Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Gravity Falls is a show that features twins, Dipper and Mable Pines, who are sent by their parents to spend the summer with their Grunkle (Great Uncle) Stan in the small city of Gravity Falls, Oregon. It aired on Disney XD in 2012, and now can be watched on Hulu or Disney Plus. This review contains spoilers!!
I watched a few episodes when this show came out, but I never followed along nor finished it. It became popular over the years, with a growing fanbase and interesting fanart. I decided to give it a watch recently to see if it was as great as some people claimed. Overall, it was a pretty good show that highlighted the writer and creators creativity and uniqueness. I enjoyed watching it and it could easily be something to get drawn into. However, I did not get super into it and found some obvious flaws with the shows consistency. It is not a show I would recommend to my friends unless they asked about it specifically. All of this review is keeping in mind that I am not of the age group for the intended audience, which I believe to about from 10-14, given the main characters age of 12.
What I Liked: Gravity Falls was a fairly entertaining show. It had a great amount of creativity through mystery and fantasy. It utilized well-known fantasy creatures while creating some of its own. They also stuck to the well-known stereotype of terrible parents (or dead ones) in Disney. These parents essentially threw their children to the mercy of their Grunkle for the summer to do whatever they wanted, which made for some interesting plot. Through the twins, Dipper and Mable, a typical sibling relationship was displayed. They had bonding moments, fought, had disagreements and grew together. Through their relationship, the audience learned that the bond one shares with a sibling is more important that winning in an argument or getting your way all the time. They did their best to support each other, even in the toughest situations. Through the creative minds of the writers, we saw a mysterious town that Dipper wanted to investigate, all while the biggest mystery was under his nose: What was Grunkle Stan up to? Overall, the plot was interesting, I wanted to know what happened next and the characters were all unique and mostly non-generic. Wendy was my favorite character.
What I Didn’t Like: The majority of the first season was somewhat boring. When they hinted at something more, it was quickly pushed aside for the sake of “filler-episodes.” It took until the very end for something fascinating to happen. When it did, season two kicked it into overdrive and rushed to the insane plot. It went from a fairly neutral, adventurous show to an insane, “WTF is happening?” show. The two extremes did not balance well, and I found it hard to follow along when everything insane was thrown in for the last four episodes. Bill’s crazy character was good, but his minions didn’t match up to him and there was really no explanation as to why he couldn’t leave Gravity Falls. They barely touched upon it before moving on. Personally, I was never at the edge of my seat. While I wanted to know what happened next, it wasn’t thrilling enough for me to feel dedicated to the characters, what they were going through and what happened at the end. It was lacking some depth, but that may be due to the intended audience. It felt a bit extreme for a middle-grade audience in season two, but season one fit that perfectly.
Overall, my biggest issues were consistency and depth, which is why I ranked it a 3.5 out of 5.
Writing Until Ragnarok 