Scary-oke

Scary-oke
Production information
Production code	618G-202
Written by	Jeff Rowe Matt Chapman Alex Hirsch
Storyboards by	Neil Graf Steve Heneveld Alonso Ramirez Ramos Luke Weber
Directed by	Rob Renzetti
Broadcast information
Original air date	August 1, 2014 (Disney Channel) August 4, 2014 (Disney XD)
Ratings	2.4
International dates	October 5, 2014 (Latin America) Click "expand" for full list October 18, 2014 (Switzerland) November 1, 2014 (Japan) December 3, 2014 (Middle East, Africa) December 5, 2014 (Russia) December 6, 2014 (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary) December 13, 2014 (Romania, Bulgaria) January 3, 2015 (Portugal) January 10, 2015 (Disney Channel Asia) February 7, 2015 (Turkey) March 1, 2015 (Germany) March 21, 2015 (Australia) June 9, 2015 (Italy) June 21, 2015 (Spain)
Episode Guide
Previous	Gideon Rises (Season 1)
Next	Into the Bunker
[Source]

Read transcript

"Scary-oke" is the first episode of the second season of Gravity Falls and the 21st episode of the series overall. It premiered on August 1st, 2014, on Disney Channel.

Official overview

The Pines family resolves to get back to normal after the Gideon incident. They throw a "Mystery Shack is Back" party, but some "unwelcome" guests crash the celebration.

Synopsis

Portal light illuminates the town.

The episode begins where "Gideon Rises" left off with Stan working on the universe portal. He reveals that he has been working on the portal for 30 years and that he is about to finally accomplish his greatest achievement. He then looks solemnly at a photograph of Dipper and Mabel on his desk, worrying they will be endangered if anyone ever finds out about his secret project, though he quickly dismisses the suspicion. He turns up the power on the machine, which causes a power surge around town (that Wendy and Gideon notice). The surge is picked up by a government satellite dish: once the location is identified, government agents are dispatched to Gravity Falls.

The Pines announce the Mystery Shack grand re-opening party.

The following morning, Stan is awakened by his alarm clock, having fallen asleep in the lab, and remembers the Mystery Shack's grand re-opening that day. In the gift shop, he and the twins excitedly recall the circumstances of Gideon's defeat. Toby Determined comes and asks them for a picture, though Stan declines because his "camera" is a cinder block. Shandra Jimenez then arrives with a real camera, and the Pines strike a goofy pose. Stan then announces an after-party, and Mabel adds that the family will be performing karaoke together under the name Love Patrol Alpha, without Stan's and Dipper's consent. Wendy arrives to sell tickets to the tourists, with a successful response.

Dipper is still trying to figure out the town's secrets.

Mabel and her friends dancing to her boombox sweater music.

Stan expresses glee that things are finally going his way, with the townspeople loving him and "the Gideon smell" out of the carpet. Dipper asks for his journal back, and Stan lies that it was "too boring" to finish (though he is shown to have made copies of the pages). Though skeptical that his uncle would give up the book that quickly, he drops it and whisks Mabel off to their room. There, Dipper tells her that he is worried about not being able to crack the mysteries of the town before summer's end, and Mabel assures him that there is nothing left to uncover, but if there is, "Lord Mystery Ham" will find it.

Government agents arrive at the Shack.

Downstairs, Soos spots a government vehicle, prompting Stan to close the gift shop and have every tourist leave. When Agents Powers and Trigger arrive on the scene, Stan tries to steer them away and even bribe them. Dipper however excitedly greets the operatives, telling them about the journal and suggesting they work together, Powers gives him his card. Stan discredits his nephew and tells the agents the boy has an overactive imagination, prompting the officers to leave, taking Stan bobble-heads with them as "evidence." Stan proceeds to confiscate Powers' card and tells Dipper to do "normal kid stuff." Dipper is disappointed at losing his one chance at getting help with the mysteries of the town, and Mabel tries to cheer him up by reminding him of the party that night.

As the Pines family, Soos and Wendy set up the party, Mabel is overjoyed that the confetti cannon is working and that the karaoke machine has some of her favorite songs. Stan tries to get out of the planned family number by saying his voice is terrible, but Mabel reassures him that one does not need to have a good voice. While Dipper and Wendy play with a black light poster, Dipper vents about losing his opportunity to Wendy, who tells him the card is likely in Stan's room. She encourages him to try and retrieve it, with her help. They sneak off as guests begin to arrive.

The dead have risen.

Wendy keeps a lookout as Dipper rummages through Stan's belongings — some of which disturb him greatly — finds the card, and calls Powers, setting up a meeting with him. Unfortunately, Stan appears before Dipper can hang up, as Wendy got distracted by a text. As a result, Stan sends Dipper and Wendy away and retreats into the lab. While Mabel mingles, Dipper goes off to rendezvous with the agents, finally showing them the journal. Unfortunately, the agents happen upon entries like the "Stomach-faced duck" and the "Lepricorn," which they find preposterous, leading them to dismiss Dipper as a kid with an overactive imagination. Just as they are about to leave, a desperate Dipper finds and recites an incantation, which promptly causes a zombie to emerge from the ground. While its appearance finally convinces the agents, Dipper's success quickly takes a turn for the worse as more and more zombies appear, overpowering the agents and advancing towards the party. While most of the party-goers are gone before the horde reaches the Shack, mistaking the spell's backlash for an earthquake, Mabel, Dipper, and Soos remain and are quickly surrounded. Soos attempts to protect them but gets bitten almost immediately, becoming zombie-like himself and joining the rest of the zombies in running after the kids.

The twins' struggling only makes the zombies look rad.

In the meantime, Stan is down in the lab, hard at work. He pauses to contemplate Dipper's stubbornness with some fondness but ultimately decides to put the thoughts out of his head, saying that he has too much to do to worry about the kids. Back upstairs, Dipper, Mabel and Waddles attempt to barricade themselves inside the Shack. They only manage to block the door when the zombies break in, led by zombie-Soos, who's also showed them how to get into the fuse box. Dipper fails to find anything in the journal about defeating the zombies, finally being caught by one. As the zombie raises Dipper towards his mouth, the monster is pushed down, its head promptly crushed: it is Stan, who somehow caught wind of the situation and appears to defend the twins with a bat. He sends the kids to the attic as he fights the advancing monsters with a bat and then brass knuckles, finally heading up himself to bar the door. There, he reveals that he has always known about the paranormal activity in Gravity Falls, and was denying it to keep Dipper and Mabel out of danger.

The Pines singing karaoke.

As Dipper riffles through Journal 3, horrified that it doesn't have a solution for their current situation, he happens to stand over a black light; Mabel notices that new text becomes visible, and it is discovered that the author began writing over the entries with invisible ink. The invisible text reveals that zombies can be defeated by shattering their skulls with a three-part harmony, and Mabel points out that a karaoke number is the perfect solution. The three climb onto the roof, where Mabel introduces the three as "Love Patrol Alpha", with the noise luring all the zombies (except Soos, who remained in the living room entranced by a TV show) out into the yard. She, along with a less-than-happy Dipper and Stan, begin singing "Taking Over Midnight" together. They become excited when the three-part harmony makes more and more zombie heads explode, and as the sun rises, and Mabel hits the last zombie with the confetti cannon, the Pines family stands triumphant over a field of zombie parts.

Stan and the twins discuss the terms for keeping the journal.

Back inside the trashed Mystery Shack, Dipper apologizes for the trouble he caused, but Mabel says he has nothing to worry about, as she greatly enjoyed the number they performed. Stan agrees to let Dipper keep the journal for self-defense purposes, so long as he does not go looking for trouble, and in return promises his nephew that he has no more "bombshell secrets"; both he and Dipper cross their fingers behind their backs, however. Stan remarks that they have a lot of cleaning up to do and inquires about his handyman, just as a still zombified Soos ambles into the den chanting "brains!" Stan tries to attack him, but Dipper stops him, having found a cure involving "a lot of formaldehyde and cinnamon." The twins push Soos into the kitchen with a chair, and Dipper expresses excitement at the idea of exploring more secrets with his new-found knowledge of the secret text in the journal. The episode ends with Dipper looking at a page that leads to a mysterious bunker that the author may have built and hid in, setting up the events of the next episode.

"This is bigger than we imagined. We need to bring in the big guns." -Agent Powers

Meanwhile, somewhere in the woods of Gravity Falls, the battered Agents Powers and Trigger climb out of a ditch. They discuss their awe at what they've experienced and wonder whom they should report to, agreeing that Gravity Falls is indeed the town they're looking for and that they'll need to call in the "big guns.", tracking down the source at any and all costs. They suddenly bring out their guns upon seeing what appears to be another zombie, but quickly realize it is a "very ugly man": it is Toby Determined, still blindfolded and swinging a bat after failing to hit the piñata at the party in the Mystery Shack.

Credits

• Written by:
  • Jeff Rowe
  • Matt Chapman
  • Alex Hirsch
• Directed by:
  • Rob Renzetti
• Storyboards by:
  • Neil Graf
  • Steve Heneveld
  • Alonso Ramirez Ramos
  • Luke Weber
• With the Voice Talents of:
  • Jason Ritter as Dipper Pines
  • Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines
  • Alex Hirsch as Stan Pines and Soos Ramirez
  • Linda Cardellini as Wendy Corduroy
  • Nick Offerman (credited as Key Vigenére) as Agent Powers
  • Brad Abrell as Agent Trigger
• Additional Voices:
  • Jennifer Coolidge as Lazy Susan
  • Jessica DiCicco as Tambry
  • John DiMaggio as Manly Dan
  • Carl Faruolo as Grenda Grendinator
  • Keith Ferguson as Deputy Durland
  • Will Forte as Tyler Cutebiker
  • Alex Hirsch as Gnome
  • Kevin Michael Richardson as Sheriff Blubs
  • Michael Rianda as Thompson and Lee
  • Gregg Turkington as Toby Determined
  • Kari Wahlgren as Shandra Jimenez
  • Niki Yang as Candy Chiu
• Casting by:
  • Sara Jane Sherman

Production notes

See also: List of allusions and List of goofs.

Character revelations

• Stan has known about the secrets of Gravity Falls for at least thirty years. He had been hiding and lying about his knowledge to help keep the twins safe from danger.
• Tyler Cutebiker receives Tambry's social media posts.
• The Journal's author wrote other information and secrets in the Journal using invisible ink, which can only be seen by black light.

Series continuity

• The episode resumes immediately following the final scene of "Gideon Rises," in which Stan activates the Universe portal using the journals.
• There are several items in the twins' bedroom that they acquired from previous episodes.
  • Mabel's '#2 Boss' mug from "Boss Mabel."
  • Mabel's fishing hat that Stan made for her from "The Legend of the Gobblewonker" hangs over one of her bedposts.
  • The photo of Candy and Grenda that was ripped up during the song number, "Mabel Girl" in "Boyz Crazy" has been taped back together and hung on Mabel's wall.
  • The grappling hook Mabel received in "Tourist Trapped" is seen in her hand.
  • The Pterodactyl tooth Dipper got in "Land Before Swine" now hangs beside his binoculars.
  • The paper hat map Mabel folded up in "Irrational Treasure" sits on a table.

The page with a secret society symbol first seen in "Stan's Tattoo."

• Stan uses the Cloning copy machine in his office first seen in "Double Dipper."
  • One of the pages we see that he has copied has a secret society's symbol on it, which appeared in the short "Stan's Tattoo."
• Several references to previous episodes appear on Dipper's "Big Mysteries" board.
  • "Experiment 78," the tag found on the Electron Carpet from "Carpet Diem."
  • Gideon's Mystic Amulet from "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel."
  • A picture of Quentin Trembley from "Irrational Treasure."
  • A photo of the Summerween Trickster from "Summerween."
  • The newspaper article of Gideon's arrest in the Gravity Falls Gossiper.
• Dipper mentions Bill's prophecy that everything will change from "Dreamscaperers."
• A number of pages in Journal 3 are shown again, including:
  • The Hide Behind from the short "The Hide-Behind."
  • The gnomes, the Undead, Floating Eyeballs, and Giant Vampire Bats, all originally seen in "Tourist Trapped."
  • A quick glimpse at the right side of the Blind Eye Society page from Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained.
• The blue UFO key chain Stan offers to Agent Powers and Agent Trigger is the one Mabel uses in the beginning of the short "The Hide-Behind."
• Tyler Cutebiker is seen wearing a combination of the puma and panther shirts from "Dipper vs. Manliness," in which he couldn't decide between the two.
• Several characters from previous episodes show up to the dance party:
  • Gorney from "Summerween."
  • Mr. Poolcheck from "The Deep End."
  • Wendy's friends from "The Inconveniencing."
• In Stan's room, there are a few items from previous episodes:
  • Stan's issue of Gold Chains For Old Men Magazine from "Tourist Trapped."
  • Stan's Stan Vac traveling case and vacuum from "Dreamscaperers."
  • A pair of boxing gloves in a drawer and a framed picture of two men boxing. Stan was shown boxing in his youth during "Dreamscaperers."
• Dipper uses the shovel Soos gave him in "Tourist Trapped" to fight zombies for just such a situation.
• The symbol of the Blind Eye Society appears, foreshadowing their appearance in "Society of the Blind Eye."
• Ford's underground bunker is revealed in the journal, which Dipper and company explore in the following episode, "Into the Bunker."

Songs featured

• The Rapper's Rap
• Taking Over Midnight

Trivia

• Viewership: This episode was viewed by 2.4 million viewers on its premiere night.
• This is the last episode to premiere on Disney Channel before the show was permanently moved to Disney XD.
• This is the first time that the 2014 Disney Television Animation Productions logo is added in Gravity Falls, which serves as a successor to the 2011 one.
  • This also marks the first appearance of the 2014 Disney Television Animation Productions logo in a Disney Channel and/or Disney XD show.
• There is a new backwards message at the end of the theme song. It says "Key Vigenère," which is the new credits cipher.
  • In the credits, the name of Agent Powers' voice actor, Nick Offerman, is replaced with "Key Vigenére."
• At one point, Stan puts on a six-fingered glove, which must have belonged to Ford Pines.
• The forest has a new design, as the sun glares beneath the trees.
• The Latin incantation Dipper recites to raise the dead translates to "Body, rise. Lord Devil (or Devil Dominion). Conquer the world."
• The door of Stan's bedroom has a sign stating 'No minors allowed' and underneath it a picture of Dipper with a red cross across his face. Stan has written on the picture ''That means you!''. Apparently Stan doesn't trust Dipper not to enter his room without his approval.
• This is the first time that we see Stan actually taking his role as the twins' caretaker seriously. He grounds Dipper for coming in his room and calls the government agents while both were forbidden, snaps at the twins for not listening to him when he orders them to go to their room for their own safety and makes it clear that he cares about their safety and doesn't want anything happening to them.
  • Although Stan says that Dipper will be grounded after the party, Dipper never gets grounded afterwards and it doesn't happen at the end of the episode or is seen and mentioned again in other episodes.
• The journal describes the zombies' weakness as a "perfect three part harmony," but when the zombies' heads start exploding, Dipper, Mabel, and Stan are not harmonizing with each other. Rather, they are singing the same part in three different octaves.
• The zombies depicted in this episode combine features from the more traditional "Night of the Living Dead" style zombies (which don't specifically eat brains, and are slow, unintelligent, and killable with a blow to the head) and the less traditional "Return of the Living Dead" style zombies (which specifically eat brains, cannot be killed without being completely cremated, and are able to run, speak, and strategize.)
  • The zombies are slow, and seem to die when their heads are severed or destroyed, like traditional "Night of the Living Dead" zombies.
  • However, the zombies specifically want to eat brains, and the zombified Soos is shown to be able to speak, like the less traditional "Return of the Living Dead" zombies.
• The reason "&ndra" is pronounced "ampersandra" is because the "&" symbol is called an ampersand.
• "We built this Township on Rock and Roll" is an obvious nod to the 1985 song "We built this City" by American rock band Starship.
• Among the items in Stan's "Contraband" box are:
  • A shark toy
  • A slingshot
  • Handcuffs
  • Playing cards
  • Marbles
  • A Tamagotchi virtual pet
• During the karaoke sequence, when all three Pines sing together, Dipper's voice is not present: only voices of Mabel and Gruncle Stan can be heard singing.
• This is the first appearance of Agent Powers and Agent Trigger.

Cut Scenes

There were several deleted and cut scenes for this episode revealed in the Complete Series Box Set and through storyboards being revealed on Scribd:

• A longer cut opening had the government agency that Powers and Triggers work for be revealed as the Department of Cover Ups.
• An old opening involved the characters appearing on the news and being interviewed about the events of the previous episode. In it, Stan overindulges on the studio buffet, Mabel gets tackled when security believes her grappling hook was a firearm, Wendy swears on live TV and Soos says hi to his grandmother. They would use their appearance on there as a means by which the party is announced too. Dipper meanwhile uses his appearance to promote the paranormal side of Gravity Falls but gets brushed off as being crazy.
• In another cut scene, Mabel assigns Wendy the job of the party hype man (giving her the air horn she uses in the episode) and Soos as the bouncer (mistakenly assuming it means he must bounce on a ball).
• During the zombie invasion, Stan was out taking down signs for the Shack to keep himself on a low profile as the government was investigating him.
• Mabel's reasoning to take the karaoke machine with her as she and Dipper escaped the zombies was due to it being a rental and she didn't want to lose her security deposit on it.
• While escaping the zombies, Dipper finds a Zombie Survival Kit. Thinking it'll help, he opens it, only to find a noose inside. For obvious reasons, this scene was cut.
• In an extended scene with the twins and Stan seeing the blacklight messages in Journal 3, Dipper spends a longer amount of time decoding it which Mabel tells Stan to be quiet while he does so.
• Stan doesn't wear his hat in the karaoke scene but in one close up (20:46) he wears it.

Cryptograms

Key: WIDDLE

• During the ending credits of this episode, there is a cryptogram that reads "SMOFZQA JDFV." Once decoded using vigenère cipher, it reads "WELCOME BACK."
  • Found on Gideon's prison cell wall is the keyword: "WIDDLE"
• On the satellite footage of Gravity Falls that the agents are looking at, there are numbers at the bottom that say "5192362116 1896 5192362116 1896 41619..." When separated correctly it can be said, "5-19-23-6-21-16 18-9-6 5-19-23-6-21-16 18-9-6 4-16-19..." Using the combined cipher it translates to "SEARCH FOR THE..."
• On the bottom of Dipper's "Big Mysteries" board, written on the board frame itself, there is a cryptogram that says "TEV FP TBKAV PL MBOCBZQ," which decodes into "WHY IS WENDY SO PERFECT."
• On Agent Powers' card, there's a number that says, "6-12-1-7," using the A1Z26 cipher it translates to "FLAG."
• At the Leprecorn's section, there are two cryptograms. The first is "ZDWFK RXW," which says "WATCH OUT," The second is "NLOO PH SOHDVH," which translates to "KILL ME PLEASE." Both are in the Caesar cipher.

End page.

• The page section revealed at the end of the episode says, "4-16-19 11-23-10 4-16-19 11-23-10 20-9-1-10-5-4-23-15-6-5 15-5 2-19-6-25 15-5 2-19-6-25 21-12-19-2-19-6 21-12-19-2-19-6" on the left and on the right says, "21-23-10 16-19 21-23-10 16-19 16-15-20-19 16-15-5 16-15-20-19 16-15-5 8-12-23-10-5 8-12-23-10-5 18-9-6-19-2-19-6 18-9-6-19-2-19-6?" After being put through all of the ciphers, it translates to "THE MAN DOWNSTAIRS IS VERY CLEVER" and "CAN HE HIDE HIS PLANS FOREVER?"

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