show's usual fare, and the many plot twists, stunning visuals, and mind-boggling ending made this is an absolutely standout episode of the show.

A Tale Of Two Stans: While I'm not a big fan of Ford as a character, his first appearance was executed really well. The flashback to Stan's backstory explained so much, and touched upon pretty much every previous moment in the show. It really goes to show just how planned out Gravity Falls was from the very beginning.

Weirdmaggedon: After a fairly shaky second half of the season, Gravity Falls ended on an excellent four-part finale, juggling pretty much everything that made the show great. Every side character returned, every Chekhov's Gun was shot, and the finale was packed with the twists, humor, and surreal imagery you'd come to expect from the show. The final battle with Bill Cypher was exciting and satisfying, and the final few minutes wrapped everything really well while ending on a bittersweet yet memorable note.

Overall, Season 2 was definitely in an improvement on the first by keeping what made the show great while improving on the things that didn't. The plot was far more complex, the payoffs more numerous, and the stakes much higher. While the second half of the season was a drop in quality, the first half was the best Gravity Falls had ever been, and the show manages to still end on a high note.

5/5 for Season 2A

3/5 for Season 2B

4/5 Stars

Favorite Episode: Not What He Seems