Gravity Falls Series Finale: “Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls” Review

“Ah summer break. A time for leisure, recreation, and taking ‘er easy. Unless you’re me.” After the series finale, the first line of dialogue of the series that Dipper delivers is all the more poignant. Alex Hirsch, the show’s creator, gave Dipper and Mabel anything but a typical summer vacation and we got an amazing show as a result. The ending was equally amazing and satisfying.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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To refresh everyone’s memory, Bill Cipher was released from his dimension and took over Gravity Falls. With everyone struggling to survive and many of the town folks forced to become a piece of Bill’s throne, things appeared quite bleak. After rescuing Mabel; Dipper, Wendy, and Soos made their way to the Mystery Shack, only to find it inhabited by Grunkle Stan and other citizens of the town. Now you’re caught up!

 

With a heartfelt reunion from their Great Uncle, the Pine Twins are also greeted by friends and a whole plethora of various monsters from the course of the series. These cameos were so much fun and more than just simple characters in the background, everyone had a line and everyone served a purpose. Yes even the disembodied head of Larry King aided in the takedown of Bill. As it turns out, Stan had granted sanctuary to these residents due to the Mystery Shack being completely shielded from Bill’s magic. Dipper, Mabel, and Fiddleford McGucket develop a plan to use this shield to help them fight Bill. Mabel’s brilliant contribution was to give out “Apocalypse Sweaters” to everyone, including her rival Pacifica, in preparation for the upcoming fight. To see almost all of Mabel’s sweaters on screen at once was just the best. Stan, meanwhile, is apprehensive about the whole thing as it appears that he is more concerned about his new position of power as “Chief” [sash included] and his own safety. Stan’s selfish decisions are beautifully mirrored by his twin’s stubborn resistance at Bill’s torture that is occurring during the formation of the plan. Despite conquering all of Gravity Falls, Bill reveals to Ford that he and his cohorts are trapped behind a barrier that surrounds the city and he needs Ford in order to escape.

The team is back together!

The two stories converge when, in a homage to classic Japanese anime, dust settles with the reveal of the Shacktron – a giant mech made up of multiple fun things from previous episodes [T-rex arm!]. I loved the nod to Pacific Rim as Grenda and Candy control each side of the robot in the fight with the demons and Bill. The action was animated so incredibly well and is so classic that it was almost sad when it was over.

The Shacktron

Thankfully, with help from an imprisoned Gideon, everyone is rescued and one of the best lines in the episode was delivered by another callback character, “This experience will forever scar Tad Strange.” Once rescued, Ford reveals that the prophecy to defeat Bill lies within his zodiac. YES THIS ZODIAC THAT HAS BEEN TEASED SINCE THE BEGINNING! What was even better was the reveal of who represented each symbol: Dipper was the pine tree, Mabel was the shooting star, Robbie was the stitched heart [“whoa, destiny hoodie”], Gideon was the pentacle, Soos was the question mark, Pacifica was the llama [her apocalypse sweater from Mabel], Ford was the six-fingered hand, Stan was the fish-like symbol, Wendy was the ice because she was “cool in the face of danger”, and finally Old Man McGucket was the spectacles, because he was scholarly. Stan prevents the seal from being complete however as he explains that he has been upset the entire time because his brother has never said thank you for rescuing him and so Stan refused to help rescue Ford now.

The original Bill Cipher Zodiac

The brothers inability to reconcile is a brilliant lead into their emotional heart to heart after being caught by Bill once again, “We used to be like Dipper and Mabel. The world’s about to end and they still work together. How do they do it?” Stan asked. “Easy. They’re kids. They don’t know any better…” Ford responds. Their relationship on the show has been brief but the build up to this moment has been coming since the beginning and it made for a powerful conclusion. Ford tells Stan that the only option left is to let Bill into his mind and then mind wipe him, erasing all of Ford’s memory. The twist comes minutes later as Bill opens up the door to Ford’s mind only to find Stan sitting there in his underwear. BOOM! In a heroic twist, Ford reveals to Dipper and Mabel that Stan and he switched clothes because Stan wanted to do something right for once. It is a heartfelt scene as Stan wakes up and has no recollection of his niece and nephew. He doesn’t even grasp his heroism. Thankfully, the family is able to restore Stan’s memories in an equally emotional scene where Mabel pulls out the scrapbook she made of their summer together.

With the story finished, all that leaves is the epilogue, which is really the most satisfying point in the series because it gives everyone a solid conclusion to their story. To see Soos become Mr. Mystery and the new caretaker for the Mystery Shack was so incredibly fitting. And Mabel and Dipper finally hitting their 13th birthday to become “technically teenagers” before their departure from the falls. This left the audience with the final tearful goodbyes as the two teenagers [and Waddles] boarded the bus for California and a normal teenage life. Dipper left with hope as he opened a letter autographed by all of their friends saying “See you next summer.”

The team behind Gravity Falls gave us an ending that is so fun and beautiful in both a salute to the series itself, but also in the relationships it had built between its MANY characters. The act of Dipper receiving the pine tree hat upon arriving at Gravity Falls is bookended with Wendy swapping her hat with his; a fitting way to also bookend their relationship as Dipper had finally been able to let go of his feelings for Wendy. Likewise was watching Stan and Ford, finally being able to reconcile their history and set out to sea in the Stan O’War II searching for more mysteries.  With a series this phenomenally emotional and entertaining, I cannot wait to see what Alex Hirsch does next and I certainly hope for more Gravity Falls in the future.

Would you like to go back to the falls in the future? Please comment below.