1x18 Land Before Swine

[8.2/10] I dig both threads of emotional friction and reconciliation in this one. Mabel and Grunkle Stan are at odds over the treatment of Waddles. Dipper and Soos are at loggerheads over whether Soos can be trusted not to mess up a plan. And eventually, both pairs come together by realizing that they trust and care about one another. That’s nice!

Oh, and also they have to chase after a giant pterodactyl. (The “P” is silent.) That’s what I love about Gravity Falls -- it draws out these down-to-earth disputes over respecting someone else and illustrates them through a ridiculous chase involving a dinosaur absconding with a pet pig to an underground mineshaft. As lovely a story this is about loved ones coming together, it’s also a fun adventure with thrills and laughs galore.

Mabel and Grunkle Stan’s contempt is probably my favorite. There’s something about stingy Stan being so affronted by a pig being in the house that I just find amusing. The way waddles gets snapped up in two seconds when he finally does put the little porker outside, the way he plays sheepish with Mabel when she finds out, and the way he concocts a fish tale about how he tried to fight off the pterodactyl are all fantastic. THere’s an abundant adorableness to Mabel’s escapades with her pet, and ehr devotion to reducing him is admirable.

But the catharsis comes when, for all his bluster, Stan realizes that however he feels about Waddles, he loves Mabel and couldn’t bear to have her never speak to him again. So he really does fight off the dino and protect her pig, in the name of restoring their relationship and recognizing that it matters when something’s important to someone you love, even when it’s not important to you.

The bit with Dipper and Soos is still pretty darn good though. The show wrings paint yof stellar humor out of Soos being a blithe bungler, frustrating Dipper’s mystery-hunting aims. Dipper wanted to be supportive of someone who’s always been a friend to him, but also being worried about how Soos’ presence and occasional duncery might get them into trouble makes for a good dilemma. The resolution, with Soos finding a comically exaggerated but Jurassic Park-esque way to escape the baby pterodactyl thanks to its line of sight and Dipper trusting his friend to rise to the occasion, is very wholesome.

Amid all of this well-done emotional storytelling comes very funny gag work with Stan’s sliminess, Soos’ sweet goofball nature, and the abject weirdness of Old Man McGucket. On the whole, a great episode that marries some excellent disputes between the main characters that lead to new understanding with an outsized escapade that comes with laughs and excitement.