Gravity Falls’ Finale Dared To Go Beyond The TV
The “X-Files for kids” show perfected fan interaction.
Gravity Falls is a textbook example of a series with a cult following. The Disney XD show created by Alex Hirsch only ran for two seasons, but it’s one of the most enduring animated series in recent years. This is mostly because of the devoted fandom, which constantly came up with theories and headcanons about Mabel and Dipper Pines and their Grunkle Stan.
So when the series ended in February 2016, it was clear that this series finale wasn’t going to be like any other. And while most of the runtime was dedicated to providing a satisfying wrap-up to the narrative, the final seconds actually launched something completely unique.
Bill Cipher rears his ugly, triangular head over Gravity Falls.
Gravity Falls’ series finale, “Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls,” follows the Pines twins, Grunkle Stan, his brother Ford, and a handful of other Falls residents as they face off against the devious Bill Cipher, a floating two-dimensional triangular dream demon who has served as the main Big Bad for the series. Though Bill gets dangerously close to wreaking havoc on the entire world, a last-minute switcheroo allows Bill to enter Grunkle Stan’s mind, meaning Ford can erase his memories — and Bill — forever.
The last 10 minutes of the finale are spent reminding Grunkle Stan of his memories as Mabel and Dipper prepare to turn 13 and leave Gravity Falls now that summer’s over. In a bittersweet scene, the twins say goodbye to their new friends and set off for California. But after the credits roll, something strange happens: there are a few seconds of live-action footage showing a statue of Bill Cipher, along with a split-second image of a code.
Thus, the Cipher Hunt began: a worldwide treasure hunt that took fans everywhere from a shrine in Tokyo Japan to a random picture of a nun in a Catholic University. There were missing posters for Waddles in Atlanta, Georgia and a geocache bolt in Amity, Oregon. The seventh clue contained a key to a P.O. box in Los Angeles, and inside was a 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle containing a bunch of hidden clues. Over the course of two days, fans solved the entire puzzle by working in shifts and moving the puzzle from location to location. Even a few cast members showed up to put in the work to solving the puzzle.
The Gravity Falls finale ended the series but started something much bigger.
After multiple clues — including one a fan just found while walking around his neighborhood in Portland — it all led to a forest in Reedsport, Oregon, where a handful of fans were able to track down the actual statue Hirsch planted weeks previously. Due to a land ownership dispute, the Bill Cipher statue is now on display at Confusion Hill in Piercy, California, where fans go on full pilgrimages to visit Bill, sign his guestbook, and take and leave trinkets for other fans.
In an era where the relationship between creators and fans is often either parasocial or adversarial, the Cipher Hunt is the perfect example as to how a creator’s planning can soften the blow of a show ending and make it something bigger than a single TV episode. Now, it’s a monument.
