Title: Gravity Falls
Type: Western animated TV
Year: 2012-2016
Country: United States
Genre: Mystery/adventure/comedy/fantasy
Status: Completed
Platform: Cable TV
Appropriate for 30+?: No
My rating: N/A
(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)
I discovered Gravity Falls through numerous Reddit threads where self-identified adults swore up and down that despite being a kids’ series it was still thoroughly enjoyable for the older crowd too. Intrigued I downloaded both seasons, trudged my way through season one, then went back to the internet because… really? “It gets so much better in season two!” “The ending is fantastic!” I was assured. So I trudged my way through season two, right through to the ending.
Folks, I was duped. This is just a kid’s show, nothing more. Sure, it’s better than the average kid’s show, and sure if I found myself in a situation where I was hanging out with children and we needed to pick something age-appropriate I wouldn’t object if that’s what they really wanted to watch (but I would probably push them toward something else, like Avatar TLA or any Pixar/Dreamworks film). The truth is Gravity Falls is very painfully geared to a pre-teen demographic: the characters are annoying, the jokes are immature, the plot is grossly lacking (it’s literally X-Files for children), and most of the drama/predicaments are about pre-teens dealing with pre-teen problems in a mildly-spooky fantasy setting. There isn’t even enough here for a session of “hey let’s get really drunk/stoned and watch some kids animation!”
I did not give this series a rating because it’s no more appropriate for me to do so than when Roger Ebert had to write a review for the first Pokemon movie, which he begins by stating that he’s “plain in over my head” and ends with the acknowledgement that “I may have completely bypassed the point and misinterpreted crucial Pokemon lore” (he ended up giving it two stars). I am, after all, completely outside their target demographic for this show.
Not recommended for the 30+ crowd.
As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this piece of media is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.
As I stated in my review: yes I finished it, no I did not skip any of it, and I tried to give the series a chance to the point of finishing it because it had gotten such rave reviews and I wanted to understand why.
This is a community for animation/comic fans age 30+, formed in part so older fans can recommend (or recommend against) works based on whether they think other older fans would enjoy it. My reviews are written specifically with that consideration in mind.
Again, as mentioned in my review: in the case of Gravity Falls, I wanted to counter a recommendation I have seen many times claiming the series is enjoyable for adults. Had it not been for those recommendations, I would never have had any reason to mention or review it here.
I have released many reviews in this community, some glowing and some scathing, but most somewhere in between. This isn’t a rant forum, but I try to be clear about my opinions. Usually I give more specific examples of positive/negatives aspects of a series I’m reviewing, but in this case the series was so far outside parameters I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time further with a longer-than-necessary review.
Thank you for giving it a fair shake then. Clearly I love the show and defend it but it is almost out of reflex as I recommend the show for fans of weird fiction and have only gotten push back from a grandparent (who loved the X files and was curious about X files for kids) and a co worker who I suspect just wanted to be disagreeable.
The series finale is typically where all the episodes come together and it is an incredible hour long conclusion, which is impressive for an animated show. It is also the thing that grabs a person and earns their respect so to see you disagree that it is a show worth recommending my first thought was something was missed.
Your review brings up valid points but I also don’t agree with all of them. To each their own. Thank you for bringing attention to the show without hype. Sorry if I came off brusque.