347:, an employee of the Mystery Shack, of danger and orders him to guard the vending machine. Stan takes advantage of a gravitational anomaly to escape the two agents. Meanwhile, Dipper and Mabel go to the vending machine, which Soos guards. They fight, but Dipper inputs the password, revealing the entrance to Stan's lab. The twins are shocked to discover that Stan possesses two missing journals, important objects in the series. Dipper puts the journals together with his own to create a diagrams, forming the blueprints to Stan's machine. Under a
336:
crash his car. They return to the
Mystery Shack and retrieve the footage; the tapes, however, show Stan committing the crime. Dipper finds a box containing numerous fake IDs bearing Stan's face, as well as newspaper clippings detailing Stan's death in a car crash decades prior; the twins begin to worry that Stan is an imposter. In the box, Dipper finds a password on a slip of paper; Mabel identifies this as a button combination for the shack's
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264:, and Hirsch, and directed by Stephen Sandoval. In this episode, Dipper and Mabel begin to question who Stan really is after officers arrest him for stealing chemical waste. The episode, which breaks the show's status quo by introducing Stan's long-lost twin brother, ends with a cliffhanger to the second half of the season.
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about characters "first and foremost", Hirsch said that would be Mabel forgiving of Stan, while Dipper would be unforgiving of both Stan and himself, for the rest of the season. With Dipper, Hirsch described Stan being a con as "a huge blow to his ego, a huge betrayal, and I think it will leave him
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Dipper decides to override the machine, but Stan arrives to stop him. Another anomaly begins, causing everyone to levitate and throwing Dipper, Soos and Stan to the laboratory's wall. Mabel makes it to a lever, which will abort the process, as Stan begs her to not deactivate the portal. Forced to
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Agent Powers and Agent
Trigger arrest Stan for stealing chemical waste the night before. Dipper and Mabel are taken by Agent Trigger to be remanded to Child Protective Services; planning to clear Stan's name using footage from the shack's security camera, the twins escape after causing Trigger to
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In this episode secret double life finally catches up with him, and it puts the pressure on the kids to sort of figure out if they're going to rescue their uncle from what's going on here. The question is, does he deserve rescuing? What did he do? Is he a good guy at all?
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praised the episode, highlighting how the episode utilized the relationships between Dipper, Mabel, and Stan to craft its narrative. He also praised the episode's character work, comedy, and art-style, describing the episode as an "instant classic". Vrai Kaiser of
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choose, Mabel sides with Stan. The portal activates, engulfing the entire town in a flash of light. As the anomalies finally stop, everyone is unharmed. An unknown man comes from the portal, which Stan reveals to be his brother and the author of the journals,
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described the episode as the best of the series. Kaiser highlighted the episode's utilization of color contrasts to emphasize its tone, as well as describing how it turned the viewer's "assumptions of safety" about the series "on its head".
452:. Still, he and the writers took this element as a risk, and Hirsch said that the ending would be shocking to some. They found it necessary in the end to keep the characters interesting and break the status quo. Calling
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as Agent Powers; he had previously appeared in the season opener "Scary-oke" and the episode "Northwest
Mansion Mystery". Hirsch described this character, in addition to Agent Trigger, as
283:", beat that record four months later. The episode received positive reviews from critics, with praise to the story, character work, and animation. The episode was nominated for multiple
324:
In the secret laboratory under the
Mystery Shack, Grunkle Stan rigs drums of chemical waste to power the portal machine. He sets a timer for when the portal will fully open;
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had guessed Stan had a brotherârevealed in the episode as the author of the three journals Dipper, Stan, and Gideon ownâbefore the episode aired. In particular, fans wrote "
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Storyboard artist Alonso
Ramirez Ramos was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the episode. The episode was additionally nominated for two
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has been working on an unknown machine in his basement underneath the
Mystery Shack, trying to make it work without them knowing about his doings.
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During the closing credits, a flashback shows Stan and his brother as children, swinging silently on a swing set as they look out to the ocean.
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in the "Best
Animated Television/Broadcast Production for Children" and "Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production" categories.
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Grunkle Stan 'Not What He Seems'? Disney XD Episode
Answers Big Questions Tonight"
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Grunkle Stan 'Not What He Seems'? Disney XD Episode
Answers Big Questions Tonight"
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Grunkle Stan 'Not What he Seems'? Disney XD Episode
Answers Big Questions Tonight"
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Animation I did from the last scene of Not What He Seems. Keys by Matt Braly. Woo
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would fit and they could write the episode sooner. According to Hirsch, half the
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In an interrogation room with Agent Powers, Stan asks for a phone call. He warns
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to divide the protagonists and have them face their allegiances to one another.
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are spending their summer in the town of Gravity Falls, their great uncle
934:"First Look: Nick Offerman Returns to Gravity Falls in a Big Cliffhanger"
1056:"Emmys: Jimmy Fallon & Chris Hardwick Among Juried Award Winners"
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The next day, as Stan plays with Dipper and Mabel outside the shack,
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feeling isolated from his family in a way he hasn't been before".
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On its original airdate, 2.06 million people (and 1.02 million
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to the second half of the season. The writers did this so a
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The episode, which halves the second season, ends with a
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755:Alex Hirsch on His Show's Big Cliffhanger"
682:Alex Hirsch on His Show's Big Cliffhanger"
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594:(writers) (August 1, 2014). "Scary-oke".
550:John Aoshima & Joe Pitt (directors);
932:Schneider, Michael (February 26, 2015).
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1311:Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind
1254:Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls
994:Wilkins, Alasdair (March 10, 2015).
531:. Disney | ABC Television Group
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231:" is the eleventh episode of the
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1079:Giardina, Carolyn (2016-02-06).
955:Kissell, Rick (March 18, 2015).
895:Fisher, Cydney (March 9, 2015).
690:. The Onion Inc. Archived from
822:Adams, Erik (March 11, 2015).
746:Adams, Erik (March 11, 2015).
673:Adams, Erik (March 11, 2015).
279:until the following episode, "
42:
1:
1054:Pedersen, Erik (2015-09-10).
378:âHirsch regarding the episode
1276:Legend of the Gnome Gemulets
620:Blum, Matt (March 9, 2015).
188:"Northwest Mansion Mystery"
167:Brad Abrell as Agent Trigger
1029:Kaiser, Vrai (2017-02-27).
1006:. Onion Inc. Archived from
862:Hill, Jim (March 9, 2015).
837:. Onion Inc. Archived from
789:Hill, Jim (March 9, 2015).
761:. Onion Inc. Archived from
713:Hill, Jim (March 9, 2015).
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586:(directors); Jeff Rowe,
568:. Season 1. Episode 20.
460:The episode guest stars
333:law enforcement officers
129:April 17, 2015
893:For "status quo", see:
626:Will Change Everything"
600:. Season 2. Episode 1.
472:Broadcast and reception
244:, which was created by
117:March 9, 2015
1363:Gravity Falls episodes
1085:The Hollywood Reporter
1000:: 'Not What He Seems'"
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366:Production and themes
487:Alasdair Wilkins of
1247:A Tale of Two Stans
875:The Huffington Post
802:The Huffington Post
726:The Huffington Post
525:"Not What He Seems"
397:. He wrote it with
281:A Tale of Two Stans
198:A Tale of Two Stans
901:Answers Questions"
275:during its run on
174:Episode chronology
114:Original air dates
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963:NCIS: Los Angeles
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841:on March 12, 2015
808:on March 11, 2015
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1288:Lost Legends
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1233:The Golf War
1213:Gideon Rises
1159:Grunkle Stan
1149:Dipper Pines
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1088:. Retrieved
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1038:. Retrieved
1035:The Mary Sue
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552:Matt Chapman
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84:Matt Chapman
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1282:Cipher Hunt
1268:Other media
1164:Bill Cipher
1154:Mabel Pines
936:. TVInsider
897:"Tonight's
592:Alex Hirsch
556:Alex Hirsch
426:cliffhanger
395:Alex Hirsch
349:black light
310:Mabel Pines
246:Alex Hirsch
126:(Disney XD)
89:Alex Hirsch
54:Directed by
1352:Categories
1141:Characters
1090:2024-09-07
1065:2024-09-07
1040:2024-09-07
820:See also:
512:References
419:Matt Braly
357:Ford Pines
300:Background
289:Emmy Award
213:(season 2)
147:22 minutes
133:2015-04-17
121:2015-03-09
98:Editing by
62:Written by
49:Episode 11
1014:April 26,
996:"Review:
979:April 26,
915:April 26,
905:Indiewire
885:April 26,
845:April 26,
812:April 26,
769:April 26,
736:April 26,
698:April 26,
640:April 26,
482:Disney XD
403:Jeff Rowe
277:Disney XD
269:Disney XD
258:Jeff Rowe
79:Jeff Rowe
1337:Category
1224:Season 2
1183:Season 1
1174:Episodes
1060:Deadline
590:, &
535:9 August
320:Synopsis
185:Previous
109:618G-210
41:Episode
1298:Related
969:Variety
630:GeekDad
417:, with
194: â
183:â
131: (
119: (
36:episode
434:fandom
430:hiatus
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