This week’s episode of Gravity Falls, “The Last Mabelcorn,” was a lot of fun because it gave us a story largely centered on Mabel, Wendy, Grenda, and Candy (on a quest to capture a lock of unicorn hair), juxtaposed against a very dark, serious story with Ford and Dipper. (You can read our huge recap here.) It really does feel like the series is on the precipice of something huge, and this episode did a great job of getting the audience primed. Also, there were a lot of jokes about what jerks unicorns are.

We reached out to Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls and the writer of last night’s episode, to talk about writing an episode around “the gals,” who could be possessed by Bill Cipher, and an exclusive reveal about the cop show spin-off of Gravity Falls. (Actually, he was just kidding about that last part. We think.)

This episode is great because it gives Mabel, Wendy, Grenda, and Candy a chance to go on an adventure of their own. Is this something you’d wanted to do for a while?

In TV it’s always fun to pair up different characters who don’t normally hang out and see how they’d mesh together. In this instance, we thought it would be fun to contrast Mabel’s glitter-and-hugs mentality with Wendy’s teen-angsty rebellious streak. Candy and Grenda generally act as gleeful followers to whatever strong personality acts as a leader, and it’s funny to me how quickly they shift alliances to Wendy’s side.

Early on we see a memory-erasing gun from the Society of the Blind Eye in Ford’s office (that Dipper later tries to use on his great uncle). Are we to believe that Ford was a member of the Society of the Blind Eye?

Not quite—Ford was in the portal when the society was created! If you recall, Dipper got his memory-gun from the Society, and then gave it to Ford in order to get rid of the government agents. Ford has had the gun ever since. Don’t feel bad for getting it wrong though; there are a lot of sneaky hidden details tying the chronology together. We are working on a canon Journal #3 to sell in stores that will answer these questions and reveal some big new secrets as well!

What are some of your favorites of Mabel’s 1,000 good deeds?

I think somewhere in that list is “Abolish the Electoral College.” Way to go, Mabel! I don’t know how she managed to fix American democracy in an afternoon, but in the power of a montage anything is possible!

Was it fun to shed some light into the backstory between Ford and Bill Cipher and to get a glimpse at the larger threat?

Befriending Bill was the worst mistake Ford ever made. His ego was so seduced by the idea of being “chosen” by a muse that he became Bill’s biggest fan. Ever wonder why there were so many Bill shaped artifacts in the shack (rug, stained glass, etc.)? Ford was obsessed with this god-like character’s influence on history. Unfortunately for Ford, this “god” was really the devil in disguise. And he’s getting ready for Revelations.

One of our favorite sequences was when Mabel and crew visit the gnome bar and the sting operation that follows. Have you thought of a Gravity Falls spinoff concerned with undercover gnomes and that cute deer with the police light on its head?

For Gravity Falls to turn into The Wire for a minute cracked us up on the office. I honestly can’t believe they let us get away with it. That was so fun to write, and I would love to write more if someone let me. Look forward to Gnome PD: Miami Nights coming this fall!

Once again, the stinger was super important: Bill promises to possess one of our beloved Gravity Falls citizens. Please tell me Tad Strange is safe.

No one is safe. I would advise you to lock your doors, burn any triangle-shaped objects in your home, and get “It’s a Small World” stuck in your head. Bill won’t enter your brain if he has to listen to that.

Posted 5 years Ago