The Hand That Rocks the Mabel

"The Hand That Rocks the Mabel" is the fourth episode in Season 1 of Gravity Falls. It debuted as a part of Disney Channel's Night of Premieres on July 6, 2012.

Overview
Dipper and Mabel discover their seemingly cherubic new neighbor, 'Lil Gideon, happens to be the town’s adored psychic. But when Dipper convinces Mabel to go on a date with Gideon to question his authenticity, she soon learns that his cuteness can fade all too quickly.

Synopsis
Dipper, Mabel and Soos are watching TV where they see a commercial for Lil Gideon's Tent of Telepathy. They want to test his authenticity as a psychic, so they decide to go to one of his shows. Grunkle Stan forbids them from going due to Gideon causing him trouble, but they find a loophole. At the show, Gideon sings a song about his abilities and everyone is impressed with Gideon except for Dipper. When the show is over, Dipper says that Gideon is a bigger fraud than Stan. Mabel says that his dance moves are adorable and compliments his hair. Gideon was eavesdropping on their conversation.

The next day, Gideon shows up at The Mystery Shack and asks Mabel if she would like to go to his dressing room so they could do makeovers. Mabel happily accepts. She returns to the Mystery Shack with a new look. Dipper doesn't trust Gideon, but Mabel says to give him a chance since Dipper never wants to do girly stuff with her and he and Soos get to do boy stuff all the time. Dipper and Soos then go to watch hot dogs explode in the microwave. Gideon then takes Mabel to sit atop his family's factory. There, Gideon says he's never felt so close to someone and asks Mabel to go on a date with him. Mabel thinks he means a play date or a shopping date. Gideon swears it will only be one date. Mabel reluctantly accepts and Gideon gives her a hug.

The next day Gideon shows up to the Mystery Shack on a horse, ready to take Mabel on their date. He takes her to a fancy restaurant where people have a hard time saying no to him. Mabel is very impressed with the restaurant. She says she's never seen so many forks or water with bubbles in it. Gideon believes the date was a complete success and promises that tomorrow date with top it. Mabel reminds Gideon that he promised only one date. Gideon then uses a South American Rainbow Macaw to ask Mabel to accompany him to the ballroom dance. Mabel really doesn’t want to go along with it but with all the local attention the couple has been getting she decides to go out with him again in an attempt to hopefully be just friends. This idea is short-lived though as Stan, of whom was completely against the relationship from the start, gets sweet talked into supporting the young couple by Gideon's dad so that both businesses can merge in an attempt to make serious profit.

To help with the split, Dipper volunteers to bail Mabel out of having to break up with Gideon and decides to do it for her. After Dipper tells Gideon Mabel doesn't want to go out with him anymore, Gideon returns home and uses the Mystic Amulet to throw a huge tantrum. Gideon uses Toby Determined to get Dipper to go to the factory. Gideon warns Dipper to stay away from the secrets of Gravity Falls, and uses his amulet to attack Dipper.

Back at the Shack, Mabel and Wendy have a one sided conversation, and Mabel decides to break up with Gideon herself. Meanwhile, Gideon controls Dipper with his amulet and sends a pair of lamb shears at him. Mabel arrives and takes Gideon's amulet from him and throws it to Dipper. Gideon tackles Dipper out the window, and the two fall. Luckily, Mabel uses the amulet to save them. She tells Gideon she'll never date him, and destroys the amulet. Gideon backs into the forest, warning them, "This isn't the last you'll see of little ol' me."

Gideon forces his father to call off the deal with Stan, so Stan steals a clown painting and runs off. The three return home and joke about Gideon getting revenge on them. Gideon is then seen in his room, playing with dolls of Mabel, Dipper, and Stan. He pretends the Dipper doll asks him what is he going to do without the amulet, and Gideon replies, "Oh, you'll see boy. You'll see." He then closes Book Number 2.

In the credits scene, Mabel bedazzles Soos. She turns out the lights, Dipper shines a flash light on him, and music plays as Soos becomes a disco ball. A stunned Stan says, "You're all fired."

Allusions

 * The name of the episode "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel" is a play on words of a 1992 movie title, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. It could also be an allusion of the somewhat commonly said phrase "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
 * Mabel "bezazzles" her face; a reference to the real product, the Bedazzler.
 * 'Lil Gideon's appearance is based off of Benny Hinn, a famous Christian televangelist who claims to be a prophet.
 * While watching Gideon's commercial on TV, Mabel makes the same noiseScooby-Doo makes when questioning something.
 * The "Club Club" is a direct reference to the "Red Room" in the Black and White Lodge from the TV series Twin Peaks.
 * The music played in Gideon's commercial sounds a lot like the theme song.

Errors

 * When 'Lil Gideon touches his amulet as he forces the crowd to stand, it doesn't glow like it does in all the other scenes of the episode when he touches it.
 * In the first shot of Officer Blubs, he has loads of 'Lil Gideon merchandise. But in the next shot, he only has the Gideon T- shirt.
 * Before Mabel shows her makeover to Dipper, Dipper's book has a 2 instead of a3. The book labeled 2 actually belongs to 'Lil Gideon.
 * When Mabel complains that Dipper never does girly stuff with her, we see the book he was reading resting on the arm of the chair, but when Soos shows up with the hot dogs it disappears.
 * In the close-up when Mabel is playing a video game with Dipper, the collar on her sweater has stripes. In all the other shots, in did not.
 * When Dipper and Mabel are playing with Soos, Mabel is wearing a sea-foam green-colored headband, but when Dipper hears the phone ring, her headband changes to red, then back to sea-foam green.
 * When Mabel blinks, the "bezazzles" on her right eye fall off, but later they are back.
 * When Mabel coughs up "bezazzles" on 'Lil Gideon's jacket, they stay there. But in the next shot, the jewels are gone.
 * While Mabel is on the boat with Gideon, she has on a headband, but when she gets back home, she is wearing a hair clip.
 * When Grunkle Stan runs away with the clown picture, his leg is missing.
 * After Dipper and Mabel are sitting on the couch, when Grunkle Stan talks to them, the umbrella on Mabel's sweater is gone. In the next frame, you can see part of the umbrella.
 * During the end credits Soos, Mabel and Dipper are using a flashlight, but it did not cast a shadow.
 * Also during the end credits, when Soos spins to the side with no jewels on it, the wall still has the disco ball effect.
 * Again during the end credits, the light reflections rotate in the opposite direction Soos is spinning.
 * Once again during the ends credits, you can clearly see the colored lights repeatedly cover Mabel's face but not Dipper's.
 * Again in the end credits, Mabel's 'bezazzling' gun is not shown.
 * When 'Lil Gideon and Mabel are on the factory together, the factory switches between having an elevated roof in the background to have no elevated roof at all.
 * When 'Lil Gideon and Mabel are on their date, we never see Mabel's glass filled with water and yet when the waiter leaves, it is full of water.
 * Also, a few seconds before the waiter leaves, you can see the water full, but it has no bubbles.
 * Before we see Gideon and Mabel close-up on the boat, you can't see her headband.
 * When Gideon is rubbing Mabel's hair, it's not behind her ear, but when she slaps his hand away, her hair is like it usually is.
 * The website entitles the episode "The Hand That Rocks" as opposed to its full title.
 * When Mabel comes back from Gideon's dressing room with her makeover down. Mabel doesn't have any eyebrows in that scene.
 * At the "Club Club" restaurant, Mabel wears the same outfit she wore to the ballroom dance the previous night.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Zach Paez
 * Alex Hirsch


 * Directed by:
 * John Aoshima


 * Storyboards by:
 * Matt Braly
 * Luke Brookshier
 * Alonso Ramirez Ramos


 * With the Voice Talents of:
 * Kristen Schaal - Mabel Pines
 * Jason Ritter - Dipper Pines
 * Alex Hirsch - Grunkle Stan and Soos


 * Linda Cardellini - Wendy
 * Will Forte - Cute Biker
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - Sheriff Blubs
 * Stephen Root - Bud Gleeful
 * Gregg Turkington - Toby Determined
 * Thurop Van Orman - 'Lil Gideon


 * Additional Voices:
 * Eric Bauza
 * Grey DeLisle
 * Alex Hirsch - Macaw, Old Man McGucket
 * Stephen Root
 * April Winchell

Trivia

 * Viewership: 2.956 million, making it the most-watched original episode on Nick/Disney for the week, slightly beating out Big Time Rush, which had 2.936 million on Monday, July 2 on Nick.
 * This episode title is based on the idiom "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."
 * On the outside of the Mystery Shack at the 6:07 time frame, the sign says "World Papov" instead of "World Famous."
 * The disclaimer in Gideon's commercial reads: "Void where prohibited, no C.O.D.'s accepted, the letter "p" in the word psychic is silent and used for entertainment purposes only. If unsatisfied, please return unused portion for a full refund. Side effects may include but are not limited to: prosperity, wads of cash, fun at parties, tight pants, 6.2% APR, no money down! Psychic readings may cause a warming sensation in the abdomen. If pain persists, consult your physicist immediately. Carla, I've always loved you but never had the guts to say it."
 * 'Lil Gideon's Dipper has a dark green shirt instead of an orange shirt. Mabel wears a heart sweater that Mabel never actually appears on her, though it bears a strong resemblance to her main sweater in The Legend of the Gobblewonker.
 * At the 15:28 time frame, Mabel's headband is bluish-green in color. However at 15:33, it's pink.
 * The reason Gideon knew Mabel's name was Mabel while he sang his song was because her own name was on her sweater.

Cryptogram

 * During the end credits of this episode, there was a cryptogram that read "FDUOD, ZKB ZROW BRY FDOO PH?" Once decoded, it reads "CARLA, WHY WONT YOU CALL ME?". 'Carla' was mentioned in the Tent of Telepathy commercial.