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“HAHA, YES! It's all for the money, yes the money. The money takes my mind off the troubles, the soul-crushing loneliness. The more money I make, the more bigger my mansion gets, the more lost I feel! This house is so big, I sometimes don’t even know where or who I am!”
Quincy Endicott is a character in Episode 5, "Mad Love” (voiced by John Cleese). He is the wealthy and extravagant owner of "Quincy Endicott’s Health Tea”, which he himself never drinks. Endicott explains that he sells tea solely to obtain more money which takes his mind off his troubles and his “deep, soul-crushing loneliness.” Yet he continues to expand his mansion that has become so large that he feels ever more lost and unsure of his own identity.
Appearance[]
Character Sketch by Nick Cross.[2]
In the original character sketches designed by Nick Cross, Endicott went through changes in his appearance, like Margueritte Grey.
In a second sketch, Endicott's bow cravat hangs lower and his button-up dress shirt collar hangs right below his eyes and completely covered his face, only showing his mouth slightly. His hair was also different, the crown of his head was bald but he had hair growing outward from each side of his hair like a mullet. In other sketches his face was experimented with, such as his figure and face having Butcher's large proportions, a rounder face, circular face, older aged face, and even a slightly plump face. His hair design also went through many changes as well as his noses, some round, some more closer to a normal human nose.
Original Character Sketch by Nick Cross.[2]
Quincy's final design does remain uniform, and many of these sketches carried the consistencies in the final design. Such as, his Napoleonic breeches, long gaiters, Napoleonic frock coat, button-up dress shirt, leather shoes, and d'Orsay hat. His hat and tail coat sleeves have large golden cuffs with a large round button, at the hem and wear the buttons meet. The coat and hat are wine colored, a darker wine at the lapels, while the hat ribbon is black like his knee-length breeches. Underneath his tail coat he wears a greyish-green button-up waistcoat.
His button-up dress shirt has an usually large neck collar and is tied together by a big white cravat bow-tie. Lastly, on top of his tail coat is a large star shaped medal brooch with a red and blue gem with a gold cross at the center.
Personality[]
....
History[]
During the episode, Endicott reveals that he has become obsessed with his neighbor and business competitor, Margueritte Grey, whom he first encountered in a painting and then out of the corner of his eye (which we briefly see in the initial montage of Unknown characters in Episode 1). His initial assumption was that she was a ghost and that her bedroom was in an unknown section of his own mansion. Unsure of his experience, Endicott approaches a nervous breakdown as he begins to question his own sanity. When Endicott and Grey inevitably meet, he happily confesses his love for her.
Endicott suggests at one point that he obtained his wealth by some disturbing method (“Do you know what I did? The things these filthy hands have done to make this money?”).
Endicott raises “prize-winning” peacocks, which can be seen several times during the episode roaming the estate. In several Western cultures and religions, the peacock is a symbol of immortality and eternal life after death, arguably the central theme in Mad Love.
Endicott is last seen in the final episode during the ending montage of Unknown characters. We see Margueritte looking fondly upon a large portrait of him, smiling and holding Fred’s reins.
Relationships[]
Wirt and Greg[]
Quincy genuinely believes that Wirt and Greg are his nephews that came to visit him. He still appears to believe so based on the ending of Mad Love, with only Fred the Horse knowing the truth. He interacts more with Greg because of their cheerful demeanor, but he also regards Wirt with the same enthusiasm. He gave Greg one of the two pennies they needed to get on the ferry in order to help them start their business. So, while he is not stingy, nor seems to care with how much of his wealth he spends, he was willing to take them in and accept them as his family.
Margueritte Grey[]
Margueritte with Quincy at the end of Mad Love.
Despite being business competitors, Quincy fell in love with her visage when he wandered into her side of the mansion. From the portrait he believed he had found his true love, fallen in love at first sight, but because of the confusion with their mansions, believed that she was a ghost thus their relationship would not happen. When he learns the truth, they both kiss each other, and in the comics it is revealed that they marry and work together in their tea businesses.
Alive or Dead[]
Tombstone from Chapter 9
The question of Endicott’s (and Grey’s) status as living or dead is ambiguous. In Episode 9, Into the Unknown, a tombstone with his name is clearly seen. His death is also suggested in Mad Love when Endicott and Greg are in the greenhouse bordering Grey’s mansion and he says, nervously, “Heave ho! Into the abyss, never to return.” Other clues include:
- He doesn't eat any of his food when they are at the dining table
- There are no servants living in the huge mansion
- He is disgusted with his own "health" tea
- He raises peacocks, which are symbols of life after death
- In the final sequence in The Unknown, Quincy doesn't appear - only Margueritte is shown, looking at a portrait of Quincy
At the same time, Quincy Endicott and Margueritte Grey are residents of The Unknown, a strange land of bygone centuries. The presence of his tombstone in the graveyard means only that he (if indeed it is this Quincy Endicott and not one of his descendants) is dead in Wirt and Greg's timeline. Additionally, the above-mentioned evidence could just as easily be attributed to Endicott's eccentricities. Regardless, Endicott's status is left intentionally vague by Patrick McHale and is just another mystery of The Unknown.
Trivia[]
- Nick Cross admits that Quincy was inspired by his love for history, "he’s basically a cross between George Washington and King George III, my subtle historical nerd joke."
Gallery
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References[]
[1] https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/over-the-garden-wall/episode-5-season-1/chapter-5-mad-love/699818/
[2] https://viewcomiconline.com/over-the-garden-wall-v2-020-2017/
[3] https://ncrossanimation.tumblr.com/post/101960379567/heres-some-of-the-preliminary-design-sketches-i