Not What He Seems

"Not What He Seems" is the eleventh episode in the second season of Gravity Falls, and the 31st episode overall. It premiered on March 9, 2015.

Official overview
After agents Powers and Trigger take Stan into custody, Dipper and Mabel begin to wonder how much they actually know about their Grunkle Stan.

Synopsis
The episode opens with Stan working on the machine. He rigs up some drums with toxic chemicals, as he exclaims how he does not care how dangerous it is. He sets off a timer, and syncs it up with another one on his wrist. A side effect of the machine is temporary gravity anomalies.

The next day Mabel shows Dipper a closet full of fireworks. Grunkle Stan invites them to set them off on the roof. A heavily armored operator proceeds to tackle him, and Agent Trigger comes up behind him to signal the rest of the tactical team to secure the Shack. Worried and perplexed, Dipper and Mabel inquire what is happening, before they notice Agent Powers and Trigger, whom they thought had been eaten by zombies. The agents tell the children that an unknown person stole toxic chemicals the night before, and they suspect that the culprit is Stan. They then proceed to put Stan in their car, sending him away to be interrogated. They also take Dipper and Mabel and inform them that they'll be going to child services.

Dipper and Mabel decide to clear Stan's name by finding the security tapes from the night before. They force Trigger's car off the road, break out, and head back to the shack. The agents try to interrogate Stan, but Stan insists on his one phone call. Stan uses it to talk to Soos through the walky-talky in his car. He tells him to guard the vending machine with his life. Dipper and Mabel return to the Mystery Shack, and after Dipper nixes Mabel's aggressive initial plan to attack the security forces guarding the front entrance, use Mabel's grappling hook to sneak into the attic. They find the security tapes in Stan's office, and review the footage. They are able to find video surveillance of Stan restocking the shelves. Seemingly proven innocent, they start to celebrate, when Stan suddenly leaves the shack. They fast forward the footage to see that several hours later, Stan, in full hazmat gear, is the one that stole the chemicals.

After realizing the truth they find a hidden box in the office full of fake IDs and passports, as well as a newspaper clipping with a headline saying "Stan Pines Dead." Another clipping has a picture of Stan with a caption identifying him as an unnamed grifter. Mabel and Dipper, now totally unsure if Stan is really who they think he is, find a paper with the combination to the vending machine door inside the box. Meanwhile Stan manages to escape the agents by using a gravity anomaly being generated by the machine. After exiting the building, Stan misleads the agents hot in his pursuit by using the cash stolen from an agent's wallet to pay a taxi cab driver to act as a diversion and drive his cab as far away as possible from the Mystery Shack.

When government forces pull out of the Shack to assist in the search for Stan, the way to the vending machine is now clear. The twins head down to punch in the code, when they are stopped by Soos, who's been ordered by Stan to hold the vending machine, with his life if necessary. After a brief struggle, Dipper finally manages to input the code, revealing the secret bunker under the Shack. Inside Mabel, Dipper, and Soos find Stan's secret lab. Dipper, upon discovering the first two journals, is enraged at the fact that Stan has been hiding them and lying to them all summer. He puts the books together to form the blueprints of the machine. He uses his black light to reveal a hidden message by the author. They find out that, if the machine is activated, the entire universe could be destroyed. Dipper then finds out how engage the manual override.

Right when they're about to hit the override button, Stan shows up begging them not to push it and saying that he will explain. Dipper refuses to believe him, and then another gravity anomaly occurs, lifting everyone up into the air. Mabel makes it to the shut off button, with Dipper telling her not to trust Stan and push it. Stan begs Mabel to trust him, and attempts to approach her only to be restrained by Dipper and Soos. After another fluctuation pins them against a wall, Stan begs her again to not press the button, asking her if she really believes he's a bad guy. Mabel cries at the decision she has to make. Finally, Mabel tearfully decides to trust him and lets herself float away from the override, much to Dipper's dismay.

After the device activates, what seems like an explosion occurs and nearly destroys everything in the shack. When the light fades, the anomaly shuts down, with everyone seemingly okay, including the main characters. With the portal still functioning amidst the wreckage of the lab, a mysterious man with a rifle over his back walks out of the portal. He places his hand on the first journal, revealing that he is in fact the six-fingered man implied to be the author of the journals. Stan reveals that he is the author of the journals. The man removes his hood to reveal he is Stan's long lost twin brother. Mabel asks if someone should be fainting, as Soos replies that he'll faint, and then proceeds to does so.

End Credits: Appears to be Stan and his brother as kids quietly swinging on a sandy ocean beach while the sun sets.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Shion Takeuchi
 * Josh Weinstein
 * Jeff Rowe
 * Matt Chapman
 * Alex Hirsch
 * Directed by:
 * Stephen Sandoval
 * Storyboarded by:
 * Sabrina Cotugno
 * Alonso Ramirez Ramos
 * Dana Terrace
 * Luke Weber
 * Additional Written Material by:
 * Zach Paez
 * With the voice talents of:
 * Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines
 * Jason Ritter as Dipper Pines
 * Alex Hirsch as Stan Pines and Soos Ramirez
 * Brad Abrell as Agent Trigger
 * Jennifer Coolidge as Lazy Susan Wentworth
 * Nick Offerman as Agent Powers
 * John DiMaggio as Manly Dan Corduroy
 * Linda Cardellini as Wendy Corduroy
 * Will Forte as Tyler
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Sheriff Blubs
 * Additional voices:
 * Matt Chapman
 * Alex Hirsch - Old Man McGucket
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * John DiMaggio
 * Kari Wahlgren

Character revelations

 * Stan has stolen nuclear waste, which he used to fuel up the universe portal.
 * The U.S. government has tracked numerous illegal activities regarding Stan, including activities relating to the Mystery Shack (as shown by the deed being on the board of evidence). It is shown that he has been spied on for a long time.
 * Stan will swear if he is alone, but will use made-up swear words when other people are around.
 * Mabel shows trustworthiness after believing Stan over Dipper, even if she didn't know if Stan was really her Grunkle, while Dipper seems to show easy loss of belief based on evidence that could be misinterpreted.
 * Manly Dan is a fan of Sev'ral Timez and will become enraged when they are disparaged.
 * The Author is Stanford Pines' brother.
 * Old Man McGucket is married to a raccoon.
 * Grunkle Stan owns a yearbook of "Glass Shard High". This and the beach scenery from the credits suggest that he and his brother have been living outside of Gravity Falls (possibly near the coast) in their childhood, just like Dipper and Mabel.
 * Soos wishes to be legally adopted by Stan and change his name into "Stan Jr.".
 * Stan's use of the universe portal was to bring back his brother, who possibly vanished into it thirty years ago.
 * Glass Shard Beach (landform) was first mentioned from Journal in Tooth.

Series continuity

 * Numerous prior episodes have alluded to the events of this one:
 * A cryptogram at the end of the opening sequence states that "Stan is not what he seems."
 * Bill Cipher references the onset of "something big" in "Dreamscaperers" and "Sock Opera." In the former episode, he tells Gideon Gleeful that he has been working on something, and describes "a darkness [approaching]. A day will come when everything you [Pines] care about will change."
 * "Into the Bunker" reveals that the Author predicted a catastrophic event and prepared enough supplies to last him several decades.
 * In "Northwest Mansion Mystery," Old Man McGucket's calculations suggest an impending apocalyptic event occurring in less than a day, and Agents Powers and Trigger reference picking up a reading.
 * Stan's altercation with Will E. Badger in his attempt to steal him from "Soos and the Real Girl" has been noted by the agents.
 * Stan's failed self-made vacuum brand from "Dreamscaperers" is referenced.
 * The deed to the Mystery Shack is seen again.
 * The nuclear waste used to power the Universe portal from "Society of the Blind Eye" is mentioned to have been stolen by Stan.
 * Stan continues to sport the bandaged wound he first acquired in "Society of the Blind Eye," which was consecutively seen in "Blendin's Game" and "The Love God."
 * Agent Powers and Trigger's survival of the zombie attack in "Scary-oke" is mentioned.
 * Dipper's birthmark is seen again.
 * In the end credits of the episode, Stan and his unknown brother are on swings near the ocean, similar to the swings pictured in Stanford's Dreamscape.
 * In the news article of Stan Pines, the number 618 appears again.
 * The "Rock that looks like a face"-rock is seen again.
 * The Chipackerz make a second appearance, previously seen in "Boss Mabel."
 * Robbie's signature Explosion muffin is graffiti on to the Police station.
 * In "Blendin's Game," Blendin steers his suit-watch, and two of the camouflages that appear are the Gravity Falls Police Station, and the beach seen in the credits.
 * Mabel uses her grappling hook again.

Trivia

 * The episode received 1.58 million viewers on its premiere night, breaking "The Golf War"'s record as the most viewed Disney XD premiere.
 * The theme was once again shortened due to a longer episode. The whisper at the end was also different. It said "Not What He Seems."
 * A countdown leading to this episode could be viewed here.
 * Unfortunately, due to the website's author not accounting Daylight Savings Time, the countdown is off by an hour.
 * After the countdown finished it was replaced with Ker Prank'd, a gag in this episode.
 * A page in Journal #1 suggests that the giant fissures in the cliffs of Gravity Falls aren't naturally occuring. This supports the theory that the hole in the cliffs isn't UFO-shaped without a reason.
 * Grunkle Stan mentions that Dipper and Mabel get along unnaturally well for siblings, hinting that his own relationship with his brother may not have been this way, or foreshadowing this could change. This also shows something might have happened between him and his brother, suggesting him to believe this, especially for also being twins.
 * According to the countdown for the portal, its anomaly pattern seems uncertain, but occurs at a time when the minute and/or second reaches 0, although not for all possible times.
 * In the scene at the beginning when gravity stops, one of the scenes is of the twins sleeping while they and other objects float up, which is done in a similar style when gravity falls in the theme song.
 * The Pines Family tree contains two sets of twins (as discovered so far), including Stan and his brother, and Dipper and Mabel.

Cryptograms

 * In the code on the countdown website, the cryptogram "GRQ'W FRSB WKDW IORSSB" can be seen, which decodes to "DON'T COPY THAT FLOPPY." This seems to be a request to not duplicate the countdown website's code, as it refers to an anti-piracy PSA.
 * A YouTube video entitled "Gravity Falls Police Station Audio: Grunkle Stan Discovers Something Cryptic (Part 3 of 3) has Stan discovering a message saying "JLGHRQ KHUH," which decodes to "GIDEON HERE."
 * In the opening scene a page in journal #1 on the topic of floating hills has a symbol cipher that can be decoded using the authors symbols to "MY COMPASS GOES HAYWIRE THE CLOSER I GET TO THEM DOES THIS MEAN WHAT I THINK IT DOES: THE ANSWER MAY BE UNDERGROUND."
 * The license plates on the government vehicles all read "JXYDPHQW." Using the Caesar cipher, it translates to "GUVAMENT."
 * The end credit cryptogram reads "LAR ZPHUTFTY XWEUPJR GHGZT." When translated using the Vigenère cipher, it reads "THE ORIGINAL MYSTERY TWINS.", referring to Stan and his brother.
 * Keyword: STNLYMBL, the license plate on Stan's car.
 * In the episode's end credits, the cryptogram states as follows: "THIRTY YEARS AND NOW HE’S BACK. THE MYSTERY IN THE MYSTERY SHACK."

Не тот, кем кажется