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Gravity Falls: The Hand That Rocks The Mabel
Reviewed: 10/26/2014
The Hand That Spins The Quality!
Hello kiddies; it's time to do the later half of the first DVD set as after four episodes of fair to great episode comes our first major test of the series which is to introduce the number one heel of the show which is Gideon Gleeful. I have seen him at the end of the first season called Gideon Rising and I can tell you right now, you will love to hate this villain very soon. This is also a major test of Mabel trying to get away from being woo'ed by Gideon's charm and good looks as he is trying to take over the Mystery Shack by having Buddy convince Stan to merge. This sounds like an episode I want to see. Does this episode stand up to the elite of the old DTVA; or does it fall flat on it's face? Let's rant on shall we...?!
The Hand That Rocks The Mabel is written by Alex "Clamantha" Hirsch and Zach Paez. Storyboards were done by Matt Braly, Luke Brookshier and Alonso Ramirez Ramos; while direction is done by John Aoshima. Zach's resume: This show, Community and Drunk History as a cameo actor. Luke's debut in animation and DTVA was Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (and the pilot television movie) and also did work for House Of Mouse and this show. Non-DTVA credits: Uncle Grandpa (most recent credit), Spongebob Squarepants (and Christmas TV movie), The X's and Thrillseekers: Putt'N'Perish. That's it. The animation is done by Digital Emation Inc.
We begin this one at the Mystery Shack outside as Stan is playing tricks on the denizens of Gravity Falls again. The woman who crushed the baseball is back along with Rosanna and Reggie. Why? Didn't Stan act like a pervert in front of them two episodes ago? Also the grandfather that Stan mocked is back for no reason as well as some soldier kid with hippo teeth wearing a green tank top. He doesn't speak here, so no tribute. So Stan's final illusion refers to the Mystery Sack which he shows which has a question mark sown on it. Stan proclaims that it makes money disappear; and all the denizens put money in it and leave saying that this makes total sense. Wow; I used to believe that Stan is a professional criminal, but this is a prime example of people being extremely gulliable. So we head inside the living room with Soos, Dipper and Mabel watching television. We hear a reporter explain to us that a tiger was badly injured in an explosion; but then we see the tiger in a lab as he shows off a musclehead's arm as this is Tiger Fist. The kids cheer in response. Then the tiger punches itself in the face and we go to the logo in banana yellow and orange background as the announcer proclaims that they will be back after these messages. Then we see a sky with some hands letting the doves fly; which Soos instantly points out that this was the commercial he wanted to show the kids. The announcer asks if you are completely miserable and we see a man in a red shirt crying yes after seeing some mountain peaks. So the announcer tells him that he needs to see Gideon which is in shadow with a question mark on it plus his name. The Gideon is whispered by the way in a neat touch. Mabel and Dipper are confused as Gideon is a psyhic you see. Basically he tells everyone to stop seeing that other man of mystery as we see footage of outside as Stan comes out of an outhouse. So Stan's bathroom is inside the Raptorous? That's cold, even by this show's standards. It's also in glorious slow motion as Stan has toilet paper under one of his green slippers and he's roaring...in slow motion. Stan gets the red stamp of fraud with jackhammer sounds of course; which is completely true.
So we go to a shot of a multicolored pentacle containing the Eye Of Providence. All this needs is a circle and we finally have our first pentagram since Quack Pack in 1996! We zoom out as we discover that Gideon has a blue tent called the Tent Of Telepathy; complete with white crescent moon. The parking lot already has four cars presents; although I don't know if they are all owned by Gideon or not. We then get the CRAWL OF DISCLAIMER which goes by all too fast and the announcer is no help either. And here's what the message reads: "Void where prohibited, no C.O.D.'s accepted, the letter "p" in the word psychic is silent and used for entertainment purposes only. If unsatisfied, please return unused portion for a full refund. Side effects may include but are not limited to: prosperity, wads of cash, fun at parties, tight pants, 6.2% APR, no money down! Psychic readings may cause a warming sensation in the abdomen. If pain persists, consult your physicist immediately. Carla, I've always loved you but I've never had the guts to say it." Yeah; that was awkward. Mabel loves this; but Stan comes in and blows it off because he has had nothing but trouble. We hit the flashback of Stan trying to find a parking space; but the last parking space he finds gets stolen by a Gideon RV with an American flag and on the front there is a second Pentacle with the Eye Of Providence. Stan is not happy; and we return to reality (no, not really) as Mabel wonders if he's really psychic. Dipper wants to go check it out; but Stan forbids it because he's not allowing anyone who works for him patronize the competition. He does the "As long as you live under my roof" promo in which the kids ask if a tent has a roof; and they call it a literal loophole. WHOMP! WHOMP! Mabel shows a white piece of string tied like a noose. Ooookkkkaaayyyy. So we hit the opening and it's the usual stuff...
So we start going to Gideon's Tent Of Telepathy AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as various denizens are walking in from their cars as we see a fat man in a pink Hawaiian shirt, Mexican hat and green pants holding a sack with the pentacle/Eye of Providence logo as he is greeting customers and asking for donations. This guy is Buddy Gleeful by the way who is the father of Gideon Gleeful; so this is a mom and pop operation. He is voiced by Stephen Root. The denizens are putting money into the psychic sack of doom proclaiming that this makes sense. So they go into the tent and it feels like a small version of a megachruch you see on Vision TV. Dipper tries to cover up that fact by claiming that it's the bizzaro version of the Mystery Shack; including having a Soos clone known as Deuce which does the Luigi Death Stare of Death on Soos. Mabel has a bowl of popcorn while Soos has a taco. The lights go dim and Mabel gets giddy as spotlights and music plays. The curtain opens and the writers actually watched TaleSpin for pointers because they made Gideon look like a monster (complete with Dipper wanting to know what this monster looks like) and big; but then the curtain opens and we see a blond haired midget with a white cape and he looks similar to a preacher on television; only looking like a well dressed Gunther Magnumson and awesome blond hair. Basically; Colonel Spigot syndrome. This is Gideon Gleeful and he is voiced by Thurop Van Orman and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): American TV writer, director, cartoonist, producer, animator, storyboard artist, storyboard director, singer and voice actor. He is known for being the creator of the animated series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, in which he voices the titular character. He studied character animation at the California Institute of the Arts.[1] He was the storyboard artist for Camp Lazlo, The Powerpuff Girls and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. He was also the co-writer for these shows.
He is also the supervising producer for Adventure Time and Sanjay and Craig. Thurop is also somewhat known for responding to much of his fans' fanart through the website deviantArt. He is currently working on his stop motion film project titled Black Forest,[2] as well as providing concept art for the film adaptation of The Little Prince. He has also announced via Twitter that he will be writing a film about Vikings. He began his career as a writer for the Powerpuff Girls in 2004. Gravity Falls is his DTVA debut and only appearance. Sanjay & Craig is his most recent credit. He has 11 writing credits, 13 acting credits, five art department credits, one director and three producer credits to his resume. The house is packed as Little Gideon introduces himself and doves fly out of his blond hair. More pentacles/Eye Of Providence references. Dipper and Mabel are in shock because he looks so little according to Mabel. Gideon addresses the crowd and then turns around and does the best cute face ever and the crowd cannot resist saying aw. You don't need a psychic for that one; Gideon is a adorable little boy. However; I have seen Gideon Rises and you'll hate this little boy soon enough. Dipper is not impressed; but Mabel basically claims that Dipper is is denial. Gideon tells Bud to play piano and he does; while Gideon throws his cape to Roseanna; prompting Baseball Woman and old ladies to pounce on her and beat her down. Gideon sings; and the music is clearly from religious gatherings on television. He is the midget version of Brother Love from WWE. Only without the blushing red facepaint. Everyone somehow gets up without much prompting which Dipper is surprised at. Somehow despite this; the old woman in white hair with the cat blows this off. I believe she is voiced by April Winchell since she is on the credits for this show. More singing and dancing as Sheriff Blubbs is such a fan of Gideon that he brought all the Gideon dolls, t-shirt, dolls and a Gideon golden lunch box. Awww; my heart melted. Sadly; someone complained because the shirts are regular golden stars. Dipper is not amused by this of course.
So Gideon has eyes for Mabel as we do the redneck clap which if you watched Little Mouse On The Prairie (that obscure Saban cartoon from the 1990's) you know what that curtails; and Mabel is impressed that Gideon knows her name asking how he did that. Gideon gets on stage and finishes the song as he brings down a neon blue sign with his name on it; along with blue flare flames shooting from the wooden stage. How this didn't burn the stage down is amazing. Gideon might have powers after all. Gideon pants and sweats like a hog as he brings out a bottle of water and drinks it. He also proclaims that the people are the real miracles and everyone pops loudly except for Dipper. So we see everyone walk out and I noticed the cute Gideon face on a billboard sign on the left side of the screen as we discover that he is here everyday. I also notice that as the denizens are walking out; the fat guy in the orange shirt no longer has free pizza splattered on the front. Rosanna is okay by the way; but she doesn't have the cape sadly. Dipper and Mabel walk out last and Dipper calls Gideon an even bigger fraud than Stan. UH OH! I smell Stormy Weather commencing. If any new Disney show might pull of Disney pathos like in TaleSpin; it's Gravity Falls. Mabel proclaims that this is why Stan is jealous and loves the dance moves of Gideon. Dipper proclaims that she is impressed too easily; and Mabel counters by poking him over and over again as they both laugh and walk out. Gideon was spying inside the tent and he is wearing an American flag pin with no stars, so you know he is a preacher's son. So we head back to the Mystery Shack as we see Dipper at the table drinking something while Dipper comes in and has colored rhinestone jewels all over her face. She even remembered to wear the llama sweater and headband as per what happened at the end of Headhunters. Great continuity there Alex. She bedazzled her face by shooting rhinestones on her face; which amuses me to no end. The rhinestones unstick and causes some pain which she blinks; Dipper is not amused. Mabel proclaims that she is not loved for her time. I love you Mabel; I really do.
So we hear the doorbell and Stan orders someone to answer the door. Mabel goes to the door after wiping off the rhinestones from her face; and the door opens as they reference Gideon with LB (too small that looking forwards makes him look like he's not there). So we exchange pleasure thoughts and the acting here is great as Mabel throws up rhinestone and make a rhinestone collar around the suit of Gideon. Gideon calls Mabel his kindered spirit and Mabel laughs which Gideon loves. Stan yells at Mabel demanding to know who is at the door and Mabel proclaims that it's no one because in storyline, Stan hates Gideon with a passion. Gideon admits that he is no friend of Stan either; calling Mabel a peach and Stan a lemon. This show was written for me, the ranting part of me. Mabel yells out Gideon's name and Stan doesn't respond so he's either sleeping, or is deaf. So Gideon offers Mabel to come to his dressing room and Mabel pokes him hard in the belly causing him some pain. Man; I didn't realize Mabel's fingers were so deadly. So we go into Gideon's dressing room which is feminine to say the least. Okay. I should note that the pentacle on the ceiling does not have the Eye Of Providence on it. Mabel is in awe of this and then we jump cut back to the Mystery Shack as Mabel waves goodbye to Gideon who is driving a golf cart. So we head inside as Mabel sneaks up on Dipper reading the mystery book of doom (#3) and shows off her press on pink nails. She is wearing a lot of makeup, a pink bow and it just occured to me that her style of hair is the exact same one worn by Rebecca Cunningham. Dipper claims that she looks like a wolverine, which is funny on so many levels as Mabel growls for fun. She thinks Gideon is a dapper little man and I'll take her word for it. Dipper doesn't because he trusts no one whose hair is bigger than their head. So he doesn't trust Mabel since she has a hairstyle that is bigger than her head. I see Dipper is doing a play on the Satchel Ass drop from Terry Funk. Mabel blows him off because Dipper only wants to do boy stuff and not girl stuff which Gideon has no problems with; thus making Gideon into a babyface.
So Soos comes in with hotdogs and wants to make them explode in the microwave one by one. Dipper loves it and leaves with Soos as we hear microwave sounds and popcorn popping like sounds seconds later. Mabel is not amused by this so we head to a large brick building with Mabel and Gideon on top of the roof sitting on the edge looking at the scenery. They are on one of the families' factories and they bring out the opera glasses; and use them to look at each other. They giggle at each other and then look down on the little people of Gravity Falls. Sadly; the backgrounds here are horrible because we only see seven crapply drawn buildings, a museum drawn poorly, a church without a cross; but there is a steeple; and a buffalo statue in the middle of the cul-de-sac. So Gideon talks about being the king of all he surveys; which I am damn certain this will mean something later because he says it in such a thing to imply certain main event doom. Mabel play punches Gideon for fun and likes him and all, but just wants to be friends. Gideon seems cool with it; as long as she has one legit date with him. Not a play date, not a shopping date, and probably not a bunch of dried up dates. Gideon swears on his lucky bolo tie which he pulls on the closeup and there has to be a camera in there. If so; he has been watching Double'O'Chipmunks and the bowtie camera spot. Mabel ponders it over and finally accepts it. Gideon is so happy as he hugs Mabel and Mabel asks if he is sniffing his hair and that ends the segment eight minutes in. A really good episode thus far.
After the commercial break; we head back to the Mystery Shack as we head to the living room with Mabel and Dipper playing a video game. Mabel is wearing a purple sweater with a kitten face on it. So basically Mabel wins the video game with ease as she explains that she's only going out with him so his feelings are not hurt. Dipper questions this because he will fall in love with her; and Mabel shrugs it off because she's not that lovable, which Dipper concedes as true after losing to her in a video game. So the doorbell rings and Mabel answers it; to reveal a white horse which causes Mabel to drop on her ass. We then see that Gideon is riding the horse wearing a cowboy hat which matches the suit. He must be a Texas preacher; that would explain the southern accent he has. Gideon proclaims that a night of enchantment awaits for Mabel and she is in awe. So we head to a restaurant which is known as the Under The Sea restaurant. So they get a suite table suited just for them as we see Rosanna and Reggie together again, so it was because they were pissed at Stan that they left in the rowboat two episodes ago. Did I mention that the white horse is drinking out of the fountain display inside? Even Mabel is questionning this. The middle of their table looks like a blowfish in neon blue lights. A matire'D arrives with a jug of water and glasses as he pours water; and I discover his name is Jean-Luc and no one tells Gideon what to do since he's allowed to put his feet on the table. Gideon gets on his case about eye contact and Jean-Luc walks away like a yes-man and we never see him again. Mabel loves forks and water glasses that make bubbles. She speaks yes in French prompting Gideon to also speak french saying "You speak french?" and Mabel responds by saying that she has no idea what he is talking about. Then we jump cut to inside the gift shop with Wendy, Soos and Dipper as Stan storms in showing a newspaper showing Mabel holding hands with Gideon. Dipper is staring while Wendy is dialing her "smart" phone claiming that it's a big deal. No it's not. It's only a big deal because Stan is jealous of Gideon for being better than Stan in every way.
Soo is reading a magazine and Wendy basically admits that they are having a date tonight. Wait; didn't they already have the date last scene? So what was the restaurant deal anyway? Soos is talking about couples and Stan is pissed off as Dipper insists that he warned Mabel not to go. Stan doesn't care as he storms out the door proclaiming that he is going to Gideon's house right now to put a stop to this fraud. Soos laughs about Stan going into the closet instead of a real door; and then goes to the door to check this out; and concedes that it's a real door. That was not funny. So we see Stan arrive in front of the gates leading to Gideon's property which has blue rose bushes on the entrance and a sign that basically is a self-serving photo of himself. This guy doesn't give a damn about his privacy, nor his family. Stan of course is so stupid that he nearly passes the house in spite of the big sign in front pointing to the obvious before backing up and stopping in front of the gate. Stan opens the gate looking pissed off as he storms to the front door which has a sign that reads Pardon This Garden. That made me laugh as Stan pounds on the door and demands that Gideon come out right now; calling him a punk. Geez; are you projecting again Stan? So he swipes the sign onto the ground proclaiming that he pardons nothing, and the door opens seconds later to reveal Bud Gleeful giving eye contact violence to Stan. This would be a main event anywhere in the white trash world. I discover that Stan's full name is Stanford Pines and Buddy is glad to see him. He is the new Disney's Herb Muddlefoot now as he offers Stan to come in; as Stan demands Gideon. Buddy insists that he hasn't seen Gideon in a while and offers him coffee imported from Columbia. Stan tries to protest; but he comes in and backs off because he was in a Columbia jail at one time. I would love to know what charges were laid against him at the time. That would be a riot to hear. So Buddy brings in the coffee and they sit down on the chairs and couch as Buddy likes the Gideon/Mabel combination while Stan is completely against it, almost forgetting to smack a pillow to force the point. Stan has never been in a real hatefest it seems.
However; Buddy sees this as a wonderful business opportunity as he wants to strike a deal to have the Mystery Shack and the Tent of Telepathy be merged into one major mystery corporation. Considering that both businesses require the customer to be as gullible as humanly possible; why not merge? Stan earlier on noticed a despressed clown picture hanging on the wall and commented on it. So Buddy decides to butter up Stan while they are walking and there is a dartboard showing darts on Stan, so he's not the only one who has issues with each other. Buddy rips off the picture from the dartboard as one of the darts has a razor blade on it. Buddy sees this as pooling their profits together and Stan hears the cash register ringing, because he brought it with him for the spot. Good one Stan; good one as he is listening now. So we head back to the restaurant with Mabel and Gideon eating chicken and peas with gravy. At least Gideon is as he does remember to wipe his face afterwards, so he has better manners than he is letting on. Mabel is having trouble dealing with her food as it's a real lobster which is still alive and clawing at her. I see Gideon has influence over the food inspector too. Gideon proclaims that this date was a complete success after talking about insulting a short woman concerning autographs. Gideon then proclaims that they are going on a date tomorrow in which Mabel points out that this was their only date. Gideon harkens as he brings out a giant ass South American Rainbow Macaw to counter that. The macaw does the most contrived date asking promo ever, even screwing up the word Thursday in the process. The denizens in the restaurant hear this including Blubbs and Tyler who all of them proceed to talk about how cute this is and stalk the table where Mabel and Gideon are sitting. The macaw flies away spitting out a love letter envelope as Mabel teases saying no, but the denizens put the pressure on as on old lady wearing a green dress proclaims that she'll die from sadness if Mabel says no. There is also a doctor who proclaims that he can verify that this will happen. I don't believe him for one second. Mabel is under the gun here and we jump cut back into the living room as Dipper is drinking soda while Mabel comes in looking glum and she puts a lobster into the fish tank for good measure. How that thing lived on without water is amazing though.
So Mabel is poking at the fish tank as Dipper thinks that this is over and Mabel no sells as she admits that she didn't know how to say no. Of course you didn't Mabel; that is what is called peer pressure. Mabel goes over to the table and sits down feeling bad about it because she only accepted this to not hurt Gideon's feelings, and wants it to be back to normal. I'm digging this episode a lot actually. So we cut to outside AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) with a forest far shot of the moon in the sky and then pan down to a lake as Gideon and Mabel are in an Italian style boat being rowed by Old Man MacGucket who is becoming the Clamantha of this show; which is no surprise since Alex Hirsch is voicing the poor crazy old bastard. Mabel has a lifejacket on, Gideon has flotation pads and MacGucket is wearing an inner tube. Yeah; the kook is too dumb to live. So we exchange notes as Gideon wants this night to last and Mabel just wants to be about a dozen different words meaning friend. Gideon wants Mabel to be his soul mate and we get fireworks shooting seconds later showing a lot of pink and a heart with Mabel's name on it. I just love how the bookers are putting over Gideon like the greatest babyface on earth and it just makes the turnaround for him to become full on heel that makes it so sweet. See Dan Dawson in Stormy Weather. So McGucket sums this up as Mabel gasps in horror...and then we head in the living room with Dipper noticing Mabel pacing around wondering how to get herself out of this without hurting Gideon's feelings. Mabel is wearing a purple shirt with a butterfly on it by the way as Mabel explains what happened on the date because Gideon has pulled her from the friend zone to the romance zone. She compares this to chubby quicksand. That made me laugh. Dipper tells her to calm down because it's not like she has to marry Gideon or anything. Then Stan comes in wearing a white shirt which in blue letters reads Team Gideon informing her that he has completely changed his mind about Gideon and she'll have to marry him after all.
Stan loves the shirt; and then realizes that he is fat which is enough for Mabel to scream and storm out of the room. Stan calls out to her that bodies change. So do minds Stan, so do minds which you demonstrated as only you can. So Dipper goes in and notices Mabel sitting on the ground with her head inside the sweater chanting that she is no longer here and thus is in Sweater World. Geez; I can smell a compelling storyline in that alone. Dipper asks if she will come out of Sweater Town and she is about to say no, but Dipper then proclaims that this has gone on far enough, and he'll go to Gideon to break up this relationship on her behalf. Mabel comes out and starts play punching Dipper in a fit of glee. So then we head to a nightclub called The Club; which is a building shaped like a club from a suit of cards. Ironically enough; the window on the front is shaped like a diamond. I have no idea if this was an animation mistake or an ironic statement. So we head inside the restaurant as Dipper just walks in without formal gear nor a reservation; and no one stops him. So Dipper notices Gideon sitting down at a table reading the big ass sized menu. Dipper clears his throat to annoy me and Gideon greets him. Then Dipper basically tells him that he is speaking on behalf of Mabel (I almost typed Dipper there) that she is not here because she is breaking up with him since she is weirded out on him and she means no offense to him. At first; Gideon seems to take it well and then we get a closeup of his eyes which indicate that he's going to really freak out on Dipper since he thinks Mabel is in love with him thus Dipper is doing this under the pretense that he wants Mabel as his soul mate. This is a great way to build heel heat and not make Dipper look like a heel himself. Dipper asks if he is going to freak out or anything and Gideon teases being angry and then lets it go saying it's all water under the bridge now. Dipper stammers, backs away and gives him the thumbs up before leaving the restaurant without further incident.
Well; they spared us the Matire'D throwout spots, so kudos to the writers here. We go to a closeup of Gideon as he only says "more than you ever know my friend" thus signalling main event doom. Trust me; by the end of the first season, you will officially hate this guy like no other. Cut to outside The Club as Dipper greets Mabel and Dipper tells her that everything is fine and the kid has no psychic powers or anything. So why does Mabel have a pink golf tee slapped onto her forehead? Dipper assures Mabel that nothing is going to happen to her as we cut to the attic of Gideon's residence as we head to a bedroom with Gideon staring into the mirror panting heavily. He is now officially pissed off as he proclaims that he will get his revenge on Dipper saying that he just made the biggest mistake of his life. He touches the amulet and it flashes green as he has psychokenesis as he destroys the light bulbs on his mirror desk and then proceeds to take everything that it not nailed down and float it into the air. Then he uses his powers to throw them down on the floor and completely destroy the room. Then we get the great full on heel moment from Gideon: Buddy opens the door and demands that Gideon clean up his room this instant. Gideon then turns around, invokes the pointy finger of death and screams at Buddy that he can buy and sell this old man. Buddy stands there confused; says far enough and closes the door. Now I realize that Gideon willfully disobeyed his parent's orders. However; unlike most moderns when kids do this, Gideon is supposed to be the #1 heel of the show. So it's perfectly all right for him to do this because he's supposed to be the villain in this show. When babyfaces do it; it's often not okay unless there is enough justification behind it (which usually doesn't happen). When a heel does it; it's perfect because that is what heels are supposed to do. If Gideon simply said "Okay dad" and cleaned up his room, it would turn him babyface which is a hell of a way to introduce your #1 heel of the show. This ends the segment almost 15 and a half minutes in. Could this be the first perfect episode of the series? Let's find out shall we...?
After the commercial break; we head back to the Mystery Shack as Soos puts a pillow in his shirt and tells Dipper and Mabel to hit him now. Dipper & Mabel tackle him and they both go down loving it and I hope they didn't suffer concussions as a result of it. Mabel is wearing a blue sweater with a green umbrella now as she is glad that this whole thing is over now. If only Mabel, if only. Then we hear the phone ring and Mabel fakes Dipper out in order to force Dipper to answer the phone. So we cut to inside the gift shop as Dipper walks in and the green phone is ringing off the hook. Dipper answers it and on the other line it is Toby Determined at his desk inside his shop at the Gravity Falls Gossiper which is the failing newspaper business he owns. I'm amazed that Toby would want to speak to Dipper at this point since the raid on him last episode. Dipper actually remembers to apologize to him for accusing him of murder last week which is great continuity. I can imagine a TaleSpin remake done with such continuity right now... So we get two more death references and murder reference #12 I do believe as Toby assures him that this is all water under the bridge. In fact; he wants to do an interview with him on the unusual things that have happened since he arrived. Dipper is so giddy to hear this that he brought out his small notepad of theories. He then writers down the address which is 412 Gopher road tonight; and Dipper proclaims that he'll be there. He hangs up the phone as we cut to Toby hanging up his phone; and then talks to no one in particular demanding payment for doing this deed to Dipper. So a piece of paper is given to Toby and it turns out to be Shandra Jimenez's phone number. I don't know what is the bigger crime here: Toby getting access to someone's private phone number while being accessory to a possible murder of Dipper later on, or that Disney Captions (who got Shandra's name right in the last episode mind you) addresses Shandra Jimenez as Shondra Hermenes. I don't know if the captions guy read the accent wrong; or what, but that was idiotic stuff that assured that TaleSpin Volume 3 would not have captions on their DVD set.
Oh; and the guy who paid Toby this information is Gideon Gleeful by the way and I wish Toby didn't say his name, but it doesn't matter now since we all knew it was him behind this. The shadow of Gideon walks out and then we cut to Dipper in the forest AFTER HAPPY HOUR with his notepad walking on the road towards Gideon's family factory which is of course the same factory we saw Mabel on the roof with Gideon earlier in the episode. I'm shocked Mabel didn't mention this because then Dipper would have had an inkling that this was a setup. Nice little attention to a lack of detail there Alex! So Dipper walks into the abandoned factory as it looks like a semi-mess; and then Dipper calls for a hello and it echoes. Dipper tries to go to the door; but the door slams and locks itself. Dipper turns around and the lights come on for no reason (like the door locking by itself). So we then see a chair turn around and there is Gideon petting a doll of himself like a good heel would have. Gideon greets him as he asks Dipper how long he has been in Gravity Falls and then basically yells at him that this place has secrets that Dipper cannot comprehend. Sadly; this would be proven true by the end of season one. Dipper scoffs at him and tells him that Mabel is not into him. This officially pisses off Gideon as he leaps from his chair and brings out his green amulet. He invokes the pointy finger of death accusing Dipper of getting inbetween him and Mabel; and thus breaking up the relationship. Gideon is angry man! He needs to play Tetris or something. Dipper asks if Gideon is all right and judging by Gideon's face, the answer is clearly no Dipper. I would run if I were you. He might attack you with holy Gideon bibles man! No one lives to tell that tale. No one! So Gideon uses psychokenesis on Dipper to throw him into a pile of boxes with a resounding thud as various price objects go flying. Gideon tells him that he uses his mind for more than reading them as he opens all the boxes to reveal the merchandise as Dipper thought he was fake. No, no he is not fake anymore Dipper. Stan is a bigger fraud than him; only Gideon is a full on heel instead of a mere con man.
So we then cut to Mabel sitting in front of the Mystery Shack eating a portion of her hair looking insecure about something. Wendy comes out and sits down with Mabel asking her about her hair tasting. Mabel asks if Wendy has broken up with other boyfriends and Wendy claims that she had, breaking up with guys named Russ Durham, Eli Hall and Stony Davidson. Mabel cuts her off claims that she doesn't know what is wrong with her and I agree with her. I cannot see what is so wrong with her. Mabel claims that she was hoping that this would go back to normal, but now she feels gross anyway. Wendy continues to name Mike Worley, Nate Holts and the guy with the tattoos (I'm guessing she is referring to the bouncer in the last episode), along with Danny Feldman, Mark Epstein (those names sound familiar for some odd reason) which she is sure that the breakup is unofficial since apparently, she still gets phonecalls. Mabel finally decides to go find Gideon on his bicycle with helmet (with bell) declaring that Gideon deserves an honest breakup and sending Dipper to do her dirty work was a mistake. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. So Mabel thanks Wendy and leaves as Wendy gets a call on her phone and then pushes a button for it to ignore. As usual. So we head back in the factory as Dipper is dodging Gideon's merchandise and then rolls to the wall and hits it. Dipper then proclaims that Stan was right all along about Gideon being a monster as Gideon doesn't care because Mabel is all mine and he laughs as he pulls the string of his doll and it laughs with him. So Dipper finds a box with a baseball bat which is called "Blunt Object" on the box; which amused me. So Dipper runs in and I betcha this is an epic fail because Gideon has mind control and you know it's a fail because Gideon is talking to the doll while Dipper runs in. So Dipper is floated into the air as he screams that Mabel hates his; which Gideon calls a bald-face lie. Sadly for him; Dipper is not lying.
And so Gideon brings out the GIANT SCISSORS OF DEATH as he is going to make sure he never lies to him again. They open up and float towards Dipper and we see outside that Mabel has arrived and she gasps in horror as she looked from the window before enterting the building and she wants to do the talk. Gideon turns around and acts all cordial and gleeful that his marshmellow is here. The scissors drop on cue as Mabel tells him that she is not his marshmellow and this relationship is deader than my sex life. Gideon proclaims that he doesn't understand as he makes a tight fist which causes Dipper to choke and gag as he does a poor job selling this as he tells Mabel not to piss him off. Mabel goes over to him and does proclaim that she has no problem with being a makeover buddy. Gideon does the cute puppy face of doom and thinks that this is great; and then Mabel rips the amulet, blows him off and throws it to Dipper. Great spot! So then Gideon jumps Dipper causing Dipper to drop the amulet and they both go through the window as it shatters. Since the factory is built on a cliff with the window side facing the cliff, Dipper and Gideon free fall and scream. As they are free falling, Dipper is stunned to death while Gideon is slapping him on the face on-screen. Yeah; no 4Kids editing done here, no siree. Then Dipper wakes up and slaps Gideon on-screen! They exchange one slap each and then Dipper balls up his fist to try to punch him in the face (Dipper also has a bruise on his left cheek) because why not? Then they look down and are about to crash into the ground like a comet; and then the green aura beams surround their bodies and they float back into the air. Gideon is upside down as we look up and it's Mabel using the amulet on herself to float in midair. Mabel floats down and tells Gideon that she will never date him and then she stops the green aura and both kids plop onto the ground as Dipper looks in bad shape, so he is getting the roughed up gimmick from Candace. I was hoping that Gideon would land on his head like Baloo; but he was animated to look like he landed on his back.
So Gideon gets up and backs off invoking the double pointy finger of death proclaiming that this is not over yet and he hisses as he goes into the shadows; never to be seen again....HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~! So Dipper and Mabel look at each other and then we return to Gideon's house as we head to the living room as Stan and Buddy are sitting down drinking glasses of bubble water as Stan officially signs the contract. The two goof cons exchange thoughts and then the door flings up and in comes Gideon who is in rage as he gets on the coffee yelling that he rebukes thee which Stan has no idea what he is talking about. Gideon proclaims that the Pines family will pay recompense for their transgressions. I'm guessing that he is going to file a lawsuit in the morning against the Pines for alienation of affection. Stan has no idea what he is talking about as Buddy asks about the relationship with Mabel and Gideon tells him to shut up; in which Buddy takes Gideon's side and tears up the contract. Wow. Stan proclaims that he know when he's not wanted and then runs over, grabs the clown painting and runs like mad out of the door daring them to catch him. So we head back to the Mystery Shack as Stan is hanging the painting somewhere in the living room and wonders why this whole thing went wrong. He then notices the kids and wonders what the hell happened to them. Dipper and Mabel claim that Gideon was behind this as Stan sits on the dinosaur skull and proclaims that Gideon has sworn revenge on the entire family. Dipper wonder how that is going to happen as he and Mabel mock him since the green amulet was shattered in a mass of green skull smoke by Mabel when she blew off Gideon for real. So yes; I noticed it. Stan then sits on the kids and they all laugh on the chair at Gideon's expense. We see the Mystery Shack zoom out and then we head to Gideon's room as he is making models of the entire Mystery Shack area with pop treat sticks and a lot of glue. He makes ugly versions of the babyfaces as he mocks Stan for being old and smelly; and then mocks Mabel into loving him because the family is in the way. He also mocks Dipper with the model's own words; and then Gideon basically states that he'll see and we see an open book with the amulet picture on one of the pages. Gideon closes the book and on the front cover is the exact same cover as the book Dipper found in the pilot; only it has the number two on the hand instead. Oooooooooooooooo....
So yes; they have implied that he's coming back and then we go to the ED: Soos has his back showing on the hard camera as Dipper is doing something in front of Soos. This takes a while and then we turn around to see Soos covered in color rhinestones. The lights are turned off as we get disco music, spotlights and flashlights as Soo dances around like a ballerina. This goes on for a while and then Stan comes in and tells them that they are all fired straight into the hard camera while drinking soda from a can; which ends the episode at 22:19. Yip; this is our first perfect episode of the series bar none. Gideon was the perfect slimy heel and they did a great job in making sure that even in defeat, Gideon was still one step ahead of the babyfaces while at the same time making the babyfaces look strong. This episode is a perfect example of how to build your heels and babyfaces without causing the audience to turn on the show. ***** (100%).
THE REVIEW LINE
It took four episodes to pull it off; but Gravity Falls has made it big time. I have never seen a #1 heel in the new Disney put over as a great heel like Gideon is: He is a slimy preacher who uses black arts to fool his patron in believing in him. He managed to manipulate Mabel really well in this episode and the writers did a great job in swevering us into believing that Gideon was a fraud until Dipper's fight in the third act. Mabel was great as always and I love the touches that make this show great. The relationship with Dipper and Stan is really geninue and there is wit and subtley in this relationship now. The booking was great, Wendy was fine and probably the weak point of the episode and I ended up loving Gideon as an oily southern preacher from a megachruch heel. This was as perfect as it gets and now I'm pumped to want to see Gideon try to get his revenge on Dipper and Mabel now that Mabel has honestly come out and say no means no! So yeah; I love this show now and there is incentive to watch it now. Is it better than TaleSpin? Not yet; but man, they are making a great case out of this though. So next weekend will be the final two episodes of the first DVD set and sadly; one of them involves Dipper and manliness which could be the first thumbs down episode of the series. So....
Thumbs way up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.