The nonlinear critical layer theory is developed for the case where the critical point is close enough to a solid boundary so that the critical layer and viscous wall layers merge. It is found that the flow structure differs considerably from the symmetric “eat's eye” pattern obtained by Benney and Bergeron [1] and Haberman [2]. One of the new features is that higher harmonics generated by the critical layer are in some cases induced in the outer flow at the same order as the basic disturbance. As a consequence, the lowest‐order critical layer problem must be solved numerically. In the inviscid limit, on the other hand, a closed‐form solution is obtained. It has continuous vorticity and is compared with the solutions found by Bergeron [3], which contain discontinuities in vorticity across closed stre