Wilfred: Season 4, Episode 3 “Loyalty” (B+)
Every time I see the opening quote, I feel like the word that remains has been used before, but this show does a marvelous job of drawing out the themes of each episode and tying them to one particular theme without repeating anything. As usual, Wilfred’s suggestion of a certain concept proves to be entirely manipulative and not at all backed up by fact or history, as evidenced by his blatant attempts to sabotage Kristen’s custody battle so that he could have the intense snuggler all to himself. It was fun to see Nestor Carbonell’s personality-free daddy doctor again, boiling down his desire to have his child to a need for money rather than actual connection to the kid. Ryan offering up a large sum to convince him to let Kristen have full custody was the ultimate example of loyalty, and she won’t ever be able to fully appreciate the scope of what he did for her, especially considering her constant rude attitude and demeaning manner of speaking to her brother. Seeing Ryan punch Arturo in the face to make sure that the agreement would stick was particularly satisfying since Ryan so rarely gets to do exactly what he wants while achieving the desired result in the process. Kristen certainly doesn’t recommend herself terribly well as a parent, and I think that’s just as much her fault as it is Wilfred’s, who continues to be a conniving schemer seeking an opportunity to sabotage things at every turn and create his own mischievous outcomes.
