Wilfred: "Conscience"

Season 1, Episode 6

For once, a conscience that shouldn’t be followed

“Conscience is the dog that can’t bite, but never stops barking.”

-Proverb”

Let’s just face it: naming this episode “conscience” was bit of a weird move. Now obviously nobody is going to believe that Wilfred is meant to represent Ryan’s conscience – his actions are far too mischievous and mean-spirited for that – but given that Wilfred as ostensibly “taught” Ryan various life lessons each week – “Fear”, “Acceptance”, etc. – it’s weird to think that he would teach Ryan about his conscience. (The opening quote didn’t exactly help to denounce this idea either.)

Luckily that wasn’t the case tonight, but that unfortunately led to a weird bit of plotting. The episode started out with Ryan attempting to break up Jenna with Drew, which was spurred on by some really unmotivated jealousy on his part. Yet about two-thirds of the way through this episode, after Drew ends up going away, the episode’s focus suddenly shifts, and it becomes about Ryan, and his internal fight between his conscience and whatever it is Wilfred is supposed to represent.

I have three problems with this setup and how all of this played out. The first is that the premises here – both Ryan’s attempts to win Jenna’s affections and the resurgence of his conscience – feel so staid, like I’ve seen these scenarios played out many times before. There’s a reason for that: It’s because I have. Up until know, Wilfred has been very good about giving us storylines that are A) original and/or B) enjoyably dark. Tonight’s episode was neither. I don’t want to say it was bad, it just felt like I was watching a different – if still enjoyable – show.

The second flaw was that by splitting the episode into two storylines like this, I felt like both got short-shifted. The storyline with Drew just seemed to sort of end suddenly (and was given “resolution” with a throwaway line in the tag), and Wilfred’s conflict with Ryan, which was supposed to spin out of his conflict with Drew, didn’t really feel like it had enough motivation behind it. But that’s mostly because of….

…Problem #3, Wilfred’s identity crisis. Usually we know just who Wilfred is – he is that primal, the id part of Ryan that seeks out pleasure, and the show hinges on Wilfred playing this role every week. Even when he was playing something more akin to the ego last week, it still worked because he was acting out Ryan’s unspoken desires. But tonight, in addition to playing Ryan’s id in accordance to Jenna, he also was the fighting force against Ryan’s conscience, and we had to see Wilfred play subservient to Drew’s alpha male, which quite possibly was meant to be symbolic of Ryan’s own relationship with the guy. Suddenly Wilfred became an overstuffed character, and he didn’t resemble himself anymore.

I recognize that as a physical manifestation of Ryan’s psyche, Wilfred should be able to be anything that he needs to be from week to week in order to highlight all of Ryan’s subconscious forces. But he’s also a character, and he needs to stay grounded in that respect. The show’s main problem right now is that it pretends to be a simple show, which for the most part it is, and that requires having Wilfred stay the same. If the show wants to make Wilfred wildly different each week in order to further explore Ryan, that’s fine, but that also requires the show dealing with its complexity in a more overt way than I think Wilfred is ready to handle.

Quotes, Etc:

“Here’s the part where he carries her into the house like a Viking on a rape-quest.”

“He’s going to rape her, mate.”

“Oh, I did it, because I’m a dog, alright? I hate to see what you think if I was black.”

“Bring it on, bitch. I want to punch those pearly white teeth down your throat.”

“Your death will be my holiday.”

“C’mon Bear, work with me.”

“But Drew sex punching Jenna, you’re okay with that?”

“I guess my only question is: How were you not blow-jobbed to death by the entire cheerleading squad?”

“I’ve seen more aggressive ball play in an airport men’s room.”

“Sheboygan Lager, bitch! That’s how we do.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to tear a new asshole in the back of Bear’s neck.”

“I didn’t buy him a Sheboygan Lager. I bought myself a Sheboygan Larger, and spit it in his face and told him to lick my balls.”

Apparently the show’s so cheap, they can’t afford the rights to show a Magic 8 Ball.

“I know what will cheer you up. Bear, come over here. I would like you to meet my friend Ryan.”