Contains spoilers for BoJack Horseman.
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t exist.
BoJack Horseman is an animated Netflix show, famous for its contradicting themes of dark humour that explores deep “human” emotions -in this case, animals- from time to time, while maintaining its foolish one-liner jokes.
I first watched the show in high school, and sure I found the jokes funny and its episodes entertaining, but I didn’t get the full picture. Recently, I gave the show my full attention and rewatched it in its entirety, and safe to say the show gave me the utmost comfort while also leaving me with a heavy heart.
In contrast to popular sitcoms like Friends or The Office, with storylines following young adults navigating relationships or being bored in an office job, BoJack Horseman is a show about animals with half human bodies set in Hollywood, or in the show “Hollywoo”, critiquing the extravagant world of entertainment. The premise of this show, on paper, is as unrelatable as it gets. So why did this show resonate so much with people?
Most popular shows have narratives relatable to the general public as we’ve seen. BoJack Horseman is unique in that it does none of that, yet it delves into heavy themes like addiction, work relationships, sexual relationships, self image, and the show’s go-to; having good morals vs being a jackass full of excuses.
We see these themes explored with absolutely no filters in a world we don’t know, which only helps the storytelling. We are encouraged to judge the characters harshly, both for not relating to their lives, and the unconscious bias of the association to lavish lifestyles in Hollywood. Because yes, it is easier to judge a drunk rich horse who does bad deeds than an average joe who works at an office, who happens to be played by an actor on the Sexiest Man Alive list.
The story follows out main character, BoJack Horseman, an antagonist to the show and himself, cope with the brutal aftermath of being on the on a really famous tv show –as the theme song words– a decade later, by hiring a ghost writer, Diane Nguyen, to put his name along A-listers again.
We watch Bojack’s continuous cycles of drinking, fame, sobriety, (mostly) empty excuses and promises. Simply put, there is no specific thing us reviewers are waiting for to happen. No incident could satisfy the audience, at least nothing like Rachel and Ross getting together or getting a new job position, like in many show finales, where they just give us what we’ve been waiting for, leaving us a happy consumer.
BoJack has done all of those. He has lived through the peak of his career, he has had his ultimate love story, this show starts after his happily ever after.
That leads us to today’s question, then what about the ending of the show?
The closest we get to a happy ending is BoJack getting sober in the last season, but predictably, he falls back on drinking after a solid run of sobriety. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to get sober in the end as well, since it would’ve made the message of the show contradicting. The show repeatedly points out there are no good people or bad people, we are all just beings, who do good and bad, and it’s evident in Horseman, with his neverending cycles of being “good” and “bad”. Aside from BoJack himself, all our other main characters also go through this cycle;
Todd being exploited and getting treated like a friend, Diane’s stubbornness and her reassuring lectures, Princess Carolyne and her moral always being the runner up to her career, and Mister Peanut Butter, with his immaturity and genuine care for his loved ones.
On the first watch, the audience may think how are they going to wrap all of this mess up nicely? The writers are not afraid to mess with the plots, let the main cast go down wrong paths, or to disappoint us with their actions. Frankly, the main cast is so complex and multi-dimensional, both in their actions and personalities, it’s confusing where the writers are trying to go with them.
Out of all the ups and downs the characters have been through, what would feel grand enough? or better yet concluding enough to be the show’s finale? And I believe that is the exact message here. There is no happily ever after, or one singular event that makes all that we’ve been through make sense. It would be wrong for us to wait for that day to come, it would be wrong for us to expect that for BoJack Horseman as well.
The creator of the show, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, when interviewed about the ending of the show mentioned how he sees the story, despite the negative themes it carries throughout 6 seasons, as an optimistic show. “I see it as clear-eyed about the hardships of life, but hopeful that people can push through that muck and try to better”
The show ends on a conversation BoJack and Diane have on the rooftop at Princess Carolyne’s wedding. It doesn’t indicate what the future will look like for any of the characters we grew to love and hate. Reading into some of our main characters’ last lines, we see the acceptance of just that.
In chronological order, we first have Todd. He gets close to breaking the fourth wall with his last line; “it was nice while it lasted.” because yes, it was nice to see our antagonist make the wrong decisions and face -and sometimes absolutely not- face the consequences, for Todd to see his friend turn into the villain to have his sympathy again. This does not at all mean Todd can tell us how his new relationship will turn out, and what his future with BoJack looks like, just that his run to see his friend spiral from the pilot episode has come to an end, along with our run to witness it.
Our second to last is Diane Nguyen. Diane and Bojack share the last scene, with Diane’s last line being in response to Bojack, “Life’s a bitch and then you die, right?“. “Sometimes. Sometimes life’s a bitch and then you keep living…But it’s a nice night, huh?“
She never got to the end goal she saw for her future and career; writing an autobiography. Her hard working, stubborn personality absolutely depended on utilising her past trauma in her writing so they became what she called “good damage”. The growth of Diane in the 6 seasons is quite significant, and she is no longer categorizing her struggles into how helpful they may be for her future work. She just keeps living.
Last but not least, Bojack’s last line is simply him agreeing with Diane; “this is nice.”
His current situation isn’t exactly nice. He just got out of prison for technically breaking and entering but really kind of everything, has been cut off by many of his closest friends, and has no job lined up. But he can appreciate catching up with an old friend, even though he might never see her again, for just one more time. So yeah, these moments are nice, and those are the moments that need to be appreciated. The realization of this is enough growth for BoJack… at least for now.
The show transitions to the final credit scene by playing Mr Blue by Catherine Feeny.
The song has a simple instrumental and the song’s focus is on the spoken lyrics, asking Mr Blue to let go while convincing him to keep his head high. It explores themes of unpredictability and bittersweetness are strong in this song, intimate goodbyes and somehow still holding hope for the people around, just not alongside you. Many fans also believe the song literally sings the unsaid monologue Diane is trying to deliver as a goodbye to BoJack, Mr Blue representing BoJack and his unclear path beyond this point.
So yes, none of the character flaws of our main cast magically disappear, nor do they get their happy endings, but they learn to appreciate the moment, say goodbye when it’s needed, and to just keep living.
It’s a simple song, and despite all that they’ve been through, it’s a simple ending.