Gravity Falls, S1E7: "Double Dipper" (Quick Reaction) · 6:15pm Feb 7th, 2023
In which Dipper is his own worst enemy. All twelve of them.
GENERAL SPOILER POLICY: "Blogs in the Ep-By-Step series may or may not spoil content found in later episodes. Viewer discretion is therefore advised."
Have to admit I don't have the wherewithal to write the usual mega-blog post for Gravity Falls, but neither did I want to post nothing about it. This quick reaction is a temporary compromise, for now.
Also, for those wondering about the twelve enemies of Dipper in the blog header, that's:
- Tyrone. (1)
- Clones #3-10. (8)
- Paper Jam Dipper. (1)
- The arm at the beginning, technically? (1)
- Dipper himself. Dipper is his own worst enemy. (1)
"Double Dipper" is the most slice-of-life episode so far, and that's part of the charm. There's no real mythos-building, the weirdness-of-the-week is the most obviously tailored to the mundane moral, and the plot literally boils down to "the cast throw a party: hilarity ensues". With Grunkle Stan's mysterious cloning photocopier being invoked chiefly to show off Dipper's overthinking social difficulties, the episode doesn't even bother expanding on journal lore and instead goes for broke, relying on just how much you love the cast at this point. On that score, I'd say: mission accomplished.
Dipper's easily the most interesting main character to me, in spite of or because of his overwhelmingly dominant trait: obsessive neuroticism. While his checklist has some... questionable items on it ("agree with everything a girl says" is, apparently, his idea of a winning romantic formula), there's a genuine enthusiasm and cooperative spirit to Dipper's interactions with (first) Mabel and then (later) Tyrone and the other clones. That makes it easy to root for him when his lovestruck social phobia gets the better of him. The clones themselves are pretty affable, despite later ganging up on him in order to make the rigidly defined plan work out.
Once again, Wendy's relegated to love interest. However, without the other teens to distract her - apart from Robbie, who's briefly written out of the party in hilarious fashion - she keeps up her cool big sis attitude towards the Pine twins throughout. Easily the best part of the episode is her spontaneous chat with Dipper outside the bathroom, showing him a photo of her dorky younger self and discovering his birthmark, thus getting to know each other's less flattering moments and therefore building up trust.
That's the nice thing about it: their casual closeness. Dipper's mistakes ("HA! You're a freak!") are just water off a duck's back to her, which in turn makes it easier on him. Despite her (apparent) obliviousness, especially around Robbie (that might be hindsight talking, though, as I know where that relationship goes), it really is sweet to see them get along regardless of Dipper's doomed daydreams (the second one wherein he gets a literal gut-punch is hilarious, not least for how preposterously OTT Dipper's imagination gets).
And once again, Mabel's off doing something else independently of Dipper, though this time it absolutely works. She gets a good dig in at Dipper's overplanning attitude and pretty much signposts what his learned lesson will be early on, keeping that "wiser than she looks" vibe from the earlier episodes.
Meanwhile, we get a relatively low-key and casual introduction to "her people" Grenda and Candy, an outfit that just screams "I don't care what you think!", and an easy antagonist to root against in the form of Pacifica Northwest, who is basically Diamond Tiara at this stage (great singing voice, though). Since the plot is literally just "chill", Mabel shines here, especially when it shows her weirdness obsession as an open-minded acceptance of others and even as a fair-play attitude towards the local snob.
Other than that, the comedy's in a good place tonight, with Soos perfectly cast as the DJ eagerly learning his craft on the fly (Grunkle Stan's reaction to his book is perfect snark), Grunkle Stan mostly acting as the versatile comic relief (him initially refusing to fall for clone-Dipper's money bait is a silly example of double-subversion), and a lot of mileage gotten out of a clone army being made up entirely of Dippers (the prize going to Paper Jam Dipper, who is simultaneously endearing yet horrifying).
It's a typical GF mixture of clever trope subversion and so-dumb-it's-funny gags. For instance, against all sci-fi tradition, the clones don't turn evil so much as they exaggerate Dipper's personality and overcommit to their role. Meanwhile, Soos is being so weirdly distracted by the laser pointer that he offscreen interrupts a tense confrontation just to confirm it ("He's gonna get tired of that dot eventually." "NEVER!").
Even the destruction of the clones is made weirdly funny, both because the clones themselves treat it as a mild inconvenience and because their weakness is so pathetically mundane it's ridiculous.
Overall, the episode's never going down as a high point of the show - the party-first storytelling just isn't designed for dramatic highs or intense horror, and the comedy of the show is too consistent to single out a highlight episode so easily - but it's a really fun time in its own right, and much appreciated during the slice-of-life portion of the show's early run.
That's all for now! Impossible Numbers, out!
<<< Gravity Falls: S1E6 "Dipper vs. Manliness" (Ep-By-Step #7)
There's certainly a place for low-stakes, palate-cleanser episodes like this one. I think it did what it set out to do (entertain me, of course
) very well!
The one episode written by the infamous princessmaker M.A. Larson (as "Mitch Larson" in the credits).
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It's remarkable because, despite the overall "summer vacation" feel of Season One, there don't seem to be that many outright "chill" episodes like this one.
Looking ahead, for instance, I don't think we get such an easy-going slice-of-life episode till... either "Boss Mabel" or "The Deep End". The others generally have slice-of-life elements, but involve either an adventure aspect (the next couple of episodes) or have a threat that's too serious to be dismissed as a fluffy gimmick (the Fight Fighters ep and the Summerween ep further down the road).
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Whoa, I didn't even notice that. Caught me off-guard. It's a small world after all, huh?
(Ha, it would have been an even more appropriate coincidence if Larson had written "Too Many Pinkie Pies", but I guess that would be asking too much of the universe to line up that neatly.)
Wendy is a awesome big sister.
Huh forgot about that bit.
Too many Pinkie Pies in a nutshell.
Forgot this too.
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