Wilfred – The infamous Comic-Con episode

“Our biggest problems arise from our avoidance of smaller ones.”

Holy Mostaccioli.

Remember when you invested yourself in Wilfred during the first season? It was rather a bold move on your part since you didn’t have a clue what your were getting yourself into. The bulk of those first 13 episodes were a wild, wild ride … remember?

Well guess what? “Avoidance” put you right back into that mode of “What the hell … ?!?” where some of us are unnaturally comfortable with what transpired on the small screen while others were left shaking their heads. (Me? I was somewhere smack dab in the middle.)

An unedited version of this episode was shown at Comic-Con a few weeks ago during the Wilfred panel. (Based on what you saw, I think you can pretty well imagine what those snipped clips were. And for those of you left wondering if the scenes will ever see the light of day: It was revealed in the press room at The Con by several of the cast and crew that they most assuredly will be restored in all their “grandeur” on the season 2 DVD and Blu-ray releases.)

Now about this episode: With “avoidance” being the issue at hand, there really wasn’t any clear-cut lesson to be learned. This chapter simply spewed out a series of events in the 22 minutes that just didn’t have too much rhyme or reason and very little cohesive story to be told. But it was a terrific ride and pretty damned funny none the less. (Example: Wilfred’s explanation of why he shakes his churros — with Ryan believing it’s simply “code” for masturbation — was a terrific aside.)

With so much loosy-goosy feel, it was a small wonder the episode stayed together as well as it did. But it did … which was testament to the writers being able to keep the yucks coming and the situations interesting enough for us to want more. I know I was built up right on through to what the result of the dance competition would yield. How about you? (For the record, Wilfred didn’t push the competition, instead keeping his friend comfortable in light of past events which were obviously “disturbing” to him.)

While I’ve gotten used to Wilfred’s stories concluding with some sort of moral, it was a nice switch up to let it ride and not be so structured this time around, giving it the easy feel of season 1’s freshness. Nothing wrong with that.

And that final dance number where Ryan’s basement magically transformed into a Broadway set? Excellent touch, Powers That Be. The setting showcased a few moves from Elijah Wood many of us didn’t even know he had.

Note:

• The final scene, after the extended dance number, with Wilfred forcing a churro at Ryan had me chuckling quite a while afterward.
• The episode may have been all over the place, but we did learn some tidbits from James about Ryan’s father, who desperately would like to see Ryan come back into the fold at the old man’s law firm.

Quotes:

“So … your sister … what’s her name again?” — James
“Kristen.” — Ryan
“Because I called her ‘Cathy’ earlier … and she just laughed.” — James

“Comic-Con sounds like a blast … I can totally pass as Harry Potter …” — Ryan to Amanda

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Aug 03, 2012 @ 02:12 EST5EDT