Article originally written for Seat42F.
FX’s WILFRED, which is beginning its final season on sister
network FXX this week, is a show about a man who sees a dog as a man in a dog
costume. It’s a weird concept, to be sure, that allows the writers to explore
not only mental illness and fantasy scenarios, but also some primal human
emotions. After four years, the program is wrapping up with a ten episode run,
the first two of which air this coming Wednesday.
As a quicker refresher, season three ends with Ryan (Elijah
Wood) mourning the death of his father, Henry (James Remar), who sought to get
Ryan help, then fell down some stairs. Following a clue discovered in his late
dad’s office, Ryan goes out to the woods where he discovers a statue of Wilfred
(Jason Gann) on the ground.
Season four picks up right at the moment where Ryan is
looking at the statue, and only gets weirder from there. WILFRED occasionally
does trippy, reality-bending episodes where fans can’t take anything they’ve
seen for granted, breaking the rules of even this rule-lite world. The season
premiere, “Amends,” is one such installment, being one of the more confusing,
weird installments of the series to date.
I can’t go into the specifics of “Amends” without spoiling
anything, but suffice it to say, this not only gives Ryan pause, bringing into
question the reliability of the show through his perspective and his health,
but also touches on the greater mythology. WILFRED has long avoided stating
exactly what is going on, but prefers to drop obtuse hints on a fairly rare
basis, hinting at the promise of a full explanation in the end, but never
bringing us anywhere close.
The good news is, both “Amends,” which is mythology-heavy,
and the second episode, “Consequences,” begin tackling that larger mystery.
WILFRED is not the type of series that can reveal some cosmic explanation at
the last minute and leave anyone satisfied. These first two episodes back
promise a season-long journey of discovery, something we’ll get a piece of in
each fresh adventure, likely culminating in the master plan WILFRED has kept
hidden all along. Viewers who have been yearning for those secrets will
probably get them.
But there is another camp of WILFRED viewers, those who
don’t value the bigger picture so much and just prefer the give-and-take
between Ryan and Wilfred. That type of fan should be satisfied with “Amends”
and “Consequences,” too. Admittedly, “Amends” does spend a lot of time on
brain-bending, but there are still some rich, obnoxious exchanges between the
leads. “Consequences” has more of that as Wilfred sets himself up to be the god
Ryan should turn to and obey, while Ryan resists such a rearrangement of their
relationship.
And for those who consider themselves ‘shippers,’ wanting
desperately for Ryan to end up with the literal girl-next-door, Jenna (Fiona
Gubelmann), well, there’s some movement on that front, too. “Consequences”
finds Drew (Chris Klein), Jenna’s husband, yearning to spend some time with his
buddy Ryan. Not only does Drew consider Ryan a good friend, but he thinks Ryan
might be able to shed some light on what’s going on between Drew and Jenna,
with Jenna pulling away after kissing Ryan last season, which Drew does not yet
know about.
I won’t reveal how “Consequences” ends, of course, but I
really like the Drew / Ryan scenes, in this episode and others. Drew has an
ugly streak, but he’s almost always been good to Ryan. Ryan never quite feels
comfortable with Drew because he can’t be honest about his feelings for Jenna,
making for a tension-filled chemistry. Thus, one never quite knows what will
happen when the two get together, and that’s sort of a shame because they could
have a solid friendship if only Jenna were not between them, but it’s a
positive when building an entertaining half hour of television.
“Amends” and “Consequences” are two terrific, very different
installments of a pretty good show. They check off the various boxes that
differing viewers want, while staying true to the themes and story of the show
itself. With only ten episodes left for the program, it’s off to a strong
start, and it should leave viewers very curious to see how it all will end.
WILFRED now airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FXX.
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