"BoJack Horseman" is a Netflix original series following the life of a past-his-prime horse-man attempting to relive his past glory as a lead actor in a hit TV sitcom. The first few episodes go down rather unspectacularly; mediocre jokes and visual humor with a seemingly flat and uninteresting cast. Then, after the first quarter of the season, a pattern begins to emerge. BoJack Horseman, as a TV show, seems to value continuity and consequence to all else. Beyond extolling continuity within its plot, "BoJack" explores different approaches towards achieving happiness through each of its different main characters.
Within the premiere episode, it becomes apparent that the show BoJack used to star in, "Horsin' Around" is a direct reference to "Full House" and the other sitcoms of its era. Part of the functionality of these old sitcoms is in the way that there is a clear lack of long-term development and progress. After every episode, no matter what happens in any given episode, the characters of the sitcom seem to reset back to their default state. This prevents any long-term development or change within the characters' individual story arcs. This is different from in "BoJack Horseman" as each event that occurs becomes permanent, each character permanently affected and forced to accept the consequences of their actions. This differentiates "BoJack" from traditional sitcoms in that characters can grow and develop as a result of the way they act towards one another. This ethos of the show is demonstrated when BoJack, in the midst of a bender, steals the D off the Hollywood sign to impress the apple of his eye, Diane. For the remainder of the entire show, the city of Hollywood is now referred to as "Hollywoo". This epitomizes the showrunners' beliefs that continuity is important above all else in order to tell a convincing story about how each character learns what it is that will fulfill them.
These characters each represent varying philosophical approaches towards how to view the universe and their place in it. BoJack judges his worth by external success metrics leading him to chase the praise and attention of others. It is this desire for others to love him that motivates him to write his memoir, falsely believing that it will help him regain his past glory. The foil to BoJack in this season is Mr. PeanutButter, his sole purpose to emphasize BoJack's own unhappiness by rubbing in his fame and fortune from his show "Mr. PeanuButter's House", a direct rip-off of the 90's sitcom BoJack starred in. Princess Carolyn, BoJack's manager and ex-girlfriend is a workaholic that wants more than anytning to have a child. Her character first acts as a foil to BoJack as well, underlining BoJack's inability to follow through on his commitments. Her workaholic nature also explores a means in coping with her unhappiness. Within the premier season, each character is used to highlight a fault in BoJack's character, but as they change and develop over the course of the season, they begin to represent varying ways people avoid unhappiness; both the unhealthy and "healthy" ways.
The first season grows from mediocre to promising and sets the rules the show will follow for the rest of its run. "BoJack" has become a critically acclaimed and emmy-nominated show for its commentary on sensationalism and the way societal pressures can make achieving happiness more difficult. In the my future articles I plan to analyze the future seasons of BoJack in more detail, analyzing how they build off of the bricks laid in this initial season.
