Over The Garden Wall follows the adventures of two lost brothers and a small frog trying to find their way home, accompanied by a magical bluebird. These characters are named Wirt, a socially awkward teenager who is brother’s with Greg, a young innocent boy who proves ignorance is bliss. Greg found a frog that hasn’t been named yet in the series. A small yet snarky bluebird that goes by Beatrice is currently guiding them to Adelaide of the pasture, the good woman of the woods, to help the children find their way home.
Episode 4:
Thunder illuminates the pitch-black night while heavy rain pours down, and all four of the characters are hiding in a pile of straw in the back of a carriage, the driver screaming that the beast is tailing him. What he believes is the beast, is really the noise of four hiding in the pile of straw. Greg is hungry and talking about all sorts of foods, such as banana nut duck bread. Beatrice is concerned because she’s worried about everyone getting off track from their destination. They take a sharp turn and all of them, with the straw, are thrown off the road and land in front of a tavern. Glances show that the tavern is a two-story building and to the side, a horse stable with one singular horse. Beatrice urges Wirt to enter and get directions but he’s hesitant and not good with communication. They enter, scooting past a dog who was blocking the entrance and to a table near the stable. The Tavern Keeper introduces herself and asks why there’s a bird in her tavern, physically getting rid of Beatrice, and calling it bad luck to have a bird indoors. Beatrice leaves angrily as the Tavern Keeper asks Wirt who he is. All of the tavern folk are labeled instead of names so Greg responds that he’s hungry. A lot of singing breaks out in this episode. Wirt asks directions for Adelaide, but makes it look like he’s after a girl earning him the label of young lover. After checking in with Greg outside the window, Beatrice flies over to the Woodsman who is working and singing in the dark night. Wirt clarifies finally when he’s prompted to sing that he’s looking for directions and is now labeled a pilgrim. Greg explains the feats Wirt accomplished, but then the beast is brought up which all tavern folk are familiar with. It becomes known that the Edelwood trees are actually lost children converted to trees for the beast’s lantern to burn. Wirt hears Beatrice scream outside and leaves, stealing a horse on the way, and snatching the frog and Greg. They find Beatrice next to the Woodsman unconscious as Wirt states, “You were the beast all along.” Overwhelming the Woodsman as Wirt kicks his lantern out of his hands they successfully escape. The horse that they stole also had the ability to speak and give directions, introducing himself as Fred the Horse. As the Woodsman recovers his lantern which is still lit, the real beast is revealed to be the one who sang in the darkness. Prompting the Woodsman to lend him the lantern which he refuses, and in a heartbreaking twist, the lantern that has to be fueled by Edelwood is actually the Woodsman’s daughter. If it goes out she perishes forever giving us the motive of why the Woodsman grinds the tree’s oil for fuel.
Episode 5:
The gang, including Fred, find themselves in Quincy Endicott’s mansion, a rich man who sells nothing but tea and never drinks it. Beatrice reveals that they’re posing as his nephews since they need money to board a ferry. The mood shifts once Endicott mentions a ghost sighting. Greg wants to get to the bottom of this, while the others need at least 2 cents to ride the ferry. The majority of characters, Greg and the frog with Fred go with Endicott on the ghost expedition, as Wirt and Beatrice look for money. They break furniture until they hear tapping coming from somewhere. Assuming it’s Endicott, they hide in a closet. It turns out to be a peacock that Endicott’s mansion has for luxury, tapping against the window. Trapped in the closet, forced to spend time with each other. Greg and the others keep walking while learning about this ghost; as there’s a painting of her within the mansion. Endicott gets jump scared by a peacock breaking through the glass in a separate room from Wirt and Beatrice on the journey there but still continues on. Wirt and Beatrice talk about secrets and exchange with one another, Beatrice saying that she was once human and cursed herself and her entire family by hitting a bluebird. Wirt feels sympathy for her and shares a couple of secrets. He plays clarinet, has a crush on a girl, and whispers poetry to himself at night. They find a way out of the closet, but Wirt notices the style of the room doesn’t align with Endicott’s. Wirt comes to a sudden conclusion; meanwhile, Greg and Endicott enter a room with a painting of a beautiful woman. The ghost appears, both of them fainting on the spot. After they wake up the woman is revealed to be Margueritte Grey, his business partner. Wirt also clarifies that both of the mansions were so big that they eventually built into each other as a result. They then leave the mansion, receiving 2 cents while Fred stays, getting a job as a tea horse. Greg throws the money away shortly afterward commenting in a humorous yet serious tone that he has, “no sense/cents.”
Episode 6:
Without money, they board the ferry illegally while something is starting to bother Beatrice. While Greg is singing about going to Adelaide again, she seems rather hesitant. The entire ferry, including the ferry crew, is just frogs wearing clothing! Patrol finds our main characters and starts a pursuit with all of them. They cause a ruckus and then hide backstage where they disguise themselves as a giant band member. They are pushed to perform on stage where Wirt accidentally knocks the bassoon player into the water. The frogs are upset but Greg and Beatrice urge Wirt to play the bassoon, and he does. Their unnamed frog also starts to sing aloud, which surprises everyone. After a while, the frogs seem to forgive them and they arrive at their destination in a mud patch. They settle as Beatrice compares Wirt’s life here to at home, saying that his life here is a lot better than at home. They go to sleep but Beatrice flies off to Adelaide’s secretly. She enters through the chimney, blocking the airflow since Adelaide is sick from the air. Beatrice was going to originally deliver the children to her to make her and her family human again by Adelaide snipping their wings off with a special pair of scissors. Once she received the children, she was going to use them as servants filling their brains with cotton. Beatrice offers herself to be the servant, but Adelaide doesn’t see her fit. Wirt and Greg enter the house while Wirt realizes she was setting them up. They get caught in strings of yarn, but Beatrice is fast to act, opening the window and letting air in as Adelaide starts to melt. Wirt and Greg escape leaving Beatrice behind, Greg doesn’t understand what happened while Wirt is upset, walking further into the darkness.
Over The Garden Wall had changed their story revealing more backstory to these silly cartoon characters and making overall more grim depictions. The soundtrack throughout these episodes was also a pleasant surprise. The series has yet to conclude (4 more episodes remaining) and enables the audience to try to make sense of the unknown.
