BoJack Horseman is a six-season, Netflix-original, adult cartoon series, notorious for being a psychological drama. Although the show is meant to be comedic and appeal to its audience through morally neutral relatability, it also asks philosophical questions.
Despite its seeming lightheartedness, each episode provokes deep self-contemplation that supports the exploration of oneself and one’s perception of reality. We often question the reliability of our own narration, wondering whether we’re too quick to give in to our emotions or impulses. Other times, we question our environment, blaming it for making us who we are. Each character in BoJack Horseman frequently revisits these uncertainties.
Being that it’s BoJack’s main concern, existentialism is a philosophy touched on throughout the show. It’s an approach to life that examines and explains individual human experiences.
BoJack’s constant internal conflict between being responsible for his instability and being the product of his environment traps him in a continuous, self-destructive cycle of substance abuse, narcissism, and erratic relationships. His introspection encourages the audience to reevaluate what we know about our purpose.
Knowing this, I’d like to share some of my favorite BoJack Horseman episodes containing overarching philosophical themes. Each episode left a lingering, bittersweet impression due to the unnerving accuracy with which its characters were portrayed and the comfort provided by the idea that other people deal with these observant thoughts.
- Season 1, Episode 6: “Our A-Story is a ‘D’ Story”
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Key Quote: “And I know I’m not the perfect guy. I actually kind of hate myself a lot of the time. But when I’m with you, I, uh, don’t hate myself. I like being around you, and I don’t know if I ever told you that in so many words, so I’m telling you.”
Despite this seeming to be one of BoJack’s first attempts at being genuine about his feelings, his relationship with Diane examines the fundamental and varying definitions of love. Not used to receiving therapeutic attention, he developed an attachment to her, confusing appreciation for romance.
Even his “confession,” admitted to enjoying her company because it made him feel better about himself, not because he was in love with her. Diane made him feel like he wasn’t as horrible of a person as he thought himself to be.
Recklessness also dampened the sincerity of his feelings, as he did not care enough for the impact his confession could have on their friendship. Such internal conflicts prompt the audience to consider the difference between loving someone as an individual and loving someone for how they glamorize one’s sense of identity.
- Season 6, Episode 7: “The Face of Depression”
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Key Quote: “OK, I’ve been a little depressed, but I’m not like depressed. I don’t have depression.”
This Diane-centered episode is proof that even well-intentioned people are still susceptible to suffering.
Although she tries to avoid harming others with her problems, Diane struggles to understand her identity after making multiple drastic changes in an attempt to explore herself. The bottom line is that she does not believe she is good enough. She feels inferior morally, structurally, and in her writing career – therefore purposeless. She has become disillusioned by her experiences with the companies she’s written for, the celebrities she’s worked for, and the “activists” she’s interviewed.
Feeling that her world was plagued by hate made Diane realize that she could not use sincerity to make an impact, as being sanctimonious restricted her rather than liberated the public she wrote for.
- Season 3, Episode 7: “Stop the Presses”
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Key Quote: “When you do bad things, you always blame the bad thing and not yourself when people leave you.”
BoJack had been trying to get himself known publicly through Diane ghostwriting his memoir. However, in this episode, he is confronted with the fear of being known by another person directly or authentically.
He spent days receiving support from a newspaper over the phone as they tried to prevent him from canceling his subscription. Comedically, he explained to them his current situation with Ana, his manager, who he met sexually but did not take the time to understand. Having a complicated relationship, he wanted to get to know her solely to feel in control over his life, as she had authority over him and felt as though their boundaries were one-sided.
Ana claimed to know everything about BoJack. This begs the question, contemplated throughout the episode, of “What does knowing ‘everything’ about a person entail?” People tend to conceal certain parts of themselves to promote a misleading facade for others.
- Season 6, Episode 10: “Good Damage”
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Key Quote: “If I don’t write my book of essays now, that means all the damage I got isn’t good damage. It’s just damage. I have gotten nothing out of it, and all of those years, I was miserable for nothing. I could have been happy this whole time and written a book about girl detectives … What was it all for?!”
Diane has committed to the role of the deeply brooding writer because it’s the only trait she believes makes her interesting. After realizing she has a talent for and could profit from writing fiction novels for kids, she feels unaccomplished.
This is likely because she limited herself to believing that all she has endured will eventually lead her to being rewarded, thus explaining why she holds herself to such a high moral standard. To feel successful, she wants her story to impact society rather than her alone. Her fear of insignificance leaves the audience wondering whether there should be a final objective to suffering to make it worth the experience and trauma.
- Season 3, Episode 9: “Best Thing That Ever Happened”
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Key Quote: “You know, I don’t do the whole ‘Love’ thing. It’s either you hurt someone or you end up getting hurt.”
This episode revolves around BoJack’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend and agent, Princess Carolyn (PC).
Throughout the series, PC is shown to have a strong inclination towards saving BoJack from the problems he creates for himself, cleaning up after his messes. This episode fully dissects the history of their relationship, examining the ways it has affected them.
BoJack continuously went back to her when lonely, knowing that she, who loved to be put into the savior position, would never refuse him. Their fluctuating cycle lasted for years, wasting and damaging PC’s dating life in her 30s.
The definition of love was, again, put into the limelight, as their toxic relationship was of benefit to none. PC wanted to be with BoJack to feel satisfied about “fixing” another person. The ultimate prospect here is that people tend to remain in relationships they find pleasurable despite there being no sustenance or mutual commitment.
- Season 5, Episode 6: “Free Churro”
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Key Quote: “Let me tell you, it’s a weird thing to feel at 54 years old, that for the first time in your life, your mother sees you. It’s an odd realization that that’s the thing you’ve been missing, the only thing you wanted all along, to be seen.”
This episode is full of BoJack’s philosophical inquiries that he developed throughout childhood and found conclusions for as an adult.
His mother died and he gave a speech at her funeral, rambling about the traumas he endured and observations he made while in her presence. The most touching was the fact that she said, “I see you,” right before she died, but was ambiguous about what she was referring to (she had dementia).
BoJack proceeded to go through the list of possibilities to determine what she meant, which was a discourse closed by him accepting that he would simply never know. Although he tries to decide on an answer to silence his thoughts, he considers that he might be looking for spiritual significance in a situation that has no further significance at all. Perhaps he is a fool for analyzing all he perceives, adapting rather nihilistic thought.
Being one of the most introspective episodes, it’s significant to understanding BoJack’s complexity as a deeply profound yet destructive person, which is interesting to all who are into the unreliable narrator trope.
These episodes are just a few examples of how truly thought-provoking BoJack Horseman can be.
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