Awww.

You know, I don’t know about you guys, but I think that might be one of my favorite epsiodes of Wilfred ever. My favorite episodes of this show are generally the ones where really outrageous things happen, and ones that are riotously funny. Last night’s episode certainly had its funny moments, and I had to rewind and rewatch a few things, not to mention chuckled quite heartily through possibly one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen on this show. But the thing that I really loved about this episode was that… we finally got some character development out of Ryan, you guys! FINALLY!

Since the beginning of last season, Ryan hasn’t really changed much. His world has changed yes – he met Jenna and Wilfred, he felt guilty about causing her to get fired, he’s had flashbacks to his old childhood dog, he witnessed Wilfred violate a stuffed giraffe, he got lorded over by his sister, and he helped her deliver her baby. But not much about what’s going on inside Ryan’s head has really changed. Until now. If this is what EP David Zuckerman promised me when he said I would dig what they’re doing later in the season, then he was fucking right, man.

https://twitter.com/David_Zuckerman/status/221255998034284544

So. The episode. You’ll remember that Kristen had her baby, with Ryan’s help. So now she’s over at his house being annoying, and the baby is crying, and she’s all “Stop crying, stop crying,” like that’s really going to fucking work. Lemme tell you something. In the past month or so, I’ve been around a newborn a few times (not mine), and that shit don’t work. So Ryan, understandably, starts to have panic attacks. Which cause Wilfred to start shedding, which is cute and also kind of hilarious. To mellow out, Ryan and Wilfred take a trip to the medicinal pot store, where they find out about this psychedelic drug, iowaska that the clerk is willing to sell him. So he buys some. Before he leaves, the clerk warns him not to panic while under the influence or else the trip will turn into a nightmare.

So now extremely paranoid, Ryan goes home, not too sure about this anymore. But, because of course he does, Wilfred slips him some iowaska (and takes some too), and he and Ryan fall into a trip. Now, the clerk explains that while in the trip, Ryan can ask questions, and a spirit guide will come and help him answer the questions. Of course all the answers are coming from his own mind, but it’s very enlightening. Within moments of being in this new wild dream land, a Native American man, dressed very much how every portrayal of Native Americans we ever saw as children was dressed, announces that he’s Ryan’s spirit guide. Naturally, he and Wilfred get into an argument about it. Wilfred says that he is already with Ryan, and it’ll just be easier if he acts as Ryan’s spirit guide. HA! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID THIS?! Told y’all. Fed up with their arguing, though, Ryan picks the dude, Redwolf, because he’ll tell him who/what Wilfred really is!

Now before I continue, I just want to say that I’m kind of disappointed that Redwolf doesn’t look like this:

If Jim Morrison had shown up too, I would have peed myself. Alas.

Anyway, so with the promise to tell him, Redwolf leads him off, and blathers on about how everything here is part of Ryan’s mind (“Perhaps that explains why I’m such a stereotype.”), and shows Ryan how he can ask a question and the answer will arise out of a little pool of water. But right before the answer manifests itself, Wilfred shoots Redwolf through the throat with an arrow. Shit.

Turns out Wilfred isn’t as good a spirit guide as Redwolf, because he doesn’t know how to get out. But he does know that if Ryan wants to know why he’s having panic attacks when the baby cries, he has to dig deeper into himself, so he drugs him with more iowaska and Ryan falls into an Inception-like trip. A trip within a trip. Note: So does this mean definitively that Wilfred is just part of Ryan’s mind? Because Wilfred reasons with him that this is all in Ryan’s mind, so why would he drug himself? But Wilfred managed to drug him again, from within Ryan’s mind, so therefore, Wilfred is part of Ryan’s mind, yes?

So deeper in Ryan’s mind is a dark room with a mad photographer played by Brad Dourif, who is, like, the BEST at playing characters like this. After Ryan asks why he’s having panic attacks, the photographer gives him a photo of a childhood bedroom, and Ryan is immediately transported there. He sees his old dog Sneakers, and a child version of him crying. Then a young girl runs in the room and implores him to “stop crying. Stop crying,” or else their parents would get upset. BINGO.

Ryan realizes that he never really stopped crying (or really, never really let himself cry), and upon waking bursts into tears over a photo of him and Creepy Chick Amanda. He never really let himself grieve. He’s always been so stoic, and unemotional, and finally, he lets himself emote. And it’s kind of beautiful. Wilfred comes over and cuddles with him, and it’s adorable. I fucking love dogs.

Okay, so I know that was a really mushy, sentimental ending, and perhaps was slightly convenient, but RYAN CRIED, YOU GUYS! He cried. This is growth, people. Ryan is evolving. We are getting somewhere!

Random Quotes/Favorite Quotes

• “You just say the word, and that baby will pay for what it’s done to you.”
• “What about your boss? Someone ate his brains. That’s twisted. Did they ever find out who did that, by the way?”
• Clerk: I should warn you you: Your trip will probably start out with some nausea and vomiting.
  Wilfred: Awesome.
• Loved Wilfred ripping off Bear’s arm during his panicking. Poor Bear though.
• “Maybe we should go to a hospital.” “Bear doesn’t have insurance!” HAHA!
• “Wilfred, none of this is real.” “I know that. Right now you’re passed out in the basement, and I’m eating vomit off your shirt.”
• Let’s talk about vomit for a minute because this turned into one of the most disgusting and hilarious callback sight gags I may have ever witnessed on this show or TV in general. At one point, they’re interrupted by Ryan’s ringing phone, and we see him in real life, slightly blurry. And Wilfred is there, faithful as ever, right by his side… eating chips… and dipping them in Ryan’s vomit. Fucking amazing.
• “I’m not trying to undercut anyone. I just wanna know if you need a lift to the junior prom.”
• If this is all a creation of Ryan’s mind, WHY GOD WHY do we see Kristen and Jenna making out. In the words of Redwolf (RIP), “That is your sister.”
• Once Ryan falls deeper into the iowaska trance, Wilfred pulls out chopsticks to eat more vomit off his shirt. Fantastic.

So, what did you guys think of the episode? Were you as pleased with it as I was? Did you think it was lame? Did you think the drug-induced trip was contrived at all? How fucking hilarious was the vomit eating? God, I love Wilfred. Alright, tell me everything in the comments below. DO IT!