#The Stanchurian Candidate

[coolunspokenforname]

Turns out the most unbelievable part of Gravity Falls' "The Stanchurian Candidate" is that Stan loses the election because of his criminal record.

[tinfoil-jones]

Imagine if Stan actually died in The Stanchurian Candidate - either because the pile of seeds wasn't close enough for him to land on, or it wasn't enough to break his fall. And Ford, who finally got the house to himself that day, see's the whole thing on TV.

So Ford watches his brother, who he assumes the worst about all of the time and was about to kick out back into homelessness at the end of the summer, literally give his life for Dipper and Mabel. Stan wasn't even unaware of the likelihood of death, he told the kids as much; so there's no way he did this thinking he'd be okay in the end.

Does Ford feel bad? Does he get angry? Does he convince himself that Stan deserved it? Does he go into denial thinking that this is just some long-con Stanley is pulling to make him say 'thank you'?

And a freshly traumatized Dipper has to slap some sense into Ford telling him that this isn't about him. That it's about Grunkle Stan, and he's dead. He's gone.

It was so easy to be angry and bitter towards Stanley before - because he was suffocating, because of the broken project, because of the portal incident-.

But all of those times Stanley was *there*, no matter where he was or what he was doing, he would find a way to survive one way or another. Even on the other side of portal, Ford knew that if he was still alive amongst aliens, demons, and monsters, there'd be no reason Stanley wouldn't also still be alive in their normal dimension.

It's easy to be mad at someone when you know they're there. When you assume they're always going to be there.

It isn't easy when the person is gone.

It's even harder when you realize that your relationship can never be fixed.

It's impossible when it dawns on you that you never even tried to fix it. That you never got to know them again. That you'll never get to know them again. That you had that chance, but you rejected it and now it's too late.

Like would that be messed up or what.

[catsandbats13]

could we maybe get some stan in his stanchurian candidate outfit (or double dipper, you decide!!) with that classic unbuttoned shirt look of his??? 👀 i absolutely love the way you draw him 🤤

YE S YES YES!! I had to go with the Stanchurian Candidate outfit, it’s just too iconic 😍

Ahh thank you so much, I’m really trying to figure out how to draw him consistently so this has been great practice, plus I just love that sexy old man

Anyways here it is, I added a lil bonus doodle too lol hope you like it! 😊💜

[magnetic-maverick]

You know Gravity Falls is fictional when a criminal isn’t allowed to run for mayor or be mayor.

[violetheart77]

Weird Little Town stans Fight: TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: August 24…

Stan, in hopes of earning respect, decides to run for mayor when the current mayor dies and both Dipper and Mabel try to make Stan look electable and prevent him from being open-minded. “The Stanchurian Candidate” premiered on this day, 9 Years Ago.

[the-orion-scribe]

The Stanchurian Candidate is more messed-up than we thought

I think the majority of the fandom is unaware of or often overlooked two major plot holes for this episode, which I think are best highlighted here. If anyone were to think deeper, this episode is actually super messed-up with many out-of-character moments.

Major Plot Hole #1: Why is Stan both insistent upon brutal honesty and somehow completely unable to handle himself in front of a crowd during his mayoral campaign? Public speaking and being a showman, often to these very people, was literally Stan’s entire job description for over half his life, so he should have no reason to be that awkward and incompetent. Suddenly insisting upon brutal honesty is also completely out of character for him. (Seriously, if Stan managed to not spill anything about Ford during the Truth Teeth episode, how is he suddenly incapable of lying here?) But even this massive break in character pales in comparison to…

Major Plot Hole #2: (This one is deeper than the Bottomless Pit.) How are Dipper and Mabel just completely OK with using the mind-control tie on Stan, without even seeking his consent first? Especially given that Dipper was possessed by Bill (and, based on the events of the very next episode, definitely traumatized by the incident) not more than two weeks prior? I am positive that such an incident could be never forgotten so easily by either of the twins, but particularly by Dipper. Yet he raises no objection beyond “that’s… ethically ambiguous!”

Even when Soos was very visibly frightened after having the Tie “tested” on him, Dipper and Mabel just laughed at his pain and fear. Keep in mind that just a few episodes prior, the twins risked their lives and/or existences just to fix Soos’s issues with his birthday. I hardly think they’d be inclined to laugh at his pain and distress for any reason.

And, because I know someone will suggest it, the twins’ memories of the Sock Opera could not have been wiped by the Society of the Blind Eye, since 1) the Society was destroyed less than a week after the Sock Opera, and 2) in the Journal 3 entry corresponding to s2e11: Not What He Seems, Dipper directly references his being possessed by Bill, meaning he remembered the experience at that point (after the Society was gone), and would therefore also remember it during the events of The Stanchurian Candidate.

And also quoting from a conversation with @detectivejigsawpines, The twins literally overrode their uncle’s autonomy and took over his body without his knowing consent. And Ford should have known better, considering he was doing the same thing Bill did.

But I’m not being entirely fair. Though it pains me to say it, The Stanchurian Candidate does still have good points, despite all these faults. It is, of course, still an episode of Gravity Falls, and was, according to the credits, written by the same people as the rest of the series.

In actuality, the episode is quite good when viewed completely in a vacuum. Were this the first episode of the show that someone ever saw, they would (probably) not think it was bad. Without the greater context of Sock Opera and the personality traits the main cast has firmly established throughout the first season and a half, there would be nothing amiss about any of their actions.

In addition, the selfless love of Grunkle Stan still shines through in this episode, when he doesn't hesitate to break off his campaign speech and rescue Dipper and Mabel who are in great danger.

When viewed from that mindset, it’s alright. There are good jokes, fun moments, and the villain-of-the-week is soundly beaten in a satisfying manner. Still not the best episode in the series by a long shot, but not the worst either.

Of course, since Gravity Falls is a very story-based cartoon, you can’t consider this episode in a vacuum, which is where all the problems come from. Even the initial premise of the wacky mayoral election and why Stan wants to participate in it don’t make sense unless you understand something about Gravity Falls as a town, and Stan as a person, respectively.

Idea for a fix: My head canon has become that the majority of the episode (basically everything after they get back from the town hall) was a dream Stan had, since I think the writers may have intended for it to be an episode addressing the “stuff” Stan mentions he has been dealing with later, in “[Twins] vs the Future.” I feel this makes sense because, stylistically, the bulk of the plot appears less like a standard episode and more like the stories Stan sometimes tells throughout the series (such as those in the non-canon s2e06: Little Gift Shop of Horrors), which tend to feature exaggerated behavior and a slight sense of ‘unreality’ (compared to the baseline). Therefore, him having a vivid, all-the-negative-emotions-fueled dream that distorts his family members in somewhat disturbing ways makes a lot more sense than “and then Dipper and Mabel were randomly and - most significantly - gleefully supervillainous (and surprisingly, given their personalities, competent politicians) for one episode.”

Thoughts? Opinions? Soundly reasoned rebuttals?

(Above written with assistance from @callipraxia and @theoryofweirdness)

[gravity-falls-fanatic89]

Busted out the Stan Pines' Amerifreedom tank top because he's the only old guy I can get behind at this point.

And it's because he's hot.

[orangephoenix6]

Just something I did for fun. I was watching a bunch of Steven Universe videos where people edited out Garnet's visor, so I decided to do something similar and edited out Stan's glasses and fez from this clip.

[rgu-episodes-bracket]

Round 1 - Poll 7

[hkthatgffan]

Am I too late?

Here we go, the new Bingo card for “The Stanchurian Candidate”!! 

[atalana]

but seriously i do find it so funny that ford was like OH GOD MY PRECIOUS REPUTATION after bill possessed him around other people for all of one night

and then he gets back to this dimension after thirty years and this is now the photo the press associates with his name

[sanct1f1ed]

favorite stan twins characterization is that they're both equally insane. stanley just gets more air time to show it off. loosely inspired by a post i read earlier but here's some absolutely insane things both of them have done

stanley:

drugged a person and turned them into an exhibit in the mystery shack

had a vegas wedding to a prospector-themed novelty dispenser

gave mabel a grappling hook

failed to steal an animatronic badger

chewed his way out of the trunk of a car

punched at least three bald eagles

is multiply divorced, possibly even with the novelty dispenser

committed premeditated murder on a llama

faked a heart attack to get on Wheel of Fortune

took his clothes off in front of a live studio audience on Wheel of Fortune

has a rivalry with a fifth grader, a grandmother, and a man who exclusively dresses like a corn cob

stanford:

pulled a gun on a bus driver when he wouldn't let a pig on board

directly assisted in mind-controlling ronald reagan during his election in 1980

gave mabel a crossbow

got bitten by a vampire bat and subsequently began sampling human blood

owns contraband outlawed in 9000 dimensions; keeps it in an extremely flimsy plastic case

"accidentally" set a hawk on fire

has exes ranging from as normal as his old college buddy to as weird as a triangle and an alien with 7 eyes who put a metal plate in his head

wears turtlenecks because he's hiding multiple tattoos he regrets, including one themed around "all star" by smash mouth

is an Extremely wanted criminal across hundreds of dimensions; was completely kicked out of one for card counting

is, bizarrely, super into the band Eurythmics

can see shrimp colors

[s0dabeach]

BABYGIRL STAN ATTACK!!!!

[ask-mister-mystery]

Back when I was thinner (and yet with those glasses looking a lot more like Stan) I made a little video in preparation for the Stanchurian candidate. I haven’t seen this since I uploaded it!

Made a little campaign video on the fly IC as Grunkle Stan for the airing of ‘The Stanchurian Candidate’ tomorrow! Hope you like it! #YesWeStan

[kipkiphoorayy]

i love stan because it’s usually “he can do no wrong” with characters but no. he can do all the wrong he wants and i’ll still be cheering him on. i actually encourage it, please continue to commit tax fraud and make vaguely threatening hand gestures at cops. smuggle pugs or whatever your crusty heart desires.