Summer Ends: The Finale of Gravity Falls · 3:47am Feb 16th, 2016
Dear Loyal Watchers, Interested Visitors, and Confused Passersby,
Every once in a while I get to stand an applaud as the credits roll to a television show. Futile, of course, as I'm the only one there to hear it, but I do it because it deserves to be applauded.
This evening was one of those nights.
This evening one of the greatest animated series of our age came to an end, and it did not go out with a whimper. It ended at the height of its narrative, and it did so in spectacular fashion. Gravity Falls concluded tonight, and I already feel its loss keenly.
Massive spoilers for both seasons of the show here and forward, folks.
Gravity Falls was a series (odd to be using it in past tense already) that rarely ever failed to please and scarcely had a "bad" episode. From the first episode when a gnome took a kick to the stomach and started puking rainbows up to the last few episodes where Mabel punched a Princess Celestia stand-in right in the face there were few episodes that ever did not make me give up a good laugh.
What made Gravity Falls so unique however was the way it managed to play the humor against a landscape of mystery and exploration... and most importantly against the special landscape of the childhoods of summer. It delved even deeper into these issues as it talked about relationships within a family, and how what growing up really involved.
The biggest surprise though was how it developed a darker and darker aspect each season until it finally unleashed its greatest weapons: a real, powerful, and genuinely dangerous villain in the form of Bill Cipher who was a continual threat (something MLP could still stand to learn after six seasons) and a plot twist that did not feel forced or unnecessary in the form of Grunkle Ford.
Even while their world was becoming more and more complicated the Pines' twins, Mable and Dipper, remained true to themselves. There was a genuine familial bond between them, and while their own characters were strong and easily defined the very real sibling bond between them was the strongest aspect of the show. As series creator Alex Hirsch pointed out, his implore to his creative team "Remember! The kids like each other!" was evident throughout the two seasons.
Yet, it was the differences between the twins that made them truly work as characters. They were able to bounce off of each other added potential for conflict and collaboration in ways that simply would not have worked with a traditional "twins the same in everything" approach that media seems to prefer. It certainly would not have allowed for the scene in which Mabel, the spiritual Ying to Dipper's analytical Yang, lets go of her logical side and instead places her faith in Grunkle Stan as her tears float around her...
If this scene isn't on the list of the greatest animated television series sequences, then the list is not valid.
But, despite the heavy themes, the series was always primarily a comedy show, and it reached for that in any way that it could, but never felt cheesy or like it was "trying too hard." It was genre-savvy and well constructed to allow the characters opportunities for jokes that would otherwise have felt out-of-place in a lesser series.
Sing it, Soos... sing it.
If there is anything to complain about, it was the fact that the series was only two seasons long... and that Disney spread the episodes across four years.
We are living in an age where animation is becoming more and more accepted as a mainstream medium, and more and more people are realizing that it is a medium, not a genre. Disney XD had its best ratings ever on October 23rd, 2015 when the "Weirdmagedon" episode of Gravity Falls aired back-to-back with the Wander Over Yonder episode "The Battle Royale." Gravity Falls did well across all demographics, mostly because it did not pretend to have a demographic to play to to start with. It was simply a great story, from beginning to end. The ending of Gravity Falls leaves a hole in the maturity level of animated programs on cable, one that was able to be shared by anyone who loves stories and narratives. It remains to be seen what show, if any, can replace it.
Until then, we'll simply have to keep in mind that summer ends, that kids grow up, and that all great television shows end. At least we'll have had the summer of 2012 at The Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls, Oregon—one that kept us entertained for four years, keeping us enthralled with gnomes, unicorns, zombies, parallel dimensions, and weirdness of the most pleasant kind.
Stay Awesome,
-Desc
I'm going to be honest with you, I really haven't seen Gravity Falls. The long gaps between episodes, and the fact I don't memorize the schedule didn't really help matters. I've caught a few episodes and I can see why people like it but I never got deep into it.
... and the only Disney show I'm following is Star Wars: Rebels
okay first things first Mable did not punch Celestia she punched a soonb nobly that took her main style Celestia may be a lovely troll but she is not in fact a jerk second i cried when i sew it all end but i still have star vs. the forces of evil,Star Wars: Rebels to watch but they will never fill that hole.
3757572 Do eeet. Seriously a darned good show.
I may not have seen the entire series, but I saw enough to know why it was so good, and like everyone else I am sad to see it go. We're losing a lot of good shows lately, the past few years we've seen the end of: Young Justice, Dan V.S., Phineas and Ferb, Transformers Prime, and Legend of Korra, and in a few months we'll likely be seeing the end of Littlest Pet Shop (the DHX version). Thankfully, all is not lost, for we have shows like Steven Universe, Star v.s The Forces of Evil, and Rick and Morty, alongside a few more years of Friendship is Magic.
I can't tell whether they just wanted an upbeat ending implying they'd keep up all these relationships or if they were providing an opportunity to segue into a sequel. Either way, I liked it.
How you doing, TD? Haven't heard from you in a while.
At least it's not as depressing as when Avatar: The Last Airbender ended. As excited and fulfilled as I was, I was equally empty and felt hollow as though there had to be more. Of course later more would come out but you know what I mean. Such a fantastic series... Well Gravity Falls is amazing and maybe that's an unfair comparison; I don't care. I am comparing how we felt when each series ended not the series themselves. Ahh well, no reason to leave a comment on "EDGELORD STATUS" and get negative comments in retorts as is custom for this fandom.
Love you all, Stay Awesome and reminder to always eat GINGER SOULS or Apple Cider... MMMMMMMMMM CIDER
Trust me, you aren't the only person on here to mourn Gravity Falls. I haven't even seen the finale, do you know where I could find it?
Loved it to death! I haven't single-framed it and decoded the messages yet (as I have with every other episode), but I will. It might not mean much to most people, but to a code and cipher geek like me, it was an extra layer of awesome on something that was already excellent!
I've done that once or twice, myself.
Unfortunately, I never got around to watching Gravity Falls... Looks like I should try and rectify that with a recommendation like this, huh?
I started that series a while back...
I should finish it.
~Skeeter The Lurker
~Leonzilla
Just finished the finale myself, and it was wonderful. Gravity Falls was a superb show, the kind of thing that only comes around every once in a while. It almost perfectly encapsulated a show that works equally for adults as well as for children by playing on themes that resonate with us all, no matter our age, and did so in a masterful manner. Poignant. Touching. True.
Word has it the creator is now heading to Fox to make a new animated show, so we can look forward to picking up another (hopefully) excellent DVD set when Fox inevitably cancels it after one episode.
And of course, we'll always be ready for a brief return to Gravity Falls should Alex Hirsch desire it.
I can't get over how happy I am that it had an ending. I real, solid, satisfying, brilliant conclusion!
That's so rare to see in media, much less animation.
The only thing preventing Gravity Falls from reaching the bigger audience it deserved was it's absurd schedule. Hopefully Alex Hirsch finds a place that'll publish his stories more consistently.
I think that the real reason that the series ending disappoints me is Pacifica. They started a redemption arc for her with Northwest Mansion Noir....and never concluded it. To be perfectly honest, I wanted her to pull a Cordelia (Buffy, not King Lear) and become part of the group, but unfortunately that will not come to pass.
I feel like other than her plotline, they managed to wrap up all the plotlines of the series pretty well.
I am also sad to see Gravity Falls end. I only discovered it a bit less than a year ago and finally got caught up on it a few weeks ago, but I still miss it already.
But am I only only one who was a bit disappointed by the ending? Gravity Falls has been full of twists and turns and revelations and surprises. It seems like almost every episode ended up going off in a direction I didn't expect, often several times. But in this episode, I thought it was incredibly obvious what was going to happen once Ford mentioned how they could use the memory eraser to defeat Bill. After that, pretty much everything was straightforward, predictable, and normal. I suppose that might have been the point, and it could be symbolizing how life is going back to normal for Dipper and Mabel, and it was still sweet and wonderful, but it was still a bit disappointing for me. And of course, it's also possible that I just let my expectations get too high for my own good.
It was still a great series, and it will be missed. I look forward to seeing what else Alex Hirsch will create.
3757855
I actually thought they they did a decent job with her arc. She worked with the group to build the robot and rescue Ford and the town, she wore the sweater Mabel made, she joined them in the circle, she touched a hobo, she got presents for Dipper and Mabel, and she wrapped those presents herself (which might actually be what impressed me the most, since all that tape on her hands certainly suggests that she'd never done anything like that before). I'll have to go back and check to see if she signed the note at the end too, but it wouldn't surprise me if she did.
I'm not sure what else you could expect to see from her. Maybe they could have shown her hanging out with Candy and Grenda or something, but I don't think that's necessary. She's friends with Dipper and Mabel now, but she doesn't necessarily have to be friends with their friends. The only other thing I would have liked to see is some hints at some Dipper/Pacifica shipping (since that mansion episode made me start shipping them hard), but I knew that that was incredibly unlikely to happen.
And keep in mind that the mansion thing was at most only a few weeks ago. If she had changed any more since then, it probably would have been unrealistic.
... You know... that trust scene up there? that's now convinced me to watch Gravity Falls. Looks like I'm going to be hitting the interwebs to check it out.
Also, you're missed, Descy. How're you doing?
Thankfully I just spent a week catching up with the series (I'd seen a episode here or there, but not all of them and not in order) because the number of callbacks in the finale was amazing.
Gravity Falls rule!
I've seen about half of the first season, and enjoyed it greatly. I'll have to hunt down the rest of the series, now that it's finished.
3757893
Yes, with the time they had left, they definitely did a good job doing the amount of redemption that could be expected of her. I absolutely agree that she shouldn't have changed any more than she did in the series as is. (Unlike Diamond Tiara, for instance.) But after seeing that Mystery Mansion Noir, I wanted her to have a more complete redemption. I wanted to see her become a core part of the group (ala Cordelia in Buffy). This is the main reason I'm sad to see the series end (other than the fact that it was a very good series).
And yes, I too started shipping them hard after watching that episode.
While its departure will leave a large Gotcha!-shaped hole in my heart, for Gravity Falls, it doesn't hurt so much to say goodbye. After all, we won't always be kids, and summer can't last forever. Good shows have to have an ending, or it'll end up like MabelLand, bland and hollow. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Cheers to ever-more summers.
Shudder to think how long it will be before we actually get to see it over in the UK, given how appallingly erratic these things tend to be aired at. I have literally given up trying to watch any children's TV shows in any kind of order on UK television, there's just no point. They tend show a bunch of episodes back-to-back over the course of a week (rendering it impossible to allot sensible times) and then repeat ad finitum. So if a show looks good enough to properly watch, I just wait for the DVD. (And, of course, you very rarely get to see the last episodes, since they show them and them tend to stop the cycle shortly afterwards. I never did see the end of Generator Rex, for example.)
So, I've never seen it in anything other than odd episodes. (I thought the trailer for the Grunkle Ford reveal was the series finale until I actually managed to catch that episode); I watch new episodes when I happen across them, but I've probably seen most of season one two or three times by now (except for the finale, which I've have seen exactly once) - and probably the most tragic thing is Disney have a general aversion to actually releasing series on DVD so it is entirely possible that I will never see Gravity Falls as it is intended to be seen unless I find internet videos of... dubious legality, shall we say.
(I weep for Kim Possible and American Dragon, which had they ever come to DVD - unless they have been snuck out recently - I would have happily added to my collection. The biggest tragedy, is, of course W.I.T.C.H, which was a brilliant series, especially the second season, one I rate as one of the best to come out of western animation and only had - and only in Europe - a full DVD release for season one.)
Have you seen star vs the forces of evil? That one was good
Amazing ended... two days after the Volume 3 ending of RWBY... which quite honestly I think beats Gravity Falls as as a series finalle. T.T
Of course, now we have murrmers of new MLP stuff for males as well as females... toys and a comic book series... and also season 6 is gonna be very different. I am concerned about the female dragon they mentioned through.
Just watched it this morning. :D Yeah, buddy.
3757572
I was actually quite worried when I saw that Disney was taking over the Star Wars franchise, but I think it is going to work out. I haven't seen many episodes of Rebels but what I have seen is pretty good.
3757591
Star vs. The Forces of Evil had a good first season, which is traditionally the weakest season of a series, but we'll have to see if it gets "up there" to the level of Gravity Falls. I've been enjoying Wander Over Yonder as well.
3757601
Truly, we live in a Golden Age of animation.
3757620
With Hersch going to Fox for a new show, the immediate chances of a Gravity Falls sequel are remote. In some ways I think that it is required that shows leave the potential for a sequel open at the behest of the networks.
I'm okay... holding my own, as it were. Thanks for asking, Pasco.
3757637
Avatar: The Last Airbender was another series that got a round of applause from me after the last episode.
3757639
There's going to be a encore airing tonight at 4:00p.m. and 7:00p.m Eastern Standard Time on Disney XD, if you get that channel. I haven't see it streamed anywhere online yet.
3757682
I don't believe that you'd regret giving it a good ole' binge watch. There are only forty episodes, so that's jus a weekend.
3757694
I think that would be a well-spent use of your time, Skeet.
3757783
It would be a good use of your time, I assure you.
I have the finally recorded I haven't gotten to watch it yet
but I am still sad it is over it was a good show I am glad the replayed every episode I HAVE RECORDED THEM ALL MWAHAHAHA
3757789
I just got done reading your own thoughts about the finale Vik, and I certainly agree.
It will be nice to see Fox doing something smart rather than outrageous... hopefully getting away from the "McFarlane Model" of animation that it overuses.
3757830
Indeed. Genuine endings are a hard thing to come by, as most networks don't want to admit that there won't be new episodes to sell. When Angry Beavers ended the staff submitted a true "ending" episode about the characters picking up the set and leaving, and Nickelodeon has never re-aired that series or rehired any of the creative staff since. Kudos to Disney for respecting its fans enough to allow the creator to give them closure.
3757601 You bundled Star v.s The Forces of Evil with Steven Universe and Rick and Morty...
Is it that good?
~Leonzilla
3757855
I would go as far as to say that her redemption arc begins with The Golf War, but that's moot. J already replied to your comment with this, but I think it is worth pointing out that the series existed entirely in three "real world" months of the summer of 2011. Only about two weeks have passed since Northwest Mansion Noir and the last day of the series when Dipper and Mabel get on the bus. If they tried to do a complete heel/face turn then it would have felt a little forced.
Still, you are correct, it is worthwhile to point out that her character's arc is incomplete, but this is because the series did so well with the arcs of other characters.
3757862
I actually felt that the last fifteen minutes of the episode was a little rushed. But, as they say, you only get one real goodbye, so seeing everyone off was necessary. I too realized what was about to happen as soon as the brothers had their chat, so it wasn't a surprise but it was handled well once it was. Granule Stan had to be the one to deliver "the final blow" as the series was mostly about his transformative arc and opening himself up to the kids and his own brother.
Also, in case you ahaven't seen it yet, I'll just leave this here:
3757914
I don't think that you'd be disappointed if you chose to do so, Noble.
I'm doing okay... no worse than usual and "holding my own." Thanks for asking!
3757915
Very true. My mother was visiting me as I sat down to watch the episode, and I had to explain who The MultiBear was.
3757934
Indeed!
3757954
I think it would make an excellent way to burn through your free time, Lurk (if you have any!).
3758276 rebels is a damned fine show. I shared your reservations, but they're handling it well so far. :)
As for Gravity Falls... I have not seen any of it. Yes, I know. Shame, mockery, horror! ;) Maybe some day.
3757995
Well said.
3757996
*Pat, pat.*
3758276
Wednesdays at 8pm central time
3758047
I've always been surprised that Disney has been so conservative with its library of shows. For being a profit-driven corporation it seems to play its intellectual properties "close to the chest." I had to wait twenty years to get the shows of my childhood TaleSpin, Rescue Rangers, etc. on DVD.
Oh well, it just makes them more anticipated and worth looking forward to when it does happen, I guess.