As we noted in our rundown, this week’s episode of Gravity Falls, “Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future,” is huge. So many things happen this week, which sees Dipper and Mabel dealing with the end of the summer (and their 13th birthday) in unique ways, concluded with Bill Cipher finally getting the trans-dimensional rift and, essentially, bringing chaos to the world. Ford gravely notes that it’s “the end of the world.” So that’s not great.

We reached out to Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls, to talk us through the creation of the episode and try (hey, it never hurts) to get him to hint at what’s next. And it sounds like things are going to get worse before they get better.

Weirdmageddon is threatened at the beginning of the episode and very much upon us at the end of the episode. In a lot of ways it feels like the entire series has been building towards this, especially since it coincides with the end of summer. Now that it’s here – how do you feel?

I feel like you’re trying to get me to quote a certain R.E.M song. But I won’t take the bait! I WILL say as a show runner that it’s very exciting to see all the tensions and story threads that have been building over the course of the season finally erupt into conflict. The end of the world is only the beginning of a huge showdown adventure that will be crazier than anything we’ve ever seen in the series to date. Our characters will be tested in ways they never have been before, and I expect there are some moments that will genuinely shock our audience. So be sure to watch the upcoming episodes with something huggable nearby – you’ll need it.

High school is a big part of this episode. Did your own experiences inform what the characters went through?

There’s a part in the episode where Wendy says “TV Lied”, and that’s exactly how I felt in high school. TV always depicted high school as a colorful, brightly lit dreamland where absurdly attractive teens made out and high-fived and did skateboard jumps over their lame teachers’ heads. In reality, my high school felt like a sweaty, cramped prison where I was in constant panic over academic success, social standing, and trying not to vomit on people. By senior year, I had made a bunch of great friends and gotten a handle on the place, but I think the stress, fear, and sheer powerlessness kids can feel in high school is something that’s often glossed over in TV. This seemed like an interesting way to address those feelings.

One of our favorite reveals is the valley being formed by a crashed UFO. How long had you been wanting to explore this aspect of the town?

I was totally obsessed with UFOs as a kid. One time in elementary school, my sister pranked me by telling me she saw the shadow of a UFO fly overhead on the dodge ball court. I think she thought I would laugh and shrug it off. SHE WAS WRONG. Instead I completely freaked out, ran out of class, laid down on the asphalt and stared up at the sky for hours until our mom physically dragged me from that spot. Given my childhood UFO madness, it should come as no surprise that I always wanted to include them in the mythology of the show. The idea of Gravity Falls being a prehistoric UFO crash site seemed like a perfect explanation for the town’s geography, as well as an interesting way to suggest the origins of certain aspects of the town’s strangeness. We had this concept from the very beginning of the series, and it’s very cool to finally get a chance to reveal it in the show.

Will we revisit the UFO (and more importantly – what are the chances of viewers meeting the aliens)? And are the ciphers at the end of every episode definitively from this alien language?

You should know by now that I can’t answer questions about the future of the show! But I get it. Kids and journalists alike are constantly asking me what’s going to happen next, perhaps hoping that one of these days I’ll be sleep deprived enough to accidentally let some spoilers slip. Sorry guys, but if you want to know where the show will take us next, you have to keep watching! As for the ciphers, they’re just a fun puzzle we make to keep our fans guessing. And maybe keep journalists guessing as well.

In this episode the episode suggests that the future is both a promise and a potential threat. It’s also absolutely heartbreaking. Mabel triggered the end of the world, but she did so because she wanted more time with her brother. What was it like to mix the otherworldly with the emotional?

Mixing the otherworldly with the emotional is what we try to do every week. It’s essentially our mission statement! Aliens, demons and the apocalypse are scary, but growing up can be even scarier. I was dragged into each step of adulthood kicking and screaming, so I can relate to Mabel. Mabel wants her time in Gravity Falls to last forever. But nothing lasts forever – things change and evolve, and the trick is not to deny the inevitable but to face these changes bravely and creatively with friends by your side. All our characters have a lot of soul searching they need to do as they confront what could be the end of their universe – and time is running out.

Posted 5 years Ago