REVIEW: GRAVITY FALLS “Dipper vs. Manliness”

Dipper wants to become more of a man and decides to head to the forest to fight the infamous Multi-Bear; Mabel tries to teach her Great Uncle Stan how to be more of a ladies’ man and capture the heart of the waitress at their local diner.

Spoilers Below

In an effort to win free pancakes if successful, Dipper fails miserably at a “Man-meter” coin-operated game at the local diner. He jets off in an effort to shield any embarrassment and ends up in the forest when all of the sudden the ground beneath him begins to shake unveiling a huge Man-ataur hungry for…jerky? Yep, turns out the big brute is actually a nice guy with an appetite. Turns out the Man-ataur is part of a whole crew of ‘taurs’ all of whom are just as manly as anything you’ve ever seen. Dipper asks to join their crew in an effort to become more of a man and after a it of reluctance is accepted but only after he completes a number of trials to prove his gusto. However, in the last trial, Dipper has to bring back the head of the Multi-Bear!!! ROOOOOARRRR!!!!! Actually, the multi-bear(despite his gross appearance) is actually a decent guy too, and even enjoys some of the same pop music as Dipper causing our soon-to-be man to stand up the Man-ataurs in an effort to stop the violence.

Mabel wants to help Grunkle Stan in being more confident in his love-pursuit of Lazy Susan. To start, we get the typical make over montage in an effort to make Stan more desirable, but no matter what she does Mabel can’t put lip stick on THIS pig. Turns out that’s OK, because back at the diner Susan seems to like the old-man just fine and even give him her phone number. All seems right until Mabel catches Dipper all depressed while looking through the window, but after some good ol’ fashioned man talk from Stan, Dipper cheers up.

Its tough coming off of a classic episode like last week, but Gravity Falls did a good job of keeping steady in quality episodes. The premises were a bit ordinary for this show, but with Alfred Molina and Jennifer Coolidge both doing an outstanding job on their respective posts, was certainly enough to keep one entertained throughout the episode. The Mabel plot was kinda meh, but the Dipper plot was really, really funny. All of the Man-ataurs were great looking with their constant bickering and fighting among themselves making them a good distraction from the boring montages. In any case, “Dipper vs Manliness” is a good way to stay occupied for the next few weeks until we get more Gravity Falls.

(8.0 out of 10)