When Dipper and Mabel hear rumors that a lake monster lives at the bottom of the local lake, they enlist Soos to take them on a boating expedition to prove that it really does exist.[1]
Synopsis
Dipper and Mabel have a syrup race.
It's morning at the Mystery Shack. Dipper and Mabel are eating breakfast and decide to have a syrup race, when Mabel taps the bottom, giving her an advantage, and wins. After that, Dipper picks up a magazine called Wacky News and comes across an advertisement for a monster photo contest. Mabel sees an advertisement for a human-sized hamster ball, but Dipper tells her he was talking about the monster photo contest. He asks Mabel if they got any pictures of those gnomes, but they did not. Instead, Mabel says she kept beard hairs from them. Grunkle Stan walks in and says that it's family bonding day. Dipper asks if it's going to be like their last family bonding day where he had them make counterfeit money, and went to the County Jail. Mabel said it was so cold, and shivers. Grunkle Stan admits he hasn't been the best summer caretaker, but he swears they will have real family fun today. He then asks who want to put blindfolds and get into his car. They both cheer, but then Dipper realizes what Grunkle Stan just said, and says "Wait, what?" in confusion.
Grunkle Stan gives them Pines family fishing hats.
Dipper and Mabel are now blindfolded in the back of Grunkle Stan's car. Dipper knows blindfolds never lead to anything good. Mabel feels like all her senses are heightened and that she can see with her fingers. Grunkle Stan is driving recklessly, and Dipper asks him if he's wearing a blindfold. He says he might as well be with his cataracts. Grunkle Stan asks if the fence on the edge of the road is a woodpecker, and they barrel roll down a hill. They arrive at their location, and Grunkle Stan tells them to take off their blindfolds.
It's fishing season at Lake Gravity Falls, and the whole town is out. Dipper is curious as to why Grunkle Stan wants to bond with them all of a sudden. Stan says that he's never had fishing buddies, because the guys from the lodge don't "like or trust him." Suddenly, Old Man McGucket comes running telling everyone that he saw the Gravity Falls Gobblewonker again. (This is when Blendin Blandin can be seen picking up a calculator to the right of the screen). He shows everyone a boat that has been broken in half and claims that the Gobblewonker did it. Dipper realizes that if they can get a picture of the Gobblewonker, they can split the $1,000 prize money 50/50. Mabel thinks about what she could do with a giant hamster ball and has a fantasy of getting the giant hamster ball, and gloating to a hamster. She then runs away saying "Squeak squeak squeak!" Then Mabel stops at a crosswalk and talks to two anime boys saying "You can look, but you can't touch!" The two anime's sunglasses fall off as they say "Awesome!" Mabel, once again, runs off saying, " Squeak squeak! " Meanwhile, weird techno music plays in the background. Mabel comes back to her senses and says she is 1,000,000% on board. Soos pulls up and says they can use his boat, The S.S. Cool Dude, so they ditch Grunkle Stan and head to Scuttlebutt Island.
They believe they've spotted the Gobblewonker.
As they are on their way to the island, Dipper gives Mabel and Soos a quick lecture. He says the number one problem with monster hunting is camera trouble. They then lose six out of their seventeen cameras. Afterward, they decide that Dipper will be captain, Mabel will be co-captain and Soos will be associate co-captain. Mabel moves a pelican's mouth and she talks, then drinking water (which she chokes on, scaring the pelican away). On the boat, Dipper says they'll lure the Gobblewonker with fish food in a barrel. Soos asks permission to taste the fish food, Dipper says "Permission granted," Mabel says "Permission co-granted." and Soos says "Permission associate co-granted" and licks the fish food. Soos makes a face and Mabel and Dipper start laughing. Soos says "Dude, I don't know what I expected that to taste like," Once they land on the island, they hear "monster noises" and rush to check it out. They believe they've spotted the Gobblewonker, but it turns out to be weird beavers, and one of them has a rusty chainsaw that keeps running to make the Gobblewonker's noise. The beavers prove to be not the brightest, because one says "I love cavorting!", then the one next to it says "That deserves a hug!" and one of the beavers next to them falls off the boat without being pushed. Dipper is then sitting on what he believes is a rock, but it actually turns out to be a part of the Gobblewonker. Dipper is getting ready to snap a picture, but the Gobblewonker begins chasing them.
Dipper and Mabel relax on the boat with Grunkle Stan and Soos.
They make it back to the boat, but they are still being chased in the water. Finally, they end up going through a waterfall and into a cave. The Gobblewonker gets stuck in the cave hole and Dipper begins taking pictures. A piece of the cave lands on the Gobblewonker and Dipper notices that something is wrong. He knocks on the Gobblewonker and realizes that it is made of metal. They open the trap door revealing Old Man McGucket. McGucket reveals he made it to get attention for his son because when you get old, you have to go through a lot to spend quality time with your family. It is admitted that Old Man McGucket creates robots for revenge when he gets neglected. Dipper and Mabel then realize that shouldn't have ditched Grunkle Stan. They later meet up with him and apologize. They take some family photos then relax and enjoy the boat ride. The camera angle then goes underwater and we see the actual Gobblewonker eating Dipper's last camera.The end credits show Mabel, once again, imitating the pelican and tells a joke to Dipper, while Dipper is annoyed.
When Dipper and Mabel are eating breakfast and reading the newspaper, Dipper mentions their encounter with the gnomes in "Tourist Trapped" and Mabel presents some gnome beard hair she's saved.
On the Gravity Falls website, the episode is shortened to "The Gobblewonker".
Grunkle Stan is revealed to have a vanity licence plate that reads "STNLYMBL", which is most likely short for 'Stanley Mobile'.
Mysterious cell phone
In the scene where Mabel is poking Dipper for being scared on Scuttlebutt Island (the same one used for the Slenderman hoax), there appears to be a cellphone beside the tree stump.
When Grunkle Stan said Ben Franklin looked like a women, it was foreshadowing "Irrational Treasure" where secret documents confirm Ben Franklin secretly was a women.
Cryptogram
During the end credits of this episode, the cryptogram read "QHAW ZHHN: UHWXUQ WR EXWW LVODQG." Once decoded, it reads "NEXT WEEK: RETURN TO BUTT ISLAND."
