This is how real dogs play poker
So it’s been awhile eh? I feel as though the days of summer finally caught up with me and I became to busy to watch TV. Well there’s that, and the fact that I have been binge watching Smallville and I know for a fact you guys don’t want more thoughts on that. So today I decided to put Smallville away for a bit and watch the season 3 premiere of FX’s Wilfred. A brilliant little cable show that was created for American viewers off of an Australian show Wilfred. I don’t know much about the show down under, aside from the fact that the character who is the name sake of the show, is played by the same fellow, Jason Gann.
All you need to know about the U.S. version is that it is perfectly hilarious, and delivers, smart, clever, ridiculous punchlines. I remember seeing the teasers on FX back in 2011 before it premiered in June. I was anticipating the arrival of the show like a dog does a master. And if you didn’t know, the reason why it ended up doing so crazy well, is because the audience wanted to know why Ryan (Elijah Wood), a regular man could see a man in a dog suit (Wilfred). And still to this day, the audience has no real reason or proof of why this bizarre hallucination is happening to poor Ryan. We keep tuning in every season to see if it will be answered. And instead they just keep giving us more questions! The writers are great, and well trained in their bait and switch method. They suck us in at the beginning hoping that our burning questions will be answered, but soon after your chuckling and losing track of the questions and methods, and just genuinely enjoying the ride. That is until the last 2 episodes of the season air, and you remember you want to know what the fuck is up with Ryan and Wilfred’s relationship.
But alas season 3 does the same bait and switch that the writers have so cleverly become accustomed to. I may have a soft spot for comedies like this, because I’ve been dealing with that same viewership pain since How I Met Your Mother first aired in 2005.
I will say that season 3 starts off with a bang and then drags a bit. I feel as though this new season is trying to be too preachy and self serving and forgot why viewers keep tuning in each week. Which is A.) To find out why Ryan perceives Wilfred differently and B.) to see their cooky relationship antics and adventures. I rewatched episode one (Uncertainty) (to go into episode 2 with a fresh mind and for this review) and it didn’t have that same ability to entertain than other episodes do from the previous seasons. And that’s sad. But episode 2 (Comfort) was able to grab my attention again with some very silly, uncomfortable jokes. So thankfully the second episode is able to deliver.
Season 3 opens just a few weeks after Jenna (Fiona Gubelmann) and newly wed husband, Drew (Chris Klein) go on their honeymoon. And life seems prefect for the two of them, and you begin to think that the feelings Ryan had for Jenna in the beginning of the series (the whole reason the then-suicidal Ryan agreed to watch Wilfred) have disappeared, and that truly, Jenna never reciprocated them. That feeling of certainty then vanishes at the end of the second episode when Ryan and Jenna share a moment on Ryan’s porch. Their feelings linger in the air as Jenna walks away at the end of the conversation, and you contemplate what will happen with the rest of the season. It seems as though the writers will be returning back to season 1′s antics of Ryan clawing desperately for Jenna’s attention.
Honestly, it may or may not be a good thing. In the beginning I wanted to see Jenna and Ryan end up together, I certainly never thought that her and Drew would ever tie the knot, and I never thought that they were compatible. The douchy douch guy dating the girl next door? How original.
Hopefully season 3 will deliver as much as the previous seasons have, but after only 2 episodes I am uncertain for Wilfred’s fate. But watch out for the titty shot. That scene was blissfully awkward and prefect.
Even they don’t know how it will turn out
PS the best way to watch Wilfred is during a drinking game which goes as follows:
Drink anytime someone treats Wilfred as a dog
Drink anytime Wilfred acts like a dog
Drink 3 times anytime Ryan treats Wilfred like a dog
Chug during the closing credits.
You’re welcome.
