Now that the reviews and adoration posts are out of the way, let’s hunker down and deconstruct this mindfuck of show shall we?

MAJOR SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT

So, a LOT of this season revolved around this drawing that Ryan found at the end of Season 2.

For the longest time, we were lead to believe Ryan drew this as a child and had seen Wilfred. However, after the jaw dropping bomb was left from his mothers reveal that his sister Kristin actually drew it, I didn’t know WHAT to think. There was an even bigger looming reveal this season that has been with us since the beginning of the series and that was Henry Newman, Ryans father. Finally revealed to us in episode 7 “Intuition” this season, our first response-as viewers-was “DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN” but isn’t it interesting how much Ryan questions his fathers intentions just as much as he questions Wilfreds? Is Wilfred/Henry here to help or hurt? I don’t know about you, but the correlation certainly strikes me as interesting.

The major event to me-even more so than the cliffhanger-in the finale was the sudden death of Henry Newman. I mean, he’s a major looming figure through the series, who’s FINALLY introduced, and then just as quickly killed off. People talked shit about the choice of killing Ryans father but I honestly think that was the best thing they could’ve done as it kept the ambiguity of his persona alive. As I said, we as viewers have been against Henry this entire series because all we’ve seen or heard about him is information from Ryans (somewhat skewed) perspective, which was brought to light in this seasons episode, coincidentally called, “Perspective”. By the time of his death we’re still not even sure what kind of person he was, which is how life is honestly. No matter how close or far you are from a person emotionally, when they die, you still never really knew what kind of person they were.

And the statue would be the most intriguing aspect of the mythology if it wasn’t for the envelope Ryan found in his fathers desk.

This year, Ryan scratched off the blue barn from the drawing and revealed a mysterious symbol behind it, a symbol that is then finally shown as the seal on this envelope. However, this is what’s been driving me bugnuts for the last 3 days now. WHY IS IT ADDRESSED TO HENRY?

I think at this point in the series it’s safe to say that we know for a fact now-given his mothers relationship with her cat Mittens in that she saw her the way Ryan sees Wilfred and that his sister Kristin drew the drawing as a child-that Wilfred is somehow tied to this family overall and not just through Ryan. Some of the things I noticed about Henrys scenes in the finale were the way he addressed Wilfred towards Ryan, for instance in his office he says, “There’s nobody there but you and the dog…” almost as if he was baiting Ryan to admit that Wilfred talks to him, without admitting he sees Wilfred the same way himself. Plus, when he grabs Wilfred and pulls him off Ryan in the house, he grabs his legs (who does that to a dog?) and communicates almost as if he sees Wilfred the way Ryan does. So I think it’s safe to admit we know this family has something to do with Wilfred far beyond just Ryan and that while perhaps their vision of Wilfred is a mental one, Wilfred does exist apart from them. He IS a real dog. Jenna owns him and the fact that he was cloned proves that he exists independently, but not as the Wilfred we all see.

Ryan goes to this place on the letter and discovers this statue, ala LOST:

Now, I’ve waited this entire season to go back to rewatch the first two and maybe pick up some stuff I may have missed. You guys…I found something. I found something BIG. This barn? It isn’t the first time we’ve seen it. It’s just the first time we’ve been TOLD to see it. These are screencaps from Season 2.

The first is showing Ryan painting the barn. PAINTING IT, meaning he had nothing to do with its placement in the drawing as later proved by their mothers reveal, and the presence of it in the “institution” that was in the Season 2 premiere “Progress”, not to mention in Amandas building was the one on the wall. This barn is more important than I EVER could have imagined.

I’ve read some theories that the barn and where that statue was may have been a summer camp Ryan and Kristin went to as children, and while all of that would make sense and it would tie this family to Wilfred and I’d be 100% okay with buying this, I have one loose end…

BRUCE.

While the Bruce episodes are always my favorite every year because of the dynamic he brings between the three of them (although as funny as this years was, it was NOWHERE near as good as last which is not only a personal favorite but I consider it a series best), he definitely raises some red flags. Now, outside that wacky photo we saw of him this year, Bruce has never been seen (to my knowledge) outside of just with Ryan and Wilfred, so it’s possible that Bruce exists on a plane to Ryan as Wilfred does. It’s also possible Bruce IS a real person and is far far FAR more important than they’re letting on.

Bruce is definitely the loose end here, and is the only thing poking holes in this whole summer camp theory, unless he was a counselor or something.

So here we are. On the waiting game we play every summer for the Season 4 renewal to come or not to come. Now I have something to say about the shows ratings and whatnot, so if you’re just into the mythological stuff and not the business side, you can tune this right out.

BUSINESS STUFF:

Wilfred doesn’t mediocre in the ratings to say the least which is understandable given its premise. However, I looked up some FX shows on Wikipedia and a LOT of them don’t do very well. In fact, some episodes of Louie last season were on the same level or lower than the worst for Wilfred this year. I think Wilfred is good for FX because it’s pretty critically liked, it’s got a great Comic-Con presence, it’s in the summer when programming is SHIT, it’s definitely shot on the cheap (I’ve researched this aspect, and it’s true) and I think the ratings don’t matter that much because of…

digital sales.

That’s right. Given the age that we live in, I think Wilfred probably does EXTREMELY well in either DVR or on demand episodes from iTunes, Amazon or the DVDs. FX isn’t a stupid network and their president certainly isn’t an idiot. They aren’t like the older networks like ABC and NBC who are FINALLY catching onto the digital aspects of their programs. FX seems to realize that digital sales are important, which is great and I think it’s helped Wilfred bar none.

Not to mention the fact that FX has now made 2 extra channels, one ENTIRELY for TV shows; FXX. This fact means they have even MORE space on their network for programming, which I think REALLY helps Wilfred out. I think Wilfred may be living on borrowed time somewhat though. Not going to deny that. I didn’t expect a Season 2 and I REALLY didn’t expect a Season 3 but I’m actually 95% optimistic this year that there’ll be a 4th, because of what I’ve said above. And while I’m pretty certain they’ll get at LEAST a 4th season…I think it’s safe to assume that anything BEYOND that they may have to actually work for. It’s luck certainly may be running out.

FX, please don’t put Wilfred to sleep (hahaha I got to say it before anyone else could use it as a headline!)