A Tale of Two Stans

"" is the twelfth episode in the second season of Gravity Falls and is the 32nd episode overall. It premiered on July 13, 2015.

Overview
Cornered underneath the Mystery Shack, Stan must finally reveal the secrets of his past and his mysterious portal to Dipper and Mabel.

Synopsis
Stan Pines, cornered under the Mystery Shack, greets the Author with a hug. However, the Author punches Stan and refuses to thank him for freeing him from the Universe Portal, saying that he took a huge risk by re-activating it. In addition, the Author says that Stan was the reason he was trapped in the first place. Dipper and Mabel interject by nearly vomiting and asking what is going on, respectively. We soon learn that the Stan that Mabel and Dipper know is actually named Stanley and he stole from his brother's name: Stanford. Stan says that he has a lot of explaining to do, and starts to explain his life's story.

Stanley and Stanford were twins born in the town of Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey during the 1960s. Their parents owned a pawn shop, their father implacably stoic and their mother a pathological liar/phone psychic. The two loved exploring the town's beach and one day, they came across a cave that held a broken ship. The twins made it their goal to fix it up and use it to sail across the world together to hunt for hidden treasure. Throughout his life, Stanford was bullied for having six fingers, but he knew he always had his brother, Stanley, beside him.

The twins could not have been any more different. Stanley was a trouble maker who was barely able to graduate while Stanford was a straight A student who won most of the science competitions at school. One day, a perpetual motion machine Stanford built for a science fair earned him an opportunity to be accepted into his dream college, West Coast Tech. Although Stanley still had his dream of sailing around the world in their boat, Stanford had his mind set to get into the college.

One night, Stanley went into the gym to look at Stanford's experiment and hits the table in frustration, accidentally ruining the experiment. When the college admission team came to look at Stanford's experiment the next day and saw it wasn't working, they denied Stanford entry into West Coast Tech. Stanford confronted Stanley at home, and Stan's family believed that he did it on purpose to try to prevent Stanford from going off to college without him. They kicked Stanley out of the house for ruining their chance of becoming rich. Stanley then dedicated his whole life to getting enough money to prove his family wrong by becoming a businessman. However, his products were unsuccessful and Stanley got banned from many states and countries, using fake identities to travel to new places. Stanley went to prison in three different countries (one of them Colombia).

Meanwhile, Stanford gets accepted into Backupsmore University and graduated at the top his class, acquiring a grant for his scientific research. Stanford decided to study anomalies, attracted to them because of his anomalous sixth finger. After some research, Stanford pinpointed the place in the world with the highest amount of anomalies, Gravity Falls, and moved there. Stanford enlisted the help of locals to build his house and went around the town recording all of his research and findings in three journals. Stanford ultimately believed that all the anomalies of Gravity Falls had to originate from another dimension, and decided to build the Universe Portal to help him get there. He enlisted the help of his college buddy, Fiddleford McGucket, whose technical know-how resulted in the complete construction of the Universe Portal.

When the Portal was activated for a test run, McGucket was almost sucked in. Stanford managed to pull him out, but McGucket wasn't himself and began to act strangely. He spoke in backwards ciphers and issued a strange warning: "When gravity falls and earth becomes sky, fear the beast with just one eye." After recovering, McGucket told Stanford that the Portal was too dangerous and urged him to shut it off, quitting the project when Stanford didn't do so. McGucket decided to forget what he had seen. Once Stanford began to hear whispers and felt that he was losing his sanity, he asked the only person he could trust - Stanley - to come to Gravity Falls.

As the two meet in Ford's home, Stanford asked Stanley to hide the first journal far away from Gravity Falls to prevent anyone from being able to operate the portal. Stanley becomes upset at his brother for telling him to move all the way to the other side of the world after they had just met for the first time in ten years. After Stanley almost burned the first journal with a lighter, the two begin to fight over the journal. Stanley's back was burned on the portal control console in the process, resulting in him getting his "tattoo." The Portal ends up accidentally activating and Stanford got too close to it, getting sucked in. He throws the first journal to Stanley just before the portal shuts off, trapping Stanford in another dimension.

Stanley tried to find ways to reactivate the portal, but couldn't without the other two journals. Eventually, Stanley ran out of food and went into town. He tried to buy some food but had no money. When the people inside the store noticed him and believed he was Stanford, they asked if he gave tours of his house, which was legendary for the strange things inside. Stanley agreed to give people tours in order to gain money and assumed his brother's identity, Stanford Pines, to do so. He also faked his own death in a car crash to further bury his old identity and his past. The Murder Hut, later renamed the Mystery Shack, became a success over the years, but every night, Stan tried to re-activate the Portal to get his brother back.

As Dipper apologizes for not trusting Stan, the U.S. government agents overhear the gang talking downstairs. Soos claims that he forgot about the government agents, which reminds Dipper that he still has Old Man McGucket's memory eraser. Ford uses the device to make a sound wave that wipes the memory of the government agents. He then pretends to be a government official and tells the government agents that the readings they got were just radiation from an unreported meteor shower, and tells them to leave. After the agents leave, Dipper and Mabel express their gratitude towards Ford, and Dipper get prepared to ask the "2 billion questions" he has for Ford, but Stan tells the twins to hit the hay, much to the twins' disapproval. Soos then slides off to call Wendy about the events that had occurred. Later that night Ford proposes a deal: Stan can stay for the summer to watch Dipper and Mabel while Ford stays in the basement, but when the summer is over Stan must give Ford his house and name back and the Mystery Shack must be closed for good. Stan bitterly agrees on one condition: Ford must stay away from the twins as he doesn't want them in danger and he claims them to be the only family he has left. Mabel, who was eavesdropping, is concerned and asks Dipper to promise that they won't turn against each other in the future, which he does, but Mabel is still uneasy about it as she lies awake and Dipper goes to sleep. As the credits roll, Soos is still seen talking to Wendy on the phone about the two Stans at three in the morning.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Josh Weinstein
 * Matt Chapman
 * Alex Hirsch


 * Directed by:
 * Sunil Hall


 * Storyboarded by:
 * Sabrina Cotugno
 * Alonso Ramirez Ramos
 * Stephen Sandoval
 * Dana Terrace
 * Luke Weber


 * With the Voice Talents of
 * Kristen Schaal as Mabel
 * Jason Ritter as Dipper
 * Alex Hirsch as Stan and Soos
 * Brad Abrell as Agent Trigger
 * Linda Cardellini as Wendy
 * Declan J. Krogman as Young Stan
 * Jonathan Banks as Mr. Pines
 * Jennifer Coolidge as Lazy Susan
 * Christian Mardini as Young Ford
 * Ken Jenkins as Pa Duskerton
 * Nick Offerman as Agent Powers
 * J.K. Simmons as Ford
 * Kari Wahlgren as Mrs. Pines
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Blubs
 * Gregg Turkington as Toby Determined
 * April Winchell as Ma Duskerton
 * Additional Voices
 * Jeff Bennett - Judge
 * Matt Chapman - Crampelter
 * Alex Hirsch - Young Fiddleford, Shmebulock Senior, Principal
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Kari Wahlgren - Receptionist, Tyler's mother
 * Casting by:
 * Sara Jane Sherman

Character revelations

 * Stan's real name is Stanley Pines, while the Author's name is Stanford Pines.
 * Stan has been banned from at least thirty two states in the USA: New Jersey, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Arizona, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Maine, Massachusetts, Wyoming, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, Vermont, New York, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina. However, on his list of "States I'm Banned From," New Jersey was never crossed off.
 * Ford and Stan are about sixty years old.
 * Stan went to prison in three different countries.
 * Stan's tattoo is actually a burn mark from the portal control console.
 * Lazy Susan got her eye shocked in an accident at the first tour of the Mystery Shack, which is why her left eye is always closed.
 * Ford and Stan's father is named Filbrick.
 * Ford and Stan have a brother named Shermy Pines, who is Dipper and Mabel's grandfather.
 * Blubs' first name is Daryl, and he used to work at the Dusk 2 Dawn convenience store.
 * Tyler got his catch-phrase from his mother.
 * The Mystery Shack was originally called the "Murder Hut."
 * Manly Dan, Jeffy Fresh, Byrone, Rosie, Ma, Pa, Lazy Susan, Tats, Sheriff Blubs, Mr. Valentino, Tyler, Toby Determined, Shandra Jimenez and Pizza Guy all lived in Gravity Falls thirty years ago.

Series continuity

 * This episode continues where "Not What He Seems" left off, with Ford coming out of the Portal.
 * Stanford's nickname "Poindexter" is used again as previously used in "Not What He Seems."
 * A restaurant called "Hot Belgian Waffles" can be seen near the beginning of this episode. Stanley yelled the same thing when his foot got crushed in "Not What He Seems" and after Dipper and Mabel solved the crime in "Headhunters".
 * Stan and Ford called their found ship the "Stan O' War". Stan's rowboat in "The Legend of the Gobblewonker" had the same name.
 * The same mask Stan uses to scare Dipper in "Tourist Trapped" is shown on Stan's bed in the flashback.
 * The science project next to the Ford's "Perpetual Motion Machine" is a "Footbot 1000" made by Stanley, a callback to the Footbot in Stanley's story he tells during "Bottomless Pit!."
 * Octavia, the eight-legged cow from "Mabel's Scrapbook: Petting Zoo", appears as an illustration in a book that Ford Pines was reading in his flashback. However this is most likely a different mutant cow as the events of this episode was set 30 years prior to the scrapbook episode.
 * When Stanford is looking at a map of the United States, a box nearby him can be seen reading Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons. This is the same title as the episode that follows this one.
 * The giant wood hand that grabbed Ford's car bears a strong resemblance to the giant wood foot from the promotional art of the show.
 * Shmebulock's father, Shmebulock Senior, is shown being examined by Ford in his flashback.
 * The Shape Shifter from "Into the Bunker" is seen hatching from an egg.
 * The Stan Vac appears in Stanley's room in New Mexico when he receives the postcard.
 * The Dusk 2 Dawn convenience store from "The Inconveniencing" is seen before it closed and Ma and Pa Duskerton are seen alive.
 * Pictures of Dipper and Mabel from "Legend of the Gobblewonker" are seen on Stan's desk.
 * The memory eraser from "Society of the Blind Eye" returns.
 * On "the very real report" Stanford is reading to the Agents, Mabel has drawn the possible outcome of the snake's and badger's child, a snadger. This couple was brought together previously in "The Love God."
 * In "Little Dipper" Grunkle Stan searched for a fake stone in the wall of the living room in the Mystery Shack to open a trap door. In this episode one of the stones is indeed shown opened, revealing a big red button.
 * It is revealed that Grunkle Stan's name is really Stanley, which can be seen briefly on his license plate in "The Golf War."
 * The topic of the customers of the Mystery Shack never returning is brought back by TV shorts #1

Trivia

 * The episode is thirty minutes long and its debut airing had no commercial breaks. For reruns, the run time of this episode is 36 minutes, including ad breaks.
 * In this episode, a new photo replaces the pterodactyl in the theme song, one where Ford is putting the first journal in his jacket.
 * The words "BLENDIN WAS HERE" can be seen on the boards that blocked the cave on Glass Shard Beach.
 * One of Stan's failed products was called "What a Racket!", Alex Hirsch has said that Bobby Renzobbi once sold a product with the same name.
 * One of the projects next to Ford's Perpetual Motion project was named "Footbot 1000" made by Stan, which was mentioned by Stan in his story in "Bottomless Pit!."
 * The shop on the left side of "Pines Pawns" in Glass Shard Beach is named "Hot Belgian Waffles." Stan frequently uses these words to swear. The shop on the right side is named "Knuckles Sandwiches."
 * Ford referred to McGucket's Memory Eraser as "one of these," suggesting that there are more than one.
 * After McGucket was pulled out of the portal, the test dummy that was pulled out with him disappeared.
 * This episode was viewed by 2.3 million viewers on Disney XD, a new record for the network.

Cryptograms
*The ending cryptogram is 23 / 5-4-3-22-22-9-6-10 / 4-9-3-17-16 / 10-19-1 / 14-19-6-5-19-25 14-19-6-5-19-25 14-19-6-5-19-25 14-19-6-5-19-25 14-19-6-5-19-25 / 10-23-4-15-2-19 10-23-4-15-2-19 10-23-4-15-2-19 10-23-4-15-2-19 10-23-4-15-2-19 / 18-15-12-22-6-15-21-13 / 1-23-5-10'4 / 4-9-9 / 21-6-19-23-4-15-2-19 21-6-19-23-4-15-2-19 21-6-19-23-4-15-2-19 21-6-19-23-4-15-2-19 21-6-19-23-4-15-2-19 / 16-23-2-15-10-17 16-23-2-15-10-17 16-23-2-15-10-17 16-23-2-15-10-17 16-23-2-15-10-17 / 4-1-15-10-5 / 1-23-5 / 10-9-4 1-23-5 10-9-4 1-23-5 10-9-4 1-23-5 10-9-4 1-23-5 / 10-9-4 / 16-15-5 / 8-12-23-10 16-15-5 8-12-23-10 16-15-5 8-12-23-10 16-15-5 8-12-23-10 16-15-5 / 8-12-23-10 / 5-9 / 16-19 / 14-3-5-4 16-19 14-3-5-4 6-19 14-3-5-4 16-19 14-3-5-4 16-19 / 14-3-5-4 / 5-16-6-3-17-17-19-20 5-16-6-3-17-17-19-20 5-16-6-3-17-17-19-20 5-16-6-3-17-17-19-20 5-16-6-3-17-17-19-20 / 23-10-20 / 10-23-11-19-20 10-23-11-19-20 10-23-11-19-20 10-23-11-19-20 10-23-11-19-20 / 22-9-4-16 / 5-4-23-10. Once decoded it reads '''A STUBBORN TOUGH NEW JERSEY NATIVE, FILBRICK WASN’T TOO CREATIVE. HAVING TWINS WAS NOT HIS PLAN, SO HE JUST SHRUGGED AND NAMED BOTH STAN.'''
 * After Young Fiddleford stuck his head through the Portal, he says YROO XRKSVI GIRZMTOV backwards. Once this Atbash cryptogram is decoded, this reads BILL CIPHER TRIANGLE. (Old Man McGucket said this previously in one of his memories in "Society of the Blind Eye.")AToTS Key.png
 * The code at the end, TIZOLHAJSIW CKMMWZPMKQ: GLY KJQBH can be decoded using the Vigenere cipher, and the key SIXER, to reveal the message BACKUPSMORE UNIVERSITY: YOU TRIED. The key to the cipher can be found on the map in the Stans' room all the way to the right.

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