Seriously, that's just a turkey resting its head.

Sometimes the visual gags and the death metaphors are one and the same, like when Wirt opens a door in Pottsfield to find a turkey taking a nap on a table. For every quip or visual gag, there’s an unsettling reminder that the woods are deadly. Greg and Wirt’s journey is a darkly comedic nightmare that they can’t wake up from. It makes no damn sense, but that's the whole point. I’m sort of just myself,” he tells them, before being interrupted by the Highwayman singing a jazzy song about his dirty work. Many of Wirt and Greg’s encounters are completely surreal, like the roadside inn where everyone sings musical numbers and insists that Wirt must be either the Young Lover or the Pilgrim. And there are real dangers in the woods: witches and wild gorillas, and a shadowy Beast that steals souls.įor me, watching Over the Garden Wall feels like falling into a dream. Wirt is responsible for Greg, even if he doesn’t want to be. The comedy and tension don’t just come from two people with different personalities navigating a wacky situation.

The sibling dynamic lends gravity to the familiar odd-couple pairing. Wirt is a sullen, dramatic teenager prone to reciting wistful poetry, and Greg, his half brother, is a Chaotic Good 5-year-old who wants everyone to be happy. Like Wirt and Greg, we’re dropped straight into the Unknown. The series doesn’t waste any time telling us how they got lost, or why they were in the woods in the first place. Over the Garden Wall is a surreal American folktale about two boys lost in the woods. If you’re looking for something spooky to curl up with on Halloween, it’s my number-one recommendation. In 2014, Cartoon Network released a weird little show called Over the Garden Wall. Read on to find out why we still love Over the Garden Wall. It’s one of those shows that reveals something new to love every time you watch it (which you can do right now, because it’s currently on Hulu ).

Two years later, Over the Garden Wall is a fall viewing requirement. This story was originally published in October 2016 as part of Polygon's 13 Days of Halloween series.

Over the garden wall season 1 episode 7