Netflix is having a bit of a hard time right now and with this hard time has come the end of one of its most ambitious projects: “Bojack Horseman.” Now, if you have not seen this show, here is a recommendation.
It starts as a basic animated sitcom full of cheap gags and whatnot, starring five main characters: Will Arnett (“Arrested Development”) as the titular Bojack Horseman, a horse and former sitcom star with alcoholism and depressive self-loathing; Amy Sedaris (“Strangers With Candy”) as Princess Carolyn, a workaholic cat and Bojack’s agent; Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”) as Todd, Bojack’s layabout roommate; Allison Brie (“Community”) as Diane Nguyen, a ghostwriter with many strong opinions; and Paul F. Tompkins (“No, You Shut Up!”) as Mr. Peanutbutter, a yellow lab and Diane’s partner with whom Bojack shares a love-hate relationship.
By the end of the first season, however, it pieces itself together and as a whole becomes worthy of a watch. From there, the show takes off as a layered portrait of mental illness, discontent, flawed interpersonal relationships and how people who love each other may never understand one another. Though it is not the first show to cover these admittedly complicated topics, it is one of the only ones that does not lose the wonder of its environment. The animation is rich with expression, character and color, getting more complex with each season. The world is absurdist, allowing for off-the-wall storylines and layers of in-jokes that highlight the reality of the problems the characters face. The show stands with The Simpsons as one of the animated greats in adult television. Now it is coming to an end, but it has not lost the things that make it great.
The first half of the final season has been released and what a release it is. The storylines built up over the past seasons have slowly, surely, crept along in the background, pushing our main character in his quest for happiness and understanding. Now these storylines, having made Bojack and his friends who they are, come to a head, meeting at the top of the mountain for a terrible, unprecedented clash that has been left to conclude in the next batch of episodes. All of the characters are at points in their lives where the thing they have always been looking for is right in front of them, sometimes physically. Now, as these conflicts boil over, the characters must figure out how to take what they have worked for before it gets destroyed.
It can confidently be said that everything has led up to this. This is the time where the loose ends braid together into the rope that will either hoist or hang the heroes. Nothing feels rushed; the writers know their characters, and as a result the season bursts with new visual and narrative creativity that push the best qualities of the show to its extremes. The aplomb with which this first half takes off gives real hope that the ending will be every bit as Bojack as it can be.
Image from Netflix via YouTube
