The Basement

The Basement is a location in the show Wilfred(US Series).

Description

The Basement is, of course, Ryan's basement. This is where Ryan and Wilfred hang out often, often smoking pot and just talking. The room likely exists only in Ryan's mind.

History

Pre-Wilfred

The Basement has never been mentioned existing prior to Ryan meeting Wilfred. In Anger Kristen asks "You have a basement?" when Ryan talks about getting something from it real quick, giving indication it is not a well known spot.

Theories

The Basement is never explicitly explained, but several theories attempt to explain what it is and how it works. Because Ryan's perception of reality is affected, the truth is likely a mix of several theories.

• The Basement, like Wilfred, exists only in Ryan's mind. No one but Ryan ever enters the basement unless they are a known part of his mind like Wilfred or Bruce or in a dream sequence like his Dad. This may also explain the closing shot of Ryan and Wilfred on the couch at the beach. Knowing what Wilfred and the basement lack physical form, Ryan can now imagine them anywhere. Along a similar vein, discovering the basement was not real could have allowed Ryan to change fundamental aspects of it the same way Wilfred became less independent and intrusive after Ryan discovered what he was. If true, the Basement became the beach the same way the painting changed and Wilfred regained his lost leg.

Under this theory, when Ryan is in the basement his physical body is elsewhere, possibly:

• • Ryan's living room. This is supported by how the couches are similar and flashbacks where Wilfred appears as a real dog show Ryan smoking there.
  • Ryan's closet. The basement door is shown as a closet at the end of season one and Ryan states this belief in several episodes.

• The Basement is real, just Ryan never really used it up until meeting Wilfred. Kristen not knowing about the Basement in Anger supports this theory, and Kristen not questioning the room's existence when she was living with Ryan gives further credence.
• The Basement is a metaphor for Heaven. This furthers the theory that Ryan is dead and Wilfred is his guide through an afterlife. Since Ryan is happy in the Basement, it supports that he is in a paradise.

Wilfred

For the most part of the show this is where Ryan and Wilfred smoke pot and hang out. At the end of most episodes there are short scenes of the two talking, getting high and pulling other shenanigans.

The Basement makes its first appearance in Trust.

In Conscience, We see that Ryan stores many things from his past in the basement.

In Isolation, Ryan decides to quit smoking weed for a short while in the basement.

In Identity, Wilfred is shown typing out his will in the basement. Ryan's black files are also found in the basement. Later on, after Wilfred is hit by a car, Ryan attempts to go into the basement to find Wilfred's will only to discover a closet, indicating that The Basement may have never existed.

In Progress, Ryan breaks down a fake wall in the closet and reopens the basement.

In Avoidance, there is a full dance number in the basement.

In Truth there is an earthquake which traps Ryan and Wilfred in the basement. Bruce comes through the wooden cellar doors, and saves Ryan, and the two begin to play a series of convoluted games in the basement. Wilfred also brings up that the basement may not exist.

In Questions, Ryan and Wilfred trip on drugs in the basement throughout the majority of the episode.

In Secrets, Wilfred discovers The Drawing in the basement.

In Uncertainty, Ryan has a board that he using to investigate Wilfred's origins in the basement.

In Delusion, Wilfred traps Ryan in the basement and forces him to write his book for Jenna.

In Intuition, Ryan has a dream of his father discovering the basement.

In Consequences, Ryan gets a very mysterious phone call while walking down the stairs into the basement. It is also shown that a picture of a lake in the basement has inexplicably changed and now has a barn in the background.

In Forward, Ryan traps Wilfred in the basement while he interrogates him, when he thinks Wilfred is Krungle.

In Patterns, Bruce appears again in the basement, and leaves through the cellar doors. He is the only character to ever use those cellar doors.

In Courage, Ryan has to carry Wilfred up and down the stairs after Wilfred's accident.

In Resistance, Wilfred talks to Ryan about a painting in the basement, after Wilfred dies, they share a moment in Ryan's mind inside the painting.

In Happiness (Series Finale), Ryan opens the door to the basement to see if it is real or not, the audience does not see what Ryan see's and he responds with a simple "huh".

Trivia

• The existence of the basement is called into question. At the end of Identity Ryan finds that the basement is just a closet. Also, no one else aside from Ryan, Wilfred and Bruce have been in the basement. However, in the next episode, Ryan breaks the wall down and finds the basement.
• Near the beggining of Truth, when Ryan opens the door to the basement, you can see a pole going across, like a closet would have for hanging clothes. However, this was confirmed to be an error.
• In Loyalty, when Ryan and Wilfred walk up from the basement into Wilfred's 'intervention', a closet can be seen where the basement stairs should exist.
• In Courage, we see the door from the point of view from the basement, and we can see the room at the top of the stairs.
• After the series ended, Elijah Wood's friend recreated the set of the basement for his own house.