“The Hand that Rocks the Mabel” Heroic Analysis (4 of 40) of Dipper from "Gravity Falls"

Spoilers ahead:

In this installment of Gravity Falls viewers are introduced to a new shadow character, Gideon Gleeful (Thurop Van Orman) referred to as “Li’l Gideon.” Now that Dipper is comfortable with the normal parts of Gravity Falls, and even some of the not-so-normal aspects, the introduced a villain in the form of a nine-year-old possible faux psychic. I think this is a great creative decision because in a town where mythological and mysterious creatures are real, we’d assume that the obvious villain would be some shadow creature or spirit. But this episodes sets up a great villain in Li’l Gideon because he is just a little boy.

In this episode, Soos acts a herald yet again because he brings Li’l Gideon’s show to Dipper’s attention. Without Soos pointing out and referencing the commercial, Dipper may not have gone to Gideon’s show and the events of the episode would perhaps have not been set in motion. Of course Dipper is curious about Li’l Gideon and becomes protective of his sister, Mabel, after Gideon takes an early interest in her.

My personal favorite villains are those who come about after an action of the hero. Lex Luther from Smallville probably had a chance to be a strong alley throughout the entire show had Clark told him his secret (good friends tell each other secrets right?). Peter Parker is his own shadow when he fails to act and inadvertently allows a robber to kill his uncle, giving fuel to the idea that with great power comes great responsibility. Lastly, looking back to my last blog, The Wicked Witch of the West may have not had a vendetta against Dorothy if she hadn’t allegedly dropped a house on her sister. The last one comes in to play in a major way in this episode because just like Dorothy really had no control over creating this shadow, Dipper can’t really help Gideon from becoming one as well. In his defense, all he is doing is trying to help his sister.

So in line with how some of my favorite villains are created, so is Gideon Gleeful. As the show progresses, we learn that the Pines family has an opposite relationship with the Gleefuls than the Romeo and Juliet cliché we’d expect. Buddy Gleeful (Stephen Root) wants to bolster the relationship between Gideon and Mabel for financial profit. Unfortunately, this union is not meant to be because Mabel does not feel the way for Gideon that he feels for her (keeping in mind that they are 9 so this could feel like the end of the world to Gideon). So, Dipper breaks up with Gideon on Mabel’s behalf because she does not have the courage to do so herself, and because he is the one to commit the act, Gideon sees this as coming between he and Mabel. It is then revealed that Gideon does have mysterious powers and that even though he is a normal boy (I assume, this may not be the case), he has powers that make him fit in perfectly in Gravity Falls. This is a nice way to characterize Gideon and give him further motive to hate the Pines Family, specifically Dipper, when the relationship is ruined. Now the viewer sees the shaping of a villain who has a reason to target Dipper.

Phase in Dipper’s Journey: A) Trial in the Road of Trials. B) Meeting with primary Shadow

Character Analyses –

Dipper Pines – Hero. Nothing new about Dipper is revealed in this episode, at least nothing more than inferential information that we can assume from former episodes. We see that Dipper is willing to do things for his sister that make him uncomfortable or embarrassed, showing that he cares for her. This may set her up as an “in-distress” character to be saved later, but does not negate her as hero all the same.

Mable Pines – Ally / Trickster.  This has changed in that she is now starting to reveal more of an ally role than a trickster role, at least in this episode. Yes she has wacky antics in how she gets the pendant away from Gideon. But she is completely reasonable in her chicanery. She ends up being the primary hero in this particular episode because she is “inevitably” the one that defeats Gideon at the end of the episode.

Soos – Trickster / Herald. Again he heralds this particular trial by getting everyone interested in going to see Little Gideon. I don’t think this episode erases his trickster persona yet.  

Grunkle Stan – Father. Not much new character development happens with Stan other than his scenes with Bud. For now, I think he should remain the father figure.

Li’l Gideon Gleeful – Shadow. At the end of the episode he is in an antagonistic position. Not only because he has sworn a feud against all of the members of the Pines family, but because he has journal #2, which means that he has to come up in future episodes as Dipper’s quest takes him on a search for the secrets of Gravity Falls. He also has the respect of a lot of people, if not the majority I suspect, from the town. This could make him more of a threat because people may take his side before they take Dipper’s side. They have even known him longer than they have Dipper.

Author of Journal’s #2 and/or #3 (and possibly #1, #4 …) – Mentor / Shadow.  We still don’t have an answer to the identity of this character.

Other Important Characters so far:

Sherriff Blubs & Deputy Durland – Tricksters. Not seen / prominent in this episode.

Old Man McGucket – Mentor / Trickster. Not seen / prominent in this episode.  

Wendy Corduroy – Ally / Goddess. Not prominent in this episode, though she does help Mabel decide to make better life choices when she “convinces” her to do the right thing and break it off with Gideon herself. Without Wendy, Mabel may not have come to the conclusion so fast and would have possibly failed to save Dipper.

Daniel “Manly Dan” Corduroy, the Lumberjack – Trickster or shapeshifter. Not seen / prominent in this episode.

The Corduroy Boys – No guess. Not seen / prominent in this episode.

Tyler, Cute Biker – Trickster. Not seen / prominent in this episode.

Toby Determined & Shandra Jimenez – Trickster duo. Not seen / prominent in this episode.

Werewolf postman – Shapeshifter Not seen / prominent in this episode. I really hope this character comes back, but it doesn’t seem like he will.