Episode Rankings: Gravity Falls

Gravity Falls is a fantastic cartoon, with sharp writing, an intriguing myth arc, and brisk pacing. It ends at the perfect time, right before it can overstay its welcome, and its short length makes for a must-watch for animation fans. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Not What He Seems (S2.11)
2. Take Back The Falls (S2.20)
3. Dreamscaperers (S1.19)
4. Northwest Mansion Mystery (S2.10)
5. Society Of The Blind Eye (S2.07)
6. Weirdmaggedon (S2.18)
7. A Tale Of Two Stans (S2.12)
8. Into The Bunker (S2.02)
9. Gideon Rises (S1.20)
10. Scary-oke (S2.01)
11. Bottomless Pit (S1.14)
12. The Time Traveler's Pig (S1.09)
13. Sock Opera (S2.04)
14. Little Gift Shop Of Horrors (S2.06)
15. Dipper & Mabel Vs The Future (S2.17)
16. Boss Mabel (S1.13)
17. Double Dipper (S1.07)
18. Fight Fighters (S1.10)
19. Escape From Reality (S2.19)
20. Soos And The Real Girl (S2.05)
21. The Deep End (S1.15)
22. The Last Mabelcorn (S2.15)
23. The Hand That Rocks The Mabel (S1.04)
24. Dungeons, Dungeons, & More Dungeons (S2.13)
25. Summerween (S1.12)
26. The Golf War (S2.03)
27. Land Before Swine (S1.18)
28. Carpet Diem (S1.16)
29. Tourist Trapped (S1.01)
    
30. Irrational Treasure (S1.08)
31. Little Dipper (S1.11)
32. The Inconveniencing (S1.05)
33. Blendin's Game (S2.08)
34. The Legend Of The Gobblewonker (S1.02)
35. Stanchurian Candidate (S2.14)
36. Dipper Vs Manliness (S1.06)
37. Headhunters (S1.03)
38. Boyz Crazy (S1.17)
39. The Love God (S2.09)
40. Roadside Attaction (S2.16)

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

Gravity Falls (Season 1)

The first season of Gravity Falls works as a strong, humorous comedy. There is definitely a bit of an overarching story here, but the main priority of this season is the humor, so it's a good thing that they pull it off so well.

Gravity Falls has a fairly simple premise. Dipper and Mabel go to spend the summer with their uncle, Grunkle Stan. During their stay, they run into all sorts of monsters and weird paranormal events, while also dealing with the evil Lil Gideon who wants to take Grunkle Stan's store, the Mystery Shack. There's also a mystery about a mysterious book Dipper found and uses to learn about the aforementioned monsters, along with a bunch of romantic subplots that I did not find all that interesting.

The whole season has this fun kid-friendly Twin Peaks vibe. Many of the paranormal-events-of-the-week are a lot of fun, ranging from ghosts, to time travel, to pinball tables, to a body-swapping carpet. The titular Gravity Falls is a well-defined town with its own group of diverse locals, most of which having their own quirky personalities and appear frequently throughout the show. It makes the town really feel like an actual rural town with a small population that you slowly get to know throughout the season.

The plot is fairly basic, as there aren't many episodes that actually progress the overall myth arc about Gideon and the books. There's a light continuity here, but most of Gravity Falls' episodes are fairly standalone, meaning that there are plenty of weak episodes this season. However, in general, I think the humor was consistently strong and carried even the weaker moments. Bill Hirsch has this unique and witty style of comedy that feels like it's on full display throughout the show, leading to tons of hilarious episodes. The overall story also does a great job of converging in the last two episodes, which resolve most of the mysteries and even reference plenty of previously-thought standalone episodes.

The first season was most consistently solid, but there were plenty of fun and notable episodes:

The Time Traveler's Pig: A fun and creative time travel story that pits Dipper and Mabel against a lose-lose situation, and despite all the goofy hijinks and the introduction of Waddles, the ending hits some surprisingly emotional notes for this point in the show.

Boss Mabel: This episode was just plain funny from start to finish. Mabel was easily my favorite character, and she got a chance to shine throughout as Boss Mabel's focal point. In general, it just feels like the writing was sharper than usual and most of the jokes managed to land for me.

Bottomless Pit: I'm a bit fan of vignette episodes like this, and Bottomless Pit managed to meet my lofty expectations. All of the three (four?) vignettes were entertaining, well-paced, and unique, and this episode was overall just another chance to let the comedy truly shine through.

Dreamscapers: Easily the season's best episode and it's not even close. Bill Cypher is a wonderfully entertaining antagonist, and the sheer amount of referenced plot threads, resolved mysteries, creative and surreal visuals, and fun visuals make me feel like I was watching Gravity Falls at its peak performance. Not to mention the excellent cliffhanger.

Gideon Rises: I won't lie, coming after such a visually unique episode, the more grounded Gideon Rises did feel a bit underwhelming. However, it was also a strong finale with a satisfying defeat for its titular villain, and a surprising ending that answered as many questions as it ended up raising.

Overall, Season 1 of Gravity Falls was a strong start to the series. Despite being slightly light on plot, the season was stuffed with excellent humor, likable characters, and a very well-done ending.

3/5 Stars