Review: Wilfred ‘Shame’ – I Took The Horn

Over the last two seasons, there’s been a slight – but noticeable – shift in Wilfred‘s narrative structure, most of it revolving around the show’s titular character. As Ryan’s spiritual guide, Wilfred’s presence on the show dictated the events around him: he manipulated the shit out of Ryan, complicating things to a point Ryan finally stepped back and applied some common sense to himself. But slowly, the show’s moved Wilfred away from being that presence in the first and second act – and in episodes like ‘Shame’, it suffers from it, distracting itself from the point for derivative dog antics and pulling Wilfred and his influence away from Ryan.

Part of the Wilfred mythology is the effect he has on his mentality and decision-making: but when Wilfred’s off getting fat off gross shit for an entire episode, there really isn’t a lot of guidance being provided. Wilfred’s charm is in his ability to play with Ryan while maintaining the innocent, naive aura of an enlightened dog: not in him making toilet bars and dousing himself in sweat perfume. All of that crap takes away from a really important lesson ‘Shame’ seems to be building towards – and then abandons in the final act, hanging its hat onto some fantastical idea about individuality.

The whole premise of the episode is that Ryan can’t pay his rent and has to bring himself to return to the working world (a story line that feels oddly similar to previous ones,  I might add). So he has to get a room mate, who shows him the value of doing something you love and how that makes you happy…. except they never really show us a happy Anne (a surprisingly restrained Kristen Schaal, given her material in the episode). She doesn’t seem all that happy when she’s doing her web cam shows: she’s just going through the motions, reacting nonchalantly to one of her fan’s requests. Her family’s a mess (and hates her) – and for a girl making a shit load of money, why does she have to live with Ryan?

There are a lot of holes in her character – and again, it’s because of Wilfred. There’s so many scenes where Anne’s filthiness and Wilfred’s gross habits dominate the action, she (like many other female characters on this show) never gets established as anything but a kook who should be lauded for her individualism. She didn’t feel like one – she gave up her dream awfully quickly without a fight, also suggesting she wasn’t as in love with her online career as she said she was.

Out of shame comes pride; once a person has felt that dreadful embarrassment of accepting failure, there’s a certain confidence and optimism for the unknown that lies ahead. ‘Shame’ never goes for this, instead telling the audience that we shouldn’t take the horns off a unicorn, and avoid the feeling of shame at all costs. Part of the premise of Wilfred is Ryan dealing with the darkest demons within himself: and feeling ashamed for the things he’s done (ruining relationships, messing with Jenna’s life over and over) and then realizing he’s got a lot of opportunities ahead of him. This is a terrible phrase, but there’s no shame in feeling shame: it’s the failures in life that drive us the most, and ‘Shame’ misses that.

Grade: C

Other thoughts/observations:

– another big problem with this episode: it’s not funny. At all.

– does Drew have nuclear substance in his ears? those used q-tips looked radioactive.

– Wilfred offers Ryan five pigeon dicks a month for rent. I suppose that is funny somewhere.