Wilfred 3.11 Review - Stagnation

rating: 3.5

Warning: This review contains spoilers. In "Stagnation," Ryan's roommate, Anne, brings another dog to the house, Phyllis, whom Wilfred falls in love with€”but only because she is in heat. Not only was the episode entitled "Stagnation," but it was stagnation; it was yet another distraction from the serious issues that had started in previous episodes. Yet again, we are denied answers to any questions the show has posed€”as if that's any surprise, at this point. We finally got to see Anne again. I would have expected to see at least a small hint of her in every episode, since she is Ryan's roommate, but this is the first we've seen of her for a while (her last appearance being 5 episodes ago). Unfortunately, it looks like this is also the last time we'll be seeing Anne, because in the end, Ryan asks her to move out, in order to force himself into getting a job, rather than using her rent money to get by. Like Ryan uses Anne, Kristen uses Ryan. She pretends they are a couple in order to avoid the troubles that come with trying to meet somebody new after her divorce. Ryan is able to solve that problem and convince her to move on with her life, prompting him to solve his own. While it's important to solve these small problems, it's just more distraction from the larger problems centering around Wilfred. The show hasn't done a very good job structuring itself. Last week's episode was great; it was a much needed comedic relief from the string of tension filled episodes preceding it. To have two of such relief episodes in a row is a little questionable. It's nice to go back to the comedy upon which the show was originally founded, but after stringing several drama-heavy episodes in a row, they shouldn't follow with a string of comedy. That is to say, alternating is key, but they're obviously too focused on pushing away any real answers as far away as possible, presumably to the final episode of this season, but perhaps even further. Overall, this episode was underwhelming. It had its moments, like Wilfred's little black book stained with urine as contact info, but suffered from poor structuring within the season. It could have benefitted, perhaps saved itself, with just a small tease back towards the real problems, and towards their possible answers.