"In My Own Humorless State I Failed To See Anything Except What I Construed As Certain Tragic Similarities

Cillian Murphy in In Time (2011)

1.01 // 4.11

1.01 | 2.08

Me watching as Michael Groff’s life is destroyed

warts and all

Bojack Horseman starts out as a show about a writer trying to write a nuanced portrait of a very fucked up guy, warts and all.

In truth, that biography ends up being nothing more than the beginning of Bojack’s story. In the first season, Bojack is a washed-up sitcom star who didn’t know how to move on from that. The entire first season of the show is just setting up the world and the characters of the show. I think the first season is great, and there are some really powerful episodes, that show that it’s a lot more than just some family guy type thing about some pathetic dude who revels in his own self-destructive behavior.

By season 6, we see the real nuanced portrait of this character. In a lot of ways, I enjoyed the first half of season 6 better than the second, because the first half gave me what I wanted to see. I like Bojack as a character. He is smart, and he’s witty, and he is blunt in the best way possible. He calls bullshit when he sees it, which is something I can respect, and he does care deep down about the people in his life. Mr. Peanutbutter is a great example of this. He is constantly annoyed by the guy and really doesn’t agree with lots of what he says or does, but there are plenty of scenes throughout the series where the two of them just,,,,, talk, and he’s real and honest and seems like a good friend.

At the same time, we all know the horrible things he does; getting a bunch of teens drunk, leaving them when one gets alcohol poisoning; attempting to sleep with a 17-year-old girl despite knowing how messed up that is; ruining the first project he has ever seen his friend be passionate about; being constantly petty; going on a bender with an addict who’s been sober for 9 months; being a constant enabler to people who need him; always covering his own tracks before helping people who need him; strangling his girlfriend; the list goes on. at his core though, the issues most of Bojack’s friends have with him are that he is self-centered, unreliable, and hurts everyone around him by knowingly self-sabotaging instead of doing what he knows the right thing is.

Bojack is not a good person because he generally isn’t a good influence on the people around him. Bojack going to prison is how he finally, for the first time ever, fully accepts responsibility for his actions. When he tells Mr. Peanutbutter that his prison sentence was about more than just the breaking and entering, it tells us as an audience that he finally understands that this is not an isolated instance. He has always given a half-hearted apology for a single thing for which he is criticized. I’m glad to have seen him finally accept responsibility for who he is as a person.

I guess my main point here is this; Bojack Horseman promised a nuanced portrait of a troubled man in his book “One Trick Pony”. It took 6 seasons to actually get this portrait, and I am so so so thankful for that. The ending paralleled the season one ending. Diane tells Bojack that she doesn’t believe in deep down and that all you are are the things that you do. Bojack finally understands that. No more excuses. The end of Bojack Horseman shows that Bojack finally accepts who he is, warts and all. 

the relationship development between these two is MASSIVELY underrated

You can put me down now.

season one episode twelve, "later" / francis forever by mitski / boot theory by richard siken / three women by sylvia plath / making amends by @holly-warbs / the cart by mary ruefle / love as depicted by subwayhands on instagram / season six episode sixteen, "nice while it lasted"