[8.5/10] This was a blast! (A splash?) You have two irreverent but heartfelt stories that come together to show how much the Pines twins care about each other, with an enjoyable summer setting to boot. What more could you want?
I got a big kick out of Mabel’s Twilight-esque romance with Mermando. It plays on both romance novel lothario tropes and “my monster boyfriend” tropes at the same time, with the usual Gravity Falls twist. The absurdity of a merman who ended up in a public pool makes for a great premise to start with, and Mabel’s eccentric forms of courting him make it that much more of a hoot. Their chaste, geeky little romance, and Mabel’s sudden devotion to this hunky fish dude who appreciates her forward nature make for a very sweet little story.
Dipper’s tale is a winner as well. As usual, it involves impressing Wendy, who’s the rule-breaking lifeguard down at the public pool thanks to the bountiful snack privileges. Dipper, of course, wants to be her assistant, but it means meeting the standards of Mr. Poolcheck, a weirdly devoted, vaguely militaristic, definitely disturbed pool supervisor who likes Dipper but has impossibly strong feelings about pool equipment. Dipper being torn between breaking the rules with Wendy so as to keep having fun with her, and wanting to stay on the straight and narrow so Mr. Poolcheck won’t boot him from the job, lead to all kinds of fun hijinks.
The other mini-plots are good too. Grunkle Stan getting into a war with Li’l Gideon over the best lawn chair at the pool has some Looney Tunes-esque fun to it. His stint in “pool jail” had me in stitches, particularly the running gag about the poor kid in “solitary.” And Soos getting pranked into believing the duck floaties are alive and need be freed is the sort of weird but funny side story this show does well.
The best part of the episode comes, as it often does, when the Mabel story and the Dipper story collide. DIpper having to defend the pool supplies in order to keep his job, right when Mabel needs them to ferry her crush to safety, is some good plot-welding. The chase that ensues is one of the show’s most fun and inventive sequences, and I love the absurdity of Dipper having to give Mermando “reverse CPR” only for the merman to wonder why they didn’t just roll him into the lake.
The fact that it culminates in Dipper once again putting his sister’s needs above his own, particularly since he can understand and empathize with her next-to-impossible romance, and Mermando giving Mabel her first kiss, is a lovely way to end things. The fact that doing the right thing works out for Dipper, with Wendy getting fired too, is the cherry on top.
Overall, a fantastic episode that shows the series’ ridiculous humor, inventive ideas, and abundant heart all around.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-08-03T23:55:38Z
[8.5/10] This was a blast! (A splash?) You have two irreverent but heartfelt stories that come together to show how much the Pines twins care about each other, with an enjoyable summer setting to boot. What more could you want?
I got a big kick out of Mabel’s Twilight-esque romance with Mermando. It plays on both romance novel lothario tropes and “my monster boyfriend” tropes at the same time, with the usual Gravity Falls twist. The absurdity of a merman who ended up in a public pool makes for a great premise to start with, and Mabel’s eccentric forms of courting him make it that much more of a hoot. Their chaste, geeky little romance, and Mabel’s sudden devotion to this hunky fish dude who appreciates her forward nature make for a very sweet little story.
Dipper’s tale is a winner as well. As usual, it involves impressing Wendy, who’s the rule-breaking lifeguard down at the public pool thanks to the bountiful snack privileges. Dipper, of course, wants to be her assistant, but it means meeting the standards of Mr. Poolcheck, a weirdly devoted, vaguely militaristic, definitely disturbed pool supervisor who likes Dipper but has impossibly strong feelings about pool equipment. Dipper being torn between breaking the rules with Wendy so as to keep having fun with her, and wanting to stay on the straight and narrow so Mr. Poolcheck won’t boot him from the job, lead to all kinds of fun hijinks.
The other mini-plots are good too. Grunkle Stan getting into a war with Li’l Gideon over the best lawn chair at the pool has some Looney Tunes-esque fun to it. His stint in “pool jail” had me in stitches, particularly the running gag about the poor kid in “solitary.” And Soos getting pranked into believing the duck floaties are alive and need be freed is the sort of weird but funny side story this show does well.
The best part of the episode comes, as it often does, when the Mabel story and the Dipper story collide. DIpper having to defend the pool supplies in order to keep his job, right when Mabel needs them to ferry her crush to safety, is some good plot-welding. The chase that ensues is one of the show’s most fun and inventive sequences, and I love the absurdity of Dipper having to give Mermando “reverse CPR” only for the merman to wonder why they didn’t just roll him into the lake.
The fact that it culminates in Dipper once again putting his sister’s needs above his own, particularly since he can understand and empathize with her next-to-impossible romance, and Mermando giving Mabel her first kiss, is a lovely way to end things. The fact that doing the right thing works out for Dipper, with Wendy getting fired too, is the cherry on top.
Overall, a fantastic episode that shows the series’ ridiculous humor, inventive ideas, and abundant heart all around.