Northwest Mansion Mystery

"Northwest Mansion Mystery", also listed as "Northwest Mansion Noir", is the tenth episode in the second season of Gravity Falls, and the 30th episode overall. It premiered on February 16, 2015.

Official overview
Pacifica enlists Dipper’s help to rid the Northwest Mansion of a ghost before he wreaks havoc on her fancy party.

Synopsis
The Northwests are preparing for their yearly fancy party; however, they are interrupted when silverware and utensils begin levitating and flying into them. They duck under the table for cover. A newspaper falls by Preston Northwest, showing Dipper fighting a giant bat with a police taser, and Northwest says he thinks he's found the perfect person to help with the Northwests' ghost problem.

Later, Dipper is watching TV at the Mystery Shack when Mabel, Candy, and Grenda interrupt him to watch news coverage of the Northwests' fancy party. After all three girls express interest in going to the party, Pacifica Northwest knocks at the door of the Mystery Shack, seeking Dipper's help in getting rid of the ghost. In exchange for agreeing to help out Pacifica, Dipper asks for three tickets to her party for Mabel, Candy, and Grenda. She agrees and they all go to the mansion, with Mabel and her friends in homemade fancy clothes. Once there, Dipper and Pacifica head to the room with the most ghostly activity after a brief chat with Pacifica's father. Dipper examines the Journal, stating that the Northwests' ghost is probably only a "level one" on a ten-level scale. A deep voice suddenly begins chanting "ancient sins" as things start floating in the air and mounted animal heads on the walls start oozing blood. A skeleton exits the fire place and grows flesh, revealing itself to be a lumberjack with flaming hair and a flaming beard. Dipper consults his Journal for guidance, but the only advice he can find is a suggestion to "pray for mercy."

Using his knowledge from the Journal, Dipper quickly traps the ghost in a silver mirror, that after caused Pacifica to hug Dipper in gratitude, only to later separate in embarrassment once the elation wears off. After the Northwests thank Dipper and he goes to dispose of the ghost, he learns that the ghost is that of one of a group of lumberjacks who were previously promised attendance to the Northwests' yearly parties in exchange for their help with building Northwest Manor, but were denied what they were promised and he was subsequently killed by a mudslide that was a result of the construction. After Dipper discovers this, he angrily confronts the Northwests, accusing them of manipulating him to catch the ghost so they could escape justice. He also accuses Pacifica as being just as bad as her parents, saying that she's "just another link in the world's worst chain." Pacifica desperately attempts to apologize but is cut off by her father. Dipper then leaves angrily to dispose of the ghost. The ghost, however, manages to trick Dipper into releasing him by asking Dipper to allow him to see the trees one last time, making Dipper drop and break the mirror, thereby releasing him and allowing him to go back to haunting the party. The ghost brings the taxidermied animals to life, attacks the party-goers, and begins turning all the attendees to wood. Dipper rushes back to the mansion, and upon hearing that the only way to break the curse is for a Northwest to open the gates to the townsfolk, goes to find Pacifica. When he finds her, she ashamedly shows him a hidden collection of paintings showing previous, famous Northwests doing terrible and dishonest things. She says that he was right about her being just another link in the world's worst chain. They share a tender moment when Dipper, upon seeing her regretful, apologises for what he said and reassures her that she doesn't have to be like her parents and that it's not too late to change. They are interrupted by the ghost, however, who begins shouting that he has turned everyone into wood.

Dipper and Pacifica run back to the main room and Dipper immediately gets turned to wood as he attempts to stop the ghost. Pacifica becomes enraged at this and yells to the ghost that she will open the gates if he will turn everyone back to normal. The ghost agrees but just as Pacifica is about to pull the lever to open the gates, her parents emerge from a trap door and forbid her from doing so, afraid that it would ruin their reputation. After looking at Dipper and struggling to disobey her parents, she opens the gate, causing the townsfolk to flood in. Pleased that Pacifica upheld her ancestors' promise, the ghost restores the people to normal and leaves peacefully.

Old Man McGucket enters and tells Dipper that he fixed the laptop and that it shows something big is coming. Dipper brushes it off for the moment, saying to enjoy the party and relax for once, leaving McGucket alone. McGucket takes out the laptop, which shows on its screen a timer counting down from twenty-one hours and thirty minutes. Behind McGucket a tapestry on a wall depicts some sort of apocalypse, with people suffering and screaming in agony as Bill Cipher hovers over them.

In the end credits scene it is revealed Agent Trigger and Agent Powers were at the party disguised as a couple. They retreat to a closet to radio HQ, but Tambry walks in on them. Seeing the two men in the closet, one of them crossdressing, she states that she's "not even gonna ask," and leaves.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Mark Rizzo
 * Jeff Rowe
 * Alex Hirsch
 * Directed by:
 * Matt Braly
 * Storyboarded by:
 * Emmy Cicierega
 * Alonso Ramirez Ramos
 * Vaughn Tada
 * Luke Weber
 * With the Voice Talents of:
 * Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines
 * Jason Ritter as Dipper Pines
 * Brad Abrell as Agent Trigger
 * Jackie Buscarino as Pacifica Northwest
 * Matt Chapman as Marius von Fundshauser
 * Jennifer Coolidge as Lazy Susan Wentworth
 * Jessica DiCicco as Tambry
 * Carl Faruolo as Grenda
 * Keith Ferguson as Deputy Durland
 * Nathan Fillion as Preston Northwest
 * Will Forte as Tyler
 * Nick Offerman as Agent Powers
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Sheriff Blubs and the Ghost of Northwest Manor
 * Gregg Turkington as Toby Determined
 * Niki Yang as Candy Chiu
 * Additional Voices:
 * Alex Hirsch as Old Man McGucket and Mayor
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as the Basketball Player
 * Kari Wahlgren as Mrs. Northwest
 * John DiMaggio as Manly Dan (uncredited)

Character revelations

 * Pacifica is afraid of her parents. This is because they're revealed to be very controlling of what she does, making sure that she's in line with their standards.
 * Preston is referred to by name for the first time.
 * Pacifica's middle name is Elise.
 * Pacifica was once crowned as "Miss Gravity Falls."
 * Dipper and Pacifica have formed a friendship as of this episode.
 * The Northwest family has a secret history of fraudulence and deception, besides the town founder conspiracy, possibly including a connection to Bill Cipher.

Series continuity

 * Since the defeat of the Blind Eye Society in "Society of the Blind Eye," the citizens of Gravity Falls finally begin to notice the paranormal activity in their town, as Dipper's defeat of a Giant Vampire Bat makes the headlines of the Gravity Falls Gossiper.
 * Mabel and Pacifica are still on friendly terms after the events of "The Golf War."
 * Pacifica also begins to accept Mabel's friends and family, but retains some prejudice towards them.
 * Dipper mentions the Northwest family's false claims of being descendants of the town's founder, as revealed in "Irrational Treasure."
 * Dipper uses blacklight to read Journal 3's invisible ink first discovered in "Scary-oke."
 * The town's mayor is clearly dying, alluding to a cryptogram found in Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun!.
 * During the ghost's attack, Dipper is frozen in a form foretold to be his last by the Shape Shifter in "Into the Bunker."
 * Robbie and Tambry continue their relationship first established in "The Love God."
 * Grenda charms Austrian royalty, hinting at the possibility of her marrying rich as revealed in a cryptogram from Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun!
 * McGucket attempts to meet with Dipper regarding recovered memories, having been included in the hunt for the Author in "Society of the Blind Eye."
 * The laptop from "Into the Bunker" reappears, having been fixed by McGucket since the events of "Society of the Blind Eye."
 * Agent Powers and Agent Trigger discuss more readings from the Universe portal they began tracking in "Scary-oke."
 * The episode's ending cryptogram reverberates the cryptogram hidden within the show's title sequence.

Trivia

 * A painting of a llama in the secret room of the Northwest Mansion is briefly shown.
 * This is the first episode to be listed with two alternate names. It was originally believed to be called "Northwest Mansion Noir," and is listed as such on the official Disney XD website.
 * This is the first episode to use a shortened version of the theme song.
 * Neither Stan Pines nor Soos Ramirez appears in this episode, although Alex Hirsch is credited for voicing both.
 * This is the first full-length episode in which Stan does not appear.
 * This is the second full-length episode in which Soos does not physically appear, and the first in which he's not at least mentioned.
 * There are hints throughout the episode of Dipper and Pacifica developing romantic feelings towards each other.
 * The timer on the laptop shows 21 hours to disaster, referencing the respective number of days between this episode and the next.

Cryptograms

 * S2E10EndPage.PNG end credits cipher reads, "PYOL YS QH LLFDJW: UAH DNCVFW ZTCKW XKGWFFWW KNLLMRP? WISAGCXJ AR WKVISW! DPX WSDUKXR: LLH UBFO". When using the Vigenère cipher, it translates to "NEXT UP ON UTBAHC: DID ALIENS WRITE THE CONSTITUTION? CRAWDADS IN TIARAS! AND FLORIDA: THE SHOW".
 * Keyword: CURSED, found on every other window on the top floor of the Northwest mansion.
 * The page section at the end of the episode says, "5-4-23-10-15-5-10-9-4-1-16-23-4-16-19-5-19-19-11-5 5-4-23-10-15-5-10-9-4-1-16-23-4-16-19-5-19-19-11-5 5-4-23-10-15-5-10-9-4-1-16-23-4-16-19-5-19-19-11-5" which translates to "STANISNOTWHATHESEEMS STANISNOTWHATHESEEMS STANISNOTWHATHESEEMS" when put though the combined cipher.

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