Recap: Gravity Falls "Summerween"

Today, Gravity Falls does its first Halloween special.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't be very noteworthy, since plenty of cartoons do Halloween specials. And I'd actually be recapping this on Halloween. But this show takes place during a single summer, meaning that simply setting the episode on Halloween is right out, barring time travel shenanigans. And it's too soon after the last time to do more time travel shenanigans.

So how do you take a show with an already heavy supernatural/sci-fi element and give it a distinctly Halloween theme without actually setting it on Halloween?

The solution they hit upon is certainly creative.

Happy Summerween, everybody!

The episode begins with Grunkle Stan parking the Stanleymobile in a handicap spot. Because that's how Stanford Pines rolls. Illegally, and with little-to-no concern for others. Soos and the Pines family exit the vehicle as Grunkle Stan announces their location to the twins.

Grunkle Stan: "The Summerween Superstore!"

The Superstore being one of those seasonal stores that pops up in, like, the closed Staples. I think it's like a law or something that places like that have to spring up in each town every Fall.

Except... it's not Fall. It's not even August yet. So Dipper has an entirely valid question.

Dipper: "Wait, Summer-what?"

Grunkle Stan: "Summerween! The people of this town love Halloween so much they celebrate it twice a year. And wouldn't you know it? It's today!"

And that is how a creative team declares that they give not one damn and will do a Halloween episode set in the middle of summer if they darn well feel like it.

Dipper: "Do you always carry that calendar around in your pocket?"

Grunkle Stan: "...Yes."

Mabel can't help but think that something's just plain wrong with celebrating Halloween in the middle of the summer, but she and her brother are soon won over by Soos's eloquent rebuttal.

Soos: "There's free candy!"

So the two soon find themselves running through the costume store as Soos amuses himself by playing with the talking-skull candy bowls.

Skull: "I'd lend you a hand... but I don't seem to have any!"

"My life is naught but a living Hell as I yearn to be able to pick a springtime rose!"

Soos: "Ha ha, this guy tells it like it is!"

But this apparently isn't the first time he's played with the skull, since a nearby employee tells him to please stop handling the merchandise.

Soos: "Ma'am, make these heads less hilarious, n' you got yourself a deal."

Stan prepares to scare some children by picking up a barrel of industrial-strength fake blood, and practices his craft by saying "Boo!" to an infant. But with the blood barrel leaking, Soos going nuts with the talking skulls, and the Pines Twins running around and crashing into things, enough is enough, and an announcement goes over the intercom.

Employee: "Have the police come and eject the Pines family from the store."

"So... I can keep doing my thing with the skulls, then?"

But if there's one thing Stan Pines can do with speed, skill, and sometimes style, it's flee the authorities. So he and the others rush out of the store under cover of smoke bomb. But not before leaving some money to pay for their wares, of course.

Boy, Ben Franklin looks less like a woman than I remember.

Later that night, after the opening titles, the Mystery Twins prepare to get their Halloween on, while Soos is already dressed up in his masked wrestler costume. He's pretty impressed with their energy, and Mabel explains that back at home, she and Dipper were the greatest trick-or-treaters around.

Mabel: "Twins in costumes. The people eat it up."

But Soos makes sure to warn them. Summerween isn't all tricks and treats. 'Round these here parts, you've got to beware of the Summerween Trickster.

Soos: "The Trickster goes door to door, so the legend goes, eating children who lack the Summerween spirit."

Luckily, Dipper and Mabel have spirit for days. What they do not have, however, is good candy. Dipper's been munching on the stuff Grunkle Stan plans on giving out, and it's exactly as cheap as you might imagine.

Dipper: "Sand Pop? Gummy chairs? Mr. Adequate-Bar?"

And worse.

I think all trick-or-treaters will agree with me when I say screw wax lips, wax soda bottles, and, worst of all, those plastic spider rings that hurt if you wear them for more than two minutes.

As an aside, did you know you're supposed to chew wax lips like bubblegum? Everybody I knew just wore them, laughed ironically, and threw them out because they're not edible. Suggesting that we actually chew them would have been like suggesting we chew on those crappy plastic spider rings.

Mabel: "This is all cheap-o loser candy."

Soos: "Quiet your discontent, children! Lest the Trickster overhear...."

Dipper: "Your cape is caught in your fly, Soos."

Soos: "...Touche."

Don't dismiss Soos so quickly, Dipper. He knows about wax lips.

Dipper tosses some loser candy out the window as someone arrives at the door.. Once Dipper opens it up, he's met by the shocking sight of Wendy Corduroy actually wearing a different outfit for once. But not a costume. She came back with Robbie to get her jacket real quick, so Robbie wastes no time to tease Dipper by asking if the squirt's going to go trick-or-treating.

Wendy: "Shut up, Robbie, of course he's not going trick-or-treating."

Since "impress Wendy" has become Dipper's main goal (with "investigate the origin of the Journals currently a distant second), Dipper stammers that trick-or-treating is for babies. So with Dipper's night apparently free, Wendy invites him to Tambry's party, which will allegedly be off the chain. Hook status TBD.

And so, Wendy and Robbie head off as Dipper wonders what to say to Mabel.

But Mabel's all geared up to go. In no time at all, she's got her jelly costume on and both her friends have arrived. Apparently, Grunkle Stan ignored them during the Mystery Shack party, because Mabel introduces them to him.

Grenda: "HELLO, MR. PINES!"

Grunkle Stan: "...You got a cold honey? Something wrong with your voice, there?"

Grenda: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?"

Stan walks away before he's forced to explain his critique of Grenda's gruff voice, so the topic changes to whether or not Waddles will be going with them.

Mabel: "I wish he could, but he's got some very important meetings to attend!"

Until he abolishes the Sunday meetings, that is. Four legs good, two legs better.

Mabel can't wait to show off Dipper's costume, too. But when he shows up, only Candy is impressed.

Candy: "That is a very good Dipper costume."

Dipper claims to be sick from eating that crappy candy, meaning that he should probably stay behind, but Mabel's not having it.

Mabel: "Where's your Summerween spirit?"

As she utters the words, there's a knock at the door. Dipper answers, finding a tall man in patchwork clothes and a smiling mask waiting for him.

Stranger: "Trick or treat...."

Dipper: "Dude, really? You're a little old for this, man. Sorry."

Dipper shuts the door in the stranger's face, argues with Mabel about going trick-or-treating, answers the door again, tells the guy to go to another house, and shuts it again before arguing with Mabel again. When the door knocks for a third time, Mabel tries to apologize for her brother, but it's too late. Dipper has not only lost the Summerween spirit, but he slammed the door on the embodiment of the holiday itself: The Summerween Trickster.

This can only end well.

Trickster: "And for this, you must pay... with your lives."

Mabel compliment's the Trickster's adorable mask, but he's having none of it.. The spirit of Summerween is so upset, that when a random kid named Gorney walks up to the door to twick-or-tweat, he gets devoured whole.

So... "trick" then?

Gorney: "Remember meee!"

But the Summerween Trickster suddenly decides to play fair. If these kids want to avoid Gorney's fate, then the Trickster needs a treat.

Trickster: "If you can collect five hundred pieces of candy and bring it to me before the last jack o'melon goes out... I will let you live."

Dipper: "Five hundred treats in one night? That's impossible!"

Depends on which neighborhood you hit. Though I do have to question the metrics, here. By these standards, three crappy mini Tootsie Rolls would be better than a single full-size Snickers bar. Which any kid can tell you is not how it works.

And what about things like Runts and Nerds, which have multiple pieces of candy per pack? Do those count as multiple pieces of candy, or just one?

But the ultimatum is final as the Trickster slinks away into the night.

Trickster: "You must trick-or-treat... or die."

Positive as ever, Mabel's just glad that Dipper has to trick-or-treat with them now. But the horror quickly sinks in for everybody as Soos comes out to ask what the ruckus was all about. They explain the situation, and Candy shows a picture she took of the Trickster to verify their story. The panic threatens to resume, but Mabel decides to make a rousing little speech.

Mabel: "Now, some might say that being cursed by a bloodthirsty Halloween monster is a bad thing."

"Summerween" monster, Mabel.

Grenda: "I wet myself."

TMI, Grenda.

Mabel: "With Candy's spirit, Grenda's strength, Dipper's brains, and... Soos, here..."

He's an amiable sidekick with a pickup truck. I'm sure that counts for something.

Mabel: "...we'll get 500 pieces of candy and have fun doing it, too. Even if it takes all night!"

Which isn't something Dipper wants to hear. It's already 6 PM, and Tambry's party's in three hours. I mean, he's "sick."

Mabel: "Dipper, what's worse: Getting eaten by a horrifying monster or going trick-or-treating with us?"

Dipper: "Well...."

But he goes with them anyway as Grunkle Stan puts the finishing touches on his vampire costume, ready to meet any trick-or-treaters. Lo and behold, the doorbell rings, heralding his first batch of victims. And so, Grunkle Stan answers the door and greets the kids, only for his face to melt off.

Like he opened the Ark of the Covenant.

This scares the kids away, save for a couple boys who want the old man to cut the crap and hand over the candy. So for an encore, Grunkle Stan disembowels himself.

Come on, Stan. That face-melting trick was top-notch. Pulling sausages out of your gut is amateur hour.

Even the twins used better fake guts than you.

Mummy Kid: "Uh, we've been watching horror movies since we were, like, two years old."

Rambo Kid: "Yeah, we're not scared."

Grunkle Stan: "Oh, you will be. You will be...."

"Kids still get Empire Strikes Back references, right?"

Over in the suburbs of Gravity Falls, Summerween is in full swing. Wendy's dad is taking her younger brothers on Viking raids for candy, and the local police force continues to be an adorable couple.

Looks like the sheriff went all the way and shaved his mustache, rather than go the Cesar Romero route.

Armed with a wheelbarrow for candy collection, Dipper points out the illogic in the whole situation. Namely, why they can't just buy 500 pieces of candy..

Mabel: "That sort of takes the fun out of 'trick-or-treat-or-die.'"

Dipper: "I'm trying to take the 'die' out of 'trick-or-treat-or-die.'"

The first house they arrive at is the home of crazy cat lady Lazy Susan, who identifies almost everybody's costume...

Witch Chimney Sweep, Masked Wrestler Elephant Man, Candy Squeegee, Jelly Ant Farm.

....but draws a blank on Dipper.

"Player 2 Marty McFly?"

Dipper's explanation that not only isn't he dressed up at all, but they're in a hurry to get this over with, doesn't sit too well with Lazy Susan, so she hands out a single piece of loser candy to every kid but Dipper, who didn't even hold out a bag.

Dipper: "Four pieces of candy? This is gonna take forever!"

Honestly, each person only needs to get 125 pieces of candy, even with Dipper sitting out. That's entirely doable, even when you don't get into semantic regarding a "piece" of candy.

So... if the kids' single circus peanut counts as one piece, then what if somebody gives them a small bag of circus peanuts? And what if somebody hands them a little box of Nerds? Or a full-sized Twix package? Seriously, Trickster, you need to make the rules clear up front.

Mabel suggests that Dipper should put on his costume if he's so worried, but Dipper continues with the fake cough and claims that he's not up to it.

Trickster: "Oh, really?"

The Trickster takes inventory of their candy swag and remarks that he's seen better before leaping away.

With the threat renewed, Dipper seems to suddenly be less hesitant to wear his costume. As Dipper dresses, the two kids at the Mystery Shack have started up a two-person protest. I imagine it's the principle of the thing, since they could probably get more candy by hitting other houses instead of spending all their time on the Mystery Shack.

Grunkle Stan emerges in his usual outfit of undershirt and underwear and concedes defeat by admitting that he's not very scary... which is when Waddles goes all Alien chestburster.

It really says something about your beer belly when you can stick a pig under your shirt and nobody notices.

This, too, does nothing to the kids. Grunkle Stan demands to know what actually scares these kids, so they show him a YouTube video of a little kitten.... that turns into a "screamer" vid. Stan runs inside in terror, finding himself forced to wonder if the person he sees in his "Master of Fright" mirror truly is the Master of Fright.

Grunkle Stan: "What happened to you, Stan Pines? What happened?"

Back in town, it's 7 PM and Dipper has decided to bite the bullet, up his game, and wear his peanut butter costume. Dipper and Mabel ring the bell of a bearded biker's house and do a little dance for him when he emerges.

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!

He has the reaction you might expect. Assuming you were expecting him to find the greatest of joys in this as he sees hope for the world. So he hands over his entire bowl of candy, which begins the kids' amazing run of luck hitting the neighborhood. In the space of a single montage, they end up with 499 pieces of candy at only 8:30. When Soos goes to get his truck, Dipper gets put in charge of guarding the wheelbarrow as the others go off to get the final piece... which is when Robbie's van rounds the corner.

Thinking fast, Dipper hides the wheelbarrow and costume in some nearby bushes before Robbie and/or Wendy can spot him. They pull over and talk to Dipper to verify whether he's going to the party, and he claims he was just watching the trick-or-treaters while walking to that very party.

Dipper: "Reminds me of when I was a kid."

Robbie speeds off to the party, leaving behind Dipper. And Mabel, who watched the whole exchange from afar.

Mabel: "You're going to a party?"

Mabel's not top happy over Dipper's willingness to lie to her and ditch her.

Mabel: "On our favorite holiday!"

Or, rather, a local July facsimile of your favorite holiday.

But more importantly, there's the matter of the candy. The candy that Dipper stashed behind some bushes. The bushes with a ravine behind them. The ravine with a gross, polluted stream in it. The gross, polluted stream with all their candy in it, putting their grand total at one piece, leaving them back where they started with less time. No time, since the jack o'melons go out throughout the neighborhood until only one remains. Old Man McGucket prepares to blow it out, but Grenda tackles him, making him drop the melon and skitter off like a rodent. The melon remains lit, so the kids all breathe a sigh of relief... thus blowing out the final jack o'melon.

Well, this is about to take an unfortunate turn.

The Trickster isn't willing to hear out Dipper's excuses, so it's devouring time. The Trickster begins to grow and morph while Dipper throws the only ammunition he has at it: a piece of candy. The candy bubbles and fizzes as the Trickster absorbs it, growing a couple extra arms in the meantime.

The kids try running, but the Trickster grabs Candy and prepares to eat her first in a bit of... well, not "irony," since that's exactly the one I'd expect him to pick first. With his many arms, he grabs every kid but Dipper, who can only watch helplessly. Luckily for them, amiable sidekick Soos comes along to ram his truck through the Trickster, scattering him into a million pieces.

Soos: "That wasn't, like, a regular pedestrian, was it?"

"Because I told the cops it would never happen again."

Everybody buckles up in Soos's truck and they get going. Mabel has a small injury on her arm from the Trickster, but she refuses to talk to Dipper about it. She glumly stares out the window during the drive... which is why she's the one to notice the Trickster's reformation into No Face.

Like, straight-up No Face. We got a full-on, no-holds-barred No Face going on.

The Trickster leaps onto the roof of the truck, sending it out of control and into the Summerween Superstore. Luckily, nobody's hurt by the impact. Unfortunately, that includes the Trickster, so they all quickly hide from the beast in the various shelves.

And this is when Dipper and Mabel take a moment to hash out their issues.

Dipper: "I just... I felt like I was getting a little too old to go trick-or-treating."

Mabel: "That's exactly why we need to go trick-or-treating, Dipper. We're getting older, and there's not that many Halloweens left."

Well, in Gravity Falls, there's twice as many. So that helps.

Mabel: "I guess I didn't realize it was already our last one."

But still, they're going to need to escape the store pretty soon if they want to avoid the Trickster.

Soos: "If only there was something we could use to cover our bodies and faces with. You know, like a disguise of some kind."

"A veneer, even. Or perhaps a facade."

Thanks to some small grim reaper costumes and one big gorilla suit, they manage to sneak all the way to the front of the store. But alas, in order to get out of the store, they have to go past the display of talking-skull candy bowls. Soos's one weakness. Of many. The others tell him not to activate one, but he can't help it.

Soos: "Today's been way stressful. I need some levity."

Luckily, the batteries are all worn down. Unfortunately, Soos takes a second to replace them, allowing him to hear the bony comedian's words.

Skull: "No matter the score, I'm always a head!"

Was it worth it, Soos?

Soos: "This cackling head's the voice of a generation!"

I guess it was. So at least Soos got one last chuckle before he was eaten by a giant monster. But the kids aren't going to take this lying down. They raided the prop weapons display earlier, and they're going to whack the Trickster with some dull, plastic weaponry. With their replica arsenal, they start spilling the beast's guts... its guts actually being salt water taffy.

Hey, Dipper picked up the Link accessories! Although I don't remember there being a Triforce of Ciphers....

Trickster: "You really haven't figured it out, yet?"

The Trickster grabs each kid and shows to them its true face.

My God, Wonka, what foulness have you created?

Trickster: "Did you ever stop and think about the candy left at the bottom of the bag that no one likes?"

Well, according to Lewis Black, the candy corn gets collected and reused every year. They wash it, they wash it.

But according to the Trickster, the abandoned candy gets thrown into the dump, which is where he was born. Born to seek revenge.

Hey, look, the kids that gave those store owners heartattacks with their rap music. They're the real menace of Gravity Falls.

Since no one would eat the candy that comprises him, he's going to eat these kids. But before he can, Soos goes all Alien chestburster on the thing, thoroughly enjoying munching on the beast's innards. I do hope that Soos could hear the Trickster's story from in there. Because if he just started eating away without knowing that... Man, you do not mess with Soos.

Trickster: "You actually think I taste... good?"

Soos: "Uh, sure. You know."

Trickster: "All I ever wanted... was for someone to say that I was good...."

The Trickster cries candy corn tears in its happiness as Soos munches on a chunk of candy shaped suspiciously like a human heart.

Again, you do not mess with Soos.)

Soos: "The crying makes it a little weird, but (nom) I guess I'm still eating."

Yep. Still eating that decades-old trash candy.

And in case you were worried, Gorney turns out to be just fine.

Hooray! Mental scarring instead of death!

Back at the Shack, the two angry kids have TP'd the place to within an inch of its life, so they decide to just head inside and take the candy they came for. Unfortunately, they only find the bathroom, where Stan was prepping a shower so he could "wash off the shame." And the sight of him in his undies is enough to make them run in terror... even though he greeted them earlier wearing an undershirt and underwear.

I guess that's one horrifying, pig-hiding gut.

Grunkle Stan: "Still got it!"

Actually, it seems less hairy than usual. I guess the shaving worked after all.

When the kids return to the Shack, Wendy's already there waiting. She asks where Dipper was during the party, and he proudly admits that he was trick-or-treating.

Wendy: "Party was lame anyway. Robbie ate a lollipop stick first and had to go home sick."

Yeah, sounds about right for a teenage Halloween Summerween party.

But that reminds Mabel that after all that work, they don't have any candy to show for it. Luckily for them, those two fearless kids dropped their candy sacks when they ran in abject terror, so everybody gets to partake as the monster movie marathon continues on TV. Dipper slaps a band-aid on Mabel's arm, and all is forgiven as Stan delivers the moral.

Grunkle Stan: "At the end of the day, Summerween isn't about candy, or costumes, or even scaring people. It's a day when the whole family can get together in one place and celebrate what really matters. Pure evil!"

Well, there's more fodder for the conspiracy theorists that think the Illuminati control Disney. To say nothing of those hidden all-seeing eyes everywhere.

And so, they all share an evil laugh and continue to watch TV.

Soos: "I ate a man alive tonight."

I sure do hope Soos is referring to the Summerween Trickster, because there was a bit in the middle where he disappeared for a while before returning in his truck. Who knows what might have happened?

The credits roll as Waddles gets an adorable meme-tage. And what music did they get to score this meme-tage?

If you said "Nine to Five" by Dolly Parton, then you'd be absolutely correct.

With a final message of "YILFTSG GL BLF YB SLNVDLIP: GSV XZMWB" (Brought to you by Homework: The Candy), the episode ends.

So let's review.