Our favorite TV series about a bong-toking dog concluded its fourth and final season last night on FXX. Diagnosed with cancer, Jenna and Ryan have no choice but to put him down, but Wilfred comes back as a ghost.
In the final two episodes of Wilfred we learn, as we knew all along, he's not your ordinary dog. Not only was Wilfred able to talk to Ryan (Elijah Wood), but he was actually a a god named Mataman prophesied by the Flock of the Grey Shepherd, a cult led by his father, Charles. Wilfred picks his masters and chose Ryan so he could set him up with Jenna, but that backfires in the end when Jenna goes back with Drew (Chris Klein) after a brief affair with Ryan.
Four seasons ago, the show began with great fanfare and interest among stoner TV watchers. Wilfred liked to relax with a homemade Gatorade bottle water pipe in Ryan's basement where they'd routinely pass it back and forth. In one episode, they visited a dispensary on Venice Beach. In another, they took ayahiuasca. But over the years there was less puffing and more psychological warfare between dog and his part-time master.
The key to the show was that Ryan could actually communicate with Wilfred, a la Mister Ed, TV's talking horse from the '60s. No one else could, which created their unique bond.
Wilfred began in Australia, where Gann is from, and was adapted for American audiences. Anyone who has a dog can relate to Wilfred's many peccadillos, such as humping women, peeing just about anywhere he wants to and fanatically chasing balls. We're going to miss the grey wooly guy. It was a fun run.
