Those waiting for Wilfred to poke around its mythology got a mouthful tonight in ‘Trust’, which spent most of its time in the show’s iconic basement, entertaining a visit from Bruce and playing another one of Wilfred’s games to make an important discovery. But as light-hearted and weird the first three-quarters of the show were, the episode ends with a heavy heart, after Ryan makes a devastating decision for both himself and Amanda.
We haven’t had a whole lot of time to spend with Amanda, but their relationship’s been kind of cute in a way to watch, and seeing her stand in front of his closet door, shaking her head in disbelief was about as painful and real a moment you could ask for on TV, exactly what I’d imagine that kind of shock setting in feels like. But it brings up an interesting point about Ryan: he’s been lying about himself to not only Amanda through their blossoming relationship, but also to himself.
Should he have a girlfriend? It’s not something we as viewers have really asked ourselves so far this season, but it’s actually quite a valid one. Ryan might be back at work, but he’s still smoking pot and going off on goofy adventures with Wilfred in every episode, so even when he’s having a good time, there’s still something fundamentally wrong with the reality he’s surrounded by. As Wilfred reminds him, he spends a lot of time with a talking dog in a place that may or may not really exist.
What I love about ‘Trust’ is how it blends these serious character questions with the odd mythology of the show, using Bruce’s first appearance of the season (remember, he’s the guy who Wilfred has Ryan pull a gun on in the woods during season one) to remind us of how fucked Ryan is mentally, and how he’s in no way ready for a relationship. Of course, he’s dragged kicking and screaming through it all, and it only comes into place when Amanda walks into his house with her first box.
It’s sad in some ways, but with the ‘special guest star’ label attached to her all season, Allison Mack’s future on the show’s always been tenuous, and it doesn’t seem like she’ll be around much past this season. We didn’t get to see Ryan and Amanda as a couple much, but Amanda’s energy and wit was a great fit for Ryan – a saner one, of course. It’s kind of impressive how the show manages to make that last moment between them so powerful, even though we haven’t had the opportunity to spend a whole lot of time with them throughout the season.
More importantly though, is that ‘Trust’ is another step forward in the right direction for Ryan. Making the right decision is not always the easy one, and one which he would’ve let go a lot further back in season one. He’s still trying to hide who he is – and avoid his father – but he’s on the right path to at least begin to understand what’s going on around him. A solid episode, with one of the show’s best endings to date. Like Wilfred said, the real storm hasn’t arrived yet. I can’t wait for whatever weird shit it brings with it as we move into the final third of Wilfred‘s second season.
Grade: A-
Other thoughts/observations:
– Bruce entering and leaving through those odd basement doors; is there something to analyze here?
– How does Wilfred feel about being pet? He likes that shit.
– Titanium dioxide and beeswax – make sure you keep some in case an apocalypse hits.
– The opening quote, as always, does a great job in foreshadowing what’s going to happen in the episode. It made it clear right away where the episode was going to end up, and instead, allowed us as viewers to enjoy the journey, rather than worry about the destination. I mean, that quote is pretty much a massive spoiler, is it not?
– why is Bruce trying to get Ryan’s soul?
What did you think of ‘Truth’? Feel free to leave your thoughts/comments below!
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Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! In and out, up and down sideways and back. I liked your point of how even though we didn’t get to see much of Ryan and Amanda’s relationship it was extremely emotional to see them break up. I think that’s a great testament to the wonderful acting of Elijah Wood and Allison Mack.
I love the character of Bruce who I honestly believe is another part of Ryan’s subconscious. Last season when Ryan took a first step back into the real world by looking for a job and trying to better himself on his own, Bruce came along. Same as this time. Ryan’s makes another big step into a serious relationship but Bruce is summoned up again. Obviously, Wilfred is Ryan’s better side and is there to show him he’s not ready. Not just yet. This impending doom is going to kill me until it happens. I wonder if it will have anything to do with Ryan’s father? He’s coming into the picture more this season. We even hear his voice this time around.
Great observations. I believe that Wilfred is the inner monologue of Ryan’s illness, but he tethers Ryan to the real world in good decisions and bad. If Ryan is struggling to hold on to some sense of reality, he may feel that his slip into complete insanity is inevitable. Thus games of chance with Bruce for control of his soul, sanity, dinner at Carl’s crab shack represents chance versus destiny. Many things were genius in this episode, but the symbolism of being crushed by the box of secrets you put on the shelf and then Allison coming in with her box saying she hopes Ryan has lots of storage for her boxes, tied in beautifully with the theme of truth. On the one hand clearly there is not enough room in Ryan’s life for more than his box of secrets. Wilfred says he was wrong; that he lied for love. Which is more truthful to say that you have revealed everything in your box of secrets and that you would be comfortable with your inner monologue being transparent to the one you love or that you have lied for the sake of love? Truth
Wilfred is definitely a comedy, but sometimes I forget about the precarious nature of Ryan’s psyche. I was discussing the show, and a colleague suggested that the basement is Ryan’s representation of his mind. That sounds pretty true, especially if what Terry said about Bruce being a figment of Ryan’s imagination is true as well. A part of me was hoping that she would move in so we would have some insight into what is real and what is not, but I guess they are going to make us wait a bit longer. My father doesn’t have a TV, so I brought the episode over the last time I was over at his house to watch with him. He said if he ever became that crazy that I need to put him down. I told him that if he were that crazy I would put him on his own TV show.