I love how gently and maturely Wendy let down Dipper, and I'm glad they took care of it now instead of waiting until the end of the series. Also, I must point out that this episode has some of the most creepy imagery in the show that I don't know how Alex Hirsch got away with, but I'm glad he did. As Soos said, "Ha ha. Good luck sleeping tonight."
I'm a big fan of the horror GF managed to get away with. That Mabel-Dipper form of the monster would be scary in even an adult horror thing. Also, this was a really good episode for Wendy. Not only is it great seeing her play a more active role, but her understanding and comforting Dipper at the end was really sweet. She's genuinely a cool character. Not like the shallow and fake cool, but actually cool. The kind of person you'd love to be friends with.
When Wendy and Dipper were in the closet and went through "Decontamination", the force of the air pushed Dippers head somewhere and you can tell he realized it when his eyes kept going to hers, down to where his head hit, and back and forth between.
Alex said in an interview that his ONE writing regret in the show was doing one too many Dipper-Wendy cliche crush episodes. And honestly even if they were cliche it meant more Wendy episodes and that's always a plus. Wendy's great!
I honestly disagree with him. The crush on Wendy would've taken up a lot of Dipper's headspace, so it makes sense it'd take up so much time in the show.
@@simoneval2619 It's not that it didn't get greenlit, they tried to write one, but every attempt they felt undermined Wendy's coolness in some way, and eventually they ran out of time and gave up on it. Not being able to put a Wendy Episode together was one of Alex's big regrets.
The future dates are for food reasons. It's a fallout shelter, the dates show when you can eat food. Proper planning is important so it doesn't go bad and you don't run out. I mean... the author of the books is Stan from the future who is actually gnomes in disguise, it was foreshadowed in season 1 episode 1.
LOL! Yeah I realised that as soon as Dipper said it, I've never seen a doomsday shelter or anything before so I had no idea what I was looking at, at first!
@@WeeLassReacts As an Oregonian I can confirm we all have decades of survivalist food in our secret bunkers. (More seriously, my local grocery chain sells survivalist food in up to 10 kg bulk packages and they sometimes sell it faster than they can stock it - there are a loooot of prepper types up in the mountains. I just take advantage of it to buy crunchy freeze-dried strawberries or apples in half-kilo packs when it goes on sale so I have a couple months of snacks at a time)
Loved how they used Clef Chin Grunkle Stan to hint at the fact that he used to use the shapeshifter to pretend to be himself for scamming schinanigans before the shapeshifter got too powerful and was taken in by the author. Very cool foreshadowing.
The code at the end reads. ""WHAT KIND OF DISASTER INDEED." earlier on there's some binary that translates to. "Put all six pieces together!" finally, the second thing at the end reads "ICE ICE BABY." and "IMPROPER USE OF MACHINERY COULD LEAD TO UTTER CATASTROPHE."
I don't think I have much to say about this episode, it's just good. I had my own theories for who the author was at this point in the original airing of the show. It involves something Alex Hirsch did, cementing himself as a massive troll, that you probably haven't seen and I'm not sure when the right time to talk about it actually is. Without being specific about what it was yet: he made a fake spoiler. The page in the credits has this code: "IMPROPER USE OF MACHINERY COULD LEAD TO UTTER CATASTROPHE". There's also another code, this one with a Vigenère cipher - meaning there's a key to decode it. The key is "SHIFTER", the code is "WHAT KIND OF DISASTER INDEED". There was one in the last episode, too, with the key being "WIDDLE" and the code being "WELCOME BACK". I'm pretty sure there's one each of these per episode now.
This is hands down my favorite single episode of the entire show. Not that the season slows down from here, far from it, nor does this episode offer the greatest emotional scenes, but it's just such a marvelously written episode with some stellar animation - plus I'm a sucker for, when a kid's show does horror, and this is just a really great horror story in its own right. If you had told me beforehand, that s Disney animated show would do one of the best homages to John Carpenter's "The Thing" I'd have called you a dirty liar. And the resolution to Dipper's crush arc is just such a treat. Not only is it a great lesson for kids on how to handle these situations, but this is arguably more mature than most grown-up shows handle their romantic subplots. Are you beginning to grasp, why GF is considered such an iconic show?
Just about all Dipper and Mabel plot points have a parallel episode. This is probably the quickest one, since Dipper almost killed everyone last episode.
Grunkle Stan actually wrote the journals. Problem is his memory was stolen by Bill (that is why Bill recognized the name Stan Pines. He just remembers he needs to activate the device beneath the house for some reason
Since each time the machine is used it causes a reality hiccup, changing one thing, you have to question the probability of getting memories back. Thank God the kids did it for him!
I just got reminded of an amusing non-traversy this episode had in the comments section a few years ago. Someone claimed that the bra scene was sexualizing Wendy and half the comments were overreacting about how sick that was and the other half were ??? Guys it's just laundry on the bed. What the hell? In any case Wendy shot up to be my favorite secondary character after this episode. And I always get a serotonin boost when I recognize Mark Hammil's voice in anything.
Okay wtf? The bra on the bed?? No thats just what women do! LOL I think I have like 2 bras strewen across my room at any given moment, be it on the bed, on a box, on a chair or on the floor. People need to calm down!
S2e2 cryptographs: Binary code: PUT ALL SIX PIECES TOGETHER! Chevron set 1: ICE ICE BABY Chevron set 2: AM I ME? IS HE ME? Mid credits; WHAT KIND OF DISASTER INDEED Image at the end; IMPROPER USE OF MACHINERY COULD LEAD TO UTTER CATASTROPHE
A lot of people dislike Mabel's behavior throughout this entire show. I'm personally not one of those people, but in this episode in particular, I do agree that she was pretty dang bad.
I love watching reactors and their unique takes on stuff. I've never seen anyone who had quite the same disdain for Mabel! Your criticism of her actions is quite valid, and interesting.
I am really happy how Dipper and Wendy's relationship was handled, instead of dragging it out over the rest of the show, which would've been much more awkward (or just ignoring it, though from what I recall they did pretty well on not neglecting Dipper's crush whenever he and Wendy were together in a scene). And again, come on, Mabel: I know you're young, but please, stop messing with Dipper so much :/ Though nevertheless, I must congratulate Dipper on how far into his confession he got before not being able to go further. Heck, I'm such a massive mess that I can't even ask some people whether they wanna be friends, let alone partners!
Dipper was really brave!! And I agree, I love how the scene between the two of them was handled at the end, defo one of my favourite moments from the show!
I'm so exited for you to reach the last few episodes, there's so much lore in just one episode so I'm extatic for you to see it and understand verything
I really enjoy your reactions to this series, you pick up most of the clues, red herrings and even a few things you overthink, I really enjoy hearing your thought processes
Definitely watch the shorts sometime, but in your own time. They aren't needed for the story but they are funny! I think the mailbox is my fave. And don't forget that form of Dippers the monster showed at the end, you WILL see it again. Next episode iirc.
I always get surprised at that Wendy comment about the bottomless pit and then realise all over she wasn't in that episode so she doesn't know about how it works and its a great bit of continuity they don't bring any attention to.
Sometimes when you pick up on a person crushing on you pretending that you didn't notice is the kindest thing you can do (especially with someone younger, like this situation). She likes him and wants to stay friends with him, knows he wants to stay friend with her (and needs friends, as he doesn't really have any his own age, at least here in Gravity Falls, other than Mabel)... and she works in the building he lives in, for a member of his family, which could get real weird real fast if Dipper decided to be awful (which, we know he wouldn't because we see the show from Dipper's point of view and know he's awkward but not cruel or toxic, but that is something girls especially have to take into account. He's effectively her boss's kid and it would be a toss up whether Stan would "'take his side" if Dipper said the right things). Mabel gets a lot of flak for pushing Dipper to confess here, too, but from her point of view, if you like someone you should tell them and if they don't like you back, now you can move on. She's done it several times already this summer. The twins just have very different ways of dealing with their crushes and haven't yet developed a ton of empathy for how the other deals with their feelings about that kind of thing.
It is such a relief to finally be done with the Dipper and Wendy subplot after this episode. At least until they introduce a new female character for Dipper to pine over five episodes later.
@@heatherkirk6265 sorry! I forgot! Granted, she did say to put in those fake spoilers so she couldn’t tell the difference between the fake and the real ones.
Like how all the episodes tie into the last few ones. In this one they fully establish how good of an ally Wendy is and how helpful she’s going to be in supporting them in the future ❤❤❤❤
The owner of the laptop is obviously ex-President Gerald Ford, president 1974-1977 and then the author from 1978 to 1982, who came to Gravity Falls while trying to track down president Quentin Trembley III to finally end him once and for all.
Havent you ever looked at the cover of the journals (count the fingers)? 12/15 - no go, 15/18 - no go, 18/21? 25/28 - why not? Worked out pretty well for my aunt & uncle.
It's not so much the age gap, but when the age gap is happening. The older you are, the less age gaps matter. 40 and 45 is fine, even though it's a 5 year gap; 7 and 12 is weird. It's about the difference in life experience.
I have not been able to watch this episode again since the first time I saw it because I have been too afraid of the shapeshifter but I am going to try today!
I just noticed, during the freezing sequence of the shapeshifter, there be of the forms looked remarkably similar to the Fire! Elemental from the Beavis and Butthead reboot… Yes, probably a coincidence, but the design is close…
G.F finds new ways to be wonderfully disturbing! This episode gave me horrible flashbacks to that 80s horror film with Kurt Russel, The Thing. Later I found out on the audio commentary, that movie was the inspiration for the episode!
episode 4 and 5 are my favourites in the first half of season 2 ❤ lore then wholesomeness episodes :D (this is the most spoiler free thing i can think of saying)
The thing is... Mabel knew that Wendy did not have a crush or any romantic inclinations towards Dipper. She knew that he knew that, too. Wendy handled this perfectly but what if she didn't? Mabel was really happy to seriously mess with Dipper because she treats his crush as her own entertainment. The cherry on top is her actually endangering Dipper&Wendy as well.
Yeah like Mabel is a kid so being impulsive comes with the territory but what she did was still pretty messed up. If the roles were reversed I dunno if she'd be as understanding as Dipper was about this. On the plus side tho, Dipper can finally move on and just continue being a kid plenty of fish in the sea and all that
I don't think she thought of it as entertainment, exactly. I think she's young and on some level still figures that the world works on romantic comedy tropes. She also has a different perspective on relationships than Dipper does, and underestimated just how much of a Big Deal a confession would be to him.
@@Brasswatchman Mabel and Dipper know each other incredibly well. Hell, she saw how much this crush means to him and how afraid he is in the magical printer episode. It's probably the most (or second most) fucked up thing she did all series. If my sister had done something like that to me, I don't think I would have forgiven her for quite some time. Dipper is a fucking saint when it comes to that.
@@Serryy I definitely wouldn’t forgive my sister if she did something like that- honestly, Mabel is my least favourite character because of some of the shit she does, especially when she was the main catalyst for what happens in my favourite episode (I’m not saying which episode or what she did in case someone who hasn’t seen it is reading this)
I'd say messing with is a bit of a stretch here. I think her logic was it's better if he just gets it out of the way and over with now rather than keep putting it off like he has been, and considering she's been on many dates herself she'd arguably know best in this situation. Like she pointed out here and in Double Dipper (and as shown in many episodes aside from these two) his biggest obstacle is often himself, and while I do understand his logic (afraid of being hated like Robbie) I also understand hers as well (if not now then when?). Also let's not forget or ignore that the moment she realized he really was in danger she immediately ran in to help him out.
You might ask yourself why you instinctively didn't trust the Shifter when you first meet him. The answer? Mark fuckin' Hamill. You hear that voice and the Joker PTSD starts kicking in.
fake spoilers on who the six-fingered nerd is: 1) dipper from the future - after an accident he got a mutated extra finger. 2) grunkle stan - okay, now, you might think "but he has five fingers in each hand" but that's because it's a demon who took over the REAL stan pines' place. remember what the shapshifer said: "he hasn't been himself in 30 years". 3) mcgucket's geometry teacher - it might seem random, but it's actually all connected. in fact, he is the reason mcgucket went crazy, the poor guy developed a fear of geometric shapes.
Current Grunkle Stan is actually the non-murderous shapeshifter 2.0 that continues the work of his "father" (who was taken by Bill). He just can't do a cleft chin for some reason.
Who could this F be? Completely unrelated but did you know Stan's dad and the twins great grandfather was named Filbrick Pines? and that he was part of a secret society whose iconography is in almost every episode.
10:05 I very much agree, I've dealt with this issue once and still am now. A few years back I had a thing for a really close friend of mind and the things stopping me were the chances of him having feelings for me or liking boys in general was pretty low. And then it happened again recently with another friend and she's lovely and I'm sure she wouldn't be awkward about it but I still can't tell her because even if she says that it won't make things weird there's always going to be a feeling that it will be. This stuff is a pain sometimes y'know
Oh I suspect you are definitely on to something here. It seems to all be matching up with Stan & A possible twin/clone along with everything they've discovered. There seems to always be a clue leading back to him everywhere.💙 I think Dipper is actually extremely brave compared to how I would have been. Just being able to be close to & chat with his crush is really awesome. The whole bit has been just adorable. She was so sweet about it & gave him some much needed reassurance.
Wendy did so great in dealing with Dipper here. I also once confessed to one of my friends I was in love with him (I'm a guy too, and I knew he wasn't gay, I just didn't feel right hiding this from him). It went well, almost as well as here. He was a bit shocked, he hadn't known (in retrospect, he really should have 😅), and he said something like "wow, I had no idea. Thanks for telling me, but you know I'm not gay, right?" and then everything continued as if I hadn't told him anything. If anything, he seemed a bit more mindful of my feelings, and was treating me nicer than he treated other friends of his. We're friends to this day, although my crush on him faded away in time I'd say to everyone who doesn't know if they should take this leap of faith or not: do it. If they're a genuinely good person and care about you, even if they won't feel the same, they'll let you down gently and nicely, like Wendy and like my friend. If they don't do that and just get away from you or mock you or anything, they're a horrible person, and you should be happy you dodged a bullet
Now I ain't gonna spoil nothing but keep an EYE on Dipper and Pacifica as the next power couple courtesy of an accident done by Soos 😉😉😉 ☺️☺️ Also I can't you haven't figured out the clef chin is Stan's Biological clone from when he split himself in a lab accident working on his dohicky all that was left was misshapen clone and the remains of Stan Can't wait for next episode
Aye, this episode made me fall in love with Wendy. A total badass, yet she knew just how to handle Dipper- and she was so sweet and gentle and understanding, it just kind of deepened their friendship (even if deep down, Dipper may have wanted more; but at least he knew that Wendy did love him, really. (Just not "that way."))
there is a character that is wearing a cast on his right hand and he's very smart... he may be crazy now but how can you not go crazy researching in this town.
10:38 i mean she said either way youll feel better afterwards But i also get this route-- deal with it on your own 11:00 i thought you said you wanted-- in the past wanted her to support him
I can't think of any fake spoilers but the shape shifter guy comes back as Stan's ex wife... so that'll be fun. it's not a major spoiler just a filler episode so I don't feel that bad telling you. whats really jacked is finding out Soos's gram is really a secret agent doing deep undercover in this town to bust a pug smuggling ring. I don't wanna spoil who's running it but lets just say Gideon's involved.
the third tier cryptid, the forest mimic/imitator. Third tier because it is borderline supernatural and many cryptozoologists don't like it because it is a toe stepper (like if could be used to explain away too many other cryptids), basically a shapeshifter (or land dwelling octopus like creature with really good mimicry and active camouflage abilities), that assumes the appearance of things like tree stumps, leaf litter, rocks, other animals (or uses a protrusion to look like a small animal but then grabs the predator that goes for it down a hole) etc...(including possible vocal mimicry to lure prey in closer). The toe stepper part being if it is a full shapeshifter it could assume other predatory traits when actively hunting that make it look like a lizard man, dog man, pale crawler, etc...
Dammit! I hate that Mosco is always right. She already saw the boxes and know that the author is Stan's great--great-grandson that travel back to the past to write the journals or else the space-time continuum would be broken.
You totally glossed over "Haha, good luck sleeping tonight." line by Soos. If only we knew anyone tech savy in Gravity falls who has something curious about his right arm
I'm actually kinda relate to this, because I have a crash on the guy who like seven years older than me and I mean... he is a super popular guy from a internet and I know I have no chance with him, but it's count right? still relatable...
Dipper and Wendy's age difference is less than that of my parents, and they've worked out perfectly. Though they did meet eachother in their mid-to-late teens.
