Grifter at Large
Have you seen this man?
Authorities from Pennsylvania to New Mexico have reported scams, fraud, and identity theft from a mysterious stranger who... (cut off)
Interestingly enough, the article actually DIDN'T call the man unnamed.
Codes in journal
When Dipper and Mabel are looking at the secret code to Stan's hideout, Dipper shines a blacklight on the journal, revealing a cipher for decoding the Caesar, atbash, and A1Z26 codes.
Your time is finally up.
When Agent Powers says this, we are given a look at the clock. It is at roughly 7:45. If Stan's countdown is at 12 minutes, his event is a little before 8:00. On the other hand, near the end of Northwest Mansion Noir, right after the ghost turns Dipper to wood, the clock strikes midnight. McGucket's countdown is shown a few minutes later to be at 21 hours and 30 minutes, putting his event a little after 9:30. We could chalk this up to a minor continuity error, but it could also mean that Stan's countdown is not the same as McGucket's countdown. If so, this could explain the apocalypse McGucket was fearing, as well as why he wanted to be out of town (he knew that he played a part in trapping Stanley in the portal.) On a sidenote, this means that the cold open takes place at roughly 2:00 in the morning, but Stan stole the toxic waste at 4:00.
Drive as far away from the shack as possible, and don't stop when the cops start chasin' you!
Wow Stan. That is a brilliant plan. I've got to try that the next time I get arrested.
It's just like that bunker in the woods.
Once again, Alex has been watching the fanbase. We theorized that the bunker was connected to Stan's lab.
All this time Stan had them?!?
Here's the thing. Dipper didn't know that Gideon originally had book #2. It doesn't take much away from this moment, though. Alex has said in an interview that Gravity Falls is mainly a show about characters, and the addition of Stanley could very well throw the Pines family off kilter. Stan and Dipper will also have to rebuild their trust in each other. Alex said that the next few episodes will explore Dipper's anger with himself for letting himself trust a con man like Stan.
Black light message
The machine was meant to create knowledge but it is too powerful! The device, if fully operational could tear our universe apart! I was wrong the whole time! It must not fall into the wrong hands. If the clock ever reaches zero our universe is doomed! Total global destruction!
But... whose clock?
It's the final countdown! Just like they always sung about!
Nicely done, writers. Nicely done.
Glass breaks in the picture
There's a theory, relating to the one above, that states that this symbolizes some future tension between Dipper and Mabel. I'm not buying it.
The author of the journals. ... My brother.
As I mentioned on a previous page, this episode was supposed to be the season 2 finale. The rest of the season was originally meant to be part of season 3. But since the internet figured out that Stanley was the author during the hiatus between seasons, and Disney decided to give the show a hiatus mid-season, the writers decided to condense the two into one season. A third season is still a possibility, but no absolute word has come out yet.
Cryptograms
The first says "The original mystery twins" in the Vigenere cipher. It most likely refers to Stanford and his brother. Again, the keyword is "STNLYMBL."
The second says "Thirty years and now he's back. The mystery in the mystery shack." Obviously, it probably refers to Stan's brother. It's in the combined cipher, which, as always, is A1Z26, to atbash, to Caesar set three letters back.
Northwest Mansion Mystery pt 1
