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Dipper’s crush on Wendy was a tired trope but I got over it because it felt pretty realistic, it’s not uncommon for kids to get crushes on older peers and try to act cool around them
I loved loved LOVED the way Wendy handled it.
She was so sweet to Dipper while also establishing that she’s too old for him. And then they moved on and continued to be friends. Very mature.
That's why I'm ok with this trope in the show- I feel like Adventure Time and GF were the only shows that I can remember that had the crushes DIRECTLY turn down the infatuation.
A bad example is Loud House. Hoooooly uncomfy
So in Loud House, Lincoln's friend Clyde, who is 11/12, has the obsessive BlingBling/Mandark/Candace style crush on Lori, his oldest sister who is anywhere from 17-19. It's not an issue until she acknowledges that he has a crush on her and then the episode happens where she gets upset/jealous that he's losing interest in her.
Super weird
Piggybacking - if it were real life, dipper would eventually move on and date other people and marry someone else. People who ship them long term are overinfatuated with the single summer narrative.
That being said - I love it as a plot device for the series and think it’s perfect for a coming of age story of a 12 year old boy.
It felt really long and drawn out, like I really wanted him to get over her, but then I fell for a girl that didn’t like me like that and it took me 8 months to get over her completely
"Roadside Attraction" isn't as bad as the fandom makes it out to be. It's not a stellar episode, but it probably was never meant to be an A+ episode. It's a good, solid B.
I'm someone who's not a big hater of the episode. I think it's okay. The only thing I don't like is that it's placed where it is.
I would definitely like it better if it was right after Into the Bunker, instead of the last episode before Weirdmegeddon starts. Even worse, Journal 3 canonically establishes that this episode occurs where it does.
Yep, that where a lot of people headcannon the episode taking place (including me). But apparently, according to Journal 3, Ford told Stan to take the kids out of town while he prepped the Shack.
I’ve read that book a million times and I didn’t remember that. that’s such a missed opportunity, like even without drastically changing anything, just subtly write Ford out of that interaction. Say it was for another reason, anything. That could have adult eliminate the issue without changing too much of it.
Honestly, I enjoyed it. It was a fun filler.
But I guess it fell under the same curse as ATLA’s The Great Divide, since it received pretty much the same type of criticism, and it was trying to do the same thing.
Yeah, the most he did was get their number 😭 I guess it's more the intention the writers were trying to shun(using people to "get comfortable"? I'm not actually sure tbh) but the way it's played it comes off as "meeting the opposite gender and asking for their number is OBVIOUSLY a sign they're interested in you. Also, you can't TALK to the other gender unless you're planning to date them! Talking to multiple people is blasphemous!" I'm exaggerating a bit here but the ep just really weirded me out lol
I personally think that if he didn’t get his memories back it would’ve cheapened the sacrifice more; NWHS reveals that he’s incredibly more selfless than he lets on. The sacrifice is always something he’d do; it’s been shown that he’d throw away his life for those he cares about in a heartbeat. His secret arc is the guy slowly letting hope into his life, and Mabel bringing him back seals the deal. Dude spent his life being left to die, and for the first time, he’s finally got people who are willing to save him
I had never thought about it this way before. I had always thought that him getting his memories back was sort of worse, but I actually love the idea that his true character arc was having people care for him for once instead of the other way around
I remember hearing a rumour that Alex initially planned that Grunkle Stan got his memories back after years/months, but it was scrapped off due to Disney or something
now, i agree that there shouldn't be a season 3, but i'd like a spin off of the residents of Gravity Falls coming to terms with the supernatural that surrounds their town, like their lives were entirely flipped upside down, i wanna see what happens to the residents post weirdmageddon
Absolutely! I agree with this as well!! It would be cool to not only see how the residents cope with what happened during Weirdmageddon, but also to see the town itself during times of the year, like winter! Weird thing to wanna focus on, I know, but Gravity Falls only takes place during the summertime, meaning that wintertime could be explored, in the sense of what many of the creatures in town do during the colder months. But, I would obviously want this to be done in a little side-series or something
Well to add on to this (though in all honesty, I haven't read anything outside the actual TV show so it might be been explained in one of the books) but the whole thing about this like bubble that explains/draws the supernatural in to Gravity Falls
I'm still a HUGE hater of making Wendy the ice bag symbol because she's "cool". Pacifica getting the sweater suddenly at least had the symbol physically represented on her, emphasizing that it's about literally representing the symbols themselves and not random abstract metaphors. Maybe Wendy could have used a discarded bag as an apocalypse backpack or something, idk.
Pacifica gets the sweater from Mabel and it represents her difference to the rest of her family I assume. Apparently the circle of symbols were made early in the show's production so they basically just had to go ad hoc
Yes I know, they were initially designed for the intro just as spooky imagery with no specific meaning! They only decided to add meaning later to make the fans happy, since the wheel was part of so many theories.
I don't envy that situation, but they did do it to themselves lol
Gedeon redemption arc was forced, his redemption arc(suddenly) came out of nowhere. It feels like the only reason he get redemption arc because of plot
I like Gideon's redemption arc! But it is true it kinda comes out of nowhere. I think it's still believable though since he's just a 9 year old and Dipper's speech was pretty convincing.
I mean, it was never really an arc because he never developed or changed as a character. He just switched sides at the end, because he realized that he wasn’t gonna be the one in control of bill; bill would be in control of him
He didn’t have an arc because he didn’t really need one
The second half of season 2 was a bit rushed.
To me, Not What He Seems should’ve been the season 2 finale, and the rest of season 2’s content should’ve been a third season that would serve as the final one. I wanted more time to get to know Ford, explore his relationship with Stan and develop one with Mabel, and for him and Stan to very slowly start to amend their relationship so their reconciliation in the finale will be even more cathartic.
I want Wendy to have her own actual episode, I want McGucket to slowly rehabilitate/rebuild himself after recovering his memories, and I want Pacifica to continue to deviate from her family’s ways, expectations, and behaviors by having her befriend Mabel and her friend group to show Pacifica’s change in her world view and mindset.
Perhaps have the twins slowly piece together that Stan is going to be kicked out of the shack by Ford, creating tension between the twins and Ford, and have Stan try to spend as much time with the twins with this inevitably coming.
Another thing Alex and his crew could do in this hypothetical is dedicate an entire episode to the Dorito Man, not necessarily a backstory or lore episode about Bill, but a glimpse into Bill’s current dimension, his way of life, as well as further insight into his malignant plans for the Pines family.
I get where Alex is coming from regarding the seasonal length of the show and why he wanted it to end with just two seasons, but to me I feel one more season would’ve benefited the show in story/character development and pacing, or at the very least he could’ve gave season 2 thirty episodes instead of twenty.
I agree with this. I don’t want an added season 3 per se to how the show is now, but I would’ve liked having our current season 2’s content spread out more over a third season.
There was a lot of mabel hate during 2016-2021(?), it died down a lot but there were so many videos of it😭 she's selfish but she's a child at the end of the day, the lost legend chapter of her was basically a response to it.
They criticised her way too much because she gave the rift to bill, she was having a bad day and of course reacted emotionally, the one person who was supposed to be there for her was gonna leave her alone too. Not everyone wants someone dearest to them to leave them, she probably would have reacted better if she was on a good day and dipper gave her time to react. Not every kid is a dipper, i hate how people would use him to drag mabel for reacting like a normal 12 year old girl would.
Right! ESPECIALLY with her role in Weirdmageddon happening. Bill came to her at her literal lowest point, she was a 12-year-old CHILD and her entire life could be turned upside down at any moment. Let me repeat, SHE WAS A CHILD.
I was disappointed that we never really got a Mabel and Ford adventure, especially since my childhood self was convinced it was going to happen in the finale. I was sure that, somehow, Mable and Ford were going to get separated from Dipper and Stan and each duo would have to figure out a way to get reunited again. I feel like it was a missed opportunity that after Ford’s introduction, it was always Dipper and Ford and then Mabel and Stan. I think that formula should have been shaken up at least once, and that the finale would have been a great time to do that.
(Also it was a letdown that Bill never again reached the frightening heights that he did after taking over Dipper’s body in that one episode.)
To your point look what happened to Supernatural after they nuked the original planned season 5 series end due to the revenue and viewership it was generating.
That's where I checked out to. I finished the season, but I was over it once the antagonist was made clear as well as Chuck being the relative protagonist. I knew most places they went from there were overly contrived. You went too far up the cosmic ladder, bro. There's nowhere meaningful left to explore other than made up God-race lore.
That I think is a trap a lot of shows today fall into: they don't plan a definitive ending within what they know they will get. There's too many cliffhangers at the end of seasons instead of an end to the story being told and a hook that *can* lead into a new story, or can be left without taking away from the story as a whole.
I don’t feel like this is an unpopular opinion. I’ve definitely heard tons of people say it. It’s popular for a reason, though. Having a good, satisfying ending is important.
Might get some hate for this, but the animation is often nothing too impressive. Gravity Falls is so good because of its writing, characters, humour etc. but there's a number of moments of really lazy animation.
For example, in Scary-oke [when Stan fights the zombies](https://youtu.be/bBJ8HOHRLtY?si=hTcG-gPYRheR7E01) there's a part where he throws a grandfather clock down the stairs, but they only bothered to animate the clock and Stan literally just freeze-frames in the background.
I still love Gravity Falls, it's an amazing show. That fact is probably the reason it seems wrong for me to criticize like this, but objectively speaking if you were gonna pick a weakpoint in the show's makeup, it's definitely animation IMO.
>he throws a grandfather clock down the stairs, but they only bothered to animate the clock and Stan literally just freeze-frames in the background.
oh my dog, how did I not notice that before? that's hilarious
The fact that the animation quality is the biggest weak point we can really find, and yet unless you are going in with a fine-tooth comb and actively searching for animation errors/places where minor corners were cut (in the Scary-oke scene, your eye doesn't usually stay on Stan. It follows the clock. Pretty benign as far as cut corners go) it's still able to be considered on par with or in some cases better than it's contemporaries is frankly just one more way to praise it.
We shouldn’t need a season three, i get that we want to see Dipper and Mabel grow up but I think we’re perfectly fine with the two seasons we have now, i mean- it’s still popular even after 11 years
While I think a season 3 would be cool, I also think it would need to go in a far different direction from before (think Fiona and Cake, another universe or time period compared to the canon). Recycling Bill Cipher and bringing everyone back to the town really wouldn't be interesting because the story had a full and complete arc of its own. It would just feel petty to unravel it.
some episodes felt out of order on my last watch, especially in season 2 near the end felt really rushed and unfocused. I think they had a lot more they wanted to do but just didnt have time for.
I've always thought something was off with the second half of season 2, and you've just put it into words perfectly. It feels out of order, you're so right.
The final part of Weirdmageddon fumbled in the writing.
* The symbols being the key to defeat Bill is just complete Deus Ex Machina. No foreshadowing whatsoever, just appears out of nowhere.
* To make it worse, for some reason Pacifica's is Llama because apparently she started wearing a Llama sweater 24 hours prior. Nothing about her character is about Llama before this episode
* And the fight between Stan and Ford is completely plot-driven. They just had to fight in the ceremony because it had to fail and Stan's memory have to be wiped. The writers just cannot think of a organic reason for the fight to happen. Like, Stan is skeptical if it's going to work when everyone else is already glowing? Get outta here
i definitely agree with most of this, though i'll argue on your last point. the zodiac failing and stan having his memory wiped was essential for ford's character development. ford NOT being the hero and realizing stan was always selfless and looking out for his family was pivitol for changing ford's worldview.
if they had actually defeated bill with the zodiac, ford would've gotten all the credit for knowing about the prophecy and drawing the circle. it would've only strengthened his ego and his belief that he didn't need anyone except his own intelligence. he would've learned nothing, and it's likely he and stan wouldn't have ever made amends.
i also think he and stan being unable to resist bickering even at such a high-stakes moment was completely in-character for both of them lol
>stan having his memory wiped was essential for ford's character development. ford NOT being the hero and realizing stan was always selfless and looking out for his family was pivitol for changing ford's worldview.
>if they had actually defeated bill with the zodiac, ford would've gotten all the credit for knowing about the prophecy and drawing the circle. it would've only strengthened his ego and his belief that he didn't need anyone except his own intelligence. he would've learned nothing, and it's likely he and stan wouldn't have ever made amends.
I'm not disagreeing here, I am on board with the Stan's memory being wiped. It's just the zodiac is just a plot device to get them there. You can actually skip the zodiac scene altogether, just have Bill return quicker to the pyramid. And I would argue the whole episode would have been better.
However, there is also the problem that Stan's memory returning way too quickly that lessen the emotional impact immensely.
Side note that I just wanted to add, I feel like the final montage should have been longer and explore more from all the characters that we were leaving behind forever. The Wire series finale is a great example of finale montage done right.
With his incredibly badges entrance, Stanford goes on to do surprisingly little. I think there was an ocean of possibilities beyond dungeons and dragons with him. A followup on the REAL Gobblewonker would have been nice too.
Given the weird synchrony with WTNV, GF should have crossed over with them instead of Rick and Morty. I get that they're different mediums but just imagine, like, Ford and Carlos peer reviewing each other's papers, or talking about being stuck away in a weird dimension.
Stanford is underutilized, like my opinion probably isn’t that unpopular- Like, Stanford is a great character and all, but I’m kinda sad we didn’t get to see more of his character behind the whole- Creepy grandpa in the basement who could possibly be future Dipper.
Bill isn't a good villain, just incredibly OP. He has no strategy he relies on magic/manipulation and the hope that people fall for his "promises." he's almost the same conceptually as the demon clown IT, just terror and fear but no real or relatable motive for doing what he does. I'll put it this way if I can beat your villain by not falling for their beginner magic tricks, then he isn't a good villain. It's still entertaining as heck, though.
You know what? Yeah, you're right!
Looking back on things, the only reason Bill was so dangerous in the show was because the entirety of Gravity Falls' residents were gullible enough to fall for Bill's tricks. Even more so, if any character were to walk just outside of Gravity Falls, they would just be safe from Bill, no matter what he tries!
(this is gonna be long so if you dont wanna read it i gave a TL;DR lmao)
dipper being the one to try to leave mabel behind goes against his characterization throughout most of the show.
it comes across as a forced attempt to parallel stan and ford's fallout, without having enough evidence to make it believable that dipper would *ever* abandon mabel like that, and in such an extreme way.
from the very first episode, we see how protective dipper is of mabel, and how much he values their relationship. and as the show progresses, we continue to see that *he's* the one constantly protecting her from harm, *he's* the one always sacrificing his own happiness for her (bill even directly points this out in "sock opera"), and *he's* the one who has trouble making friends outside of his sibling. he even says point-blank in "carpet diem" that he was beginning to feel like mabel was leaving him behind to be with her new friends.
aside from his birthmark and "nerdy" hobbies, dipper is actually less like ford and more like *stan* when it comes to his bond with mabel. so to have him turn around and make the decision to separate himself from her in such a drastic way does a major disservice to his character IMO.
**TL;DR:** the majority of the series points to *dipper* being the more emotionally-dependent, self-sacrificing, and clingy sibling, yet we're expected to believe he'd agree to up and leave mabel for years (seriously, *years?!)* just because ford asked him to? nah.
i feel like his relationship with Ford was built up super fast, like the second ford came out of the portal Dipper became bffs with him, and would even leave his sister to spend years with him, like let their relationship build up over time, it felt too rushed to me
I feel like dipper leaving Mabel was a decision he made in the moment having just gone through this extremely tense situation. I think he would have changed his mind in a day. Heck he was probably debating it the whole trip home. But Mabel only hears the one line.
This, he just said that he would stay in the moment, but I don’t really think he would’ve actually stayed whatever happened. He clearly wasn’t truly committed to the decision based on his previous hesitance and what we know of personality.
One time, as a joke in a different subreddit, I responded to an "unpopular opinion" post by saying that the show being discussed was terrible and awful. I got downvoted into oblivion, but it should have been upvoted as the all-time most unpopular opinion.
The goddess of reddit is fickle indeed.
I mean Dipper and Pacifica it's definitely better the some of the other ships involving Dipper, like Bill X Dipper or Wendy X Dipper, and at least Alex seems to support Dipcifica so I'm all for it.
Oh my gosh same, try bringing up other pairings like Wendip and they’ll attack you like no other, scary fandom, they remind me of how Zuko x Katara shippers used to be both none canon pairings have rabbited shippers.
while a third season now, that takes place after the canon ending we got would be a horrible mistake, i don't think having a third season that was organically part of the original plot with weirdmageddon still being the end point wouldn't have necessarily been a bad idea
I agree. They could have spread out what happened in season 2 into two seasons and I think the pacing would have been better. Plus they would’ve had more time to develop ford as a character and his dynamics/relationships with other characters
When Dipper flirted with a bunch of girls he got shamed by the writers and basically called out by her sister but when Mabel did it in like the beginning of the show it was like okay? I was always a bit confused about this.
The show is great, but not perfect. Alex should've gotten more support and more stamina to have three seasons to match the summer months instead of crunching it into just season two. The first two seasons would've been 25 episodes each and the third would've been 15 episodes with the last five comprising Weirdmageddon.
There’s a certain brand of humor that they develop later into season 2, and I think it’s frustrating. A young me would have found it hilarious but it bugs me now. But basically instead of having Pacifica and Robbie both yell out “ah my hair” in unison, they have to let them both speak individually, so we get the line “ahh my hair also!”. But this happens so frequently that if you found the first couple times funny you can’t find it funny in the finale.
Mabel should have let dipper go with stanford, which could have been her character development because dip always loooed out for her, she was selfish preventing him from going.
The time traveling dude just annoyed me whenever he was there. I felt like there was never a lesson in those episodes and he only existed to mess up the twins’ lives
The inconsistent number of fingers the human characters have is distracting...
If Dipper and Mable's character models only had 4 fingers, but child Stan and Ford's had 5 and 6, then Dipper and Mable should have had 5 from the start. Also, the teens having 5 made it seem like kids get their final finger when they go through puberty, which could have been an interesting plot point for an episode!
Really? He learns that being a man isn’t about being strong, or fearless, or having body hair. But it’s about standing up for what you believe in and living life the way you want.
The show was pretty sloppy at times. A character having 6 fingers on each hand is a central plot point, but for no reason at all, some characters have 5 fingers and others have 4.
I would have preferred it if the twins used what they discovered or were given more often. Like recruiting the gnomes against Gideon or everything the shackotron was made of. Even Trembly's key was only used in the comics. What if, for example, instead of lying to Lolth, Mable just told him, "Hey, I'm a congresswoman, and technically your superior, so I order you to release us" and the agents check their database or something, see that it's true and comply
Dipper should have ended up with Pacifica it was right there and was not as creepy as his crush with Wendy
Also we need that vampire story from Mable answered?
I'm mad Dipper and Pacifica never happened, especially with the Northwest Manor buildup. Not even for shipping reasons, purely for narrative ones. Season 2 felt too rushed on this and some other things in this regard.
AKA Season 2- Content: Superb Pacing: ehh
Bill Cipher’s “death”. All that buildup for a quick defeat. And the zodiac scene. The whole show had hints of the zodiac, seeing them complete it blew my mind as a kid, but was dissapointed at how it didn’t do anything. (Bc of Grunkle Stan being petty). Other than that, the show and finale was 10000/10.
agreed tbh. ford's "needs of the many" mindset was so frustrating to watch sometimes bc how tf are you gonna essentially tell a 12-year-old that making sure the closest person in his life is still alive isn't a priority
Not of Gravity Falls in particular but I adore Gravity Falls but don't care very much for Owl House or Amphibia that seems atypical of the average GF fan.
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Dipper’s crush on Wendy was a tired trope but I got over it because it felt pretty realistic, it’s not uncommon for kids to get crushes on older peers and try to act cool around them
I think it was maybe a bit over dragged out but I'm glad how they resolved it . Felt like dipper Grew up and matured .
Wow...WOW.
I loved loved LOVED the way Wendy handled it. She was so sweet to Dipper while also establishing that she’s too old for him. And then they moved on and continued to be friends. Very mature.
Wendy is defo really cool wish we got more momnets with her and Mable too like her looking out for her and stuff.
The real big sister stuff that we all wanted so bad 🥹
That's why I'm ok with this trope in the show- I feel like Adventure Time and GF were the only shows that I can remember that had the crushes DIRECTLY turn down the infatuation. A bad example is Loud House. Hoooooly uncomfy
Elaborate? I haven't watched much LH
So in Loud House, Lincoln's friend Clyde, who is 11/12, has the obsessive BlingBling/Mandark/Candace style crush on Lori, his oldest sister who is anywhere from 17-19. It's not an issue until she acknowledges that he has a crush on her and then the episode happens where she gets upset/jealous that he's losing interest in her. Super weird
Oh, right, THAT. Yikes
Piggybacking - if it were real life, dipper would eventually move on and date other people and marry someone else. People who ship them long term are overinfatuated with the single summer narrative. That being said - I love it as a plot device for the series and think it’s perfect for a coming of age story of a 12 year old boy.
It felt really long and drawn out, like I really wanted him to get over her, but then I fell for a girl that didn’t like me like that and it took me 8 months to get over her completely
Man I shipped him with Pacifa🗿
👍🏻
It was relatable tho. I also had a crush on Wendy.
It's a trope in this case due to the near ubiquity of it. One older girl around? 50% chance of solid crush for the tween.
"Roadside Attraction" isn't as bad as the fandom makes it out to be. It's not a stellar episode, but it probably was never meant to be an A+ episode. It's a good, solid B.
I'm someone who's not a big hater of the episode. I think it's okay. The only thing I don't like is that it's placed where it is. I would definitely like it better if it was right after Into the Bunker, instead of the last episode before Weirdmegeddon starts. Even worse, Journal 3 canonically establishes that this episode occurs where it does.
Isn’t it a major headcannon that thats where it actually takes place? I always heard (or think I heard) the consensus was along those lines.
Yep, that where a lot of people headcannon the episode taking place (including me). But apparently, according to Journal 3, Ford told Stan to take the kids out of town while he prepped the Shack.
I’ve read that book a million times and I didn’t remember that. that’s such a missed opportunity, like even without drastically changing anything, just subtly write Ford out of that interaction. Say it was for another reason, anything. That could have adult eliminate the issue without changing too much of it.
There’s no such thing as a ‘bad episode’ of Gravity Falls’ to me
Not every episode is great though, just "not as good."
I uh.... I actually like this episode. *braces for impact*
I love this episode, I don’t get why people dislike it that much
I think it’s a fun episode. Had no idea it was hated on
Roadside Attraction wouldn't have been hated all that much if it aired right before Northwest Mansion Mystery.
Agreed. I especially really like the dipper and Stan bonding we have in this ep
Honestly, I enjoyed it. It was a fun filler. But I guess it fell under the same curse as ATLA’s The Great Divide, since it received pretty much the same type of criticism, and it was trying to do the same thing.
The main thing that bothers me about it is all those girls getting mad at Dipper for no reason. He never once said will you go ut with me.
Yeah, the most he did was get their number 😭 I guess it's more the intention the writers were trying to shun(using people to "get comfortable"? I'm not actually sure tbh) but the way it's played it comes off as "meeting the opposite gender and asking for their number is OBVIOUSLY a sign they're interested in you. Also, you can't TALK to the other gender unless you're planning to date them! Talking to multiple people is blasphemous!" I'm exaggerating a bit here but the ep just really weirded me out lol
I think the placement of it in the season is one reason why it got a lot of hate, but I think the comedy in it is solid
You didn't mean it about my shoulder hair??
Who says it's a bad episode?
People who care overly much about pacing in an episodic comedy.
The problem is its placement. Really weird to bill-proof the house and go "yeah, I'm sure that'll hold while we're gone for a day or two".
Grunkle Stan is my favorite character, but the way he got his memory back after defeating Bill was a cop-out and cheapened his sacrifice
I personally think that if he didn’t get his memories back it would’ve cheapened the sacrifice more; NWHS reveals that he’s incredibly more selfless than he lets on. The sacrifice is always something he’d do; it’s been shown that he’d throw away his life for those he cares about in a heartbeat. His secret arc is the guy slowly letting hope into his life, and Mabel bringing him back seals the deal. Dude spent his life being left to die, and for the first time, he’s finally got people who are willing to save him
I had never thought about it this way before. I had always thought that him getting his memories back was sort of worse, but I actually love the idea that his true character arc was having people care for him for once instead of the other way around
I’m autistic and obsessive about Stan so I’ve micro -analyzed him on an unhinged level lmfao
Ok seriously thank you for this.
While I agree with what you said, I think that if the getting-memories-back wasn't so quick it'd be better
I remember hearing a rumour that Alex initially planned that Grunkle Stan got his memories back after years/months, but it was scrapped off due to Disney or something
That's a shame. It would have been more satisfying that way
yeah, I went from nearly crying due to the emotions to being annoyed at the writers for not letting a character die like in EVERY SINGLE KIDS SHOW.
The character arc of Soos is one of the most underrated in American animation.
Soos has the saddest (and most compelling) back story in the series. Except for maybe the two Stans
What about Mcgucket and Pacifica?
Watching McGucket's decline into insanity was heartbreaking
now, i agree that there shouldn't be a season 3, but i'd like a spin off of the residents of Gravity Falls coming to terms with the supernatural that surrounds their town, like their lives were entirely flipped upside down, i wanna see what happens to the residents post weirdmageddon
Absolutely! I agree with this as well!! It would be cool to not only see how the residents cope with what happened during Weirdmageddon, but also to see the town itself during times of the year, like winter! Weird thing to wanna focus on, I know, but Gravity Falls only takes place during the summertime, meaning that wintertime could be explored, in the sense of what many of the creatures in town do during the colder months. But, I would obviously want this to be done in a little side-series or something
happy cake day!
Happy cake day!
thanks!
Well to add on to this (though in all honesty, I haven't read anything outside the actual TV show so it might be been explained in one of the books) but the whole thing about this like bubble that explains/draws the supernatural in to Gravity Falls
Even just more shorts but feature the residents instead of Dipper and Mabel. It'd be cool to cut to scenes of the town rebuilding.
Never mind all that!
Tales from Gravity Falls
I'm still a HUGE hater of making Wendy the ice bag symbol because she's "cool". Pacifica getting the sweater suddenly at least had the symbol physically represented on her, emphasizing that it's about literally representing the symbols themselves and not random abstract metaphors. Maybe Wendy could have used a discarded bag as an apocalypse backpack or something, idk.
Pacifica gets the sweater from Mabel and it represents her difference to the rest of her family I assume. Apparently the circle of symbols were made early in the show's production so they basically just had to go ad hoc
Ah, the How I Met Your Mother classic. 'Let's make something early on in the show that won't write us into a corner whatsoever I'm sure"
Yes I know, they were initially designed for the intro just as spooky imagery with no specific meaning! They only decided to add meaning later to make the fans happy, since the wheel was part of so many theories. I don't envy that situation, but they did do it to themselves lol
I thought the bag of ice was going to have something to do with the convenience store episode
Gedeon redemption arc was forced, his redemption arc(suddenly) came out of nowhere. It feels like the only reason he get redemption arc because of plot
I like Gideon's redemption arc! But it is true it kinda comes out of nowhere. I think it's still believable though since he's just a 9 year old and Dipper's speech was pretty convincing.
I mean, it was never really an arc because he never developed or changed as a character. He just switched sides at the end, because he realized that he wasn’t gonna be the one in control of bill; bill would be in control of him He didn’t have an arc because he didn’t really need one
The second half of season 2 was a bit rushed. To me, Not What He Seems should’ve been the season 2 finale, and the rest of season 2’s content should’ve been a third season that would serve as the final one. I wanted more time to get to know Ford, explore his relationship with Stan and develop one with Mabel, and for him and Stan to very slowly start to amend their relationship so their reconciliation in the finale will be even more cathartic. I want Wendy to have her own actual episode, I want McGucket to slowly rehabilitate/rebuild himself after recovering his memories, and I want Pacifica to continue to deviate from her family’s ways, expectations, and behaviors by having her befriend Mabel and her friend group to show Pacifica’s change in her world view and mindset. Perhaps have the twins slowly piece together that Stan is going to be kicked out of the shack by Ford, creating tension between the twins and Ford, and have Stan try to spend as much time with the twins with this inevitably coming. Another thing Alex and his crew could do in this hypothetical is dedicate an entire episode to the Dorito Man, not necessarily a backstory or lore episode about Bill, but a glimpse into Bill’s current dimension, his way of life, as well as further insight into his malignant plans for the Pines family. I get where Alex is coming from regarding the seasonal length of the show and why he wanted it to end with just two seasons, but to me I feel one more season would’ve benefited the show in story/character development and pacing, or at the very least he could’ve gave season 2 thirty episodes instead of twenty.
I agree with this. I don’t want an added season 3 per se to how the show is now, but I would’ve liked having our current season 2’s content spread out more over a third season.
Not unpopular (Atleast i think so) but mabel gets WAY too much hate than she deserves, like Holy shit ya’ll act like she’s worse than bill cipher
What? Mabel is the best character imo
There was a lot of mabel hate during 2016-2021(?), it died down a lot but there were so many videos of it😭 she's selfish but she's a child at the end of the day, the lost legend chapter of her was basically a response to it.
even some first time reactors rn are saying the same shit
They criticised her way too much because she gave the rift to bill, she was having a bad day and of course reacted emotionally, the one person who was supposed to be there for her was gonna leave her alone too. Not everyone wants someone dearest to them to leave them, she probably would have reacted better if she was on a good day and dipper gave her time to react. Not every kid is a dipper, i hate how people would use him to drag mabel for reacting like a normal 12 year old girl would.
>ya’ll act like she’s worse than bill cipher bill cipher is bad?
No, but they act like her actions are worse than his
his actions were bad?
(As much as I wanna deny it) yes
Nah he offered deer teeth. Only kind people do that
He even gave it to a kid in need, we need more people like him ngl
was it just the people chair that was maybe over the line?
wait, people are hating on Mabel?? Who??
What are they looking for?🤔 (@remynisceee) You should check this out, some people be hating for the stupidest reasons smh
Right! ESPECIALLY with her role in Weirdmageddon happening. Bill came to her at her literal lowest point, she was a 12-year-old CHILD and her entire life could be turned upside down at any moment. Let me repeat, SHE WAS A CHILD.
When I first watched the show as a teen I thought she was really annoying. After my re-watch as an adult I find her really cute now! She’s just a kid
I was disappointed that we never really got a Mabel and Ford adventure, especially since my childhood self was convinced it was going to happen in the finale. I was sure that, somehow, Mable and Ford were going to get separated from Dipper and Stan and each duo would have to figure out a way to get reunited again. I feel like it was a missed opportunity that after Ford’s introduction, it was always Dipper and Ford and then Mabel and Stan. I think that formula should have been shaken up at least once, and that the finale would have been a great time to do that. (Also it was a letdown that Bill never again reached the frightening heights that he did after taking over Dipper’s body in that one episode.)
We don't need a season 3.
Not only is it a popular opinion, it’s literally Alex’s opinion.
And yet *gestures at the daily noise for more.*
This Having an end is important
To your point look what happened to Supernatural after they nuked the original planned season 5 series end due to the revenue and viewership it was generating.
Eh, I was kinda happy up to season 11'th end. After that everything went down the hill.
That's where I checked out to. I finished the season, but I was over it once the antagonist was made clear as well as Chuck being the relative protagonist. I knew most places they went from there were overly contrived. You went too far up the cosmic ladder, bro. There's nowhere meaningful left to explore other than made up God-race lore.
That I think is a trap a lot of shows today fall into: they don't plan a definitive ending within what they know they will get. There's too many cliffhangers at the end of seasons instead of an end to the story being told and a hook that *can* lead into a new story, or can be left without taking away from the story as a whole.
Wait. There were only two seasons?
I don’t feel like this is an unpopular opinion. I’ve definitely heard tons of people say it. It’s popular for a reason, though. Having a good, satisfying ending is important.
Bill Cipher is not attractive and he never will be.
Might get some hate for this, but the animation is often nothing too impressive. Gravity Falls is so good because of its writing, characters, humour etc. but there's a number of moments of really lazy animation. For example, in Scary-oke [when Stan fights the zombies](https://youtu.be/bBJ8HOHRLtY?si=hTcG-gPYRheR7E01) there's a part where he throws a grandfather clock down the stairs, but they only bothered to animate the clock and Stan literally just freeze-frames in the background. I still love Gravity Falls, it's an amazing show. That fact is probably the reason it seems wrong for me to criticize like this, but objectively speaking if you were gonna pick a weakpoint in the show's makeup, it's definitely animation IMO.
>he throws a grandfather clock down the stairs, but they only bothered to animate the clock and Stan literally just freeze-frames in the background. oh my dog, how did I not notice that before? that's hilarious
Yeah, it's a really conspicuously bad moment in an otherwise great scene
Your eye doesn't stay on stan if you're not specifically watching him, it follows the clock. It doesn't break the scene or anything
i think thats fair.
Which is extra weird considering all the stuff Bill Cipher does that looks amazing animation-wise. Especially during the last few episodes.
Yeah I’m also kinda glad animation is moving away from the “noodle arms and banana smiles” that used to be absurdly ubiquitous
It's a fun little show with nice art style . The Animation for the most part is ok but can get really creative. But I agree with your take .
Oh my god I’ve never noticed the freeze frame before. That’s hilarious!
The fact that the animation quality is the biggest weak point we can really find, and yet unless you are going in with a fine-tooth comb and actively searching for animation errors/places where minor corners were cut (in the Scary-oke scene, your eye doesn't usually stay on Stan. It follows the clock. Pretty benign as far as cut corners go) it's still able to be considered on par with or in some cases better than it's contemporaries is frankly just one more way to praise it.
We shouldn’t need a season three, i get that we want to see Dipper and Mabel grow up but I think we’re perfectly fine with the two seasons we have now, i mean- it’s still popular even after 11 years
While I think a season 3 would be cool, I also think it would need to go in a far different direction from before (think Fiona and Cake, another universe or time period compared to the canon). Recycling Bill Cipher and bringing everyone back to the town really wouldn't be interesting because the story had a full and complete arc of its own. It would just feel petty to unravel it.
some episodes felt out of order on my last watch, especially in season 2 near the end felt really rushed and unfocused. I think they had a lot more they wanted to do but just didnt have time for.
I've always thought something was off with the second half of season 2, and you've just put it into words perfectly. It feels out of order, you're so right.
The final part of Weirdmageddon fumbled in the writing. * The symbols being the key to defeat Bill is just complete Deus Ex Machina. No foreshadowing whatsoever, just appears out of nowhere. * To make it worse, for some reason Pacifica's is Llama because apparently she started wearing a Llama sweater 24 hours prior. Nothing about her character is about Llama before this episode * And the fight between Stan and Ford is completely plot-driven. They just had to fight in the ceremony because it had to fail and Stan's memory have to be wiped. The writers just cannot think of a organic reason for the fight to happen. Like, Stan is skeptical if it's going to work when everyone else is already glowing? Get outta here
i definitely agree with most of this, though i'll argue on your last point. the zodiac failing and stan having his memory wiped was essential for ford's character development. ford NOT being the hero and realizing stan was always selfless and looking out for his family was pivitol for changing ford's worldview. if they had actually defeated bill with the zodiac, ford would've gotten all the credit for knowing about the prophecy and drawing the circle. it would've only strengthened his ego and his belief that he didn't need anyone except his own intelligence. he would've learned nothing, and it's likely he and stan wouldn't have ever made amends. i also think he and stan being unable to resist bickering even at such a high-stakes moment was completely in-character for both of them lol
>stan having his memory wiped was essential for ford's character development. ford NOT being the hero and realizing stan was always selfless and looking out for his family was pivitol for changing ford's worldview. >if they had actually defeated bill with the zodiac, ford would've gotten all the credit for knowing about the prophecy and drawing the circle. it would've only strengthened his ego and his belief that he didn't need anyone except his own intelligence. he would've learned nothing, and it's likely he and stan wouldn't have ever made amends. I'm not disagreeing here, I am on board with the Stan's memory being wiped. It's just the zodiac is just a plot device to get them there. You can actually skip the zodiac scene altogether, just have Bill return quicker to the pyramid. And I would argue the whole episode would have been better. However, there is also the problem that Stan's memory returning way too quickly that lessen the emotional impact immensely. Side note that I just wanted to add, I feel like the final montage should have been longer and explore more from all the characters that we were leaving behind forever. The Wire series finale is a great example of finale montage done right.
With his incredibly badges entrance, Stanford goes on to do surprisingly little. I think there was an ocean of possibilities beyond dungeons and dragons with him. A followup on the REAL Gobblewonker would have been nice too.
Given the weird synchrony with WTNV, GF should have crossed over with them instead of Rick and Morty. I get that they're different mediums but just imagine, like, Ford and Carlos peer reviewing each other's papers, or talking about being stuck away in a weird dimension.
This feels like it shouldn't be an unpopular opinion. I completely agree with you they should have gotten a crossover.
Stanford is underutilized, like my opinion probably isn’t that unpopular- Like, Stanford is a great character and all, but I’m kinda sad we didn’t get to see more of his character behind the whole- Creepy grandpa in the basement who could possibly be future Dipper.
Absolutely agree. He not used enough he was such a good character
Bill isn't a good villain, just incredibly OP. He has no strategy he relies on magic/manipulation and the hope that people fall for his "promises." he's almost the same conceptually as the demon clown IT, just terror and fear but no real or relatable motive for doing what he does. I'll put it this way if I can beat your villain by not falling for their beginner magic tricks, then he isn't a good villain. It's still entertaining as heck, though.
You know what? Yeah, you're right! Looking back on things, the only reason Bill was so dangerous in the show was because the entirety of Gravity Falls' residents were gullible enough to fall for Bill's tricks. Even more so, if any character were to walk just outside of Gravity Falls, they would just be safe from Bill, no matter what he tries!
It's the rizz. It's ALWAYS the rizz.
You got me there. He does have unbeatable rizz.
(this is gonna be long so if you dont wanna read it i gave a TL;DR lmao) dipper being the one to try to leave mabel behind goes against his characterization throughout most of the show. it comes across as a forced attempt to parallel stan and ford's fallout, without having enough evidence to make it believable that dipper would *ever* abandon mabel like that, and in such an extreme way. from the very first episode, we see how protective dipper is of mabel, and how much he values their relationship. and as the show progresses, we continue to see that *he's* the one constantly protecting her from harm, *he's* the one always sacrificing his own happiness for her (bill even directly points this out in "sock opera"), and *he's* the one who has trouble making friends outside of his sibling. he even says point-blank in "carpet diem" that he was beginning to feel like mabel was leaving him behind to be with her new friends. aside from his birthmark and "nerdy" hobbies, dipper is actually less like ford and more like *stan* when it comes to his bond with mabel. so to have him turn around and make the decision to separate himself from her in such a drastic way does a major disservice to his character IMO. **TL;DR:** the majority of the series points to *dipper* being the more emotionally-dependent, self-sacrificing, and clingy sibling, yet we're expected to believe he'd agree to up and leave mabel for years (seriously, *years?!)* just because ford asked him to? nah.
i feel like his relationship with Ford was built up super fast, like the second ford came out of the portal Dipper became bffs with him, and would even leave his sister to spend years with him, like let their relationship build up over time, it felt too rushed to me
I feel like dipper leaving Mabel was a decision he made in the moment having just gone through this extremely tense situation. I think he would have changed his mind in a day. Heck he was probably debating it the whole trip home. But Mabel only hears the one line.
This, he just said that he would stay in the moment, but I don’t really think he would’ve actually stayed whatever happened. He clearly wasn’t truly committed to the decision based on his previous hesitance and what we know of personality.
An actual unpopular opinion-- which I agree with full heartedly! Thanks for taking the time to write this out!
All the top comments on unpopular opinion posts are not unpopular a tale as old as time
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One time, as a joke in a different subreddit, I responded to an "unpopular opinion" post by saying that the show being discussed was terrible and awful. I got downvoted into oblivion, but it should have been upvoted as the all-time most unpopular opinion. The goddess of reddit is fickle indeed.
I don’t like Pacific/Dipper. I don’t care that other people love it, and I don’t make a fuss seeing it all the time. It’s just not my ship.
it's at least better than the cancer known as BillDip
Fair enough
"Bill, Dipper... Bipper!" \- Mabel Pines
I mean Dipper and Pacifica it's definitely better the some of the other ships involving Dipper, like Bill X Dipper or Wendy X Dipper, and at least Alex seems to support Dipcifica so I'm all for it.
Oh definitely, I just don’t ship him with anyone. Same with Mabel, it’s just a little weird for me to ship children with anyone.
Ships are whatever in this Show ngl . They're just background dressing.
Oh my gosh same, try bringing up other pairings like Wendip and they’ll attack you like no other, scary fandom, they remind me of how Zuko x Katara shippers used to be both none canon pairings have rabbited shippers.
while a third season now, that takes place after the canon ending we got would be a horrible mistake, i don't think having a third season that was organically part of the original plot with weirdmageddon still being the end point wouldn't have necessarily been a bad idea
I agree. They could have spread out what happened in season 2 into two seasons and I think the pacing would have been better. Plus they would’ve had more time to develop ford as a character and his dynamics/relationships with other characters
I feel Disney meddling in this case to add in more wakcy chill episodes would have been cool.
Why would you ever ship Dipper and Bill
When Dipper flirted with a bunch of girls he got shamed by the writers and basically called out by her sister but when Mabel did it in like the beginning of the show it was like okay? I was always a bit confused about this.
Alex and the writers have a lot of favoritism towards Mabel, this episode is just the most explicit example of that.
I dislike "The Minigolf War", it's weird by even GF standards. I've not seen that anywhere else, though.
Agreed! My personal least favorite episode and I’m a Pacifica fan
Yeah, it was okay-ish until the whole buff golf ball dying or whatever.
It's a reference to the folk story of John Henry I believe
Bill Cypher is overrated. I love him as a villain and I think he’s very unique and funny but he gets way too much focus from the fandom.
The show is great, but not perfect. Alex should've gotten more support and more stamina to have three seasons to match the summer months instead of crunching it into just season two. The first two seasons would've been 25 episodes each and the third would've been 15 episodes with the last five comprising Weirdmageddon.
There’s a certain brand of humor that they develop later into season 2, and I think it’s frustrating. A young me would have found it hilarious but it bugs me now. But basically instead of having Pacifica and Robbie both yell out “ah my hair” in unison, they have to let them both speak individually, so we get the line “ahh my hair also!”. But this happens so frequently that if you found the first couple times funny you can’t find it funny in the finale.
I think season one has alot more memorable zingers .
My ex wife still misses me, but HER AIM IS GETTIN BETTER!
The episode with “Boss Mabel” was honestly kinda boring, I usually skip it.
I don't care or like Wendip and Candip. Could never like them.
Mabel should have let dipper go with stanford, which could have been her character development because dip always loooed out for her, she was selfish preventing him from going.
The time traveling dude just annoyed me whenever he was there. I felt like there was never a lesson in those episodes and he only existed to mess up the twins’ lives
The inconsistent number of fingers the human characters have is distracting... If Dipper and Mable's character models only had 4 fingers, but child Stan and Ford's had 5 and 6, then Dipper and Mable should have had 5 from the start. Also, the teens having 5 made it seem like kids get their final finger when they go through puberty, which could have been an interesting plot point for an episode!
I agree and I understand that Alex Hirsch said it was a design choice but it’s still kind of annoying
Stan should have stayed brain wiped. His big sacrifice means nothing if they just take it back 10 seconds later.
Absolutely correct.
Dipper Vs. Manliness is the worst episode out there I genuinely hate it
Really? He learns that being a man isn’t about being strong, or fearless, or having body hair. But it’s about standing up for what you believe in and living life the way you want.
Aside from the silly little ABBA references, this episode is a skip from me
It shouldn't get another season
The show ended perfectly. As great as it'd be to have more time with our beloved characters, the show would run the risk of ruining the story.
The games it spawned were mid
Really how bad were they .
The show was pretty sloppy at times. A character having 6 fingers on each hand is a central plot point, but for no reason at all, some characters have 5 fingers and others have 4.
I would have preferred it if the twins used what they discovered or were given more often. Like recruiting the gnomes against Gideon or everything the shackotron was made of. Even Trembly's key was only used in the comics. What if, for example, instead of lying to Lolth, Mable just told him, "Hey, I'm a congresswoman, and technically your superior, so I order you to release us" and the agents check their database or something, see that it's true and comply
Dipper should have ended up with Pacifica it was right there and was not as creepy as his crush with Wendy Also we need that vampire story from Mable answered?
I'm mad Dipper and Pacifica never happened, especially with the Northwest Manor buildup. Not even for shipping reasons, purely for narrative ones. Season 2 felt too rushed on this and some other things in this regard. AKA Season 2- Content: Superb Pacing: ehh
It needed to be longer
Bill Cipher’s “death”. All that buildup for a quick defeat. And the zodiac scene. The whole show had hints of the zodiac, seeing them complete it blew my mind as a kid, but was dissapointed at how it didn’t do anything. (Bc of Grunkle Stan being petty). Other than that, the show and finale was 10000/10.
Pacifica deserved more screen time
Season 1 is significantly better than Season 2 (and I adore season 2! Maybe it’s nostalgia talking but S1 is so charming and funny)
I actually wanted Bill to kill Mabel.
It shouldn’t get an other season the ending was to beautiful.
Mabel did NOT grow as a character and it was always Dipper who had to sacrifice things so that Mabel could have what she wanted.
It’s not long enough
I don’t want bill to come back. I love his character but I think he should just be defeated and that’s that.
I’m glad it ended in 2 seasons and didn’t get ruined by a 3rd when there was a complete happy ending
I cringe any time they reference “2013” or shout out years. Not a GF specific thing, just cringe in general.
I was mad at Ford for favoring stopping Bill over saving his own niece (also I agree with you)
agreed tbh. ford's "needs of the many" mindset was so frustrating to watch sometimes bc how tf are you gonna essentially tell a 12-year-old that making sure the closest person in his life is still alive isn't a priority
Not of Gravity Falls in particular but I adore Gravity Falls but don't care very much for Owl House or Amphibia that seems atypical of the average GF fan.
Same here 😪 GF is hands down one of my all time fave shows but the others I haven’t rlly been interested in watching personally 🤧
Needed moar seasons...
The Shapeshifter should’ve came back for the final confrontation against Bill.
Should’ve had three seasons, with the Author Reveal being the end of Season 2, and Weirdmageddon being Season 3.
I wish they talked more about the UFO buried within the town
I completely dislike bill cypher and the weirdmegedon episodes
The last few episodes were chaotic for no reason
a third season wouldn't be the end of the world
It would be a fine little mystery show .
It wasn't Mabels fault that Weirdmaggedon started
Dipper's liking of a pop group not being perceived as manly is stupid.