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.