Beta Waves

I think you can tell a lot about a show from its third episode. The pilot is carefully sculpted by the creator, and the second episode is the first after the season is ordered, so it often benefits from extra time and attention from the creator. By the time we get to the third episode, the writing burden moves toward the staff and the development time will fall inline with the “normal” episode cycle for the season. While the case of Wilfred is a bit different because it’s an imported series and has a shorter season, it will still be interesting to see where the middle season episodes take us.

And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with last night’s episode, “Fear”. It successfully picked up on a lot of threads from the pilot, namely the weed-theft quest and Ryan’s missing wallet, and created some new threads without falling into the overplayed buddy comedy tropes found in the pilot. The episode was funny in ways not associated with Wilfred saying crazy things and then chasing a car, which was the major concern going into the series. Most importantly though, the show returns to an investment in Ryan’s psyche and drops intriguing hints about the main question of the series: what is Wilfred?

The episode opens with Ryan and Wilfred hiding out in the basement with their stolen weed, and Ryan experiences a sort of premonition / vision where his tooth falls out and he has baby feet. The scene loops around again, minus the trippy vision, then Ryan is confronted by Spencer, the motorcylcing neighbor from whom they stole weed. Ryan convinces Spencer that they were both part of a string of robberies, they become friendly, and porn-watching and strip club hopping ensues while Wilfred attempts to make Ryan confront Spencer. Ethan Suplee returns as Spencer, and thankfully he’s given more to do than scream and yell this episode. Suplee seemed to be hovering between channeling Randy, his dopey and sweet character from My Name is Earl, and the hotheaded biker from the pilot. He oscillates shot to shot even, making it difficult to read the character and his performances. Spencer was probably miscast as written, but Suplee is at his best while spitting ridiculous lines with a blank stare. The funniest moment in the episode was Spencer and Ryan’s exchange about Spencer’s transsexual father, so I’m guessing as the season progresses we’ll see a more defined version of Spencer to better fit Suplee’s abilities.

“Fear” plants a few disparate plot threads in the beginning of the episode, such as Mrs. Patel’s fear of dogs, Spencer’s former best friend, and Wilfred’s bone, then ties them together by the end of the episode. Many of the best comedies do this masterfully, Seinfeld and Arrested Development come to mind, so this is a welcome feature to the show. Hopefully Wilfred will continue to be attentive to this, as the previous two episodes felt flabby and unfocused compared to “Fear”. A returned attentiveness to Ryan’s psychic space was another welcome focus of the episode. Wilfred has a great line early in the episode where he asks Ryan: “You, me, what’s the difference?”. Indeed, the audience is encouraged to read Wilfred as a manifestation of Ryan’s id in this episode, and we’re beginning to explore what exactly is going on with Ryan to make him see Wilfred when no one else can. The series began with a look into Ryan’s disturbing head space, but wanders away in favor of slightly lighter comedy in previous episodes. “Fear” draws all this out, and when Wilfred drops off the spray paint can used to deface the Patels’ statue, we’re forced to wonder what the manifestation of Wilfred is making Ryan do, or if Wilfred is somehow acting on his own.

Overall, this was a great episode for Wilfred. Adding outside characters is both crucial and dangerous, but “Fear” successfully inserts Spencer into Ryan’s world without disrupting the dynamic. As long as the show keeps bringing in characters successfully while developing the ongoing mystery of Wilfred, the season looks to be shaping into excellent form.

It’s rare that an advertising campaign succeeds at drawing me into a new show. Like most self-proclaimed connoisseurs, I usually rely on favorable reviews or strong word of mouth to select series to watch. From the first ad for FX’s Wilfred, however, I marked June 23 on my calendar and have been looking forward to its premiere ever since, though I had no idea what it was or what the show might be about. This was either going to be the best new show this year or a spectacular failure; in either case Wilfred was a must watch of the summer season.

Adapted from the Australian sitcom of the same name, Wilfred at its most basic is a show about a guy who sees his neighbor’s dog as a person in a dog suit. Ryan (Elijah Wood) is a depressed former attorney whose suicide attempt is interrupted by his new neighbor Jenna (Fiona Gubelmann) and her dog Wilfred. Jason Gann reprises his role from the Australian edition as the lewd yet profound Wilfred, the dog and/or man that Ryan sees while no one else can. The pilot does a great job of quickly setting up a potentially complex premise, and within minutes it gets to the crux of the series: Ryan’s relationship with Wilfred. Wood plays bemused and uptight endearingly well, but of course Gann steals the show as only a man acting and dressing like a dog can. The rest of the cast, including Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl) as a drug growing neighbor and Dorian Brown as Ryan’s sister, spend most of the episode yelling at Ryan and not much else. I assume they will play a more significant role later in the series, but the episode is so focused on Ryan and Wilfred that everything else fades to the back.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as the duo provides plenty of laughs. The episode manage to touch on most of the major dog clichés (humping legs, digging holes, chasing motorcycles, etc.) in hilarious ways as Wilfred tries to talk Ryan into living a little and playing catch. The scenes strike a great balance between the awkward and absurd, but surprisingly the best laughs come from the dialogue between the pair rather then the more physical humor (though it might be a while before hearing Wilfred shout profanities at a motorcycle gets old). This speaks well of the writing staff and the longevity of the show.

Unfortunately, the end of the episode deteriorates into the trite rhythms of a stoner quest buddy comedy. Wilfred tricks Ryan into breaking into his neighbor’s house to steal some weed, and we’re left to wonder what show we’re watching. Wilfred’s exclamation of “we’ll need a bigger bong!” made me groan out loud; the Jaws reference is much more in line with a Harold and Kumar sequel than the macabre absurdist comedy of the first 20 minutes. To their credit though, the writers don’t connect Ryan’s apparent hallucination of Wilfred to drugs, prescription or otherwise. Instead, we’re left with the much more unsettling and satisfying conclusion that the reality of Wilfred falls entirely on Ryan’s fragile psyche.

While not the instant classic I was hoping for, Wilfred is not a spectacular failure either. The episode was especially funny for a pilot, but given its farcical premise, the pilot was bound to be entertaining. The real question for Wilfred is sustainability–the premise is unique and the pilot shows real promise, but what happens when the novelty of a man in a dog suit wears off and the show needs to innovate? Tonight’s episode used every scene from the aforementioned commercials, so hopefully Wilfred can provide more unconventional comedy as the season progresses.