How ‘Bojack Horseman’ Achieved The Impossible

BoJack Horseman, whose final season aired in January 2020, is now known for its legacy as one of the best animated shows of all time (and to me, is one of the best TV shows period). While some may argue whether or not it really is “the best”, one thing is certain: BoJack Horseman is a show that explores the human condition brilliantly. Namely because it does so in a way that brings the hardest truths about humanity to the forefront while injecting a bitingly self-aware sense of humour into it all. It’s a show that never goes down the easy, “tied up in a neat little bow” route, as it is determined to show audiences every nuanced aspect of its tragicomedic nature. Today, I’ll be reflecting on how BoJack Horseman wrapped up its epically thought-provoking show in its final season.

Watch the Season 6 opening below, which takes BoJack through some of the most defining moments in his life (whether for better or worse).

When I say that this show achieved the impossible, I mean many things. Specifically, I’m referring to how skeptical I was before the final season aired. As a longtime fan of the show, I sat wondering: how can a series like BoJack end on a note that’s both satisfying and yet feels realistic to the show’s core? Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout its six seasons, it’s that nothing in BoJack Horseman ever goes the way you think it’ll go, nor does it always go the way you want it to. So with that said, how can one possibly create a good enough ending to a show that is so centered around the randomness of life? A show that is chock-full of characters who are so exhausted, jaded, and cynical that they have all but given up on figuring out the meaning of life? Many of the characters exist in what seems like an endless loop of disappointment, ennui, failed relationships, and outright self-destruction. So how was the show going to give us, the viewers, any real fulfillment in its closure?

BoJack Horseman is not ever about just one thing, but one overarching commonality is that it’s about how nonlinear life is. It shows us how hopeful it can be, and counters those moments with how low it can be. It shows us that actions are not always connected to consequences, that karma doesn’t always come around. Beneath the surface of its saturated, surreal, and anthropomorphic universe, it is a living embodiment of the real world. Careful to never be overly optimistic or pessimistic, BoJack Horseman exposes society for what it is—often fickle and nonsensical, particularly with its systematic structures put in place that protects those who don’t deserve to be protected, and that hurts those who don’t deserve to be hurt. It delves into the inner workings of privilege in a modern society, particularly that of North America’s.

BoJack Horseman is not ever about just one thing, but one overarching commonality is that it’s about how nonlinear life is.

BoJack Horseman is a deeply complex and multi-layered show that deals with a vast array of topics. In its deepest and most introspective moments, it explores the very real pain and complicated inner workings of mental illness. One of the most interesting elements of the show is that BoJack himself, someone with so much affluence and access to the best resources, doesn’t seek help for his own addiction and suffering mental health for such a long time. The show truly does offer an insightful commentary into fame, this way, forcing viewers to confront whether the fame so many of us crave is really worth it. Some of my favourite episodes of the whole series that explore its themes most poignantly are “Time’s Arrow”, “The View from Halfway Down”, “Free Churro”, “Fish Out of Water”, and “Stupid Piece of Sh*t”.

As I watched the final episodes of the series, and even as I write this post now, I can’t help but get emotional. Throughout six seasons, the show has outlined BoJack’s journey, as well as that of Diane’s, Princess Carolyn’s, Todd’s, and Mr. Peanutbutter’s, in a way that makes viewers feel like we’ve known them our whole lives. BoJack in particularly is a character that is so flawed and so affected by lifelong traumas, whether it’s his tortured childhood, his life in Hollywood, his self-obsessive and self-destructive behaviour, his addiction, his mental health, or his own irreparable mistakes. His journey is a wild, long, and hard one, and as a viewer it’s often been difficult to imagine how he will come back from all of it.

In the last few episodes, we see that BoJack reaps the consequences that have been a long, long time coming. I’m glad the writers went about it the way they did. Their ability to time lapse and sum up plot points without making it feel too deus ex machina allows them to explore BoJack’s trajectory in a way that feels real and organic. I’m glad that life doesn’t get wrapped up into a neat little bow for BoJack, because that’s not reality. Whether we want to see that happen onscreen or not, I could never have imagined that Bojack Horseman would end that way. Nor would I imagine that it would end so direly that we would see Bojack dead or rotting in prison. Because ultimately, he is our main character: an incredibly complex human being (or, if we’re getting into logistics, horse-man) who goes through multiple character arcs, ones that slowly build up to create some ounce of redemption and hope in him. We see him become “good” when he becomes a professor—the sober, non-creepy, non-selfish yet still witty version we always hoped he would become—but then, we see him get what he deserves (and some would argue 14 months in prison is not enough, which is completely valid). However, the fact of the matter is, there is no ideal or perfect ending for a character who is so complex. BoJack’s very character straddles the line of being so selfish, problematic, and destructive that we despise him at times, and yet, his self-awareness and desire to break out of his destructive cycle evokes sympathy from us. It makes us root for him to change, to get better, to address his traumas, and to hopefully move forward.

The fact of the matter is, there is no ideal or perfect ending for a character who is so complex.

In this season, the truth comes out about BoJack and his involvement with Sarah Lynn’s death. The truth also comes out about him almost sleeping with a teenager after getting her and her friends drunk. For his crimes, he gets jail time. He doesn’t get to live out his quiet life as a teacher, even though he’s found out he’s good at it. His sister, Hollyhock, cuts him off completely. He overcomes his addiction, maybe. But nothing is set in stone. As I’m reflecting on the show in this very moment, I’m realizing one of the main lessons of the show is this: the truth shall set you free. And it’s not until its very final segment that the truth, the whole truth, comes out. The final season shows us that in order for BoJack Horseman to truly move on with his life, the cover-ups and lies have to stop. No matter how shameful, devastating, terrifying, or utterly horrific they are.

To me, the final season was brilliant. Because I didn’t want to see Bojack rotting in prison. We get to see him be in a place where is finally able to accept and revel in the life lessons he’s gaining. And though he’s getting a fresh start, in a sense, he is not getting away unscathed from the terrible things he has done. It’s all finally out there, the truth has been acknowledged, and though it has resulted in some of his worst fears coming true—Hollyhock cutting him off, everyone hating him for a while, Diane removing herself from Bojack, Todd distancing himself, Princess Carolyn moving on and marrying someone else—it’s all out there now. The fear of the unknown doesn’t have to plague him anymore. Now, all he can do is either dwell on the past and stay stuck in the cycle forever. . .or he can move forward. In what is probably the most poignant moment of the whole season, the final minutes of the series show BoJack and Diane sharing an honest and contemplative moment on a rooftop. BoJack is still in jail but out on furlough, and he has observed how the people in his life have moved on in his absence. By the end of the series, we finally see BoJack (slowly but surely) figure out how to move on himself. And that’s pretty amazing.

I can’t imagine that every viewer is happy with the consequences BoJack had to pay. Some may think he was let off too easy, and I can’t argue with that. It very likely is his power and privilege that allow him to keep gaining more chances that he doesn’t deserve. But like I said, the show exposes the real world for what it is, and the reality is that someone like BoJack will probably never have to pay the consequences he should be paying. The way the final season ended stayed true to the show’s entire theme of questioning life, the moral structures we have in place, and the lives of people who are in positions of power. The show often makes us question, What’s the purpose of it all? Does anyone ever really get karmic retribution in the clean-cut way we want them to? The realistic answer is: maybe sometimes, but maybe never. The last words of the entire series are apt to the show’s core: Bojack says, “Life’s a bitch and then you die, right?” to which Diane replies, “Sometimes life’s a bitch and then you keep living.”

“Sometimes life’s a bitch and then you keep living.”

Diane Nguyen, Bojack Horseman

Life doesn’t get neatly tied up in a bow. It either ends, or it moves forward, the latter of which is exactly what the show did in its final season. So yeah, I’d say it achieved the impossible: though the world in BoJack Horseman often reflects on the unrelenting bleakness of our real world, its finale left us with a glimmer of hope. If that’s not extraordinary, I don’t know what is.

~ Z ~