Recap: Gravity Falls "Double Dipper"

This episode has nothing to do with that episode of Seinfeld. Now that I got the obvious joke out of the way, it's way time to return to Gravity Falls, where the weirdness of the day is screwing around in God's domain!

Hooray!

We open up on the Mystery Shack, where fun is being had by some. Soos is setting up balloons and party decorations while Wendy and the Mystery Twins goof off with some Silly String.

Honestly, what else is there to do with Silly String?

But Grump-le Stan is not in the mood for such revelries and tells them not to touch the party favors until the actual party is underway. There's no real occasion; Stan just wants kids to spend money at the Mystery Shack.

Grunkle Stan: "The young people in this town want fun? I'll smother 'em with fun."Dipper: "Maybe comments like that are why kids don't come to the Mystery Shack."

Grunkle Stan gives the twins a new job copying off some flyers advertising the party. They don't list the party's time, date, location, or probable entrance fee.

So all in all, these are the worst flyers I've seen since Mary Jane attempted to get Spidey to contact her...without giving away her contact information.

But as ever, nothing can get Mabel's spirits down. She's ecstatic about taking a trip to the copier store. and oddly enough, so is Soos.

Soos: "Calendars, mugs, t-shirts and more! They got it all at the copier store! ...That's not their slogan; I just really feel that way about the copier store."

Except that Stan is being a skinflint, as per usual. He tells the twins to use the copier in his office that he "fixed up." The one that we soon see is taped up, sparking, and filled with moths. Dipper tries to get it to work, and accidentally copies his arm in the process. And I mean that literally. The machine spits out an image of Dipper's arm on a piece of paper which comes to life and starts crawling toward the twins. With no other weapons, Dipper throws his soda at it, dissolving it. Apparently, even though the arm was three-dimensional and alive, it was still made of paper.

Mabel: "Do you realize what this means?"

Mabel has chosen to ignore the implications of creating life from lifelessness in favor of goofing off with Silly String. Ignorance is bliss.

Actually, Dipper chooses to ignore the ramifications of what he just witnessed, too. In the space of a commercial break, Soos, Wendy, and the twins are lined up in front of Stan, awaiting their assignments.

Grunkle Stan: "Alright, party people. And Dipper."

Soos gets the job of DJ because he'll work for free. And he was begging for a chance to try out the skills he's learned from his book How to DJ R-R-R-Right. Wendy and Mabel are assigned to the ticket stand. This actually manages to put a frown on Mabel's face, seeing as how she was looking forward to making new friends. But luckily for her, Dipper volunteers to sit outside with Wendy all night. And he's actually pretty excited for the opportunity, and prepares for it by dressing up in his finest bow-tie and Axe body spray.

Unlike the others, Mabel can see exactly why Dipper wants to spend time with Wendy and teases him in traditional sisterly fashion. But Dipper's confidence can't be defeated so easily. He's got what he calls "a plan." Mabel calls it a "super complicated listy-thing."

Dipper: "Step 1: Getting to know each other with playful banter. Banter's like talking, but smarter."
Mabel: "That sounds like a dumb idea for poop-heads."
Dipper: "Yeah, see, this isn't banter. This is what I want to avoid with Wendy."

Apparently, the final step is to ask Wendy to dance.

By the looks of this dream sequence, one of the middle steps is to grow a few feet.

Mabel suggests simply talking to Wendy like a normal person, which is apparently already covered by Step 9.

Seems legit.

Now, I already covered a plethora of how not to court people when I covered "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel." So I'm just going to skip ahead to the party itself, just like the episode does.

Stan and Mabel are dressed up in accordance with the 70's and 80's, respectively as he pats himself on the back for his latest idea: an exit fee. Basically, if you want to leave, you've got to pay 15 bucks.

These poor souls only have 13.

Dipper tries to manufacture a casual conversation, but doesn't seem to have a knack for it.

Dipper: "So here's a casual question! What's your favorite type of snack food?"
Wendy: "Oh, man, I can't just pick one."
Dipper: "No way! Mine too!"
Wendy: "Wait, what?"

Dipper quickly avoids the question by shoving two handfuls of popcorn in his face and going back to his list for ideas. Inside, Mabel is dancing up a storm. Having danced like maniac on the floor, like she's never danced before, she takes a break and meets a couple wallflowers. One of them (Grenda, played by Carl Faruolo in a way that does nothing to hide that he's a guy) has an iguana on her massive body, and the other (Candy, played by Niki Yang) has forks taped to her hands so she can pick up popcorn better. Or as she says....

Candy: "Improvement of human being."

I like this kid. She's weird.

Mabel's happy to have found some new friends as the party really gets underway. Soos takes the advice of his DJ-ing book and offers up a golden crown for the person who "party hardys." Which, as we all know, is a tradition dating back to ancient Greece, when the goddess Eris offered up a golden apple for the hottest chick on Mount Olympus. Hopefully, this contest won't end with the fall of Troy.

Some blonde girl (Jackie Buscarino) walks up and just tells Soos to pony up the crown in the most Valley Girl voice humanly possible. Candy and Grenda explain that she is none other than Pacifica Northwest, the most popular girl in town. Like most "popular girls" in fiction, Pacifica crushes the self-esteem of the misfits by making fun of "Lizard Lady" and "Fork Girl" while laughing over the idea that anyone would dare to compete against her.

I mean, come on. She's wearing sunglasses at night.

Mabel: "Hey! I'll compete! I'm Mabel."
Pacifica: "That sounds like a fat old lady's name."
Mabel: "I'll take that as a compliment!"
Pacifica: "May the better partier win."

And Pacifica dances off into the background with her entourage in a manner that suggests that they're about to throw down with the Sharks.

As the party ramps up inside, Wendy suddenly finds herself with a pressing need to party like its 1999, leaving Dipper to watch the ticket stand by himself. Dipper tries to follow her inside, but is stopped by Grunkle Stan.

Grunkle Stan: "These suckers aren't gonna rip themselves off!"
Sucker: "Yeah!"

And for good measure, Grunkle Stan pulls out a tape recording of Dipper's earlier promise to stay outside all night and take tickets. Then he slinks off before anyone can point out how creepy it is that he randomly records things.

Dipper: "If only I could be in two places at once...."

And the flyers next to him give him a little idea. Somehow, he manages to successfully sneak away from the ticket stand and goes to lie down on Stan's copier.

Dipper: "I wonder if this is a good idea."

But no time to think about the ethical ramifications, the procedure is a success, and a second Dipper is born.

Dipper: "Whoa! ...I have a really big head."

After a small bout of saying things in unison, the Dippers get down to business. The original Dipper draws a "2" on his clone and dubs him "Number Two."

Clone: "Definitely not. You know what name I've always wanted?"
Both: "Tyrone?"

And so, Dipper and Tyrone make a plan. Tyrone will work the stand while Dipper works Wendy. They both double check things on their respective copies of the big plan, which makes Dipper a little nervous.

Dipper: "Heeey.... we're not gonna get jealous and turn on each other like the clones in the movies, are we?"
Tyrone: "Dipper, please. This is you you're talking about. Plus, hey. You can always just disintegrate me with water."

And so, not a single crap was given regarding the rights of paper people.

Tyrone and Dipper take their respective posts. But before any progress can be made with Wendy, Dipper finds out that she's been hanging out with Robbie this whole time.

Wendy: "Robbie, you remember Dipper form the convenience store."
Robbie: "Uh, nooooo."

Huh. Almost makes you wonder if he's lying or if some kind of dark forces conspired to make him forget.... (Note: As a commenter has pointed out, Robbie later mentions the events of this episode in "Fight Fighters." And ironically, dark forces will later actually conspire to steal his memories of that episode. A No-Prize for Spider_Fan14! -Nearly-Accurate Newt)

Robbie cements his status as Dipper's rival for Wendy's affections by whipping out his new guitar and being that guy who shows off his musical abilities while there's other music going on. Dipper responds by launching into a new fantasy where Wendy dances with Robbie.

"Look into my eyes, Dipper. And see the face of your demise."

Seriously, though, Wendy's making a weird face.

Back in the real world, Dipper's walkie-talkie rings.

Tyrone: "Hey, buddy, it's me. You. I just had the same jealousy fantasy."

So the new plan is to get rid of Robbie. They have an idea, but they'll need some help. So in the space of a scene transition, there's now another Dipper, aptly named "Number 3." Number 3's a little worried about Robbie catching him, so Dipper and Tyrone agree to give him some backup.

Now, remember when I mentioned that Dipper was kind of ignoring the implications of being able to create life? Well, you might have noticed, but that ignorance is getting worse. When he created the arm, he seemed to realize that this was pretty heavy... before Mabel sprayed Silly String in his face. And he seemed to have a bit of hesitance when he created Tyrone. Number 3 was created when they realized that two Dippers wouldn't be enough, and now a fourth Dipper is being made for the flimsiest of reasons.

And whenever you play cavalier with life, there are bound to be accidents. Tragedies.

Tyrone: "Uh oh, paper jam."

Dear God, Dipper. Look at what you've wrought.

The creation of a gibberish-spewing, deformed clone is usually a tragedy. Except here, because the result is a living paper jam. Now it's hilarious. But still, one could wonder what Paper Jam Dipper would say, were he capable of human speech. As such, I will be taking the liberty of adding my own subtitles to his subhuman babbles.

Number 3: "Come on, you're not gonna make me partner up with him, are you?"
Tyrone: "Hey, shh, don't be rude. Hey, buddy, hey. S'okay."

And as Dipper makes one more clone to replace Paper Jam Dipper, Pacifica is finishing up a beautiful ballad with a voice so powerful that it shatters a red Solo cup.

Grenda: "I used to sing like that. Before my voice changed."

Pacifica finishes up, handing the mic to Mabel and telling Grenda she sounds like a pro wrestler.

Grenda: "I wanna put her in a headlock and make her feel pain!"

Mabel asks for the 80's-est, crowd-pleasing-est, rock balladiest song he has, and he delivers with "Don't Start Un-Believing," a song about how you should never don't not feel your feelings. Mabel's quite the crowd pleaser, despite her failed attempt at doing a flip. Speaking of attempts, Dipper whispers in Soos's ear about something.

Soos: "Dudes, would the owner of a silver n' red dirt bike please report outside. It is being stolen right now."

Robbie runs outside to chase after the guys that look suspiciously like Dipper, allowing the real Dipper to sit next to Wendy as Soos puts on some slow dance/porno music. Mabel runs over to tell her brother to ask Wendy to dance... but he just can't do it. He runs off to his bedroom, where Tyrone is waiting to agree with everything he says.

Tyrone: "Oh, I agree. You can't just go and dance with her."

Anything could go wrong. Glitches in the music, Stan could spot him, Robbie might come back.... They need help. And soon enough, a few more Dippers are made and set loose.  Number 10 tells Soos about the laser pointer dot on the wall to get his attention.

Soos: "Oh, man, I'm so glad I turned my head. That dot does not disappoint."

Then he puts his Wendy Mix CD in the player while Number 7 makes the lights romantic, Number 5 closes the blinds, and Number 8 distracts Stan with a dollar bill on a fishing line. Number 6 rings a bell to alert the real Dipper, who confidently steps downstairs... and finds Wendy waiting for the bathroom instead of on the dance floor.

Dipper tries in vain to manufacture some small talk, but Wendy beats him to it by asking him who he thinks the leader would be if everyone inside the Shack suddenly found themselves on a deserted island. She votes for a lunatic who thinks punching the air is dancing, and Dipper actually loosens up enough to pick a tall guy, on the grounds that he can reach more coconuts. And speaking of tall, Wendy shows him an old picture of her and her three brothers.

One of whom is apparently a redheaded Mike Nesmith.

This loosens Dipper up enough to mention his birthmark. And when Wendy starts chanting "Show me!" like a frat boy, he ends up revealing it for her and the audience to see.

Looks like Alex Hirsch is a fan of Fist of the North Star.

Wendy: "The Big Dipper! That's how you got your nickname! I thought your parents just hated you or something."

Of course, this raises the question of what Dipper's actual name is. According to an unofficial tweet, it's "Llamanic." Which is apparently a tragic misspelling of Dominic on his birth certificate.

When Pacifica finally leaves the bathroom, Wendy takes her turn while an angry mob of Dipper clones comes over to yell at him for not following the plan.

Tyrone: "Number 10 has been distracting Soos for fifteen minutes, he's gonna get tired of that dot eventually!"
Soos: "Never!"

But Dipper mentions that his improvisations have been going really well, and even suggests that maybe they don't need a plan to talk to Wendy.

Number 7: "You bite your tongue!"
Number 5: "If you're not gonna stick to the plan, maybe you shouldn't be the Dipper to dance with Wendy."

Uh oh.

Dipper: "Guys? Come on. We said we weren't gonna turn on each other."
Tyrone: "I think we all knew we were lying."

The clones take away their progenitor and stuff him in a closet.

Dipper: "Ahh. I can't breathe in here!"
Tyrone: "Yeah, you can! Plus, there's snacks and a coloring book in there for you!"

This is what I looked like while watching the Doctor Who episode "Listen."

With "Dipper Classic" taken care of, Tyrone announces his candidacy for dancing with Wendy, as the clone who's been around the longest.

Number 10: "Fair point, fair point. Counterpoint: Maybe I should get to dance with Wendy because I've been around her the least."
Number 5: "That makes, like zero sense."
Number 10: "You make zero sense!"

A Dipper fight quickly breaks out, only to be stopped when Paper Jam Dipper screams some of his "NYAAM NYAM NYAM"s at the others.

Tyrone: "Hey, you want some cheese and crackers, buddy?"

Tyrone: "Hey, guys? What would you do if you were trapped in a closet?"
Clones: "Break out."

Dipper tries to make it downstairs, but is confronted by the other Dippers in the hallway. He manages to sucker punch Tyrone after claiming that any fight between them all would be evenly matched, starting an all-out Dipper fight. Dipper almost escapes, having taped a sticky note over his hat to masquerade as Number 7, but the real Number 7 is getting beaten up by Number 9 and lets them know otherwise.

All the clones manage to team up against Dipper Classic, who has no choice but to use a cheap party popper in their general direction. It only throws out some confetti and a puff of smoke, but that smoke is enough to set off the sprinkler system, turning all the clones to mush. As they dissolve, Paper Jam Dipper gets some gibberish that actually is subtitled in the show.

Good night, sweet print. And flocks of paper angels sing thee to thy rest.

But it's not over.

Tyrone: "You."

Over with Mabel, she's back to partying for that crown. She tries to extend a hand of friendship to Pacifica, but she responds with more attitude and sarcasm. At least they're being more civil than Dipper and Tyrone, who are literally at each other's throats. That is, until they both see Wendy and Robbie laughing it up in the corner.  Defeated, they grab a couple sodas and head up to the roof while the crowd chooses a party winner by applauding.

Pacifica fixes the vote by paying Old Man McGucket to join the crowd in clapping for her and wins the crown.

Pacifica: "Thank you, Jorge!"

You racist piece of...

Pacifica: "Thank you, everyone! Everyone come to the afterparty at my parents' boat! Woo-hoo!"

Mabel is devastated and apologizes to her friends before they go to the afterparty.

Candy: "But then... we would miss the sleepover."

Her friends aren't sad that Mabel lost. On the contrary, they're happy that someone was willing to take on Pacifica on their behalf.

Candy: "Maybe we don't have as many friends as Pacifica. But we have each other. And that is pretty good, I think."
Mabel: "Soos! Play another song! This thing's going all night!"
Soos: "Way ahead of you, hambone!"

Up on the roof, Dipper and Tyrone talk about, like, things and stuff while looking at the stars. The one thing they can agree on? They're making no progress. Maybe the lists and plans are holding him back.

Dipper: "Maybe Mabel is right; I do get in my own way."
Both: "Literally."

It's, like, a metaphor, man.

They clink their cans together, take a sip... and Tyrone realizes what he's done as he dissolves into a pile of mush. Before he goes, Tyrone tells Dipper to shape up around Wendy, and then he becomes the second golem to melt on the roof of the Mystery Shack.
Dipper pours out his soda for his homie and goes back inside, pausing briefly to throw away his list once and for all.

Clones of Dipper will never die; just multiply. Colors.

In the credits, Soos hits every key on his keyboard to search for the sound he's looking for as the message "KZKVI QZN WRKKVI HZBH: "ZFFTSDCJSZWHZWFS!"" appears, which translates to "Paper Jam Dipper says: "AUUGHWXQHGADSADUH!""

And so, let's take a final examination at the short, tragic life of Paper Jam Dipper... I mean, this episode.