Syndicate

When a dinner date crosses lines with their next investigation, Dipper and Pacifica are taken off track by a new threat to the town. Could there really be an underground force taking over Gravity Falls once again? Summer's end seems ever-closer, and as the two try to make the most of their finale weeks, they can't help but be concerned there simply isn't enough time to unravel the last few mysteries lurking ahead of them.
Syndicate is the 7th Episode of Return to the Falls.
It is preceded by The Historic Horrors of Family Northwest and is proceeded by Chaos, Terror & Vanilla Creme.
=== Synopsis ===
During a dinner date at the town's most exclusive restaurant, The Club, Dipper and Pacifica come across Marius and Grenda having a date, during which the Fundhauser man shows himself getting a little too close to Pacifica. The two come across a strange little man dressed as a mobster, threatening the manager of the establishment - he explains they are a Clurichaun, a member of a new criminal network that has established itself in The Crawlspace.
The family quickly realises it's time for an investigation when the Palourde Puante is burnt down, and Kevin Corduroy is kidnapped. It leads them back into The Crawlspace, where an old enemy has revitalised the town's supernatural underground into a gigantic sugar sales ring and protection racket.
Meanwhile, faced with an investigation alongside Wendy, Dipper can't help but feel a touch of old flame returning...
=== Chapter Titles ===
# The Club
# Rest in Pain (Au Chocolat)
# Double Date
# The Late Evening
# Cluri-what?
# The Expert's Opinion
# Nightmare
# Hundred Buck Question
# Destruction L'Aquatic
# The Breakfast Hub
# Anthropomorphic Toast & Mob Bosses
# The Other Expert's Opinion
# Independent Operators
# The Meeting
# The Squealer
# Winding Down
# The Ride Home
# Black and White
# The Big Day
# Man Down
# Old Ground, New Foes
# High Tensions & Low Elevations
# Brain vs Chaun
# Shack's Shipyard
# Tense Silence
# The Big Man
# Molten Terror
# Hot House
# Escape
# Priceless
# Reform
=== Character Revelations ===
* Stan & Ford's wealth is again referenced.
* Pacifica starts to show a punkier, more rebellious side.
* The Fundhausers have a habit of marrying young, and Marius has every intention of doing so with Grenda.
* Ireland is one of many places Stan and Ford have visited since last summer.
* Stan still gets nightmares about Bill Cipher.
* Stan speculated for a fair while that Bill was still in his mind.
* Gravity Falls only owns one fire truck.
* Tyler Cutebiker is still suffering from the effects of his memory wipe.
* Stan is not happy to be likened to Pop-Pop Shpines. 
* Following the destruction of The Crawlspace, the town's anomalies have moved into alleys in town.
* Shmebulock has been rendered homeless, or likes sleeping on the floor.
* Soos is registered as a priest in six different states. He also knows how to waltz, belly dance, drive eight types of trans-siberian railroad train and juggle torches.
* Ford is beginning work on improvements to the Stan O'War, hoping to add quarters for Pacifica.
* The Fundhausers had a huge stake in the construction of The Crawlspace.
* Jeff the Gnome has a sparrow wife. 
* Soos almost married a cocoa bean picker from the Dominican Republic, with whom he was pen-pals.
* Dipper negated on his promise to tell Mabel what Gideon did during Weirdmageddon.
* Gideon's reform has gone poorly, due to how few people were taking him seriously.
* Mabel and Soos are partially so chipper due to their sugar addictions.
* Ghost Eyes and Gideon's posse joined a touring Line Dance Troupe.
* Marius, like Pacifica, is fascinated by his family's past, and desperate to learn more from it.
* The town's anomalies have been given a mass-sugar-addiction. 
* Gideon is sentenced to a year in prison - this time, his punishment is to bake for the anomalies' aforementioned sugar addiction.
=== References ===
* The Club was already a reference to Twin Peaks in the series. However, so is...
** Calling The Club a Lynch-pin, referring to director of the series, David Lynch.
** Chapter 3's title, Rest in Pain (Au Chocolat).
** Pacifica's childhood belief it was an interdimensional gateway.
* Crystal Pitt is a reference to cult obsession / soft drink, Crystal Pepsi.
* Footsie Pops are references to Tootsie Pops, with cream cheese to add onto the unpleasant foot theme. 
* Twitcher is a reference to Twitter, using the nickname for Bird Watchers in the United Kingdom.
* Betamaxdome and Soos's access to it are both a reference to Videodrome.
* Clurichauns are a very real piece of Folklore from Ireland, who steal alcohol and food from inns and pubs.
* The Seafood Restaurant is taken straight from Gideon Rises, including their habit of apparently serving live, uncooked lobster. 
* Smooch and Blynd Cheetah are references to KISS and Def Leppard.
* The Unshaven Throat True Gentleman’s Clothing and Japanese Action Figure Store and its fedora hats are references to fedora and neckbeard culture.
* Crispy Cremey Dunkin’ Munch Palace is a fusion of several doughnut chains, most notably Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts.
* Lactose King is a reference to Dairy Queen.
* The Less Than Empathetic Doctor Phoebe is based upon cult classic, The Abominable Dr Phibes.
* Ducks eating grapes then waddling away is a callback to The Duck Song.
* "I’m a bit of a snoop for hire, see? An’ I don’t mean I spend my weekends singing bawdy tunes with gold chains on my throat." is making reference to Snoop Dogg.
* Minnesota Jones is a reference to Indiana Jones. The Snake Dialogue is, of course, taken from Raiders of the Lost Arc.
* Mario Von Plumbhauser, Dipper's sarcastic nickname for Marius, is naturally taken from Mario.
* "You ain’t yourself if you don’t get your 3PM Kicker’s" is a reference to the infamous Snicker's advertising campaign.
=== Title Cards ===
File:Syndicate1.png
File:Syndicate2.png
File:Syndicate3.png
File:Syndicate4.jpg
File:Syndicate5.jpg
File:Syndicate6.png
File:Syndicate7.jpg
=== Extra Artwork ===
File:Syndicatesuits.png|Chapter 7 Interstitial
File:Rink.png
=== Accompanying Comic Strips ===
File:Comic16.jpg|Cryptogram
File:Comic17.jpg|Games Night
Category:Episodes
Category:Season One