by Apurva Mahajan ’22 and Selene Ashewood ‘22

Netflix’s “Bojack Horseman” is a comedic yet gritty animated show about a washed-up star living in Los Angeles among humans and other anthropomorphic animals like himself. The series’ final episodes came out on January 31, five years after it first aired, in which watchers finally got to see an end of the adventures of Bojack and his friends. The show’s storyline is somewhat based on topics most television considers to be “taboo.” The main character, Bojack, is an alcoholic horse famously known for being a 90s TV star, who deals with immense self hatred. He isn’t meant to be perfect, and most of the time, is selfish, rude, and a morally ambiguous person (or horse). However, these qualities are what make so many relate to him and connect with the show for so long.

Throughout the series, Bojack destroys anyone he comes in contact with. He emotionally breaks them down, leaves them after one night stands, chokes them, and so much more. But he’s still likable; you genuinely enjoy seeing him on screen. Throughout the seasons, he has always done at least one big monologue: a gut wrenching description of how he feels at that moment. The writers made his words universal despite the subject matter often being the run from fame and the depressing life post success. 

At the end of the first half of the final season, Bojack was fresh out of rehab, and had just become a professor at his half-sister, Hollyhock’s, university. To viewers, it looked like he was ready to turn his life around. However, Hollyhock distances herself after she finds out about his unsettling past with Charlotte, a significant character. At the same time, journalists are tailing Bojack’s friends to uncover the story behind the death of Bojack’s ex-costar, Sarah Lynn.

Diane, Bojack’s loyal friend, also goes on a path of recovery and begins to take antidepressants. The show represents mental illness realistically without glorifying it, while still making entertaining content. An element that is really well done is how the animators represented Diane’s writer’s block as doodles and scribbles going everywhere in her mind with small notes, showing the chaotic mess that goes through everybody’s head from time to time.

Bojack’s life begins to go downhill after his past is uncovered in this last season. Despised by the public, he visits a face from the past, only to learn he was manipulated into making the worst decision of his life. This transitions into the fan-favorite episode, “The View From Halfway Down.” The animation is beautiful, the symbolism is heavy and existential, and this singular episode tied the entire show together. The entire watching experience was so engaging that it felt like being in the actual universe of the show, and it’s obvious that the whole team poured their heart into making it.

The second to last episode was intense, to say the least. But in the most amazing way. It was cryptic but clear at the same time. But the close of the curtain felt underwhelming. Bojack attended a wedding that tied up the final loose ends had with one quintessential character. But the rest of the episode is drenched in pointless symbolism and ends on insignificant lines. We’ll find acceptance for the way things are closed. But it might take some theorizing, and a second watch.