Carpet Diem

"Carpet Diem" is the 16th episode in Season 1 of Gravity Falls. It premiered on April 5, 2013.

Overview
When Dipper discovers a hidden room inside the Mystery Shack, he is happy to claim it as his own space, but there is one problem- Mabel wants the room too. The duo compete to win the room with a contest that gets even trickier when they learn the room's carpet has electric body swapping properties.

Synopsis
As Dipper and Mabel gleefully play a game of "attic stuff mini-golf," they goof around together before Mabel's alarm clock goes off. Though Dipper is initially disappointed to find out that his sister is spending another night with Candy and Grenda, he becomes horrified upon learning that Mabel's friends will be staying at the Mystery Shack. The girls engage in various sleepover activities (e.g. talking about boys and makeovers), and Dipper grows increasingly annoyed to the point of leaving the room and finding another place to sleep, including Soos' horrible break room, which is just an electrical panel with barely any room for a person to fit, until ultimately deciding upon sleeping outside, despite a wolf biting and gnawing on his leg, and an owl apparently trying to eat his tongue.

The next morning, Mabel and her friends wake up and briefly reflect on their memories of the previous night, despite much confusion. After Candy and Grenda leave, Dipper comes back inside and confronts Mabel about her frequent sleepovers, and the two come to the agreement that they need separate bedrooms after fighting. Though Stan says that there is not enough room, the family soon learns of Soos' discovery of a hidden room, which both twins come to want. Stan decides to take advantage of the situation by having the twin who sucks up to him the most gets the room, and each task earns them "Suck-up Points" and they engage in various chores for their uncle like tying his shoes, putting new shingles on the roof in searing heat, etc. Down in the room, Dipper relaxes, feeling confident that he will get the room, and rubs his socks on the floor, building up static electricity. The twins begin to argue again. Dipper then hits his hand on Mabel's hand and the static electricity causes them to swap bodies, and they start to freak out.

After the two figure out that the experimental carpet in the room swapped them while Dipper conducted static electricity, they also realize that they can sabotage their uncle's view of each other while in each other's bodies. Mabel (Dipper) makes Stan a sandwich made out of rocks while Dipper (Mabel) sings "Breaking stuff is so much fun, I am Dipper and I stink," while Stan, not knowing what happened, is confused, Waddles rolls around on the electron carpet while Soos cleans and comes to pet him, thereby swapping them, fulfilling Soos's wish of wanting to be a pig. Meanwhile, Candy and Grenda arrive to have yet another sleepover with whom they think is Mabel (actually Dipper), and reject Dipper (Mabel)'s request to talk to her (him). Mabel (Dipper) tries to get away, but Grenda suggests that they should read a romance novel about a werewolf. Dipper (Mabel) spies on them through the keyhole, trying to listen to the book reading, when Stan talks to him (her) about that weird phase, so he takes his assumed nephew to talk about "the birds and the bees." Downtown, Soos enjoys being Waddles, and is rolling in mud until Old Man McGucket arrives to eat him, while Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland read their horoscopes from their car.

After Dipper (Mabel) and Stan's talk, Mabel is scarred and tries to further sabotage her brother, but ends up winning him the room instead, after calling Stan a stupid old jerk. Dipper is forced to sit through girly activities with Mabel's friends, and the chase between McGucket and Soos continues, much to the horror of all three. Next, Mabel informs Dipper that he won the room, but locks herself in there when she realizes her brother cannot get in without the key. Dipper enlists Candy's and Grenda's help in breaking in, by giving Dipper (Mabel) a makeover, but the four of them start swapping bodies left and right after Candy and Grenda learn about the carpet's properties. Meanwhile, Waddles unintentionally gets Soos a raise and wins the attention of a female passerby looking for directions.

As more and more people show up in the secret room, chaotic body swapping ensues. The twins make sure they're themselves and then run to the attic to continue to fight over the key of the basement bedroom, but soon learn that neither wanted to move out in the first place and come to realize their motives in the situation. After everyone is put back in his or her own flesh, Soos learns that being a pig was not as great as he thought it would be and that Waddles has gained him a fiancee, and Dipper moves into his new room and has Stan dispose of the Electron Carpet. Dipper begins to say "good night" to Mabel, when he realizes she isn't there, and vice versa. Dipper gives Soos the bedroom, to replace his horrible closet break room, and moves back with Mabel. Meanwhile a confused Soos talks to his apparent fiancée about not knowing anything, and asks her if they can go back to kissing.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Tim McKeon
 * Zach Paez
 * Alex Hirsch
 * Directed by:
 * Joe Pitt
 * Storyboards by:
 * Matt Braly
 * Patrick Harpin
 * Chris Sonnenburg
 * Niki Yang
 * With the Voice Talents of:
 * Kristen Schaal - Mabel Pines
 * Jason Ritter - Dipper Pines
 * Alex Hirsch - Stan Pines, Soos, and Old Man McGucket
 * Linda Cardellini - Wendy Corduroy
 * Carl Faruolo - Grenda
 * Keith Ferguson - Deputy Durland
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - Sheriff Blubs
 * Niki Yang - Candy Chiu


 * Additional Voices:
 * Dee Bradley Baker - Waddles
 * Corey Burton
 * Grey DeLisle - Lady
 * Michael Rianda

Production notes

 * See also: List of allusions and List of goofs.

Series continuity

 * Continuing the trend of character foreshadowing in following episodes,  is the boyband, Sev'ral Timez. Mabel wakes up from her slumber party with their movie on her face, as well as a small picture on their desk.
 * The pair of eyeglasses Stan picks up in the new room are the ones that young Stan was wearing when he briefly appeared in the "The Time Traveler's Pig."
 * Robbie's "Explosion Muffin" is seen on a water tower.
 * 618 appears again on the block that one of the babies chews on in the show Baby Fights.
 * The Cloning copy machine makes another cameo appearance in Stan's office.

Trivia

 * Viewership: This episode was watched by 3.36 million viewers on its premiere night.
 * The name of the episode refers to the Latin phrase "Carpe Diem" which in Latin means, "Seize the Day".
 * This episode aired as part of Freaky Freakend on Disney Channel. A promotional stunt wherein eight episodes from various shows have body switching episodes over the course of a weekend.
 * The omelet that Mabel made for Stan that looks like his face has his original fez design.
 * When Stan is looking at the glasses, the date circled on the calendar is July 4, 1982.
 * When this episode was put on iTunes, the episode itself was "Boyz Crazy" by mistake.

Cryptograms

 * There is a cryptogram at the bottom of a page in Why Am I Sweaty? that uses the Caesar cypher. It says "SXEHUWB LV WKH JUHDWHVW PBVWHUB RI DOO DOVR: JR RXWVLGH DQG PDNH IULHQGV." Once decoded it says, "PUBERTY IS THE GREATEST MYSTERY OF ALL ALSO: GO OUTSIDE AND MAKE FRIENDS."
 * The cryptogram in the end credits reads "2-21-20 23-8-15 19-20-15-12-5 20-8-5 3-1-16-5-18-19?" Once decoded it reads: "BUT WHO STOLE THE CAPERS?", referring to the book on Dipper's summer reading list, The Sibling Brothers and the Case of the Caper-Case Caper.