Wifred ‘Control’: Cooking A Mean Brisket

I was not a fan of last week’s Wilfred episode, and after a couple uneven offerings, I was a little worried where the show was heading (the cliche ‘sophomore slump’ was beginning to sneak into my mind, I won’t lie). But those worries were alleviated by ‘Control’, a fantastic episode that explored one of the show’s best (and most visited) themes: letting go.

One of the places Ryan has failed with throughout the show – and presumably, in the life that led him to concoct a suicide drink back in pilot – is having control over his life. His father pushed him into being a lawyer, and his mother’s unhinged ways drove him to cling to the tent poles in life, which ultimately, drove him into a deep, deep depression. Throw in the fact his parents are divorced – a traumatic situation where a child has to face the reality of not being able to control life, and the shitty things it sometimes throws our way.

So it’s no wonder he’s kept Amanda and Jenna from meeting, because its a situation that could spiral into a thousand ugly directions without his careful manipulations – at least, that’s what his life experiences have led him to think. But one of the things Wilfred’s been trying to teach him through his ideals of chaos and gratification is that life isn’t something one can engineer for themselves – and something Ryan learned dearly at the end of season 1, which ultimately led to the embarrassing on-air moment currently ruining Jenna’s career.

But even when he’s watching the video on YouTube, the realities of control don’t occur to him, and in a series of reactionary moves, proceeds to set off a hilarious and occasionally uncomfortable last half of the episode, in the ‘controlled’ environment of the dinner party. Ryan continuously sets himself up in a number of ironic lies, until the inevitable blowing up in his face moment occurred, and the smiles of Amanda and Jenna are replaced with scowls and eventually, faces of shock when Amanda shares the real reasons for the feelings she harbors towards dogs.

And its here where I thought Wilfred hit some poignant emotional notes for the first time this season: when Ryan walks into his bedroom, Amanda is curled up on the couch with Wilfred in her arms. Once again, Ryan’s attempts to engineer things fucked up everything he wanted – and Wilfred’s here to fix it again, but this time, he’s not jumping in front of a car to save Ryan’s ass.

Part of enjoying life (and getting the most out of it) is realizing most of our existence is completely out of our control. We can pick a car and an address, but we can’t control the actions of others. In reality, trying to avoid chaos is a chaotic exercise in itself: if we’re too busy worrying about what could go wrong (whether its Jenna and Amanda getting along, or that a dog will eat your grandfather’s carcass again), we can’t enjoy our lives at all.

Grade: A-

Other thoughts/observations:

– Last week I asked for more Fiona and Allison – and this week, I happily received my wish.

– With each appearance, Chris Klein’s characters has been written with less and less nuance. In ‘Control’, he’s nothing more than a dunce making dumb face and telling amusing but completely mindless anecdotes.

– Ryan said he moved on from Jenna a few episodes ago. The opening scene on the beach – as well as his attempts to protect Jenna from the ‘Squishy Tits’ moniker – suggest otherwise.

– The workplace setting everyone seemed excited for early on hasn’t proved to be much at all, except a device to get Ryan a paycheck to pay for the BMW he drives, and an easy way to find girlfriend material.

– the shot with Bear bent over the toilet in the background made me laugh louder than any spoken joke in the episode.

What did you think of ‘Control’? Feel free to leave your thoughts/comments below!