Gravity Falls Wiki
Advertisement
Gravity Falls Wiki

Read transcript

"The Stanchurian Candidate"[1] is the 14th episode of the second season of Gravity Falls and the 34th episode overall. It premiered on August 24, 2015 on Disney XD.[1]

Official overview[]

When Grunkle Stan decides to run for mayor, Dipper and Mabel have their work cut out for them trying to turn their gaffe-prone uncle into the perfect candidate.[1]

Synopsis[]

Stan wakes up in pain, finding his slippers soaked in milk. A note from Mabel explains she used them to carry her milk. He switches on the kitchen light, but the bulb explodes. Inside a box replacing it, he finds a note from Dipper saying he used all the lights to make a planetarium suit for Soos.

S2e14 new mayor

Stan thinks about running for mayor.

Stan rushes to Tons Grocery Store to buy a new light bulb pack. Robbie, Lee, Nate, and Tambry mock him in the checkout aisle, prompting Stan to threaten to shoplift. The cashier calls security, and Stan tries to escape with a smoke bomb that fails. He returns home bruised with the light bulb pack, but Ford replaced it with a long-lasting bulb that softens their skin. Infuriated, Stan watches the local news and learns that Mayor Befufftlefumpter has died, and there's an afternoon meeting to choose a new mayor.

S2e14 bud is mad

Bud marks Stan as an enemy.

Later that day, the Gravity Falls townspeople have gathered at town hall. Sheriff Blubs reveals the mayoral requirements: casting a shadow, counting to ten, and throwing a hat into a hoop. Bud Gleeful confidently throws his hat in, but Stan challenges him after hearing Dipper and Mabel's desire for Ford's election. Stan questions the town's decision to let Bud win, and several townspeople throw their hats in the ring. Bud warns Stan that he'd let bygones be bygones, but his hand has been forced.

S2e14 mind control tie in ford's hand

Ford gives Dipper a pair of mind control ties to help Stan win the election.

Dipper and Mabel are concerned about Stan's mayoral campaign and believe he's unsuitable. Despite this, the Mystery Shack promotes his campaign. Stan's disastrous radio interview is interrupted by Dipper and Mabel. Dipper seeks Ford's help in the basement, where he receives a pair of mind-controlling ties. If Dipper wears one and Stan the other, Dipper can influence Stan's actions. After testing the tie on Soos, they decide to use it on Stan to shape his campaign, making him popular. Stan delivers a speech about America, Freedom, and "Amerifreedom," unaware of the control. Dipper and Mabel keep Stan wearing the tie by claiming it's his "lucky tie."

S2e14 mind trap bud

Bud gets possessed by Gideon.

Meanwhile, Bud struggles to understand his campaign's success while Stan thrives. He seeks advice from his "campaign manager," Gideon, whom he's kept in touch with from prison. Gideon, running for mayor to free Bud, uses a last resort: a one-use possession spell from Journal 2 to possess Bud secretly.

S2e14 major rock

The day of the final election.

On the final debate day, Stan forgoes his lucky tie, leading to an argument with Dipper. Dipper reveals the tie's power, causing an infuriated Stan to leave. Realizing they need an independent candidate, Soos emerges from the bathroom, wearing the tie. Stan is surprised to see Soos and becomes enraged when he spots Dipper and Mabel behind the curtain, controlling the tie. His approval ratings plummet, and his anger grows.

S2e14 holding two kids and a chair

Stan having rescued Dipper and Mabel.

Bud uses Gideon's charisma to convince the crowd to vote for him as an intermission is called. Dipper and Mabel wonder why Bud acts like Gideon. Gideon, controlling Bud, grabs them and forces them to tie up in the statue's nostrils filled with dynamite. Stan's popularity sinks until he hears Dipper and Mabel's screams as they fall out. Stan rushes to save them, punching eagles to climb the scaffolding. Impressed, the townspeople throw birdseed at him, choosing the candidate with the most for the freedom eagle's mayor. Stan grabs the kids as the rope breaks and pulls them back in. Gideon forces Bud to push the detonator. Stan grabs the kids and they leap out as the statue explodes. They land safely in birdseed as the crowd flees. The freedom eagle leaves its cage, kisses Stan, and declares him mayor. The townspeople cheer as Gideon throws a tantrum.

S2e14 what a twist stan lost

Stan, who originally won the election, is disqualified because of his criminal record.

Stan's short-lived success is thwarted when his criminal record is revealed, disqualifying him from being mayor. Tyler, the only eligible candidate, wins. The news airs Stan's record. Dipper is disappointed, but Stan's fine. Mabel gives him a "Our Hero" sash, making him tear up. They soon leave to vandalize Mayor Tyler's mansion.

In prison, Gideon befriends Ghost-Eyes, who invites him to a riot. Gideon declines and returns to his cell. He removes a cat poster to display a Bill Cipher summoning circle. Drawing an eye in the triangle, he completes the circle and says he's ready to make a deal as it glows.

Credits[]

Production notes[]

See also: List of allusions and List of goofs.

Character revelations[]

  • Mayor Befufftlefumpter's full name is Eustace Huckabone Befufftlefumpter.
    • He was also raised by bears in the wilderness and raised the Gravity Falls water tower.
    • He also may have started the first World War.
    • He is also the one responsible for Gideon being sent to an adult prison.
  • Gideon ripped out a page from Journal 2 before Grunkle Stan took it and saved it for the right moment.
  • Tyler's last name is revealed to be Cutebiker.
  • Some of the crimes Stan Pines has committed include snacks evasion, pickpocketing, woodpecker baiting, impersonating a dentist, general indecency, golf cart theft, bingo fraud, telling overly long jokes and pug trafficking, among others.
    • Stan's criminal record of pug trafficking occurred in the next episode, when he gave Santiago a number of barrels full of pugs to ship across the U.S. border in 24 hours.
  • In the radio interview, Stan suggested educating children by placing them on an island to fight for dominance, likely referencing Lord of the Flies. He also expressed indifference towards the American flag, criticizing its excessive number of stripes.
  • According to the Stan for Mayor Twitter accounts created by Alex and the crew for the episode, Gravity Falls was removed from the map years ago when Stan got in a fistfight with the state mapmaker.[3]

Series continuity[]

Songs featured[]

Episode Promotional Material[]

  • In anticipation for the episode, a Twitter account (@StanPines4Mayor) was created by Alex Hirsch for Stan's platform.[4] In addition, a website was created called mabelsaidshedmakemeawebsite.com and Neil Cicierega created a campaign song for Stan called Pines 2016, which he uploaded as an unlisted video on his channel.
    • The Twitter account hosted a series of events on it leading up to the episode. One of which was getting fans to write #YesWeStan on their faces. [5]
    • Stan banner first place SlickNickP

      SlickNickP's winning banner

      Another event it hosted was asking people to put #YesWeStan in the weirdest places possible with the winner getting a voice message from him.[6]Some of the places people put the hashtag on included cat food, car windows, lockers, images from North Korea, garbage, food, outside Trump Tower and even a baby to name a few.
      • The winner ended up being a user named SlickNickP who put a #YesWeStan banner on his roof.[7][8] He got his audio message from Stan soon after.[9][10]
    • While the Twitter account went inactive after the episode came out, mabelsaidshedmakemeawebsite.com still remains up as it was reportedly purchased by a fan.
      • Prior this his account's termination, the only person @StanPines4Mayor followed was Donald Trump. The account even made tweets directly at him on occasions too. [11][12]
        • The reasoning was that at the time, Trump had announced his run for president and it was seen more so as a joke rather than a chance that he'd win, similarly with Stan.
    • After an update to YouTube in 2021, the video/song Neil made was privated and thought lost. However, it was retrieved and reuploaded. [13]

Trivia[]

  • The plot for this episode was accidentally leaked by both the iTunes and YouTube releases of "A Tale of Two Stans." This error was later fixed.
  • The Watch Disney XD release had a similar error. It said "Grunkle Stan decides to run for mayor," which would be the Watch Disney XD description for this episode, but it appeared on the Watch Disney XD stream for "A Tale of Two Stans." It was later changed to match the plot of "A Tale of Two Stans."
  • When Gideon is reciting an incantation to possess his father, the spell is heard as something unintelligible. When played backwards he is actually saying, "Spooky evil spells! Spooky evil spells! Spooky evil spells! Spooky spells! Spooky spells!."[14]
  • Judging by the way Bud reacts, it is possible that Gideon used magic on him before.
  • In real life there are such things as a ventriloquist tie which have affected the mind control tie that is shown in the episode.

Cryptograms[]

S2e14 I'm ready to make a deal
S2e14 vingere key

Key: WORKINIT

  • The cryptogram in the end credits is CWZSQVQBEWZSQVQBEWZSQVQMPHKD'MZ!, which, when decoded with the Vigenère key WORKINIT, translates to GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT'EM!
    • The key is found in the upper left corner of a Gravity Falls Gossiper newspaper article.
S2e14 end page

End page.

In the middle of the episode, Gideon Gleeful says "!slleps ykoopS !slleps live ykoopS !slleps live ykoopS !slleps live ykoopS" which, backwards, it's spooky spells and spooky evil spells.

  • The cryptogram in the episode's end page is: 22-19 / 1-23-6-25 / 9-18 / 1-16-9-11 / 25-9-3 / 22-19-12-15-4-4-12-19 / 22-15-17 / 8-6-9-22-12-19-11-5 / 21-23-10 / 5-4-23-6-4 / 9-3-4 / 1-15-20-20-12-19 which, when decoded using the Combined Cipher, reads: BE WARY OF WHOM YOU BELITTLE, BIG PROBLEMS CAN START OUT WIDDLE.

See Also[]

Mabelsaidshedmakemeawebsite.com (Campaign Website)

Pines 2016 (Campaign song written by Neil Cicierega)

StanPines4Mayor (Campaign Twitter page)

Gallery

Click here to view the image gallery for The Stanchurian Candidate.
Click here to view this page's gallery.

References[]

Site navigation

V - E - H - D Gravity Falls episodes
Season one 1. Tourist Trapped | 2. The Legend of the Gobblewonker | 3. Headhunters | 4. The Hand That Rocks the Mabel | 5. The Inconveniencing | 6. Dipper vs. Manliness | 7. Double Dipper | 8. Irrational Treasure | 9. The Time Traveler's Pig | 10. Fight Fighters | 11. Little Dipper | 12. Summerween | 13. Boss Mabel | 14. Bottomless Pit! | 15. The Deep End | 16. Carpet Diem | 17. Boyz Crazy | 18. Land Before Swine | 19. Dreamscaperers | 20. Gideon Rises
Season two 21. Scary-oke | 22. Into the Bunker | 23. The Golf War | 24. Sock Opera | 25. Soos and the Real Girl | 26. Little Gift Shop of Horrors | 27. Society of the Blind Eye | 28. Blendin's Game | 29. The Love God | 30. Northwest Mansion Mystery | 31. Not What He Seems | 32. A Tale of Two Stans | 33. Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons | 34. The Stanchurian Candidate | 35. The Last Mabelcorn | 36. Roadside Attraction | 37. Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future | 38. Weirdmageddon Part 1 | 39. Weirdmageddon 2: Escape From Reality | 40-41. Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls
Animated shorts Candy Monster | Stan's Tattoo | Mailbox | Lefty | Tooth | The Hide-Behind | Mabel's Guide to Dating | Mabel's Guide to Stickers | Mabel's Guide to Fashion | Mabel's Guide to Color | Mabel's Guide to Art | Fixin' It with Soos: Golf Cart | Fixin' It with Soos: Cuckoo Clock | TV Shorts 1 | TV Shorts 2 | Mabel's Scrapbook: Heist Movie | Mabel's Scrapbook: Petting Zoo
Lists Allusions | Cryptograms | Goofs | International versions
Related Media Unaired pilot | Next Time On Gravity Falls | Creature in the Closet | Creepy Letters from Lil' Gideon | Gravity Paws | Gravity Falls Journal 3 Infomercial | Gravity Falls: Six Strange Tales | Gravity Falls: Even Stranger | The Mystery in Gravity Falls | "Old Man" McGucket's Conspiracy Corner Marathon | Between the Pines | Soos' Stan Fiction | Soos Cast | Gravity Falls – Tug-n’-Talk Shmebulock | One Crazy Summer: A Look Back at Gravity Falls | Call Me Mabel | Chibiverse | How NOT to Draw Grunkle Stan
Advertisement