Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls

"Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls"
Gravity Falls episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 20
Directed by	Stephen Sandoval
Written by	Shion Takeuchi Mark Rizzo Josh Weinstein Jeff Rowe Alex Hirsch
Editing by	Kevin Locarro
Production code	618G-221
Original air date	February 15, 2016 (2016-02-15) (Disney XD) February 19, 2016 (2016-02-19) (Disney Channel)
Running time	44 minutes
Guest actors
Cecil Baldwin as Tad Strange Kurt Braunohler as Greg Valentino Louis C.K. as The Horrifying Sweaty One-Armed Monstrosity Nathan Fillion as Preston Northwest Danielle Fishel as Pyronica Larry King as Wax Larry Kyle MacLachlan as Bus Driver Andy Merrill as Teeth Alfred Molina as Multi-Bear J.K. Simmons as Ford Pines

"Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" is the series finale of the American animated television series Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch. The episode was written by Shion Takeuchi, Mark Rizzo Josh Weinstein, Jeff Rowe, and Hirsch, and directed by Stephen Sandoval. The series follows twelve-year-old twins Dipper (voiced by Jason Ritter) and Mabel Pines (voiced by Kristen Schaal), who stay for the summer with their grand uncle Grunkle Stan (voiced by Hirsch) in a tourist trap called the Mystery Shack, set within the fictional town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. In this episode, Ford (voiced by J.K. Simmons) discovers Bill Cipher's true motives, the Mystery Shack crew forms a plan to fight back. A final confrontation with Bill leads to the Pines family's ultimate fate and greatest sacrifice.

"Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" was first broadcast on February 15, 2016 on Disney XD, and was watched by 2.47 million households in the United States. It became the most watched telecast in the history of Disney XD, beating "A Tale of Two Stans", another episode of Gravity Falls.

Plot

Part 1 - Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls

Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy find the remaining residents of Gravity Falls hiding in the Mystery Shack, including: Stan, Candy, Grenda, McGucket, Pacifica, Waddles, Larry King's disembodied head, the gnomes, Toby, Sheriff Blubbs, and many others. Stan learned that the unicorn hair barrier that Dipper and Ford set up around the Shack protected it from weirdness waves and all things related to Weirdmageddon. Dipper angrily informs Stan that Ford has been captured by Bill and that they cannot just stay cooped up in the Shack. Stan grudgingly shrugs the issue off, believing that Ford has to get himself out of the mess he made. While the refugees are discouraged, Mabel and Dipper try and inspire them to fight back to save their friends, saying that Bill wants them to run and hide. Dipper says that Ford knows Bill's secret weakness. If all of the refugees band together, they can rescue Ford, find Bill's weakness, and save the town. The refugees are optimistic, but Stan objects on the grounds that the Shack is the only place safe from Bill and that there's no way to bring it to him.

Inside the Fearamid, Ford is reverted from his gold state inside a private study and chained to the floor. Bill explains Ford is trapped inside a penthouse suite in the tip of the Fearamid. Ford thinks that this is due to a natural magnetism attracting weirdness to Gravity Falls, the event he's studied for years, a force so strong that it forms a barrier that prevents that weirdness from going outside the town. Bill tries to persuade Ford by telling offering him unlimited power in a world without restrictions or laws. Bill decides to find the equation needed to break the barrier in Ford's mind. Ford reminds Bill he can't unless he makes a deal with him. Bill decides to try to find Ford's weakness and force him to make the deal by torturing (and electrocuting) him.

Meanwhile, Stan is skeptical about rescuing Ford, as he is still upset that his brother never thanked him for rescuing him and groans at the fact of how Ford is still called a hero even after causing Weirdmageddon. Dipper says that Ford is a hero because he didn't want to hide, but Stan retorts that if Ford hid, he would still be alive.

The mech walks past some other survivors on its way to the Fearamid, where it's shown that in the throne room, Bill and his friends are torturing Ford by blasting him with lasers. Before Bill can start torturing Ford again, a dinosaur head busts through the wall of the Fearamid, outraging Bill. Soos tells the henchmen to hand over Ford, or else they'll fight. Bill is upset as Ford congratulates Dipper and Mabel for their efforts. Bill realizes Ford cares about the twins, and wonders if torturing them will be more effective than torturing Ford. Ford is turned back into a gold statue as Bill flies over to the Shack-tron and attempts to crush it with a giant fist. The refugees use the dinosaur arm to tear out Bill's eye and distract him.

Realizing now is their chance to rescue Ford, a team composed of the twins, Stan, Soos, McGucket, Wendy, Pacifica, and Sheriff Blubs, is ejected out of the Shack-tron, using parachutes to land inside the Fearamid. Mabel travels up the human throne using her grappling hook and finds Ford as a gold statue. Stan yells at her to take Ford and leave, but Dipper says they don't know how to unfreeze him. All the citizens are happy to be freed, and Ford is un-petrified as well. He meets McGucket for the first time since he left Ford. Dipper and Mabel ask Ford what Bill's weakness is. Ford dismissed it as superstition at first but realizes now it's destiny, referring to the Zodiac Wheel. Ford tells Dipper to go to the pine tree and Mabel to go to the shooting star.

Back on the Fearamid, Ford tells everyone in the Wheel to hold hands. When Dipper wonders who the bag of ice represents, Ford explains that some of the symbols are metaphors. When Ford says the spectacles are someone scholarly, McGucket steps forward. Ford realizes there's only one person left to join the Wheel: Stan. He yelled at Stan to join the wheel, but he remains skeptical. Stan tells everyone that he isn't the enemy, and that Ford is for bringing Bill into Gravity Falls. Stan finally agrees, but only if Ford thanks him for spending 30 years bringing him back, the latter then does so albeit reluctantly. After Ford corrects Stan on his grammar, Stan pushes Ford, breaking the link.

The twins fight and argue for a while, until Bill appears at the entrance of the Fearamid, surprising them.

Part 2 - Weirdmageddon 4: Somewhere in the Woods

Bill berates the group, burns the Zodiac wheel and captures Stan and Ford. The others stand against Bill, but are quickly disabled and turned into helpless banners. Bill once again tries to force Ford to give him the algorithm to break Gravity Falls' force field, threatening to torture Dipper and Mabel if he refuses. The twins tell him not to trust Bill, which causes him to close in on them with intimidation. Mabel quickly takes out her spray can and sprays Bill's eye, distracting him again and freeing Stan and Ford. Dipper yells at Stan and Ford to run, saying him and Mabel will take care of Bill. As Bill moves to follow them, Stan and Ford try to escape.

Stan feels guilty for the current situation, feeling he should have shaken Ford's hand and that he really is a screw-up. Ford then consoles Stan, as he made the deal with Bill in the first place. Stan wonders what would happen if Bill went in his mind, but Ford says there's nothing Bill wants in there. Bill eventually captures Dipper and Mabel, and decides to kill one of them unless Ford gives him the algorithm. Before Bill does so, Ford surrenders as Stan objects. Bill enters Ford's mind, and finds a white void with a single door inside.

When Bill opens it, he's greeted with Stan playing paddle-ball inside the Mystery Shack. Stan reveals he and Ford swapped clothes and pretended to be each other so that Bill would enter the wrong mind. In the real world, Ford takes off Stan's fez and takes out the memory erasing gun, setting it to completely erase Stan's memory. Stan explains his mind's going to be erased with Bill in it, and the door slams shut behind Bill. Terrified, Bill tries to escape and resorts to bargaining with Stan, but Stan doesn't budge. Bill begins to glitch out, his grip on the dream dimension weakening. Stan tells him that for threatening his family, he will be erased, and punches the weakened Bill into nonexistence as his mindscape becomes consumed by fire, happy he truly was good for something. In the real world, Ford finishes erasing Stan's memory.

Stan regains consciousness in the forest as Dipper, Mabel, and Ford run to him. Stan doesn't remember who any of them are. As Mabel desperately attempts to jog Stan's memory, Ford sadly explains that Stan sacrificed his memories to save everyone, and that he's their hero. Dipper wonders if saving the world was worth it if Stan doesn't remember his friends and family. Mabel tries to find something to bring Stan's memory back and eventually stumbles across her scrapbook. Mabel sits down with Stan and begins sharing the stories and memories of her time at Gravity Falls with him. As Waddles jumps onto Stan's lap, Stan involuntarily calls Waddles by his real name, even though he shouldn't remember it. Ford realizes the scrapbook is working as Stan also calls Soos by his name. Dipper and Mabel continue to show Stan more activities in the summer, showing him all of the things Stan did with them. Everyone begins to laugh, and even Stan joins in as he puts his arms around the twins.

Stan has fully regained his memory and is throwing a party to celebrate Dipper and Mabel's 13th birthday and last day in Gravity Falls. At the Mystery Shack, Stan, Ford, Soos, Wendy, Candy Chiu, and Grenda finish singing Happy Birthday to Dipper and Mabel. He personally asks Stan to come with him and give him a second chance, living the adventures they wished they had when they were younger. When Ford wonders what to do with the Mystery Shack, Stan comes up with an idea and whispers it to Ford while Soos eavesdrops in horror. The town is shocked, and Soos runs on stage and speaks against Stan. Stan then announces Soos would be his replacement and gives him his fez.

The twins are at the bus stop with Stan, Ford, Soos, Wendy, Candy, and Grenda. Mabel wishes goodbye to Stan as well, happy he's wearing a goodbye sweater she made for him. She bids farewell to Candy and Grenda, thanking them for being her best friends. Dipper and Wendy say their goodbyes, as she tells him he means a lot to her. Wendy gives Dipper her hat in exchange for his, along with a letter, and tells him to read it the next time he misses Gravity Falls. Mabel then tearfully says goodbye to Waddles due to Dipper and Mabel's parents not allowing a pig in the house, A fed up Stan then demands the bus driver to allow Waddles on the bus, and he and Ford threaten the driver into complying. Dipper and Mabel's friends (as well as the supernatural creatures introduced in the series) wave them goodbye as they leave Gravity Falls.

In the future, Soos wears Stan's old costume and is now running the shack with his girlfriend Melody, and has made a statue of Stan in his honor, which frightens many of the young tourists in the Shack. The boat used by Ford and Stan to travel around the world is revealed to be named the 'Stan O' War II'. Back in the present, while Mabel sleeps on his shoulder, Dipper opens the letter Wendy gave him, signed by his and Mabel's friends in Gravity Falls and reading, "See you next Summer!". Dipper smiles as the bus leaves Gravity Falls, ending the series.

Images of the twins' summer play over the closing credits, ending with a clip of them arriving back home in Piedmont, California. In a live-action post-credits scene, Bill is seen, still petrified, partially submerged in the ground in the woods.

Production

The first thing to know is that the show isn’t being cancelled- it’s being finished. This is 100% my choice, and its something I decided on a very long time ago. I always designed Gravity Falls to be a finite series about one epic summer- a series with a beginning, middle, and end. There are so many shows that go on endlessly until they lose their original spark, or mysteries that are cancelled before they ever get a chance to payoff.

—Hirsch regarding the ending of Gravity Falls

"Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" is the twentieth episode of the second season and the final episode of Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch. He wrote it with Mark Rizzo, Jeff Rowe, Shion Takeuchi, and Josh Weinstein. It is the fifth and final episode to be directed by Stephen Sandoval.

On November 20, 2015, before Weirdmageddon 2 & 3 aired on Disney XD, Hirsch announced in his Tumblr that he decided to end Gravity Falls. He explained that the show isn't canceled by Disney itself. He ended it by his own decision. He said that he doesn't want Gravity Falls to lose its original spark, and he never meant the show to be a series that goes on forever, but an exploration of the experience of summer and a story about childhood itself. According to him, the fact that childhood ends is exactly what makes the show so precious – and why the viewers should cherish it while it lasts.

The episode features a number of guest stars who already appeared on the show once or twice, such as Cecil Baldwin as Tad Strange, Kurt Braunohler as Greg Valentino, Louis C.K. as The Horrifying Sweaty One-Armed Monstrosity, Nathan Fillion as Preston Northwest, Danielle Fishel as Pyronica, Larry King as a wax version of himself, Andy Merrill as Teeth, Alfred Molina as Multi-Bear, and J.K. Simmons taking the recurring role as Ford Pines. There is only one new character in the series finale, and that is the bus driver who took Dipper and Mabel back to Piedmont, California, who is voiced by Twin Peaks star, Kyle MacLachlan.

Broadcast

The episode premiered on Disney XD on February 15, 2016, at 7:00pm EST. On its premiere day, the episode garnered an average of 2.47 million viewers across the United States, beating "A Tale of Two Stans" as the most watched telecast in the history of the network.

On February 8, 2016, seven days before the premiere, Disney XD aired a half-hour special titled Gravity Falls: Between the Pines, hosted by creator Alex Hirsch and Gravity Falls character Time Baby (played by Dave Wittenberg.) The special elaborates on the production of the show, giving fans an inside look behind the scenes. A 68-hour marathon aired on Disney XD from February 12, 2016, up until the finale on February 15, 2016, with the entire series airing in order. Due to only having 39 episodes before its airing, the show was looped four times to fill the 68-hour slot.

Reception

Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club awarded the episode an "A" for bringing back as many characters as possible, with even tertiary supporting characters getting their own little moment to shine. He applauded to the way the episode exemplifies all Gravity Falls could be at its frequent best: It’s funny, emotional, beautiful, and terrifying in equal measure. According to him, "Back when Gravity Falls started out, it was pitched as a kid-friendly cross of The Simpsons, Twin Peaks, and The X-Files. I can think of no finer final tribute than to say it lived up to all the ridiculous potential implicit in that description … and ended up being something even better than that." In the end, he wrote that Gravity Falls kicked off his AV Club reviewing career for nearly four years ago, and this is likely going to be the only show he ever got to review wire-to-wire, so the show will always have a very special place in his heart for reasons that he can’t imagine anyone else cares all that much about.

Max Nicholson of IGN praised the episode's way of balancing all the characters and not leaving anybody out of the fun. He also enjoyed the little nods to the previous episodes of the show. According to him, "Weirdmageddon 3" was filled with laughs, excitement and heartwarming moments. In his review, "As animated series go, Gravity Falls was an excellent one, and it'll be sad to see it go. At the same time, I'm glad it ended while it was still fresh, so fans can remember it fondly."

The episode gained considerable press after the episode revealed that the characters Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland are gay, with coverage in LGBT-oriented sites as well. The pairing was revealed after the pair threatened anyone who asks too many questions about the events of Weirdmageddon with tazers. When they told that they will zap them with their tazors if anyone tells, Deputy Durland said that they're mad in power, he faced to Sheriff Blubs and they added, "and love." Hirsch previously said that he believed that he would be blocked from including LGBT characters in the show. He stated that “I would love to, but I doubt they’d ever let me do it in kids TV. But man, I would if I could.” This was the first time Disney Channel introduced a gay male couple in the network, which is described as a "Disney taking a huge step towards equality."