YMMV / Gravity Falls S2 E15 "The Last Mabelcorn"

• Broken Base: Was this a good episode with a strong and important message about not letting others' criticisms define you, or a mixed bag with a strong B Plot, poorly executed Take That, Critics!, and ill-chosen aesop that overshadows the more interesting B Plot.
• Don't Shoot the Message: Fans generally agree that Mabel's lesson—that others' opinions do not define who you are—is a good and important message. However, many fans have criticized the execution of the Aesop, arguing that the lesson Mabel learns probably would have been better suited to almost anyone else in the cast. Dipper, for example, has horrible insecurities and caring about others' opinions has been really detrimental to him over the series—in fact, it's been the motivator behind most of his poorest decisions. Mabel, on the other hand, rarely listens to others' opinions and the only times she ever learns from her mistakes is after she's faced the consequences of not valuing others' opinions and finally opened herself up to truly listening to others. To those who take this view, an aesop about not taking others' criticisms too seriously seems to reinforce Mabel's flaws rather than help fix them.
• Genius Bonus: At the beginning of the episode, one of the board games Dipper and Mabel look at is called "Don't Wake Stalin!". Doubly ironic in that you wouldn't want to annoy a grumpy Gus like him anyway, and its referral to the Karmic Death that Stalin suffered in real life.
• Strawman Has a Point: Celestabellebethebelle is truly an awful person for scamming and deliberately sabotaging the emotions of a child, but despite actually being unable to scan a person's heart, she has a point when she brings up how Mabel truly isn't pure of heart, just selfish and desiring for others to see her that way. In addition, she also points out that doing good deeds to make yourself look good, rather than to actually help others, really isn't all that noble.

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