On BoJack Horseman

I'm not sure if you've heard of BoJack Horseman, but its a Netflix animated series about an anthropomorphic horse who is a washed up TV star from the 90's. I decided to finally watch the show because so many people had seen it and recommended that I watch it. Ultimately I decided it was time to watch it and ended up watching a whole season in around a week or so (granted the seasons aren't terribly long and each episode is only 20 minutes.


BoJack Horseman is a cartoon that starts by setting up BoJack as a washed up performer who doesn't really confine to professional norms. In the beginning BoJack is on TV and realizes that even though he is super cynical and vulgar on TV he hasn't done anything worth noting in the last 18 years since the show cancellation. From what I've heard about the show BoJack is a character who is stuck in the past and is unable to change himself. Throughout the show it's reference in many ways and reinforced by the writers. The writers add in "Hey, are you the horse from 'Horsin' Around?'" to reinforce that everyone around BoJack sees him as static or unchanged. That even though BoJack thinks he's getting fat or is making progress on his book he's simply staying where he has been for 18 years. BoJack has somehow managed to live 18 years without doing anything but getting drunk, eating, and the doing it all again. It's even more bluntly reinforced by when Princess Caroline says "How can you love anyone when you so clearly hate yourself?" The show the writers mix in both direct and indirect observations to make the viewer realize that even though BoJack is the main character of the book. The best moment in this episode was BoJack's mild anxiety attack. His own realization that he's "a joke, and if this book isn't successful [he'll] be a joke forever." BoJack himself realizes that he's a static character who can't succeed at anything accept for Horsin' Around (where he played a static character with almost no character development).

This episode has began to develop the character of BoJack and make him into the static washed up character who is maybe not the most lovable character. The show writers setup BoJack as this troubled character who is ripe for character development.