Review: Gravity Falls – “Dipper and Mabel vs The Future”

Spoilers Below

In one week, the twins will be turning the big 1-3. Since the end of summer is nearing and they will be heading home, Mabel wants to throw the biggest party ever. Dipper leaves her to the planning while he goes off with Great Uncle Ford to save the world.

Grunkle Ford tells Dipper that they need a special adhesive to seal the rift. An adhesive that comes from extraterrestrials. It turns out that Gravity Falls was created by a crashed UFO. Whether the UFO was attracted by the area’s weirdness or it caused the weirdness is unknown. Either way, the UFO is still buried deep beneath the town. Ford and Dipper go into the ship to find the alien adhesive.

Mabel starts searching for somewhere to hold her epic party. Soos suggests the high school since no one uses it. When they go to check it out, they find Wendy and the other teenagers registering for school. Wendy tells Mabel about the awfulness of high school. Mabel realizes that high school on TV may not be reality. She tries to call Dipper via walkie talkie for some emotional support. Unfortunately, the reception is terrible and Mabel is on her own. Soos tries to cheer her up by offering to help her deliver her party invitations.

Their first stop is to Grenda and Candy. Sadly, neither of the best friends will be able to attend the party. Grenda will be visiting her boyfriend overseas and Candy will be at music camp. This is Mabel’s worst day ever.

Inside the spaceship, Ford and Dipper search for the adhesive. Shortly after Dipper finds it, they realize that they set off the security alarm. Two drones float into the room. Apparently, they only notice objects that emit adrenaline. Ford has the ability to calm himself but Dipper can’t control his emotions yet. Luckily, Ford is able to destroy one of the drones but the second drone attacks Dipper. Ford jumps in front of his nephew, forcing the drone to grab him instead. Leaving the rift with Dipper, Ford is whisked away to a shuttle that will take him to a prison planet. But Dipper isn’t about to let his Grunkle go without a fight. Using the magnet guns Ford brought, Dipper attaches himself to the outside of the shuttle just before it takes off. Once they are in the sky, he shoots the shuttle with a reverse magnet, which crashes it into the ground below. The drone comes back to attack Dipper but he is able to control his emotions this time, disabling the drone and saving Ford. Ford asks Dipper to stay in Gravity Falls as his apprentice. Dipper agrees, not realizing that Mabel overheard their conversation through the walkie talkie.

Mabel is devastated that everyone is leaving her. Dipper tries to explain but she runs out of of the Mystery Shack and into the woods. She tries to make herself feel better with some chocolate. But she accidentally grabbed Dipper’s backpack instead of her own. Quietly, she wishes that summer would last longer. Out of the shadows, someone offers to make her wish come true. It is Blendin the time traveler. If Mabel gives him the rift, he can make summer last as long as she wants. Mabel digs the rift out of Dipper’s backpack and hands it over. Blendin smashes the rift to the ground and transforms into Bill Cipher. Bill has opened the rift and now the world, as they know it, will end.

While I did enjoy this episode, I think that may have been a case of “Too Much Information.” I read a bit about Alex Hirsch’s panel at New York Comic Con and he said that this episode would change everything. I didn’t think it was quite that dramatic. With all of the weird things in Gravity Falls, are we really supposed to be surprised about a UFO and aliens? Or is it the part about Bill Cipher opening the rift? Either way, I didn’t think it was any more crazy than your typical Gravity Falls episode. With that said, I am very excited about what comes next. What is going to happen that will end the world? I feel like the answer will not be all that easy to explain.