Bobby Has Found His Soulmate

In last week's Cougar Town, Bobby (Brian Van Holt) made the kind gesture of passing on all the wisdom he had gleaned from life with Jules (Courteney Cox) to her new husband Grayson (Josh Hopkins); the climax of the episode came when Grayson was informed that Bobby hadn't drafted this document during his marriage, but created it especially for Grayson, so that Grayson's marriage to Jules would be more successful than Bobby's was. Grayson was humbled by the idea that Bobby could be so generous and selfless about a woman that, on some level, he might still love. But then last night's episode reminded us that it might not be that hard for Bobby to move on: he has found someone new to walk through life with, and that someone is Dog Travis.

Occasionally, Cougar Town tries to set Bobby up with romantic prospects; Sarah Chalke, who came to the attention of the Cul-de-Sac Crew when Human Travis (Dan Byrd) took a photography course she taught, lasted a few episodes. But Bobby hasn't connected with anyone like he has with his faithful companion. Dog Travis enjoys the same food and drink Bobby does, and knows how to bring his buddy beer. (Even if the spaghetti meet-cute flashback in last night's episode wasn't an event that ever actually occur, it's easy to imagine that it could have been.) Dog Travis even gets along with Bobby's human loved ones. Human Travis was horsing around with Dog Travis when he suffered the injury that forced him to wear a helmet for most of last season. Even notorious misanthrope Ellie (Christa Miller Lawrence) can't resist his charms.

Perhaps the most important proof of the deep, abiding, platonic love between Dog Travis and Bobby is that Bobby wants to share his happiness with the people he loves. Well before Bobby gave Grayson the Jules User Manual he wrote, Bobby took note of Human Travis's heartbreak after the end of a relationship and showed up at his college apartment with something to dull the pain: a dog for Human Travis. Bobby has been given the gift of true friendship, which most of us will be lucky to have experienced with one or two people in our lives. It's clear he doesn't take it for granted.

And if we could hear Dog Travis's side of the story, I think he would say he never expected to find true friendship with a Golden Retriever that walks on his hind legs.