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"Irrational Treasure"[3] is the eighth episode in Season 1 of Gravity Falls. It premiered on August 17, 2012.
Official overview
When Dipper and Mabel discover evidence that the reported town founder is a hoax, they set out to expose the historical cover-up and prove that Mabel's silliness is not a bad thing.[3]
Synopsis
Grunkle Stan's car gets surrounded.
When Gravity Falls' holiday Pioneer Day comes around, Grunkle Stan, Dipper, and Mabel drive through town, looking at many various out-dated activities and ceremonies. Grunkle Stan really hates Pioneer Day and tries to leave, but he fails. Later, Sheriff Blubs calls the town to the Pioneer Day commencing ceremony, where Pacifica Northwest makes an announcement about her great-grandfather, Nathaniel Northwest. Pacifica asks for volunteers to say something about themselves, and of course Mabel comes up, but Pacifica makes Mabel feel bad by telling her she's way too silly to participate, and Mabel decides she has to be more serious, never to be silly, by taking off her nacho earrings and her sweater and putting her "serious" face on.
Dipper then finds an article in his journal that says Nathaniel Northwest may have been a town fraud. Mabel decides that solving a mystery will prove that she can be serious. Enclosed in the journal is a map with the triangle symbol. Behind a statue, Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland hear Dipper and Mabel's plan. They immediately inform an anonymous figure with several cameras of Dipper and Mabel's seemingly suspicious scheme.
Mabel folds the map into a hat.
Dipper and Mabel head to the library to look up the symbols on the map. Dipper finds a symbol that means fire, and is the same shape as the picture on the documents. Dipper thinks they should burn the document, until Mabel makes a hat out of the paper, and she thinks this was silly, but it actually shows them a map to the Gravity Falls Museum of History.
A secret passage is revealed, thanks to Mabel's antics.
Dipper dramatically says they're going to have to break in. Dipper and Mabel head to the Museum where a lady says "Here are your free Pioneer Day passes and balloons, blue and pink!" Dipper then dramatically says as the camera zooms in on his face, "We're in." There's an abstract painting shaped in a triangle, and when Mabel turns upside down, it reveals a pointing angel, and she comments that she saw that statue in the Gravity Falls Cemetery, which they hurry to.
Once at the cemetery, Mabel sees the statue, and she pretends that the statue is picking her nose. She bends the statue's finger, opening a secret passageway. Mabel and Dipper enter it, and Dipper says to watch for booby traps, and Mabel then laughs at the words, "booby traps." They go down the hallway when Mabel steps on a button, which triggers tranquilizer darts. They dodge the darts and go down a hallway revealing many top secret documents (e.g., Abraham Lincoln's hat was covering up a hand on his head; Ben Franklin secretly was a woman).
They come across a document called the Northwest Cover-up, and it is revealed that the true founder of Gravity Falls was Quentin Trembley. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland reveal that they have been following the twins and had been tasked with finding Trembley, playing a film for Mabel and Dipper showing the truth about Gravity Falls. Sheriff Blubs then says he must ship them off to Washington D.C., revealing that Quentin Trembley had encased himself in a peanut brittle cube in the hopes it would keep him alive.
Quentin Trembley trapped in peanut brittle.
Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland get on train bound for Washington D.C., having placed Dipper and Mabel in a giant crate along with the still encased Trembley. Mabel, in sadness thinking that she caused this, eats part of the peanut brittle, freeing Trembley, who miraculously survived as a result of the peanut brittle's "life-sustaining properties" (as stated by Mabel). They escape, but are caught by Blubs and Durland. They climb to the roof, where Trembley recalls that he never signed a resignation, and that he ate a salamander and jumped out the window instead. Trembley then orders the cops to stop and take a vacation, which they gladly agree to.
Dipper tells Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland that they have to listen to Trembley, as he is still technically the president.
When Dipper, Mabel, and Trembley head back to town, Trembley decides to make Mabel a Congressman and gives her a hat. Dipper gets the President's Key, which can open any lock in the whole America. Back in town, Mabel accepts her silliness and doesn't care if Pacifica knows the truth or not, but Dipper shoves the proof in Pacifica's face, calling her family a 'sham' and telling her to "deal with it." He then says that revenge is underrated and that it felt good.
During the end credits, it shows Quentin Trembley and the babies of the Supreme Court. Trembly is trying to discuss things, but it's hard with four babies, and Quentin comments that it is a "dark day for America."
Credits
- Story by:
- David Slack
- Written by:
- Directed by:
- Storyboards by:
- With the Voice Talents of:
- Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines
- Jason Ritter as Dipper Pines
- Alex Hirsch as Stan Pines, Quentin Trembley and Old Man McGucket
- Jackie Buscarino as Pacifica Northwest
- Keith Ferguson as Deputy Durland
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Sheriff Blubs
- Gregg Turkington as Toby Determined
- Thurop Van Orman as Gideon Gleeful
- Additional Voices:
- Keith Ferguson
- Alex Hirsch
- Chris Parnell
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Dispatcher
- Jason Ritter
- Tara Strong as Sue
- Gregg Turkington as Toby Determined
- Kari Wahlgren as Priscilla Northwest
- Casting by:
Production notes
- See also: List of allusions and List of goofs.
Character revelations
- Pacifica and Dipper can whistle.
- Dipper ends up accepting Soos' nickname for Dipper and Mabel, the "Mystery Twins," from "Headhunters."
- Mabel learns to accept her silliness, even if others don't agree with it.
- This is the first episode that Soos does not appear in. However, Stan mentioned that he came by and, apparently, "Talked to him, for like an hour."
Series continuity
- Dipper mentions Mabel and Pacifica's rivalry first instigated in "Double Dipper."
- A secret document reveals Ben Franklin was in fact a woman, foreshadowed by Stan in "The Legend of the Gobblewonker."
- A secret document mentions a time devouring baby trapped in a glacier in Anarctica who appears in the next episode, "The Time Traveler's Pig."
- "The Time Traveler's Pig" also mentions Quentin Trembley, when one of the pioneers uses "By Trembley" as an exclamation.
- The serial number on the negative twelve dollar bill can be deciphered into the word "BLIND", an early hint to the Society of the Blind Eye.
Trivia
- Viewership: This episode was watched by 3.869 million viewers on its premiere night.[2]
- During the top secret film, the seal says "Official United States Government Cover-Up Seal".
- Bill appears on the negative twelve dollar bill, as a reference to the Eye of Providence.
"GF" for Gravity Falls.
- When the twins and Trembley were fleeing from Blubs and Durland, one of the cars says "GF" which likely stands for "Gravity Falls."
- The cave the Cover-up is hidden in has what appears to be a cracked Liberty Bell, which in real life had to be recast twice.
- In the Disney Channel Asia airing of the episode, the line "Bottom line, George Washington was a jerk." was cut; along with Mabel's subsequent response.
- In reality, the dispatcher commanding Blubs and Durland to send Dipper and Mabel to Washington, D.C. would be illegal.
- On the additional paragraph on the secret of the Northwest Cover-up document reads:
- Thomas Jefferson was actually just two kids in an overcoat standing on each other's shoulders.
- The current and forever President of the United States is actually Santa Claus. Under the reign of Mr. Claus, America is not a democracy, but a jollyocracy.
- The statues in Mount Rushmore are actually gigantic presidential-faced robots that will be called into action when America needs them most.
- An enormous, evil, time-devouring baby from another dimension is frozen in an Antarctic glacier. Fortunately glaciers never melt, so we should be fine.
- Writing jokes for cartoons is more important than sleep.
- If you recite the pledge of allegiance backwards, you'll gain secret wizard powers! (This one is true, kids! Try it at home!).
- Soos and Wendy we're both absent in this episode.
Cryptogram
- During the ending credits of this episode, there is a cryptogram that reads "V. KOFIRYFH GIVNYOVB." Once decoded, it reads "E. PLURIBUS TREMBLEY." In Latin, this means, "Out of many, Trembley.", which is a reference to a phrase "E pluribus unum" ("Out of many, one") that appears on the Seal of the United States and was a de facto motto of the US until 1956.
- On the negative twelve dollar bill, the serial number is "Z 0239548604 Z." After grouping the numbers into pairs and then adding up the sums of the digits within those pairs, you get "2 12 9 14 4" which translates into "BLIND," an early clue as to the existence of the Blind Eye Society.
Gallery
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- ↑ File:S1e8 town square statue inked.jpg
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bibel, Sara (August 20, 2012). Friday Cable Ratings: 'Gold Rush: The Jungle' Wins Night, 'WWE Smackdown', 'For Better or Worse', 'Beyond Scared Straight', 'House of Payne, 'Lost Girl' & More.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Anders, Charlie Jane (August 13, 2012). This Week's TV: The Bloody Awesome Power of Shark Week! Plus 5 Season Finales!. Retrieved on April 17, 2015.
