| Into the Unknown (chapter) | |
| Season 1, Episode 9 | |
 | |
| Air Date | November 7, 2014 |
| Episode guide | |
| previous "Babes in the Woods" |
next "The Unknown" |
Into the Unknown | My Reverie is the 9th chapter and pre-finale of Over the Garden Wall.
Synopsis[]
After Wirt collapses in the cold, we get a flashback to before he and Greg came into The Unknown. It's revealed that Greg and Wirt are actually from our world in the mid-nineties, and the clothes they are wearing are Halloween costumes. Wirt is infatuated with a girl named Sara, and in the process of trying to get back a cassette tape from her, Wirt and Greg fall down a hill and into a lake.
Wirt awakens to find himself and Greg's Frog in a tree with Beatrice's mother and other family members. He leaves to search for his brother.
Plot[]
It begins with the song The Fight is Over, while a nervous Wirt, dressed in modern clothes, is pacing around his room. He pops a cassette tape out of his tape player and stares at it. It's labeled: For Sara. Wirt gets frustrated and embarrassed and throws the cassette against the wall, unwinding the tape inside it. He picks it back up and winds it again. Then he goes up to the attic and finds a Christmas hat and cape of an old marching band boy's uniform and makes himself a Halloween costume from it.
As Wirt leaves his house, he utters the phrase "into the unknown." Wirt then walks to his town's football field when his brother Gregory walks out of Mrs. Daniels' house showing Wirt the candy he earned from doing work for Mrs. Daniels. Greg also shows off his new rock facts rock, which we later learn that Greg stole from Mrs. Daniels' garden. Greg notices that Wirt is staring at his school's mascot which is a bee. Greg also sees that Wirt is carrying a tape with the words, "For Sara," written on it. Greg asks Wirt if the mascot's name is Sara and if he wants to give the tape to her. Wirt says that he wants to give it to her, but that he can't, so Greg asks to hold the tape and immediately starts running it over to Sara.
While running towards Sara, Greg runs into three of Wirt's classmates. Greg explains to the three that he dressed up as an elephant for Halloween and he reveals that the spout of the tea kettle on his head is supposed to be an elephant's trunk. One of the three high schoolers, Kathleen, asks Greg what he is holding and she reads that the tape says, "For Sara," and she claims that Wirt loves Sara. Wirt panics and says it's for another Sara, but Greg pipes up that the tape is for Sara the bee. Kathleen tells Wirt that Jason Funderberker plans to ask Sara out tonight and Wirt, utterly devastated by the revelation, leaves the football field with his brother.
As the brothers walk along a sidewalk, Greg asks Wirt if he wants to go on a frog hunt. Wirt responds, "No, I just want to wallow in misery." Wirt realizes that he never took the tape back from Kathleen. Wirt, worried that Sara and Jason Funderberker will laugh at his tape, hurries back to the football field to take it back. Wirts asks Kathleen to give him the tape back and she tells him that she put it in Sara's jacket. Wirt sees Sara's jacket, but when he is about to remove the tape from her jacket, one of Sara's friends thinks Wirt is trying to spy on Sara, so Wirt runs away before taking the tape.
Sara leaves on her bike and Wirt and Greg run after her so they can get the tape. Sara arrives at a Halloween party, but Wirt is afraid to go because he wasn't invited. Greg then runs into the house party and Wirt follows him. While walking through the house, Wirt bumps into Sara, who asks Wirt if he wants to go to the graveyard with her and some friends, including Jason Funderberker. Wirt denies the offer, telling Sara to have fun with Jason Funderberker. As Sara is leaving, Wirt sees her jacket, but Sara takes the jacket, thanking Wirt for reminding her to bring it.
Wirt, once again, follows Sara in hopes of retrieving his tape. Wirt and Greg hide behind tombstones as they watch Jason Funderberker discreetly reach his hand to Sara's and hold it. Wirt tells Greg to approach the friends and create somewhat of a diversion. Greg spins around carrying the tea kettle saying he is a headless elephant and everyone laughs. Sara asks if Wirt is at the graveyard too and Greg points to him. Wirt tries to remain hidden, but the friends see him. Then a police car approaches asking the group of friends if they were having a witches' gathering. While this is intended as a joke, everyone runs away in panic.
Wirt and Greg, running from the police car, climb up the wall surrounding the graveyard. When they're at the top, Wirt sees that Sara has found his tape and Jason Funderberker tells Sara that they should listen to it. Wirt, convinced that his life is ruined jumps with Greg over the garden wall, hence the title of the miniseries. Wirt and Greg land on the other side as Wirt yells in anger towards his brother saying that he and his father are always ruining his life.
Greg hears a ribbit and pulls a frog out of a bush which ends his frog hunt. Greg says that he has to find a name for the frog, but before he can, the brothers see a light approaching from the distance. They realize that they are on a train track and that the light is from a train that is fast approaching. Wirt and Greg jump off of the train tracks just in time to avoid the train. However, they roll down a large hill and fall into a lake and blackout. It then cuts back to the Unknown where Wirt is in a tree with Beatrice's family after almost drowning in the previous episode. It is implied that after saving Wirt, Beatrice left Wirt at her family's tree.
Wirt leaves the tree with the frog despite Beatrice's mother urging him to wait until the snow storm let up. She tells him that he'll be no good to his brother dead, but Wirt replies, "I was never any good to him alive." Beatrice's mother tells Wirt that if he sees her daughter, that he should give her a hug for her and the family." Wirt then walks with the frog away from the tree and into the storm, so he can find his brother and Beatrice.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- This episode shows Greg and Wirt live in a suburban settlement.
- Aside from the ending, this episode serves as a prequel.
- In this episode, the following is revealed:
- Wirt and Greg's clothes are actually Halloween costumes. Gregory's teakettle is part of an elephant costume and Wirt's "gnome attire" is part of a costume as well. Wirt's is made out of a Christmas hat and cape of a marching band boy's uniform, but admuts he was just messing around and isn't sure what he is exactly.
- How Greg got his frog.
- How Wirt and Greg got to The Unknown.
- This is the first appearance of Sara and Jason Funderberker.
- This is also the first appearance of Beatrice's family.
Series Continuity[]
- Sara and Jason Funderberker were mentioned before in the episode, "Lullaby in Frogland." It also turns out that Jason isn't actually better match for Sara as Wirt led the audience to the believe.
- When Greg and Wirt enter the graveyard, one gravestone has Quincy Endicott written on it.
- Just before Wirt enters the Halloween party, two boys are standing in front of the house and talking about bat and ball games. One says that there are many bat and ball games besides baseball. He lists for, among them "two old cat." "Two old cat" is also the game that Greg attempts to play in episode 4, "Schooltown Follies," although Greg attempt to play it by actually looking for two literal old cats.