Gravity Falls Season 1 Review

Gravity Falls (2012-2016)
Season 1 - 20 episodes (2012-2013)

Buy Gravity Falls on Amazon
Created by: Alex Hirsch
Starring: Jason Ritter, Alex Hirsch, Kristen Schaal, Linda Cardellini, John DiMaggio
Rated: TV-Y7

Plot
Fraternal twins, Dipper and Mabel Pines spend their summer with their Great Uncle Stan who runs a tourist trap called The Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls, Oregon. The twins soon discover the mysterious town is home to many secrets.

Verdict
It's a fun for the whole family type show, though the target is definitely pre-teens. While it doesn't attempt double duty by appealing to adults simultaneously as much as it could, it's still a wonderful show.
It's fun to watch with children, or for an adult wanting an easy watch. It subtly builds mystery and mythology that culminates in the final episode. While many episodes focus on Dipper and Mabel's crushes, it's an insanely charming show. The sibling bond between Dipper and Mabel is always apparent as they frequently sacrifice for each other. The theme song is just amazing, and the animation has an impressive attention to detail.
Watch it.

Review
I've had a lot of fun watching it with my child, though I wish it did more to include adults like Phineas and Ferb (2007-15). Phineas and Ferb is incredibly ingenious, entertaining adults and children simultaneously. The creativity of how it intertwines the A and B plots was always a delight. Admittedly, I'm a huge fan of Phineas and Ferb.
The theme song is incredibly catchy, it's one of the best.

Gravity Falls doesn't quite get there as far as creativity, but I'd rank it right behind them which is esteemed territory. It's a great show with unrivaled animation, that builds a great mythology.
It's a bit Eerie, Indiana (1991-92) with siblings encountering many strange creatures and events in their small town. The mysteries start in the first episode when Dipper finds a mysterious journal in the woods marked as #3.

Many of the plots combine something supernatural with Dipper pining over his crush the teenage Wendy or Mabel interested in a new boy. It doesn't cross the pre-teen line, but these just aren't story lines I care about as much as the mystery and the origins of the journal Dipper found that guides each episode. This journal details many strange creatures found in the town, with many episodes exploring sci-fi and fantasy. The bits of mythology are sparse until we get to the finale.

The show often focuses on growing up, with Mabel trying to be more serious and less childish and Dipper trying to be seem older or more manly in episodes 5 and 11. Adults don't always have the answers and aren't always right. Stan is the prime example of that. The twins are the moral center of the show with Grunkle Stan willing to fleece anyone for just a few dollars, but at the same time in episode 13 Mabel realizes being in charge isn't as easy as it seems.

Great characters all around, even if the teens Wendy and Robbie fall a little flat which could very well be the joke. While I wish the first season did more to build the mystery, instead of frequently focusing on the budding teens, the finale is great. It broadens the mystery and mythology the show has been subtly building, as we finally discover who holds journal #1. We're no closer to knowing who wrote the journals, but this is a far reaching conspiracy and sets up the second season perfectly.