Review: Wilfred ‘Confrontation’ – Mailmen on Steroids

With a title like ‘Confrontation’, tonight’s episode of Wilfred announced its importance on arrival; and did a great job delivering on it, pushing the overall narrative forward by finally putting Ryan and his father Henry in the same room together (without the presence of any sleeping pills). And along with providing us with one of the most important scenes today, it sets the stage for the episodes left to follow this season.

Although we all expected the Newman family reunion to get a little out of hand, ‘Confrontation’ is a lot more poignant than the typical “family holiday gone wrong”. The smartest move was to mostly remove Wilfred from the scenes involving Ryan’s family, allowing those interactions to be free of any extraneous distractions, and using the scenes in between to throw in the usual Wilfred dog humor (this week it’s hating Santa, getting tangled in Christmas lights, and shitting on the stairs).

The scenes between Ryan, Kristen and his parents give a lot of context to things only alluded to over the past three seasons – illuminating the relationships of both children with their parents, slowing working backward to define Ryan’s fractured family. Predictably, Kristen is daddy’s girl – but the writing staff twists a knife into that little pocket of parental joy: she’s the daddy’s girl who never got her father’s acceptance, left to wallow in self-disappointment.

But it also paints the other side of the picture by keeping the event ambiguous throughout: who is really provoking Katherine? Is it Henry – or is it the other way around? The right answer – as it often is in a family – is everybody. Each person in that Christmas picture has been avoiding truths or painful things, and all of them are flawed. Yes, Henry is probably a manipulative asshole – but he’s also a damaged man, someone who clearly realizes that he failed at fatherhood in some way (something he externalizes by expressing disappointment at them, rather than himself).

My only complaint with the episode was Katherine: I don’t think they gave her character enough room to breathe  – she’s mainly there to play a role, to present us with an example of what can happen if Ryan and Kristen continue to let Henry define their lives, as well as reveal the other side of the well-dressed, mostly polite man that everyone cowers in fear around. She’s effective in it  – her behavior, though caricature-esque, does point out the very obvious problems that led to the c but in some scenes it sells her character a little short in order to give some depth to his father.

Surprisingly, it leads to a rather pleasant conclusion (minus the diarrhea part) after Wilfred pushes Ryan to confront his father. It’s a big moment for the series (and this episode pulls it off quite well, without overselling the moment into sappy melodrama): this is the conflict Ryan’s been running away from his whole life, the foundation for which his biggest mental and emotional scars have been built on for two decades. But with every happy ending on Wilfred comes another horror – and even though it appears that Ryan hit rock bottom a couple weeks ago, something in me thinks there is something even darker waiting around the corner. Ryan’s finally broke the silence with his father: this is the catalyst for his healing, not the ultimate resolution: the big challenges are really just beginning.

Grade: A-

Other thoughts/observations:

– so Kristen drew the painting. This could mean something important – and it also could not, if you think about it. In the end, this is Ryan’s journey: anything we learn from Kristen drawing the painting will only illuminate a small part of the puzzle.

– how could Henry kick Sneakers?! What a dick.

– “It’s not Christmas without Wilfred.” That line would be so much more effective had this episode aired in December. Watch it again during the holidays; it will warm your heart.

– “I’m Buddhist, man.”