#and he would. do anything. for forde. except the things that he wouldn't do naturally

[the-orion-scribe]

I don't think it really would have "left a bad taste in his mouth," since even before he got kicked out, Stan never expressed any particular respect for rules, but otherwise, that is a reasonable perspective. It does not, however, justify what looks a lot like stage fright. Even if he's trying to be honest here, Stan has 30 years of life as a showman to have gotten over that.

For your other point, Soos isn't just some random person. He's a close friend the twins have literally risked their lives and/or existences for on multiple occasions and also gave up a time wish that can do basically anything. It doesn't make sense for them to suddenly become so callous toward him. If they wanted his help to stop Gideon, they could've just asked and explained about the tie, and I'm sure Soos would've gone along with it, even the possession thing, since I'm also sure he knows (or at least thinks) he wouldn't do well onstage.

I would also say that Ford, while a morally-ambiguous person, would not also so easily give away his tie to two children he only knew for a couple of days. Ford knew (or thought he knew) Bill for somewhere in the neighborhood of two years before the possession thing, and it was Bill who made the offer. That means it took that long before Bill thought it a certainty that Ford would accept something like that. And even as messed up as the whole situation with Bill and Ford was (because anything involving Bill is always messed up), Ford still agreed to it willingly. He accepted to be possessed before he knew who Bill really was. That's the whole point. In that sense, the tie is even worse than Bill, because it doesn't require permission or even manipulation.

And besides, Ford was horrified when he learnt Bill's true nature and took further measures to prevent re-possession by Bill. Not least the metal plate in his head and later on right after in the subsequent episode he helped Dipper to "Bill-proof" his mind.

Ford during The Stanchurian Candidate doesn't know jack about the twins, at least not their personalities (given his early rather inaccurate assessments of them in Journal 3). He spent most of his time holed up in the basement not talking to anyone, the only exception being DD&MD with Dipper, during which I find it hard to believe he gained an accurate picture of what Dipper would do with a mind-control device.

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 Theory Of Weirdness)