When I first started Bojack Horseman, all I had to really go on was the cover art on Netflix. I saw a strange horse-man with a minimalist background style, and was a bit perplexed. Curious, I started watching the show, expecting to stick around for a couple episodes. Now a year later and three seasons deep--and waiting with baited breath for the fourth--I find myself in love with the show. I don’t think I have or ever will see a TV show like Bojack Horseman that is so real and genuine and not afraid to hammer home important observations about life and what it means to be happy and fulfilled.
The protagonist is Bojack Horseman, a horse-man who is a sitcom has-been living across from the Hollywood (soon to be Hollywoo) sign. He puts his duties off and indulges in his vices, pushes away his ex-girlfriend agent, insults his roommate Todd, and is content with making himself miserable. When his publisher can’t take it anymore, he’s assigned a ghostwriter to write his autobiography, Diane. He takes interest in her and as he learns to trust her, confiding in her as one would a therapist at times. Their relationship ebbs and flows as he struggles with his feelings for her clashes with her partnership with Mr. Peanutbutter, a similar sitcom has-been whom Bojack finds insufferable.
The show takes the audience through a core question in each season; personally, the exploration of each question has lead me to reflect on my own life. Season One focuses on Bojack’s dysfunction and the viewer is introduced to each one and how it affects those around him. He’s insecure, envious, and relives his moments as a TV star by watching the show over and over again. He’s incredibly unhappy but delves into vices and material goods to try and convince himself he’s anything but. When his autobiography reveals all of his flaws, his insecurities are laid bare and he can’t take it. All he wants to be is liked and it’s made painfully clear how badly he needs it from the season’s finale.
Season Two centers on Bojack’s goals of being successful. The season asks what it means to be happy and content, and if anyone can really achieve what they want. We watch Bojack try to attain these things only to be knocked down and made to feel like he’s broken. And he is in a way, with the way he lashes out at friends who care about him. But what the viewer is left with three lessons; you can’t escape from yourself, you have to take responsibility for your own happiness, and changing is hard but it gets easier if you’re consistent. As Cuddlywhiskers says “only after you give up everything can you find a way to be happy.”
Season Three hit the hardest and felt so real to me. This season starts off positively and slowly goes down the toilet. I’ve never felt my heart break for something and felt a show draw out such a real response; at times I had to stop watching because it just felt like it was all too real. The character development and how everything falls into place seems simple enough at first, but gets more jaw-droppingly complex as it continues. To this day, season three of Bojack remains to be some of the best television I’ve ever seen.
I strongly recommend this show to anyone who wants to see something purely and unapologetically real. The third season is phenomenal and it makes me excited (but nervous) to see the fourth season. This is a show anyone who just loves phenomenal writing and character development needs to see.
