Season 3 of Wilfred comes to a close this evening; in a recent press call, Fiona Gubelmann and Chris Klein discussed last week’s game changer, “Heroism” and teased the finale, “Regrets”.
I find it remarkable that three seasons in, Wilfred continues to surprise and delight viewers, which is definitely due to the fantastic teams in front of and behind the camera. Fiona and Chris are still challenged by their roles, which they attribute to the writers and creators in addition to their director, Randall Einhorn.
“I think what I continue to find challenging is just the fact that it’s constantly changing,” Fiona shared. “We shoot our show out of order, so sometimes we’ll be getting scripts for the end of the season without having read scripts from earlier in the season. I think that can be a challenge just trying to figure out and track your storyline. Luckily, we have such great writers, and our director, Randall Einhorn, and they’re really great and able to really guide us and help us answer any questions that we might have.”
Chris added, “Besides the fact that it’s a whole heck of a lot of fun every spring when I have an opportunity to be a part of this show, the writers and the creators and the director, Randall Einhorn, are really very hands-on, incredibly creative people that have a very, very clear, concise vision of what they want this show to be. They really, really do a wonderful job of communicating that to the cast.”
“Heroism” was a major turning point for the series and Fiona commented on what transpired between Jenna and Ryan:
“I think [“Heroism” was] not only a pivotal [episode] for the season, but a pivotal one for the series. I think that the last two episodes of the season change everything for everybody. I think the world, as we know it, is just never going to be the same in terms of the relationships for the characters, between Jenna and Ryan, Jenna and Drew, even Wilfred and Ryan. Everything is about to change. It’s really exciting.”
When asked about the tone in these final episodes of the season, Fiona commented on how “Heroism” was a particularly touching episode for her: “The moment that really, really touched me was right after Ryan rescues Wilfred. When he’s talking about wanting to protect Jenna and wanting to take care of her, and he’s really reflecting upon the issues that she’s actually having and going through, and you realize how much Wilfred really cares and loves her. Then you see Ryan have that moment. I was so touched when I saw that, and I just felt the love from Wilfred and I felt the love from Ryan, just watching that as a viewer. Then a few minutes later, when you see Jenna and Ryan on the couch, and Jenna sees Ryan, I think for the first time, and sees how much he really cares for her. The last five minutes are so beautiful when you see the love between those three characters and how much they care for each other.”
Chris added, “In all three seasons, this particular crop of episodes really, really dives into that Wilfred-Ryan-Jenna triangle in such a beautiful way and explains to us as audience members, we get to really see how touched all three of them are. That’s a really, really cool thing, and something that, as a fan of this show, I’ve been waiting to see more of, as well, ever since the first season when we got our first glimpse of it.”
I had thought that Ryan/Jenna was not going to happen any time this season, if at all, so I was surprised by the turn of events. I even asked Fiona about that relationship at San Diego Comic-Con (you can check that out here) because it looked like that storyline was over.
Some viewers see Drew and Jenna as a mismatched couple, which Fiona disagreed with. Given what took place in “Heroism,” where will this leave Drew and Jenna as a couple? It may just be a case of growing apart. Fiona had this to say: “I don’t think it’s necessarily that Jenna and Drew are so mismatched and so wrong for each other. I think they’ve been together a long time, since their early 20’s, and I think that they love each other very much and they’ve just grown apart. I think they’ve definitely grown apart and are wanting different things in life. But I don’t necessarily think they’re, I hate to say that they’re so mismatched and so wrong for each other.” She went on to say, “I think in life, you meet someone, you fall in love, and then as you grow older you want different things. That happens a lot and to many people. It’s hard to be with someone that you have a history with, that you care so much for, and then to have the strength to walk away from that is very difficult.”
Chris agrees with Fiona’s thoughts on Jenna and Drew: “Let’s remember, when we first met Jenna, we learned that she’s from Wisconsin and she’s moved to the big city, and she does the news and she’s into her life. Drew’s still back home and we don’t meet him till later. There’s no question in my mind that the character of Drew is blindly in love, in a very young, country boy way. And Fiona’s right, with that, people grow and people move on. When they grow at different rates, it becomes very, very difficult for the person who’s kind of taking some steps outside of the box.”
After last week’s episode and gaining some insight into it from the call with Chris Klein and Fiona Gubelmann, I have some questions that will hopefully be addressed before Season 3 wraps: a) what does this kiss mean for Jenna and Drew? b) is the end game Jenna and Ryan, or will Jenna ultimately end up with Drew … or maybe someone altogether different? c) and how is Wilfred going to play into or react to all of this?
The Season 3 finale of Wilfred airs tonight at 10pm ET/PT on FX and at 9:30pm ET/PT on FX Canada.
Photo Courtesy of FX
