Review: Gravity Falls – “Blendin’s Game”
Spoilers Below
Mabel and Dipper are probably the best friends anyone could ever have. In this episode, they battle through time in order to give Soos a happy birthday. What more could anyone ask for?
In the year 207̃012, Blendin Blandin is a former time anomaly remover. It was his job to travel through time fixing all of the anomalies. Thanks to Mabel and Dipper, he has been arrested. He breaks out of future prison in order to exact his revenge on the twins. Before he is recaptured, he invokes “Globnar,” an arena full of gladiator games. The winner gets a Time Wish and decides the fate of the losers. Blandin challenges the twins to Globnar.
Back in our time, Mabel and Dipper have found out that it is Soos’s birthday. They go all out to throw him a surprise party, only to find out that Soos hates his birthday. Of course, the kids decide they need to fix this. Knowing that Soos loves laser tag, the entire gang takes the birthday boy out for some laser fun. Unfortunately, Blandin and the Time Paradox Avoidance Enforcement Squadron nab Mabel and Dipper before they can enter the laser tag arena.
After Blandin blabs his plan to everyone, Dipper grabs a time traveling measuring tape and the twins attempt to head back to their time. They overshoot by ten years, bringing themselves to a time when Soos loved his birthday. Deciding to use this opportunity to find out more about Soos, the twins discover that Soos’s father had promised (multiple times) to visit on his birthday but never actually showed up. Yes, it was on his birthday that Soos figured out that his father didn’t care about him. So the twins decide to take Blandin’s challenge, win the Time Wish, and wish for Soos to meet his father and be happy again. Easy, right?
Mabel and Dipper battle hard until the very end. With only one point between the enemies, the Time Baby announces the final game – laser tag. Dipper shoots Blandin in the chest repeatedly while Mabel grabs the Time Wish, winning the Globnar. Before they can use their Time Wish, they have to decide Blandin’s fate. They agree that his problems are their fault so they reinstate him at his previous job and give him a great head of hair. Then they decide to give the Time Wish to Soos.
Blandin takes the kids back to the laser tag arena, where Soos has been searching for them. When Soos realizes that the kids went through all of that just to make him happy, he chooses to use the Time Wish to clean them up and get an infinite slice of pizza. He tells the kids that he realizes that his father never cared for him the way that they do. They are his family now.
Flashback to ten years ago. Soos found the Mystery Shack screwdriver that Dipper had dropped. He takes it back to the Shack, just as Stan is firing his old handyman. Stan hires a way-too-young Soos as his new handyman and a smile crosses Soos’s face.
I have said this before – I love Soos episodes. Even though this episode didn’t feature a lot of Soos himself, it was pretty awesome to see his story. It was also great to see the lengths the kids will go to in order to make their friend happy on his birthday. I think this episode proves that the strength of “Gravity Falls” lies with the characters and not with the weird stuff that happens on a daily basis. No one would like this show if the characters weren’t so close-knit. We like seeing what they will do for each other. The weird stuff is just the icing on the cake. Just make sure you leave room for more Soos.
