Gravity Falls Review: "The Stanchurian Candidate" (Season 2, Episode 14)

Uh... let's just say that the GOP Election Debate was more sane than this.

Airdate: August 24th, 2015

Synopsis: With President Barack Obama being constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term, many people apply for the most powerful office in the Western World. These include a social democratic populist, the spouse of a controversial former president, an eccentric right-leaning populist billionaire, and the brother of a controversial former president, among many, many others. "Hilarity" ensues, especially concerning cloths, servers, and hairpieces.

Uh, I mean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has Governor General David Johnston call elections so he can get a fourth consecutive mandate. However, he faces critiques from the public and his competitors, which include a bearded dude, a hippie, and the handsome son of a former politician, over his controversial justice legislation, his questionable handling of the economy, and his somewhat awkward management of the nation's institutions and public services. Said handsome son, hippie, and bearded dude, meanwhile, face questions on their leadership and whether they'll split the vote... again.

Uh, I REALLY mean, Stan decides to run for mayor of Gravity Falls, after the long-serving mayor dies. He does so because of insecurities that have surfaced after Ford came back. He runs against Bud Gleeful... whose son was locked up, thanks to Stan. Unfortunately, he's more gaffe-prone than his poll numbers (starting at zero and bottoming out in negative numbers) will allow. To try and salvage Stan's candidacy, they try and commit mind theft via a tie that Ford invented for "Reagan's Masters". Bud's campaign manager, some dude that's in prison, one-ups Stan by literally overtaking Bud's mind with a spell.

Oh, that dude in prison? Gideon.

Review (SPOILERS): Politics! Is there a word more thrilling to the human soul? Since the dawn of time, decisions had to be made. One idea of governance is Democracy - allowing for more than just one person to decide. The Ancient Athenians laid the groundwork for (very limited) democracy. The Roman Republic established separate houses to (in theory) balance the wants and needs of the experienced versus those of the common man. The English Parliament (later the Parliament of Great Britain), the American Congress, and the Assembly of the First Republic kick-started the modern democracy we all know and love... even if the latter didn't last long.

While the system is generally kind - let the average joe and jane send representatives to voice their interests - there are a lot of awkwardnesses in the campaign process, and within the after-effects of said elections. "The Stanchurian Candidate" exploits the idiosyncrasies that are found within the races and campaigns - this time, with the end goal to be the mayor of a small town. How does that go?

Unfortunately, as far as the writing for this episode goes... not the greatest.

Note About My Order of Steven Universe Reviews

Just a quick note about my Steven Universe reviews.

It's worth noting right now that I will be reviewing the episodes in "viewing order", not the order in which they aired. I'm doing this so that the continuity flows better... at least, in my reviews.

This shouldn't be too much of a problem, though - I am approximately 60-ish episodes behind the most recently aired episode. Gonna take a long time to get there... I think. Maybe.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (Season 10, Episode 2)

Airdate: September 20th, 1998

Synopsis: Reaching a midlife crisis, Homer becomes despondent on life. After a projector breaks down, Homer rhetorically asks "who invented this thing?" Lisa responds, and Homer has a new goal - be the new Thomas Edison. He becomes obsessed with the man... and, when it turns out that Edison invented something that Homer seemed to invent - a chair with an extra set of legs on hinges - Captain Wacky becomes hellbent on destroying Edison's chair.

Review: Sounds like a Scullyfied Simpsons. Ain't been reviewed onto nigh for two months.

Tsk, tsk, tsk - trouble a brewin!

Homer's sorta pitiful life is the centerpiece of the greatest Simpsons episodes. Even when he is involved in something landmark (such as going into space), there's this tinge in the writing that he got there by the thinnest of margins (aka, Barney going insane and falling off the top of a mattress factory). Despite this, he almost always maintained a love for the simple things you'd expect a 40-year old to love - TV, Duff, all that jazz.

Indeed, deconstructing his simple life by putting him in a midlife crisis seems like tough ground to tread. It doesn't seem like Homer would be the one to encounter that, but I'd be willing to excuse that somewhat as a deconstruction of what his life has been.

Then Lisa brings up Thomas Edison, and the episode becomes... a tad bit more haphazard.

Steven Universe Review: "Laser Light Cannon" (Season 1A, Episode 2)

Oh, no - it's the maker of rules. Dealing with fools, it'll cheat you blind!

Airdate: November 4th, 2013

Synopsis: Short answer: the core four realize that Clear Eyes can't cure Red Eye all the time.

Long answer - a red eye from space is gunning for Beach City. Attempts to destroy it (including throwing Amethyst at it) have failed. There is an option - a light cannon, used by Rose... Steven's sorta-dead-ish mother. Still, there is more hope - the cannon could be in Greg's storage unit... his crowded storage unit... which stores the stuff that doesn't fit in Greg's van, where he lives.

Review (SPOILERS): If "Gem Glow" established the relationship between the core four characters and established the start of Steven's "coming-of-age" arc, then "Laser Light Cannon" takes a first look at the past for the main characters... or at least, one of them.

Movie Review: Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

(Note: yes, you read that correctly. It's Trek III, not Trek II. For more on why, I refer you to here.)

A dying planet. A fight for life. The Search for Spock. (Poster by Bob Peak, taken from Wikipedia)

Released: June 1, 1984

Synopsis: The Enterprise comes back from it's most recent excursion beaten down, and with chunks of it's crew - including it's science officer - dead. As the NCC-1701 dry-docks, Dr McCoy begins acting bizarrely. Meanwhile, Lt. Savvik and David - Kirk's son - have been left behind to orbit the Genesis Planet, and discover that Spock has been revived as a child. Due to some proto-matter in the Genesis device, the body of Spock has mere hours to live. Unfortunately for them, they wind up intercepted by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), the commander of a Klingon vessel, and are kidnapped.

Kirk and Spock's father, Sarek, deduce that Spock transferred his katra - living spirit - to McCoy, and that McCoy must give Spock's body the katra soon, or else the doctor will die. One problem, though. Not only is Spock's body on the Genesis planet - where discussing the planet is forbidden due to the political controversy involved in it's creation - but the Enterprise is not being refit, and is due to be scrapped.

Determined to save the lives of his best friends, he and a skeleton crew commit Grand Theft Starship, taking the Enterprise out of dock for what is certainly her last tour.

No prizes for guessing what crew meets what commander.

Review (QUITE A BIT SPOILER-Y): Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is my all-time favorite movie. It's themes are a loving tribute to the works of Shakespeare, while still forming it's own identity. It's characterization is beautiful. It's special effects are great, considering the $10M budget. It's dialogue is fantastic. And the ending... so poetic, so tragic, so beautiful.

It's almost impossible to top Wrath of Khan... even with a direct sequel. So, how did they do?

Gravity Falls Review: "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons" (Season 2, Episode 13)

"You may have aced Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons, but can you handle Jeopardy????"

Airdate: August 3rd, 2015

Synopsis: Dipper gets a board game in the mail - "Diggity Dungeons and All That" "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons". With Mabel and Stan refusing to play due to it's complicated rules (and because the two are focused on the Duck-Tective season finale), Dipper winds up striking up a playing partner in Ford. Despite Ford's somewhat wary attitude in letting him close to the secrets, the two become close confidantes in the Tabletop madness. They play such a good game, that when a dispute between Stan and Ford (surprise, surprise) unleashed Probilitor the Annoying, the wizard decides to eat Ford and Dipper's brains to gain their smarts.

Review (SPOILERS AHEAD): Anything with Weird Al Yankovich is among the American National Treasures, alongside cheeseburgers, Taco Bell, and "Two Cathedrals". This episode, while a small step below the likes of "A Tale of Two Stans", is still a really great episode.

Hell, I think it works because, compared to "Not What He Seems" and "A Tale of Two Stans", the comedy is the focus of the episode, rather than the drama. That's not to say there's no drama or character development - it's just that they chose to use a lot of comedy to both mock and celebrate this episode's target - RPGs.