Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 13 Identity

For a show that's mostly been about a guy imaging a man in a dog suit and the hijinks that followed, "Identity" ends on an assuredly dark note, without a laugh in sight and without an opening for Ryan. He's ruined everything and now he opens the door to the basement where he's spent time with Wilfred, only to realize it is just a closet.

More sad, perhaps, is how the backstory of Ryan fills in the blanks and hammers home how awful his life is. When he was a lawyer basically had to stoop to the lowest level and ruin people's lives in order to win. Now, after a season of having a dog torment him, Ryan steps up and decides to win through any means--and receives the horrible consequences. His pregnant sister is getting divorced, non-pregnant Jenna is getting married to Drew, Wilfred doesn't remember anything, and Ryan is left alone in his house.

Score: 9.0/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 12 Sacrifice

"Sacrifice" suffers from a premise that just isn't funny, and even the normal Wilfred quirks can't cover that up. Ryan is given the opportunity to leave his terrible life for a new one in Italy in a beautiful girl. It culminates into a court scene that plays out in Ryan's head, which is weird and amusing but not laugh out loud funny.

So, while the episode has the traits that make the show endearing--Wilfred being security, Jenna high on air--the plot is lacking in truly funny premise. The previous couple plots--Ryan's crazy mother returning, the neighborhood cracking down on Ryan, Bruce showing up--were all funny, off center, and had wild instability to them. Here, Ryan wants to leave and eventually doesn't, without anything too remarkable happening.

Score: 8.2/10

Review -Wilfred Season 1 Episode 11 Doubt

"Doubt" gets too caught up in the Bruce stuff that the eventual conclusion, Bruce seemingly disappearing into thin air, didn't live up to expectations. The episode has  funny moments--Wilfred's gangsta swagger--but they are put off to the side once as Bruce shows up and confirms to Ryan that Wilfred is a bad influence. It all seemed like it would build to something big, when we'd learn all about Wilfred and Ryan would have to make a choice. But Bruce is gone and Ryan left back where he started, smoking with Wilfred. In the end, nothing really happened.

I don't think plot is too important on Wilfred, but when the writers dangle out bait, I want to get something out of it. Instead, they remind us that Wilfred and Ryan have this weird relationship--not positive but not entirely negative either--and we learn nothing else.

Score: 8.5/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 9 Compassion

Trying to read too deeply into Wilfred is riddled with problems (mainly because it could be a show like Children's Hospital where random, funny shit just happens), but "Compassion" comes out and tells us that Ryan's problems are genetic. Ryan's mother is crazy herself and at the end of the episode, we see her cat who is a person in a cat outfit. My interpretation: the writers are telling us that Ryan won't solve his psychological problems through the course of the show. And if this is the case, I won't mind. Ryan's mother, played by Mary Steenburgen, and Wilfred were both very funny and I'll keep coming as long I think it's funny.

Score: 9.0/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 8 Anger

Kristen is easily the most problematic character on the show and boy we she in full force. First off, why does she continue to ask Ryan for help? He's always a flake and screws up in one way or another, garnering scorn and angry comments each time. At the end of the episode, it is suggested that she goes to Ryan because she likes to yell at him and show how much better she is because her parents and Sneakers liked Ryan more. So basically she's a complete bitch who's been carrying problems from childhood? But these problems could be remedied if she were funny, as both Ryan and Wilfred have their unlikable traits balanced out by their funniness. Unfortunately, Kristen is hardly funny, always screeching and the like, so she's wholly unpleasant and unlikable.

Even if Kristen was annoying, the possession of Wilfred by Sneakers, Ryan's long-dead dog, pretty much made up for that. It's a little freaky, but stays true to the humor show. Things can go very bad during an episode, but everything is fine at the end of the episode--kind of.

Score: 8.5/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 7 Pride

After the episode at the doggy daycare where Wilfred had to endure horrible things, the heavily sexual nature of "Pride" wasn't all too shocking and there are funny lines at every turn of the episode. What felt lacking about the episode, however, was the plot, which isn't a big deal since Wilfred isn't the kind of show that relies on plot. In contrast to previous episodes which had a sense of give and take between Ryan and Wilfred, this episode felt somewhat empty, as both embarked on their sexual quests and Wilfred just prodded Ryan forward the entire time.

Score: 8.5/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 6 Conscience

The writers have made Wilfred into such a versatile character and Jason Gann plays him so well that any given episode of the show will be funny regardless of the plot. The plot this week is a step below last week's hilarious one at the hospice, but there is plenty of humor to be found in the bro-action and, of course, Wilfred.

Wilfred can go from dog who listens to the alpha to dog on webcam to evil chemist, and it all makes sort of makes sense since we know Ryan's mind is messed up. There is a semblance that Wilfred may be part of Ryan's mind that is trying to improve himself, that Ryan actually believes in underhanded tactics to get Jenna.

Score: 8.7/10

Review - Wilfed Season 1 Episode 5 Respect

I really liked the direction of "Respect," a fully surreal experience that maintains the doggish nature of Wilfred. Ryan is hailed as a hero after volunteering at a hospice and Wilfred somehow knows when people die. It doesn't make much sense, but the point is that Wilfred is suddenly in the spotlight. But Ryan soon discovers that Wilfred may be killing the patients. With Wilfred snorting drugs and going out of control, Ryan can't keep the situation under control and it makes for a very funny episode.

Score: 9.1/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 4 Acceptance

"Acceptance" makes good use of Wilfred's dog personality to spin an episode that was probably more obscene than 99% of television. There's a dog, a perverted guy, dog daycare, peanut butter, and yeah... It's done in a funny way that also deepens the relationship between Wilfred and Ryan, making Ryan give up prior commitments to save Wilfred. I'm still not sure what Kristen's role on the show should be, especially since Ryan blew her off again, but the show remains funny.

Score: 8.8/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 3 Fear

I'm beginning to wonder how much Wilfred really has in terms of a solid premise for a successful show. "Fear" is a funny episode with Ethan Suplee as Ryan's crazy neighbor Spencer hanging out with Ryan. He's obnoxious and oblivious, and through Wilfred's guidance, Ryan learns to take control of the situation and strike back. This is all well and good, but part of me feels like the show could have a lot more exploration into Ryan and his condition. How much of Wilfred's behavior is completely imagined in Ryan's mind? Without explaining anything, it seems like the writers could practically have free reign on Wilfred's behavior and turn everything into a joke when there are serious problems with Ryan.

Score: 8.7/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 2 Trust

At this point, there isn't too much to say about Wilfred. "Trust," the second episode of the show doesn't introduce anything groundbreaking, but remains fun nonetheless. Ryan and Wilfred engage in a series of lies as they go around town to the beach or to the vet. The last part of the episode turns a little weird when Wilfred, almost out from the anesthetic, whispers that Jenna has a dick, which sends Ryan into a tizzy. Of course, Wilfred's lines are a manifestation of Ryan's mind which reinforces the idea that Ryan sabotages himself purposely. And what Wilfred really meant? Jenna has a dick boyfriend.

Score: 8.6/10

Review - Wilfred Season 1 Episode 1 Happiness

Wilfred is one weird, weird show. It begins, normally enough, with a guy trying to kill himself and failing. But then the meat of the premise is introduced: Ryan meets his neighbor Jenna and her dog Wilfred--who looks like man in a dog costume to Ryan, only he's actually a dog. People see Wilfred as a normal dog, but Ryan sees Wilfred as a guy in a dog suit and hears Wilfred speaking to him. It's kind of like Calvin and Hobbes in live-action form with much cruder jokes.

The weirdness is what carries the show, at least initially. I was entranced by the bizarre nature of this whole thing, how Ryan reacts to Wilfred and Wilfred's outrageous behavior which is normalized by the fact that he is a dog. Elijah Wood and Jason Gann are terrific together and it makes for an all-around good time.

I'm not quite sure about the plot, though. There's Ryan's sister Kristen who spends the episode yelling at him for being a loser, Wilfred and Ryan breaking into Spencer's house and stealing pot plants, and Wilfred pinning it on Ryan, and finally Jenna and her belief that Wilfred really likes Ryan. But we don't get much indication exactly how the plot will work through the course of the season aside from the general idea that both Wilfred and Ryan are messed up in their own ways which will drive each episode.

Score: 8.9/10