Line #30 Recap/GravityFallsS1E15TheDeepEnd


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a4ba74c304b1b47d11be71aa78fadcb8.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:They call him Mermando... because Mermando is his name.]]
3
4	In the midst of a HeatWave, the Mystery Shack crew go to the Gravity Falls public pool to beat the heat (except for Wendy, who's already working there as a lifeguard). There Mabel meets Mermando, a merman trapped in the pool, while Dipper volunteers to be a lifeguard to get close to Wendy.
5	----
6	!!Tropes in this episode:
7	* ArtistsAreAttractive: Mabel says "and you can play at least one chord on the guitar" to Mermando after she tells him he's the coolest guy she's ever met.
8	* ArtisticLicenseChildLaborLaws: In RealLife, 12 year old Dipper would ''not'' be able to work as an assistant lifeguard and especially not on night patrol for presumably the entire night.
9	* TheBigDamnKiss: Between Mabel and Mermando, of course.
10	* {{Blackmail}}: Not used, but Mabel's photograph of Dipper giving Mermando reverse CPR is blackmail-worthy, and Mabel knows it.
11	* {{Bookends}}: The episode begins and ends with Stan getting his back stuck to something (the wooden floor at the beginning, the pool chair at the end).
12	* BrainBleach: We get a shot of [=McGucket=] applying sunblock onto his exposed body. It's... memorable to say the least, both to the audience and the citizens at the pool.
13	** To Dipper, witnessing his sister get her FirstKiss from Mermando is this.
14	-->'''Dipper''': Whoa! Okay! That's gross!
15	* CardiovascularLove: It helps that Mermando has seventeen hearts.
16	* ContinuityNod:
17	** We see Wax Stan from "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E3Headhunters Headhunters]]" melting at the beginning of the episode.
18	** When Stan catches on fire in the intro Mabel says "he'll be fine" like she did when Stan fell into the pit [[Recap/GravityFallsS1E14BottomlessPit in the previous episode]].
19	** Mabel recalls having dated [[Recap/GravityFallsS1E1TouristTrapped a zombie and some gnomes]].
20	* CueTheShootingStar: The first time Mabel attempts a FirstKiss with Mermando in the pool, a shooting star goes by.
21	* DisproportionateRetribution: We don't know exactly why a child is kept in a jail under the pool for around ''one year'', but in the worst case scenario he just broke several of the pool's rules.
22	* DistractedByTheSexy: Invoked by Mabel to get Mermando out of the pool - when Dipper catches her, Mabel distracts him by claiming Wendy's in a bikini.
23	* DramaticWind: One blows Mermando's hair when he announces his name.
24	* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: You'd think someone would've noticed sooner that a merman is swimming in the pool, even though he's trying to hide his tail under a floating mattress.
25	* EvilIsPetty: Lil' Gideon spends the episode trolling Stan over his favorite pool chair.
26	* FanDisservice: Old Man [=McGucket=] lotioning himself. It's acknowledged in-universe too.
27	* FirstKiss: Mabel wants hers from Mermando, and ultimately succeeds at the end of the episode. As does Dipper.
28	* FootPopping: Mabel does this when she kisses Mermando.
29	* FreeTheFrogs: Soos thinks the pool floaties are alive and want to be set free.
30	* FreudianExcuse: The fact that Poolcheck had lost his hand in a pool accident is probably why he is obsessed with the strict respect of the safety rules.
31	* FriendOrIdolDecision: Mabel offers Mermando the loudspeaker from the pool so his family can hear his calls, but if she does so, Dipper will get fired from his job working alongside Wendy all summer. Dipper ultimately allows her to give Mermando the loudspeaker as he knows what it's like to be in love with someone you'll do anything for, even if you know it won't work out.
32	* GratuitousSpanish:
33	** Used by Mermando a few times. Also, the cryptogram during the end credits translates to "VIVAN LOS PATOS DE LA PISCINA" ("Long live the Pool Ducks").
34	** In some of the non-English and non-Spanish translations of this episode (for example. the French one), Mermando is renamed "Sireno", the masculine version of "sirena", the Spanish for "mermaid".
35	* HeatWave: Gravity Falls is in the throes of one, with the temperature reaching 110°F[[note]]that's 43°C[[/note]], and what better way to deal with it than a day at the pool?
36	* HumanOutsideAlienInside: Merpeoples' top halves look human, but they've got seventeen hearts, concealed gills on the sides of their head, and apparently start undergoing puberty at three years of age.
37	* InsigniaRipOffRitual: When Dipper gets fired, Mr. Poolcheck rips his whistle off his neck and eats it.
38	* InterspeciesRomance: Between Mabel and Mermando.
39	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: This is why Mabel was so eager to bust Mermando out of the pool: She loves him and he loves her, but he deeply misses his family and the sea.
40	* IWasToldThereWouldBeCake: Wendy took the lifeguard job because she heard they got free snack privileges. Mr. Poolcheck realizing how much she's been abusing said privileges is what gets her fired at the end of the episode.
41	* KissOfLife: Mabel forces Dipper to give Mermando "reverse CPR" to keep him from suffocating. When Mermando comes to, he asks why Dipper didn't just roll him into the lake.
42	* LatinLover: Mermando, of course, although the "Latin" part seems to go over Mabel's head.
43	* LaughOfLove:
44	** When Wendy says that being lifeguard lets her have the best seat in the house, Dipper remarks [[DoubleEntendre "Yeah, you do!"]] and laughs for [[OverlyLongGag an overly-long time]]. {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d when he says in a mortified whisper, "I've been laughing for too long."
45	** Mabel laughs and says "You're so funny!" when Mermando jokingly compliments her on her lack of water wings. Soon afterwards, Mermando laughs as she combs his hair, which causes her to think that he likes her.
46	* LifeguardFanservice: Dipper's crush Wendy Corduroy becomes a lifeguard at the local pool, making Dipper decide to try to become assistant lifeguard so he can spend more time with her. Downplayed, since, outside of Dipper's crush and a single line of dialogue from Mabel pointing out that Wendy could be in a bikini, the lifeguard job isn't particularly sexualized.
47	* LookBehindYou: Mabel, after being caught breaking into the pool by Dipper, distracts her brother by claiming Wendy's in a bikini.
48	-->'''Mabel:''' Hey, look! Wendy in a bikini!\
49	'''Dipper:''' [[DistractedByTheSexy Really?! At night?!]]
50	* LoveAtFirstSight: Mabel was enamored the moment she saw Mermando.
51	* ManlyTears: Mr. Poolchek starts crying while chewing out Dipper over the broken pool equipment. Dipper lampshades it.
52	* MessageInABottle: How Mermando keeps in touch with Mabel after being freed. Parodied slightly as his first message ends with "More bottles to follow", at which point half-a-dozen bottles come spilling out of the drain at once.
53	* MissingStepsPlan: "Alright, Dipper, here's the plan: catch the trespasser, protect the supplies, keep job at pool, and eventually marry Wendy."
54	* NoodleIncident:
55	** Apparently, Mabel has dated a couple of cute vampires without telling Dipper. Doubles as a ContinuityNod to "Tourist Trapped", where she hoped her new boyfriend would be a vampire.
56	** Poolcheck lost his hand in an accident because he didn't respect municipal pool's safety rules. The exact circumstances of the accident are never specified.
57	* NoSenseOfDirection: Mermando recounts his attempts to return to the sea... including swimming ''up''-river with salmon.
58	* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Mermando. Among other differences, he has, like, 17 hearts. "Horrifying, but true!"
59	* OutGambitted: Grunkle Stan gets the "perfect pool chair" by sneaking into the pool after hours and camping out all night, but it turns out Gideon anticipated this and applied super glue to the chair.
60	* PunnyName: Mermando.
61	* TheRevealPromptsRomance: Mabel liked him anyway, but she definitely found learning Mermando's "terrible secret" a turn-on.
62	* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Wendy and Dipper as Lifeguard and Assistant Lifeguard. Whilst Poolcheck tells Dipper that he's on thin ice after being caught throwing life preservers at the patrons, they both ultimately get fired for other things.
63	* SeaShellBra: Mermando's mother has one.
64	* SeasonalMontage: The kid in solitary experiences this over the closing credits.
65	* SeriousBusiness: Mr. Poolcheck takes pool security ''way'' too seriously. He cries at one point when he thinks Dipper has been breaking the rules.
66	* ShaggyDogStory: A positive example. Dipper is desperate to stop Stan and Mabel's break-in attempts because if anything else goes wrong, Mr. Poolcheck will fire him from his job working alongside Wendy. He fails, and is fired... only to learn that Wendy has ''also'' been fired for abusing her snack privileges.
67	* ShipperOnDeck: Soos for Mabel and Mermando.
68	* ShipTease: The last scene between Dipper and Wendy at the end of the episode.
69	* ShoutOut:
70	** The scene where Mabel poses dramatically while Mermando leaps over a rocky outcropping is a reference to an iconic scene from ''Film/FreeWilly''.
71	** Gideon [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/deal-with-it references a famous reaction image]] when he puts on his sunglasses while saying "Deal with it".
72	* {{Squick}}: In-universe. Dipper's reaction to seeing his sister kiss someone. Also, his reaction to giving CPR to Mermando. "I hate this!"
73	* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Mermando points out that Dipper didn't need to give him reverse CPR when he was dying. The lake was a few feet away, and Dipper could have just rolled Mermando to it.
74	* StatusQuoIsGod: Wendy is fired from her lifeguarding job, so she can go right back to working at the Mystery Shack like nothing happened.
75	* StealingFromTheTill: Wendy is fired for taking too many free snacks.
76	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "Don't be silly, there certainly isn't a merman in there if that's what you're implying! Who said anything about a merman?"
77	* TestosteronePoisoning: Mr. Poolcheck.
78	* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: And Mermando just wants to go back to his.
79	* ThisIsMyChair: Stan fights Gideon for the best chair in the pool. Stan wins... ''[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor permanently]]'', as Gideon put superglue on the chair.
80	* TitleDrop: "Welcome to The Deep End, son". Said by Mr. Poolcheck to Dipper; apparently that's the name of the pool.
81	* WouldHurtAChild: PlayedForLaughs. If Stan had been trying to blind anyone else, and/or was effective at it, there would be firm disapproval coming from both the audience and the protagonists [[VillainWithGoodPublicity (in addition to the witnesses at the pool)]], but since it's [[EnfanteTerrible Gideon]], who also manages to [[CrazyPrepared counter all of Stan's schemes]], it ends up turning into a show where Stan ends up being made a fool of repeatedly.
82	* YouExclamation: Mr. Poolcheck shouts this out at the end of the episode when he catches Soos throwing the inflatable ducks over the fence.
83	----
84	-->''[[TheStinger 22-9-22-1-14 12-15-19 16-1-20-15-19 4-5 12-1 16-9-19-3-9-14-1]]''. [[note]]Vivan Los Patos De La Piscina. (Long live the pool ducks.)[[/note]]

Context Recap / GravityFallsS1E15TheDeepEnd