Wilfred: "Honesty" Review

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

Getting back to the roots of the show, this week's "Honesty" was a nice reminder of where exactly we left off with Ryan and Jenna's relationship. It had been a while since we'd seen the twosome in any extended one-on-one scenes together, and it was probably about time their unresolved tension was addressed.

Central to this story, though, was Wilfred's cat kidnappings, which really drove this episode to its unexpectedly gripping climax. At this point, Wilfred's rivalry with other animals -- felines, "dobies," or otherwise -- has been a thoroughly established recurring theme throughout the series, and while his incessant torturing to the missing kitties did provide some decent humor, the general bit has gotten a little stale over the course of the season. Luckily, Ryan's obligation to get involved as the rumored "cat killer" did a put a nice spin on what could have easily been a humdrum b-story for Wilfred.

The whole video production schtick was probably the highlight of this episode, comedically speaking. Wilfred's role as a hot-tempered director was indeed hilarious, as was Ryan's amped up performance as the sadistic cat-killing psychopath. But the best part was Wilfred's subsequent tirade, which never seemed to end -- in a good way. Just when you thought he was done, he would come back to yell some more, driving his frustration home. His passive-agressive backseat editing in the next scene was a nice way to top things off before Ryan eventually realized that Wilfred had re-cut the whole thing himself after the fact.

The missing cat arc also served as a clever outlet for Ryan to reveal the truth behind the "squishy tits" incident from Season 1. I wasn't really expecting Ryan to lay it all out on the table like that, but given the episode's title, I suppose it should have been obvious. But more surprising than Ryan's spiel was Jenna's confession to Ryan, not only about using him, but taking advantage of the fact that she knew he had a crush on her. Fortunately, this confrontation ended amicably -- maybe even too amicably. It will be interesting to see where the friendship goes from here, as Ryan seemed to be pretty level-headed about Jenna's blunt admission of guilt. Perhaps now they're just on even playing fields again, and that might be a fitting way to end their story for now, at least for this season. In any case, both characters now have a lot to think about, particularly Jenna.

Despite these mild revelations, this episode definitely felt like a back-to-basics kind of story, which, after all that's happened this season, was kind of comforting to see. Ryan and Wilfred had some good moments together, and Ryan and Jenna had some great ones. Even though the story felt pretty safe in the long run, it was still rather sharply written. For now, it seems, the principal trio has been relatively straightened out. What still remains, of course, is Ryan's ever more inexorable meeting with his father.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com