I re-watched BoJack for the first time since season 6 ended in January 2020 and it was more entertaining the 3rd time through. The people who don’t like BoJack don’t understand life. They’re either not smart enough to see it through a wider lens or too sheltered to experience “BoJack”. It brings depression, addiction, feelings, upbringing, and mortality in 6 well executed seasons that bring humor and emotions. The penultimate episode, the View from Halfway Down, is one of the best episodes in all of television (a 9.9 rating out of 15,669 reviews). The finale, which offers whether Bojack dies or not, is also an incredible headscratcher that will forever be debated.
Raphael Bob-Waksberg made Bojack a horse so people would be able to relate to him better. This seems counter-intuitive, but in a world where animals and pets all live together, seeing a horse doesn’t make you feel bad about yourself because…you know…he’s a horse, not a person. I see a lot of myself in BoJack in his quest for an answer that is never there. At one point he wins the award he was hoping to win and he battles whether that made him “happy”? BoJack never truly finds happiness as he looks at himself as a “piece of shit” and screwing up everyone around him. Even when he cleans up in the final season, it never truly turns around as his past creeps back into his life. I loved how they turned BoJack’s hair gray in the last season. I don’t have enough time to touch on all the characters because I want to spend some time on this last clip, but I will say Mr. Peanut Butter scenes are all classic.
What hit me hard was “the View from Halfway Down” episode and this poem is where the title comes from. This is a poem about suicide. Specifically, jumping from a bridge, realizing what it looks like from the “view from halfway down” and realizing you made a big mistake. By watching the show, you’d realize this wasn’t Secretariat’s response to the view, but BoJack’s in the episode. This particular episode enters Bojack’s mind as he’s drowning in a pool and he’s experiencing all the people who are already dead in his life. It ends with him asking Diane, “how was your day?”, when he finally got a chance to talk to her. I’m fairly certain he didn’t wake up that night but that’s my take.
It’s odd to write posts about shows that are already 2 years past their finale, but the show is so fascinating and well done, that if you’ve seen it, you’ll enjoy the post. Perhaps you’ll watch an episode and see why I enjoy it or why you hate it. BoJack isn’t for everyone but for the people who “get it” (do you get it?) ((that’s a BoJack inside joke)), it’s a great show in short 20 minute episodes that make it very manageable. I can’t recommend it enough.
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