@@toppat_royale Stan rebuilt a portal with a third of the blueprints and no help while running a business, while ford created the portal, but also said "everyone said he's evil, but he called me smart, so he cant be that bad"
Can we talk about Soos he said before that he’d do anything for Mr Pines but he was willing to throw away his relationship with Stan, the only father figure he’s had in his life to protect Dipper and Mabel, Soos is a real man
"Mabel, *_PLEASE!"_* Remember how they had an entire episode based on the fact that Stan couldn't say the word "please"? Stan saying the one word he could not say shows *_EXACTLY_* how important this moment is to him.
@@suspeciouslyshaped100garnet have fun wearing the "i started a war" hat sorry for misinterpretation, its "Boss Mabel" also isnt this a war how does this have 47 likes
I like that the thing that finally convinces Mabel to not push the button is Stan saying "please". Its been shown countless times throughtout the show at that point to be a word he never uses and actively doesnt use, yet in this moment, he does, because of just how much it means to him.
Something I thought was cool was that moment when the twins and Soos are about to hit the button, and Stan stops them just in time. They turn to face him, and their faces are covered in shadow. But Stan, who’s facing the portal, is bathed in light. This is symbolic in the way that Stan and his lies are finally exposed under the spotlight, and that Dipper, Mabel, and Soos are still in the dark (meaning, they don’t know the full story yet.) Even then, you don’t need to know any of this in order to feel the weight of the scene. Absolute perfection.
One of my favorite bits of foreshadowing of the reveal has to do with Gideon. Time and time again in season 1, Gideon calls Stan "Stanford". For example, in The Hand That Rocks the Mabel, after Gideon and Mabel break up, Gideon walks into his house, sees Stan talking to Bud, and declares, "Stanford Pines, I rebuke thee!" That's how Stan knew that Gideon was a fake psychic. At first, viewers just asume that Stan is short for Stanford. But, when we later learn that Stan's real name is Stanley, not Stanford, we realize the truth. If Gideon were a real psychic, he would have known that Stan was not only named Stanley and not Stanford, but also that he was in possession of the first Journal (which, if you recall, obtaining Journal number 1 was Gideon's main motivation for stealing the Mystery Shack). Furthermore, when Gideon summons Bill, he tells Bill that he wants him to go into the mind of Stanford Pines to get the deed to the Mystery Shack, and when Bill turns around saying, "Stan Pines, eh?" his body flashes with memories of Stanford, including the symbol branded into Stanley's shoulder during their fight. But most importantly, one of the memories that flashes is one of the Journals, I can't remember which. Also, as far back as Legend of the Gobblewonker, you can see that Stan's license plate reads "STNLYMBL", or Stanley Mobile with the vowels removed. The foreshadowing in this show is awesome.
I feel like a good thing about Gravity Falls is that they did the classic and fairly unoriginal "He's my brother"/"I have a secret brother" twist in a way that didn't make it feel unoriginal
And also the fact that the "secret brother" was also the biggest mystery that the whole series have been building up to being "who was the author?" And it makes all sense why it didn't feel cheap
I remember watching gravity falls with my dad as a little kid, the first time he got to know the series was when I was watching them on the TV, he was AMAZED and he literally loved the series, to this day me and my mom still remember how much he loved those series .
All the line deliveries during the final countdown scene are immaculate. Alex, Jason, and Kirsten really captured the tension, fear, and gravity (lol) of it all and each one has a point in the scene where their voice sounds like it's on the verge of tears. Makes me want to cry to when you hear the all the pure emotion being poured out.
Tbh this reveal and the adventure time episode where they reveal the ice king's backstory are the only children cartoon episodes that i remember left me looking at the screen in awe
I remember literally being like 9 and watching this on tv when it came out, it felt like a massive event at the time. I just rewatched it for the first time in years and it still hits me
About the brilliance of the name of the episode: at the end of every single intro, there's the cipher wheel, and there's a code on the side that says "Stan is not what he seems". So for the episode to be literally called that was just so brilliant. We knew what was going to happen from the moment we saw the title. We knew the reveal was coming and it couldn't have been done more perfectly.
I always liked how exposed and raw everyone is in this episode. with Stan opening up about his true feelings about his family. Dipper thinking logically and Mabel thinking emotionally. something that symbolizes this to me is it’s one of the only moments in the series that dippers birthmark is completely exposed. even if it’s not symbolic I think it’s still just such a cool touch
I agree, "Not What He Seems" is a cinematic achievement. I still remember literally physically shaking and yelling when watching this episode as a kid. However, I still think "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future" is the superior episode
I disagree, but only by very narrowly. Something I do appreciate about that episode is that while it's not as revealing, it's dramatic in that it shows where desperation leads, and I think it also sets a huge condition for the future. What exactly to call it, I don't know. Some argue Mabel is selfish. That's not necessarily incorrect, but I think it's more accurate to say she's scared of change. I mean, the name of the episode is named pretty appropriately. It ties in with "Escape from reality" pretty well because it builds further on that idea of Mabel and Dipper's characters. With Mabel being someone who doesn't want to grow up at all, meanwhile Dipper wants to grow up too fast. So, they need each other to balance each other out, keep each other's speeds in check.
@@TommyElijahCabelloRealThe recent book of Bill reveals their parents were having a fallout I think which makes her actions even more understandable and relatable
@TommyElijahCabelloReal No, she WAS being selfish. It's one thing to be scared of change. It's another to be a huge brat and care more about yourself and want your brother to stay with you and never leave. Mabel can handle herself. Ford himself even says so with her making friends with the mailman or something. Also, Dipper wasn't growing up too fast. He just got the opportunity of his life at the time and wanted to pursue it. Plus, due to his parents having problems with each other, it makes more sense why he would be away from them.
@@william3100 She's also a TWELVE YEAR OLD going through a lot in a single day. People constantly give Mabel shit for the way she acts, but she is hearing that her entire future that she's been looking forward to is going to be terrible, her best friend and brother will be leaving her for those terrible moments, and she has to leave Gravity Falls, the only place she feels safe and comforted by the people around her. We see in flashbacks that no one really likes her back home, she is bullied for being eccentric and "weird" the only reason why she's able to make friends in Gravity Falls so easily is because Gravity Falls is the only place that has weird people like her, kinda ironic with the whole weirdness magnet thing, but still. Also, with the aforementioned fights her parents were getting into, she could be going home to a divorce for her parents, a terrible future (or so she is led to believe), and all of it without the only person that is able to make those moments better, her brother. Just wanna remind you again that she's twelve.
@oetam6468 she's twelve yet very optimistic and always manages to make friends. We only see flashbacks of a couple of bullies, but that's it. We don't know anything else. Nothing is truly implied that she is hated or bullied in general back at home. People are not CONSTANTLY giving her shit, either. Lots of people seem to like her in the show. It would make as much sense for it to be similar back home. She's also been through much worse in a single day, such as Not What He Seemed. Despite the fear, she shouldn't have thought more about herself than anyone else. She didn't even consider Dippers' end of things. I don't care if she's twelve. I've seen more mature twelve year olds then her. Ford himself states how she made friends with the mailman or something very quickly. Nothing in the episode even shows that Mabel sees her parents as going through stuff. They don't do that in the show in general. I don't care what some canonical book says. I want the show to tell me because that's what it should do with important information like that. Dipper is twelve years old, too, and is more emotionally vulnerable than Mabel, yet he is fine with all the responsibilities and hardships with all of what he faced in the show.
I'd say the drama and genuine fear that the twins feel is actually more important than the factual stakes in the episode. If you rewatch, you'll notice the start perfectly sets up Stan's not-quite-betrayal of the twins. Because the episode is designed as if to build a Stanley villain reveal (or more accurately, a relationship twist) the agents are a credible threat to the status quo. When the fake IDs are shown the moment can inly truly work because it is credible to the audience.
No they factual stakes are more important narratively in the context of the story. On a side note, this video praises this episode a little too much. It's a great episode of the show and I can totally see it being regarded as the best Gravity Falls episode by some(I think Weirdmageddon 3 takes that spot for me), but the best episode of TV itself? Ignoring masterful episodes of shows like Twin Peaks, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Primal? Get real and watch something else, dude(not talking about you commenter. Just the guy who made this video which I didn't watch).
@cheyannegiles9772 not everyone, and I don't exactly like it when they do. These kinds of videos are supposed to be informative, and I feel exaggerating the truth like this in the titles is ridiculous and potentially misleading. I know it's for getting higher viewership, but that feels just a little shallow to me. I'll take a more honest title like "Why "Not What He Seems" is One Of The Biggest Gravity Falls Episodes Ever" even if it's not as attention grabbing. I've seen plenty of video titles being more honest and not very attention grabbing, and they do fine.
For the longest time as a kid, that painting of Stan looking down on the kids did not look to me how it actually looks. My young brain saw that dark gray line being his damned chin and thought THAT was his mouth. Idk how, I can't see it like that anymore once I've rewatched it, but I'll never forget that...
As a kid I also saw that, as some sort of symbolism actually, like he's frowning because he's EVIL... or something, yeah, it falls apart now. I also can no longer see that, either.
That shot of the painting has literally terrified me for years, I still picture it when I close my eyes in the shower and before I turn around sometimes
A week before this episode aired during commercial breaks during reruns when it said next up gravity falls it showed Stanley and Stanford swinging for 1 frame at the end
Watching Gravity Falls, it makes me want to be a good writer to make a good story that will turn into a good show. To make clichés good, making good characters, making great comedy, heartfelt moments, and more. My problem is that I don't know what to write or what the show would be because I might write something garbage or something to offend the viewers. I might run out of ideas due to my autistic disability, and I wasn't sure if I needed help or not.
Gravity falls was the first thing I saw where I knew I wanted to be the creator of a story. I always wanted to be a puppet maker or a costume designer, but watching gravity falls when I was twelve made me realize that I could make a story. and if I did a good job, I could make a story people would love. I’m also autistic, so good tv has helped me understand tone and stuff. I highly reccomend listening to the gravity falls behind the scenes podcast on Spotify, it is HANDS DOWN the BEST how to actually write something and understand why your writing works class I have EVER seen and I have paid actual thousands of dollars in what college courses couldn’t help with. So who knows? Maybe you’ll be the next Alex hirsch :)
This is the ozymandias of gravity falls except we aren’t on Walt’s side we’re on the family’s side we are on Dipper Mabel and Soose’s side rather than Stan
Do you mean Walt’s POV, or his moral side, because they can mean two very different things and now I’m curious. Otherwise that, I agree with the analogy, though IMO Ozymandias is better overall.
@@maxdeltaco6537 no I mean the viewers in Breaking Bad would root for Walt because the show tricked us into thinking he was moral whilst in Gravity Falls we aren’t on Walt’s (Stan’s) side we are on the family’s. And yes Ozymandias is angelic
@@maxdeltaco6537 trust me I’m bonkers! Also today I realised smth bout Better Call Saul. Through out Jimmy’s life he has been given horrible amounts of bad karma (obviously because he’s breaking the law quite a bit) but it feels like God or whoever is giving the karma at this point felt sorry for Jimmy during his five years of being completely alone as Gene Takovic. All of his friends are dead or hate him at that point and he must have been beyond depressed. But maybe it’s because he kept going that he got sent to jail. Look I know it was Jimmy’s choice to go for 86 years but to be honest being in jail with everyone who worships and respects Jimmy is a lot better than everyone that looks down on and ignores Gene Takovic. Then we get to Walt’s fate. Instead of going to jail (which as we know he would likely get beaten to death in there when other convicts hear he poisoned a kid) Walt gets to die? Walt is by far worse than Jimmy and he gets death whilst Jimmy lives on in a prison in decent condition. Eh just thought it was weird that the bad guy gets immediate freedom whilst the lesser bad guy gets time related freedom. Btw I love Better Call Saul’s ending so much! (I talk t00 much lmao)
I get a lot of Lost vibes from this episode, I’m aware that Gravity Falls has a lot of Twin Peaks inspiration, but the secret underground bunker with a massive machine and a countdown clock, just gives me super strong LOST vibes
This episode and A Tale of Two Stans might be the two best episodic episodes in all of TV. They reveal the biggest mystery of the series and then follow it up with an origin on everything. You can’t get better than that imo.
i remember seeing dreamscapers as well as this episode at maybe like a restaraunt or maybe a friend's house or something after only previously seeing most of the episodes from season 1 and it spriked my interest in the series again
Since you mentioned you didn't watch GF while it was airing, "Stan is not what he seems" was a code you could find in the intro (IIRC), so fans were discussing this quote ever since the first episode
I do remember a lot this specific episode because I did watch the whole 1st season on Disney Channel in Mexico, however, the whole 2nd season I had to watch trough internet and doing a lot of hoops so I can see the episodes, somehow I found a Live stream of someone on internet who was watching the episode live on TV and I remember being mined blown by the end when Stanley reveals the author is Stanford and his brother and just like you said, the credits sequence of both brothers just sitting in the swing in full silence just hearing the natural sounds of the beach, it was all just so you could keep the mouth open and think about all that you just saw, Alex Hirsch definitely knew what he was doing when he did all that
I SWEAR TO GOD EVERYWHERE I go I see these comment with a timestamp for really early in the videos saying the most random and minuscule or pointless things. Are they bots? Are they actual people?
@@Autumn-fk4fo I know but I see this so many times on different videos for example there was one which just pointed out where the thumbnail was in the video like why? Like I’m not even annoyed more so confused.
I agree with you this episode is so awesome it is my second favorite episode of any show my favorite is amphibia the hardest thing (all in) it feels like the whole series was leading up to this episode when i first watched it i questin my self is stan a good guy
I also love how Dipper tells Mabel "listen to your head" because that's what Dipper has always done....he's the "Trust No One" guy who takes the facts put in front of him and runs with it and the paranoia. It's easier for him not to trust Stan because they didn't entirely connect in the same way he and Mabel did at this point and Dipper had seeds of doubt (Heck, he even doubted Ford in the Mabelcorn episode). But Mabel has always been one to listen to her heart. Not only that, but she has arguably bonded with Stan a lot more up to this point and is torn between him and her brother. But this moment proves that listening to your head isn't always the answer. And what's crazy about this is that, if Dipper got his way, he would never have found the answers he was so desperately looking for through Ford. Doing things Mabel's way and being forced to trust her judgement (and Stan's)...and being forced to relinquish control and put trust in them...gave Dipper what he truly wanted--The Author. It's just insane to me that he's fighting against the thing he really wants...the thing he's been searching for the whole show...arguably his purpose as a character...and he doesn't even realize it. It's such interesting writing.
Can I just say that I love this review. There’s no fluff, it just sums up the episode, why it’s good, and everything you like about it in under ten minutes. Content like this is rare nowadays.
As someone who WAS there as the show was airing and followed the theorising community closely lemme tell you almost all of the theorising community knew stan had a brother before the reveal. It was suuper obvious. Our biggest clue was that we could literally SEE his brother on the background of his boxing flashback. His face is covered by a magazine but the shape of the hair being identical to kid stan's hair shape made everyone believe that he had a brother. We weren't sure if it was his twin I dont remember any theories about his brother being his twin but we knew he had a brother. Imagine my hype when the reveal dropped and I realised we were right.
Something I see people miss a lot of that Stan never meant to hide anything that was going on from the kids in the end. It’s a “betrayal” but it’s really not. Stan was going to tell the kids but then the whole day got upended by the government getting involved.
moreso than Mabels grappling hook, there's so much foreshadowing and setup. Mabel is someone who always completely trusts in things, Dipper is a major skeptic. However Stan is built up as a total scammer, a fraud who steals cheats and lies, and even moreso than that he lies about the books to dipper even after saying he won't lie anymore. Not only does dipper have mistrust but so do we, and the gravity affects that occur are such a cool way of building tension and used in scenes such as the portal confrontation and the jailbreak scenes. Everything the series has built of the identity of the books, and of Stan, all builds to this and is tested and for a moment your mind goes through the same dilemma watching the end. Is Stan actually a bad guy, but he's good... This is so good and fitting with the title I wouldn't have minded this be the finale, but of course I adore the actual finale a ton as well.
@@william3100 ah. i thought he was talking about the scene where they switch identities to trick Bill. He also might be thinking about how Stanley stole Stanford’s identity
2:15 - (Looks at the guy having every orifice rearranged for the amusement of a mad reality-warping godlike entity while he screams in muffled agony and terror.) ... *...REALLY?!?!?!?*
I remember being around 5 or something and watching this episode with my mouth wide open٫ i was considered a child that doesn't really react massively to things so that was itself an achievement
They wanted to bringthe twins to child protective services because their parents werent there So they would get there then contact their family It was just an attempt to remove them from the situation and get them somewhere safe
Yes, it is the greatest ever. The intensity and buildup are only a minor part of what makes this such an incredible episode. The pure genius, the raging emotions and the incredible reveal at the end make this not just the best episode of TV ever, but the most rewatchable ever.
I can tell you how TOUGH it was creating Gravity falls theories. I was a part of the community that made COUNTLESS of theories about gravtiy falls, and it was INSANE.
This episode is good, but I feel like Ozymandias from Breaking Bad, Unmortricken/The Ricklantis Mix-up from Rick and Morty, and Weirdmageddon 3 and 4 (or just 3, if you think they shouldnt have been split) are still better or at a similar level of quality
0:01 this is where the video starts
can you please mark when it stops??
8:08
@ShrimpoTheShrimp the amount of gravity that I appreciate this is unmeasurable. I thank you greatly. Please have a good rest of your day.
@@French_Engineer its 2:22am for me ;-; it aint gonna be day for quite a while
And the award to “most useless comment” goes too…
Imagine discovering your machine is too dangerous to be used, so you write the warning in invisible ink
ford is the definition of high int, low wis, while stan is the opposite
@@Borispocalypselow wisdom? or wits?
@@Borispocalypsei think stan is also intelligent, just not educated. stan reverse engineered ford’s masterpiece to bring him back.
bill was also controlling ford at some period of time iirc, so the invisible ink was used to avoid bill from seeing it too
@@toppat_royale Stan rebuilt a portal with a third of the blueprints and no help while running a business, while ford created the portal, but also said "everyone said he's evil, but he called me smart, so he cant be that bad"
grunkle stan i trust you
the visuals with that line was just amazing
I was gagged with Dippers last scream and then the portal explodes and obliterates them as we see the town get torn into the sky 🤣
@@wowyzowy1895Lmao
Can we talk about Soos he said before that he’d do anything for Mr Pines but he was willing to throw away his relationship with Stan, the only father figure he’s had in his life to protect Dipper and Mabel, Soos is a real man
"Mabel, *_PLEASE!"_*
Remember how they had an entire episode based on the fact that Stan couldn't say the word "please"? Stan saying the one word he could not say shows *_EXACTLY_* how important this moment is to him.
I agree
what episode was this??
@@suspeciouslyshaped100garnet have fun wearing the "i started a war" hat
sorry for misinterpretation, its "Boss Mabel"
also isnt this a war how does this have 47 likes
@@suspeciouslyshaped100garnetthis guys wearing the “idiot” hat guys point and laugh
@@suspeciouslyshaped100garnet Boss Mabel
I like that the thing that finally convinces Mabel to not push the button is Stan saying "please". Its been shown countless times throughtout the show at that point to be a word he never uses and actively doesnt use, yet in this moment, he does, because of just how much it means to him.
This episode + a Tale of Two Stans immediately following is legitimately the best two-episode run of any series out there.
Ozymandias+granite state, granite state+felina💀
@@davinciiedlet's say of any _animated_ series bc yeah breaking bad is awesome
Something I thought was cool was that moment when the twins and Soos are about to hit the button, and Stan stops them just in time. They turn to face him, and their faces are covered in shadow. But Stan, who’s facing the portal, is bathed in light. This is symbolic in the way that Stan and his lies are finally exposed under the spotlight, and that Dipper, Mabel, and Soos are still in the dark (meaning, they don’t know the full story yet.) Even then, you don’t need to know any of this in order to feel the weight of the scene. Absolute perfection.
not so sure about this one, but its one heck of a take, i like your viewpoint
Oh I like this
When I was a kid, I thought that it meant Stan was trustworthy in the sense that he’s genuinely being honest or his actions are coming to light
Oh my goodness that's so good
Or it’s symbolic of the fact that the twins are standing facing away from a bright light and Stan is facing towards the bright light
One of my favorite bits of foreshadowing of the reveal has to do with Gideon.
Time and time again in season 1, Gideon calls Stan "Stanford". For example, in The Hand That Rocks the Mabel, after Gideon and Mabel break up, Gideon walks into his house, sees Stan talking to Bud, and declares, "Stanford Pines, I rebuke thee!"
That's how Stan knew that Gideon was a fake psychic. At first, viewers just asume that Stan is short for Stanford. But, when we later learn that Stan's real name is Stanley, not Stanford, we realize the truth. If Gideon were a real psychic, he would have known that Stan was not only named Stanley and not Stanford, but also that he was in possession of the first Journal (which, if you recall, obtaining Journal number 1 was Gideon's main motivation for stealing the Mystery Shack).
Furthermore, when Gideon summons Bill, he tells Bill that he wants him to go into the mind of Stanford Pines to get the deed to the Mystery Shack, and when Bill turns around saying, "Stan Pines, eh?" his body flashes with memories of Stanford, including the symbol branded into Stanley's shoulder during their fight. But most importantly, one of the memories that flashes is one of the Journals, I can't remember which.
Also, as far back as Legend of the Gobblewonker, you can see that Stan's license plate reads "STNLYMBL", or Stanley Mobile with the vowels removed.
The foreshadowing in this show is awesome.
I feel like a good thing about Gravity Falls is that they did the classic and fairly unoriginal "He's my brother"/"I have a secret brother" twist in a way that didn't make it feel unoriginal
And also the fact that the "secret brother" was also the biggest mystery that the whole series have been building up to being "who was the author?" And it makes all sense why it didn't feel cheap
Especially since they had that one fake mcgucket photo with the journals.
@@Roadkill3333 the fact that ducktective had one one these and called it unoriginal is the greatest irony of tv history
I remember watching gravity falls with my dad as a little kid, the first time he got to know the series was when I was watching them on the TV, he was AMAZED and he literally loved the series, to this day me and my mom still remember how much he loved those series .
I’m sorry for y’all’s loss, I hope y’all are doing okay ❤️.
@@rgkong8783ummm they never mentioned if they lost him
@@lillyraisin”to this day me and my mom still remember how much he loved this series”
if you don’t understand then read it again
Omg same I used to watch gravity falls with my dad before he passed away 🥲🥲🥲
I lost my dad when i was 3 :(
I tear up when Soos tackles Stan. He goes against a man he has idolized since childhood but cares more about the twins. It is a very emotional moment
Not What He Seems did not let me sleep that night. It was just THAT good.
All the line deliveries during the final countdown scene are immaculate. Alex, Jason, and Kirsten really captured the tension, fear, and gravity (lol) of it all and each one has a point in the scene where their voice sounds like it's on the verge of tears. Makes me want to cry to when you hear the all the pure emotion being poured out.
this is actually Alex Hirsch's favorite episode, he stares so in a podcast
Stares so? 😂
He also said it on the directors commentary thats included in the DVD
@@LueLuciferI think jumpathy meant "states"
Tbh this reveal and the adventure time episode where they reveal the ice king's backstory are the only children cartoon episodes that i remember left me looking at the screen in awe
I too stare at podcasts
I remember literally being like 9 and watching this on tv when it came out, it felt like a massive event at the time. I just rewatched it for the first time in years and it still hits me
“Grunkle Stan, I trust you.” Is one of my absolute favorite scenes ever
The way Mabel floats up in front of the portal is almost as cinematic as you get on a television animation budget.
About the brilliance of the name of the episode: at the end of every single intro, there's the cipher wheel, and there's a code on the side that says "Stan is not what he seems". So for the episode to be literally called that was just so brilliant. We knew what was going to happen from the moment we saw the title. We knew the reveal was coming and it couldn't have been done more perfectly.
^^^^ exactly what i came to comment!!!! gravity falls is SO expertly crafted
1:30 they’re mad for anti-terrorism reasons. There’s a reason toxic waste is so carefully managed and guarded
I always liked how exposed and raw everyone is in this episode. with Stan opening up about his true feelings about his family. Dipper thinking logically and Mabel thinking emotionally. something that symbolizes this to me is it’s one of the only moments in the series that dippers birthmark is completely exposed. even if it’s not symbolic I think it’s still just such a cool touch
I agree, "Not What He Seems" is a cinematic achievement. I still remember literally physically shaking and yelling when watching this episode as a kid. However, I still think "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future" is the superior episode
I disagree, but only by very narrowly. Something I do appreciate about that episode is that while it's not as revealing, it's dramatic in that it shows where desperation leads, and I think it also sets a huge condition for the future. What exactly to call it, I don't know. Some argue Mabel is selfish. That's not necessarily incorrect, but I think it's more accurate to say she's scared of change. I mean, the name of the episode is named pretty appropriately. It ties in with "Escape from reality" pretty well because it builds further on that idea of Mabel and Dipper's characters. With Mabel being someone who doesn't want to grow up at all, meanwhile Dipper wants to grow up too fast. So, they need each other to balance each other out, keep each other's speeds in check.
@@TommyElijahCabelloRealThe recent book of Bill reveals their parents were having a fallout I think which makes her actions even more understandable and relatable
@TommyElijahCabelloReal No, she WAS being selfish. It's one thing to be scared of change. It's another to be a huge brat and care more about yourself and want your brother to stay with you and never leave. Mabel can handle herself. Ford himself even says so with her making friends with the mailman or something.
Also, Dipper wasn't growing up too fast. He just got the opportunity of his life at the time and wanted to pursue it. Plus, due to his parents having problems with each other, it makes more sense why he would be away from them.
@@william3100 She's also a TWELVE YEAR OLD going through a lot in a single day. People constantly give Mabel shit for the way she acts, but she is hearing that her entire future that she's been looking forward to is going to be terrible, her best friend and brother will be leaving her for those terrible moments, and she has to leave Gravity Falls, the only place she feels safe and comforted by the people around her.
We see in flashbacks that no one really likes her back home, she is bullied for being eccentric and "weird" the only reason why she's able to make friends in Gravity Falls so easily is because Gravity Falls is the only place that has weird people like her, kinda ironic with the whole weirdness magnet thing, but still. Also, with the aforementioned fights her parents were getting into, she could be going home to a divorce for her parents, a terrible future (or so she is led to believe), and all of it without the only person that is able to make those moments better, her brother.
Just wanna remind you again that she's twelve.
@oetam6468 she's twelve yet very optimistic and always manages to make friends. We only see flashbacks of a couple of bullies, but that's it. We don't know anything else. Nothing is truly implied that she is hated or bullied in general back at home.
People are not CONSTANTLY giving her shit, either. Lots of people seem to like her in the show. It would make as much sense for it to be similar back home. She's also been through much worse in a single day, such as Not What He Seemed. Despite the fear, she shouldn't have thought more about herself than anyone else. She didn't even consider Dippers' end of things. I don't care if she's twelve. I've seen more mature twelve year olds then her. Ford himself states how she made friends with the mailman or something very quickly.
Nothing in the episode even shows that Mabel sees her parents as going through stuff. They don't do that in the show in general. I don't care what some canonical book says. I want the show to tell me because that's what it should do with important information like that. Dipper is twelve years old, too, and is more emotionally vulnerable than Mabel, yet he is fine with all the responsibilities and hardships with all of what he faced in the show.
I got goosebumps when they said “unless Stan… isn’t Stan!” and then creepy painting starring down on them
I'd say the drama and genuine fear that the twins feel is actually more important than the factual stakes in the episode. If you rewatch, you'll notice the start perfectly sets up Stan's not-quite-betrayal of the twins. Because the episode is designed as if to build a Stanley villain reveal (or more accurately, a relationship twist) the agents are a credible threat to the status quo. When the fake IDs are shown the moment can inly truly work because it is credible to the audience.
No they factual stakes are more important narratively in the context of the story. On a side note, this video praises this episode a little too much. It's a great episode of the show and I can totally see it being regarded as the best Gravity Falls episode by some(I think Weirdmageddon 3 takes that spot for me), but the best episode of TV itself? Ignoring masterful episodes of shows like Twin Peaks, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Primal? Get real and watch something else, dude(not talking about you commenter. Just the guy who made this video which I didn't watch).
@@william3100 You do understand everybody exaggerates in video titles right?
@cheyannegiles9772 not everyone, and I don't exactly like it when they do. These kinds of videos are supposed to be informative, and I feel exaggerating the truth like this in the titles is ridiculous and potentially misleading. I know it's for getting higher viewership, but that feels just a little shallow to me. I'll take a more honest title like "Why "Not What He Seems" is One Of The Biggest Gravity Falls Episodes Ever" even if it's not as attention grabbing. I've seen plenty of video titles being more honest and not very attention grabbing, and they do fine.
For the longest time as a kid, that painting of Stan looking down on the kids did not look to me how it actually looks. My young brain saw that dark gray line being his damned chin and thought THAT was his mouth. Idk how, I can't see it like that anymore once I've rewatched it, but I'll never forget that...
Bro sees it as 😧
As a kid I also saw that, as some sort of symbolism actually, like he's frowning because he's EVIL... or something, yeah, it falls apart now. I also can no longer see that, either.
@@AlexDown1 glad im not alone on this lmao
@@Skaaks more like a frown like hes disspaointed in Dipper and Mabel's snooping, best explained in another reply someone else made
my favorite part is when gravity falls and everything lifts up into the air
Gravity fails 😁
Just watched this episode for the first time the other day and I’m still in shock
I watched it over 2 months ago and i’m still in shock
That shot of the painting has literally terrified me for years, I still picture it when I close my eyes in the shower and before I turn around sometimes
A week before this episode aired during commercial breaks during reruns when it said next up gravity falls it showed Stanley and Stanford swinging for 1 frame at the end
"why are they mad? What are they gonna do with toxic waste?"
I think the point is, "whats HE gonna do with this???"
Watching Gravity Falls, it makes me want to be a good writer to make a good story that will turn into a good show. To make clichés good, making good characters, making great comedy, heartfelt moments, and more. My problem is that I don't know what to write or what the show would be because I might write something garbage or something to offend the viewers. I might run out of ideas due to my autistic disability, and I wasn't sure if I needed help or not.
Gravity falls was the first thing I saw where I knew I wanted to be the creator of a story. I always wanted to be a puppet maker or a costume designer, but watching gravity falls when I was twelve made me realize that I could make a story. and if I did a good job, I could make a story people would love. I’m also autistic, so good tv has helped me understand tone and stuff. I highly reccomend listening to the gravity falls behind the scenes podcast on Spotify, it is HANDS DOWN the BEST how to actually write something and understand why your writing works class I have EVER seen and I have paid actual thousands of dollars in what college courses couldn’t help with. So who knows? Maybe you’ll be the next Alex hirsch :)
2:14 nope, definitely the shot of the blackened bill with a yellow eye
This is the ozymandias of gravity falls except we aren’t on Walt’s side we’re on the family’s side we are on Dipper Mabel and Soose’s side rather than Stan
Do you mean Walt’s POV, or his moral side, because they can mean two very different things and now I’m curious. Otherwise that, I agree with the analogy, though IMO Ozymandias is better overall.
@@maxdeltaco6537 no I mean the viewers in Breaking Bad would root for Walt because the show tricked us into thinking he was moral whilst in Gravity Falls we aren’t on Walt’s (Stan’s) side we are on the family’s. And yes Ozymandias is angelic
@@DJFNaFMan ok that clears things up, just checking to make sure you weren’t crazy. good news, you’re not!
@@maxdeltaco6537 trust me I’m bonkers! Also today I realised smth bout Better Call Saul.
Through out Jimmy’s life he has been given horrible amounts of bad karma (obviously because he’s breaking the law quite a bit) but it feels like God or whoever is giving the karma at this point felt sorry for Jimmy during his five years of being completely alone as Gene Takovic. All of his friends are dead or hate him at that point and he must have been beyond depressed. But maybe it’s because he kept going that he got sent to jail. Look I know it was Jimmy’s choice to go for 86 years but to be honest being in jail with everyone who worships and respects Jimmy is a lot better than everyone that looks down on and ignores Gene Takovic.
Then we get to Walt’s fate. Instead of going to jail (which as we know he would likely get beaten to death in there when other convicts hear he poisoned a kid) Walt gets to die? Walt is by far worse than Jimmy and he gets death whilst Jimmy lives on in a prison in decent condition. Eh just thought it was weird that the bad guy gets immediate freedom whilst the lesser bad guy gets time related freedom.
Btw I love Better Call Saul’s ending so much! (I talk t00 much lmao)
I get a lot of Lost vibes from this episode, I’m aware that Gravity Falls has a lot of Twin Peaks inspiration, but the secret underground bunker with a massive machine and a countdown clock, just gives me super strong LOST vibes
Maybe that’s why it’s my favorite episode lol I love Lost
This episode and A Tale of Two Stans might be the two best episodic episodes in all of TV. They reveal the biggest mystery of the series and then follow it up with an origin on everything. You can’t get better than that imo.
Ozymandias+granite state, granite state+felina
i remember seeing dreamscapers as well as this episode at maybe like a restaraunt or maybe a friend's house or something after only previously seeing most of the episodes from season 1 and it spriked my interest in the series again
wait till this guy sees ozymandias
Gravity Falls was so good. I was in my early 20s when I saw it. It was amazing.
I miss it constantly.
Bro the johnny Manchild in the intro was NOT something I was expecting. Gave me chills (also made me think my Spotify turned on by itself)
Since you mentioned you didn't watch GF while it was airing, "Stan is not what he seems" was a code you could find in the intro (IIRC), so fans were discussing this quote ever since the first episode
The Bunker scene might have the most compelling drama ever in any kids show in history. Maybe the Crossroads of Destiny from Avatar?
I do remember a lot this specific episode because I did watch the whole 1st season on Disney Channel in Mexico, however, the whole 2nd season I had to watch trough internet and doing a lot of hoops so I can see the episodes, somehow I found a Live stream of someone on internet who was watching the episode live on TV and I remember being mined blown by the end when Stanley reveals the author is Stanford and his brother and just like you said, the credits sequence of both brothers just sitting in the swing in full silence just hearing the natural sounds of the beach, it was all just so you could keep the mouth open and think about all that you just saw, Alex Hirsch definitely knew what he was doing when he did all that
JOHNNY MANCHILD FAN SPOTTED
0:19 great editing
I SWEAR TO GOD EVERYWHERE I go I see these comment with a timestamp for really early in the videos saying the most random and minuscule or pointless things. Are they bots? Are they actual people?
@@sjs817705 uh dude they just said they liked the editing
@@Autumn-fk4fo I know but I see this so many times on different videos for example there was one which just pointed out where the thumbnail was in the video like why? Like I’m not even annoyed more so confused.
@sjs817705 this one actually makes sense, i get what you mean though
Yes, It's likely a bot
Put “Not what he seems” in quotes. It confused me trying to read this title
Thanks
@@TotallyJackEarl ofc :)
I agree with you this episode is so awesome it is my second favorite episode of any show my favorite is amphibia the hardest thing (all in) it feels like the whole series was leading up to this episode when i first watched it i questin my self is stan a good guy
The jumpscare I got by the Johhny manchild music was unreal omg. I’m a huge fan so it caught me completely off guard
shlawg has NOT seen Ozymandias
I LOVED this episode!
This video is amazing!
Great video! loved hearing stars from jmpb btw
I feel like the red wedding would blow this dudes mind
dude i was fucking jumpscared by the johnny manchild music in the intro and title cards 😭
5:13 GOD, this scene gives me goosebumps. It's so good. It also makes me want to rewatch the show lol
I also love how Dipper tells Mabel "listen to your head" because that's what Dipper has always done....he's the "Trust No One" guy who takes the facts put in front of him and runs with it and the paranoia. It's easier for him not to trust Stan because they didn't entirely connect in the same way he and Mabel did at this point and Dipper had seeds of doubt (Heck, he even doubted Ford in the Mabelcorn episode). But Mabel has always been one to listen to her heart. Not only that, but she has arguably bonded with Stan a lot more up to this point and is torn between him and her brother. But this moment proves that listening to your head isn't always the answer. And what's crazy about this is that, if Dipper got his way, he would never have found the answers he was so desperately looking for through Ford. Doing things Mabel's way and being forced to trust her judgement (and Stan's)...and being forced to relinquish control and put trust in them...gave Dipper what he truly wanted--The Author. It's just insane to me that he's fighting against the thing he really wants...the thing he's been searching for the whole show...arguably his purpose as a character...and he doesn't even realize it. It's such interesting writing.
Can I just say that I love this review. There’s no fluff, it just sums up the episode, why it’s good, and everything you like about it in under ten minutes. Content like this is rare nowadays.
Oh my god you are so underrated
Not what he seems is the greatest episode of all time
As someone who WAS there as the show was airing and followed the theorising community closely lemme tell you almost all of the theorising community knew stan had a brother before the reveal. It was suuper obvious. Our biggest clue was that we could literally SEE his brother on the background of his boxing flashback. His face is covered by a magazine but the shape of the hair being identical to kid stan's hair shape made everyone believe that he had a brother. We weren't sure if it was his twin I dont remember any theories about his brother being his twin but we knew he had a brother. Imagine my hype when the reveal dropped and I realised we were right.
"I've see a lot of twist reveal. I've seen good, and I've seen both the Now You See Me movies." 💀
for this much effort and passion, keep going
"Chekhov's grapling hook" love that
Stars by manchild jumpscare lol
JOHNNY MANCHILD JUMPSCARE???
Here from the Johnny Manchild discord server, very nice music choice :)
"Why "Not What He Seems" is The Greatest Episode of TV" because Ford is in it, next question
Something I see people miss a lot of that Stan never meant to hide anything that was going on from the kids in the end. It’s a “betrayal” but it’s really not. Stan was going to tell the kids but then the whole day got upended by the government getting involved.
JOHNNY MANCHILD INTRO???
I can finally watch this video after finishing the series
moreso than Mabels grappling hook, there's so much foreshadowing and setup. Mabel is someone who always completely trusts in things, Dipper is a major skeptic. However Stan is built up as a total scammer, a fraud who steals cheats and lies, and even moreso than that he lies about the books to dipper even after saying he won't lie anymore. Not only does dipper have mistrust but so do we, and the gravity affects that occur are such a cool way of building tension and used in scenes such as the portal confrontation and the jailbreak scenes. Everything the series has built of the identity of the books, and of Stan, all builds to this and is tested and for a moment your mind goes through the same dilemma watching the end. Is Stan actually a bad guy, but he's good... This is so good and fitting with the title I wouldn't have minded this be the finale, but of course I adore the actual finale a ton as well.
You’re underrated. Seriously.
was not expecting a JMPB song in a gravity falls video
Why does this man have not much subscribers, he should have so much more
YEAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!
ITS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE TV EPISODE IN ANY SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN DUDE
bro needs to watch more shows
Johnny Manchild moment
The only thing i havent been able to figure out is how did NOBODY notice that Stanford suddenly had only 5 fingers on each hand?
in the bill scene? he was too arrogant and thought that Stanford was serious because he put something so important to him on the line.
@@ZamaPGwhat does that got anything to do with it? The commenter sounds like he's talking about an animation error.
@@william3100 ah. i thought he was talking about the scene where they switch identities to trick Bill. He also might be thinking about how Stanley stole Stanford’s identity
Amazing video
This channel is underated
2:15 - (Looks at the guy having every orifice rearranged for the amusement of a mad reality-warping godlike entity while he screams in muffled agony and terror.)
...
*...REALLY?!?!?!?*
good music taste :3
You only have 500 SUBS???? YOU DESERVE 100k???!??
this episode builds tension...something you don't see much in tv shows..let alone kids shows
I remember being around 5 or something and watching this episode with my mouth wide open٫ i was considered a child that doesn't really react massively to things so that was itself an achievement
Just finished rewatching gravity falls, ngl this vid made we re-watch the whole series
"the greatest episode of tv"
meanwhile ozymandias from breaking bad chilling with a the only 10/10 in imbd history
The title of the episode keeps making me think of Wings of Fire for some reason😂
They wanted to bringthe twins to child protective services because their parents werent there
So they would get there then contact their family
It was just an attempt to remove them from the situation and get them somewhere safe
This is just an audio description for the blind??😭
Hell I knew the brother twist from the start and this was still a badass episode and an awesome show
i was 7 or 8 when this episode aired and i canonically died during the 4 month wait between not what he seems and tale of two stans
Yes, it is the greatest ever. The intensity and buildup are only a minor part of what makes this such an incredible episode. The pure genius, the raging emotions and the incredible reveal at the end make this not just the best episode of TV ever, but the most rewatchable ever.
Bussin video keep it up 👍
I wholeheartedly agree
Indeterminate amount of time?
I think I like this guy
As someone who grew up near Yucca Mountain I can give you a number of reasons why stealing nuclear waste is a *very very bad thing*.
0:22 YOOOOO JOHNNY MANCHILD FUCK YEAH
THIS VIDEO JUST SHOWED UP ON MY SUGGESTED I WAS NOT EXPECTING JOHNNY MANCHILD ON A GRAVITY FALLS VIDEO HELLO?????
I can tell you how TOUGH it was creating Gravity falls theories. I was a part of the community that made COUNTLESS of theories about gravtiy falls, and it was INSANE.
This is the episode where gravity falls
Na, it's the sign (from bluey)
This episode is good, but I feel like Ozymandias from Breaking Bad, Unmortricken/The Ricklantis Mix-up from Rick and Morty, and Weirdmageddon 3 and 4 (or just 3, if you think they shouldnt have been split) are still better or at a similar level of quality