#despite the lesson of the episode this is my longest post by far lol

[n7spongy]

And now, a little essay on why I love Double Dipper so much.

This episode is probably one of the best episodes of the entire show. And, surprisingly, its the episode with the lowest stakes.

Think about it. Even in Deep End, Mermando's life was at stake. Even in Carpet Diem, Dipper and Mabel's relationship was at stake. Even in Boyz Crazy, Mabel's relationship with her friends is at stake.

But in Double Dipper, one thing and one thing only was ever truly at stake for Dipper: whether he would get to dance with Wendy. He's already good friends with her, his clones never try to kill him or take over his life, instead the only source of conflict was if Dipper could make the most of the moment.

And yet, why is the episode so gosh darn compelling? Because to Dipper, it's just as important as any mystery, heck maybe even more so because he freaks out over Wendy like she's the be-all end-all of life (12 year olds don't have the best judgement after all). So chances are if you relate to Dipper you totally understand and believe why this matters so much to him, and the extreme lengths he goes to in order to get the perfect night with Wendy. I'm sure we've all had that crush we would have fought and died for, so we root for Dipper to succeed at his childhood fantasy. To win for us.

And if you've had that kind of crush, chances are you've realized that the reason you probably didn't work up the courage to ask them is because you were stopping yourself, because you were *scared*. You invented excuses and were convinced that nothing in life ever happens by just doing it, but by overthinking every step. It's a weird contradiction that Dipper and people like us went through: we don't have faith in ourselves to just talk to our crush normally, but we have faith that we can game the system by overplanning a convoluted method to break it, somehow believing that that's better. So what better way to represent Dipper getting in his own way than with clones of himself?

Frankly, its genius, and it's really hammered home with how his clones are, for all intents and purposes (minus meltability), *him*. The way they praise him and each other, the lame way they fight, the way they're able to understand what each other are thinking ("I just had the same jealousy fantasy"). They may know they're clones but that never stops them from acting like Dipper. There is no cliche clone madness or jealousy, all of their actions are something Dipper would do. Their decision to trap Dipper and take matters into their own hands is the kind of rash thing Dipper himself is known for doing (furthermore, they're never malevolent towards him, they leave him snacks and a coloring book!). Or at least, what the Dipper before the end of this episode was known for, because in a way the clones are quite literally a snapshot of him at his most paranoid. Who knows, perhaps him getting cloned at the moment of saying "I wonder if this is a good idea" is why the clones are so paranoid.

However, the more you plan for things, the more things you accidentally look over, and are unable to account for. So it follows that despite Dipper's immense effort, he was forced into a chance encounter with Wendy, the one thing he never planned for. Being pushed to his 12-year old mental limit in such an awkward and unknown setting, he realizes his attempts to force small talk don't work, and gives up, deciding to answer Wendy's silly questions genuinely. And what do you know, talking like a person works, he bonds with her! But his clones, the very manifestation of his arrogance, don't agree this is the way forward, and so he's forced to clash with his ego. But in the end, all the fighting was just another instance of overthinking that prevented him from doing what he should have been doing the whole time, just shooting his shot and taking whatever came next. Hence, Dipper loses his chance and Wendy seemingly decides to spend the party with Robbie.

It's at this moment that Dipper and Tyrone look at each other on equal footing, recognizing their shared blame. And then the strangest and most unexpected line of the episode comes in from Tyrone: "I dunno, do you wanna go grab a couple sodas or something?" Dipper surprisingly opts to try and enjoy his own company, literally.

He doesn't mope too much over the fact that he blew it, because he's not overthinking anymore. He instead decides to have an honest heart-to-heart with himself (if only we could have one so literal right?), and what comes next are probably my favorite two shots in the show: Dipper and Tyrone's gently smiling together as they look up, and the subsequent shot of the night sky, with a brief shooting star. In that is the perfect encapsulation of the arc Dipper has gone through: he's reconciled his ego (Tyrone) with reality, and so he learns how to be comfortable just being himself around Wendy. It's an important step for Dipper, and it's a lesson that will be reaffirmed to him many times over the course of the summer: that he can't force anything and can't know how it will all work out, so he needs to love himself.

But then he gets unsure again, and of course he would, he's 12 after all. So he wonders if he even has a chance with Wendy, if any of this was even worth it. Tyrone's last gift to him is the reminder that the only way forward, the only way to truly know anything, is to swallow everything and take a real chance. And after Dipper briefly mourns the untimely end (yet another way the clones *were* Dipper, Tyrone forgot he had a weakness) of the Dipper that he once was, he decides to take the last chance he'll ever get that night. The party may be over, but all that really matters to him is hanging out with Wendy, so he goes forward and, from what we see in Journal 3, he succeeds.

There are so many more praises I could give Double Dipper. I could talk about the humor or Mabel's inspiring side plot (which is the perfect complement to Dipper's, look where being confident landed her). But what really sold this episode to me was Dipper's realization that his overthinking nature could prove disastrous to forming a deeper human connection and, ultimately, making the most of the moment, and life. It's such a universal feeling that goes beyond crushes or parties. I relate to it so so much, I mean I tend to overthink my future constantly and how to spend my time, so this episode is helpful in that way, reminding me to just simply aim and shoot every now and then. And so whenever I see Dipper walk up to the Shack's door, rip up the list, and walk in as that amazing and melancholic tune plays, I get a bit emotional. I wish I had his bravery when I was his age.