The One Gravity Falls Episode Fans Want First-Time Watchers To See
By Christopher Ramos
In a Reddit thread discussing the best episodes of "Gravity Falls," one title came up repeatedly. The Season 2 episode "Not What He Seems" is an emotional, action-packed installment that forces the audience to question everything they think they know. When Mabel and Dipper find a mysterious device hidden underneath the Mystery Shack, they're locked into a tense exchange with their Grunkle Stan that threatens to rip apart the very fabric of the universe. The ultimate reveal that Stan's twin brother, Stanford (J.K. Simmons), is the elusive author of journals documenting the town's many oddities is just the icing on the cake. "It's what the entire series was building towards since the first episode," wrote u/pk2317.
Other fans expressed similar sentiments, like u/Ice646, who said, "One of the only episodes to have me on the edge of my seat, it honestly felt like watching a movie. The animation, the quality, everything was amazing." For dedicated viewers, the installment provided a satisfying answer to the show's biggest mystery. "All the theories and months of speculation of what the end credits meant, and piecing together the 'Jigsaw puzzle'... probably one of the best episodes in television given the 'WTF' reveal," said u/zonination.
The episode also gives a subtle nod to the other-worldly villainy of Bill Cipher (also voiced by Alex Hirsch), whose extraordinary power is undoubtedly crucial to understanding the ending of "Gravity Falls."
