Television Review - 2016 (Part 2): #5 TV Experience of the Year - Silicon Valley

5) Silicon Valley

This year, my top four shows are head-and-shoulders above the rest and I had a lot of trouble deciding on which show would claim this spot.  Ultimately, I settled on Silicon Valley, a consistently hilarious comedy with some pretty good characters.

I'm admittedly not very tech-savvy nor do I follow much of what the Pied Piper gang is trying to do with their product. However, even to one with little technical knowledge, it's fascinating to watch the cutthroat nature of the digital business both between competing firms and within them. Richard and company seem to continue to catch big breaks only to be held back from controlling their own destiny at every turn. It's an interesting battle for financial and intellectual independence for some of the most brilliant minds in the industry.

Oh and beyond that, it's funny. Really, really funny.

There is no character on TV quite like Erlich Bachman, a man who has confidence, bravado, and foolishness in spades and in equal proportions. T.J. Miller's screen presence is right up there with that of any comedic actor anywhere. While he's often difficult to take seriously, Miller is able to make us feel for an oft-absurd character whose desire to be part of the Pied Piper team and friendship with Richard come off as genuine. When he faces struggles this season in both departments, we feel for him because Miller makes him the most likable character on the show, even disregarding how entertaining Erlich is when he's trying to impress or influence others.

Over the years, Erlich has replaced Richard as the guy we really root for and it's a good change. Many comedies (::cough:: Modern Family ::cough::) have a tendency to have their characters never really progress, but what Silicon Valley has done with Richard's character through three seasons keeps him both fresh and believable. Richard used to be superlatively timid when he was just trying to get his algorithm off the ground in Season One. By Season Three, he's still pretty nerdy and often tentative with decision-making, but leadership of this group and the frustration of trying to make it in the business world has created a substantial change in his character. He's much more demanding and often arrogant; the latter is a flaw that frequently costs him and makes his failures seem all the more avoidable.

I'd be remiss to do a Silicon Valley review without mentioning Bertram Gilfoyle, a close second to Erlich on the comedic front. Gilfoyle's one liners and deadpan humor are excellent, particularly when he's messing with Dinesh. He's mostly a dick who has little sense of loyalty to the group or any sort of moral code, but he's certainly a favorite of mine.

If you haven't seen Silicon Valley, it's an easy watch with 30-minute episodes and an addictive sense of humor. It's one of the best comedies out there and has been for all three of its seasons.

Season Grade: B+

Essential Episodes: "Maleant Data Systems Solutions" (s3.ep4), "Bachman's Earning's Over-Ride" (s3.ep8), "The Uptick" (s3.ep10)

Television Review - 2016 (Part 1)

Welcome to my (annual?) review of television shows I've watched during the year.

For reference, here's a list of shows I've watched this year, in no particular order. Unless otherwise indicated, I'm only considering the episodes released during 2016. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything.....

Suits
BoJack Horseman
Silicon Valley
Top Chef
The Big Bang Theory
Modern Family
Mr. Robot
Catastrophe (Seasons One and Two)
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ballers (Season One)
You're the Worst (Seasons One, Two, and Three)
Archer
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Sopranos (Season One)
South Park
Better Call Saul
Louie (Season Five)

Similar to what I did a year ago, I'm going to do a rundown of my top five television viewing experiences of the past year. Like 2015, however, I'm going to start by covering a few shows I watch that have declined in quality and have been progressing towards irrelevance for me.

Trending Downward

Mr. Robot

I listed Mr. Robot as my fifth-favorite viewing experience of 2015, but even then, I had some problems with it. There was a often a sense of mystery and confusion surrounding Season One's excellent plot, but most of it involved getting to figure out who Elliot is and what he's all about. That largely worked because Elliot is a truly fascinating character. Season Two opened with confusion, confusion, and more confusion. It was as if the show had sacrificed its entertainment value in an effort to keep the viewer in the dark about what's really going on. Mystery and intrigue are nice and all, but at some point, you have to make the viewer care what the resolution will be. I don't love this show enough to wade through the mud. We've still got the back half of Season Two on our DVR and we might never get to it.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

I fell asleep during an alarming amount of episodes during Season Two. Kimmy's initial transition to today's world was what made this show compelling during the first season, but it turns out that this show didn't have all that much to offer beyond that initial storyline. We got a decent arc surrounding Titus' relationship with a construction worker, but not much else was compelling. The show's biggest problems are Lillian and Jacqueline. The former is as uninteresting as she is decrepit and has a one-note sense of humor. The latter is (as I've said before) a retread of Jane Krakowski's Jenna Maroney from 30 Rock. Throw in Tina Fey's disappointing turn as an alcoholic shrink and there was little to like about this season. I've already seen 30 Rock and don't need to watch a show with exactly the same comedic style and lesser characters.

Modern Family

This has taken up residence as the show on our DVR that we pretty much only watch as a last resort. Eight seasons in, the Dunphys and the Pritchetts haven't changed all that much despite everyone on the show aging. The only character that's shown much in the way of real growth is Haley, and she's not on the short list of the show's most interesting characters. Jay, Phil, and Luke are still great and Ty Burrell is consistently excellent, but they're delivering a brand of humor that's simply become stale after eight seasons. That's forgivable, but at some point, a long-running series needs to rely more on character development to keep things interesting. A few humorous personalities can't carry this show, particularly when Cam and Mitchell haven't had anything interesting to do in awhile, Manny's schtick is just plain old (and the whole mature-person's-mind-in-a-child's-body act was a lot more endearing when Rico Rodriguez was, you know, an actual child), and Gloria is nails-on-a-chalkboard-level annoying.

Over the next week or two, I'll have future installments reviewing my five favorite things I've watched this year for the first time.

South Park (Season 20)

I've been a big fan of South Park since I was but a middle schooler. In addition to being really funny, it served as an important escape during some tough times in my life and when I was much younger, it helped me to make sense of things that were way over my head or outside of my sphere of knowledge. It's crazy to think that something that's self-described as "a show about potty-mouthed fourth-graders" can be those things, but the truth is that South Park has always had something useful to say and is often on-point with its social commentary.

Recently, South Park has organized itself into season-long arcs. While it's always had some appetite for playing the long game, the commitment to turning each set of 10 episodes into its own little movie with a few side plots mixed in has largely been effective. Season 19 of South Park, which was basically an extended story about PC culture, Donald Trump's rise to popularity, and the unsettling prominence of sponsored content online, was the long-running series' crowning achievement. That sentence seems bizarre, particularly when rivals The Simpsons and Family Guy had thoroughly tanked far prior to that breakpoint, but it's true.

Season 20 of South Park largely picked up right where Season 19 left off. PC Principal remained on as a character, albeit more of a minor one, and we jumped right back into the presidential campaign, featuring an over-his-head Mr. Garrison as a Trump stand-in against Hillary Clinton. Shortly after the season begins, we're introduced to one of the season's best features, "member berries". These are essentially little purple berries that speak in high-pitched voices about pop-culture days of yore ("memba Jeff Goldblum?"), most frequently about Star Wars. The overall point that Trey Parker and Matt Stone were trying to get across with these is that there's a lot of parallels between nostalgia and the things that many voters felt Donald Trump stood for. While this was fairly obvious from the start and they still spelled it out for the viewer, it made for a compelling storyline.

The other excellent narrative from the early half of the season was an in-depth look at online trolling. There's a troll on the school message board that's ripping girls to shreds and everyone is completely convinced it's Cartman. In a crazy twist, it turns out that the troll is Gerald Broflovski, who is just about the last person you'd expect. Gerald is a successful lawyer and is the patriarch of the closest thing that South Park has to a stable family. The stereotypical reasons that one might assign to trolling (rage coming from getting picked on as a kid, behavior stemming from the shittiness of one's own life, a complete lack of morals, etc.) don't really apply to Gerald. He's just doing it because he thinks it's really funny. One of the strongest episodes shows Gerald, fresh off a trolling session, leaving the house and interacting with the world in a thoroughly positive, friendly way. Trolls can be a jerk to strangers on the internet and not have that behavior affect their life at all once they step away from the computer, so it's a way to act privately in the most public of forums. It's commentary on how the internet reflects the ugliness of many of us and that we can't assume anything about the people we meet there.

After a relatively strong start, however, Season 20 begins to lose a lot of its steam. The latter half of the season revolves around a scheme from some folks in Denmark trying to set up something called "Troll Trace" that would make everyone's internet history public. There's some decent one-liners in there along with jokes about just how catastrophic that would be for the vast majority of humans, but overall, the last several episodes fall relatively flat.  They're mostly just forcing the plot forward at the expense of being funny or saying anything meaningful, and unlike last season's PC Principal arc, the plot wasn't edge-of-your-seat exciting.

I'm sure much of this can be forgiven because Parker and Stone got thrown for a loop on Election Day when Donald Trump won the presidency and they had to scramble to re-boot an episode in less than 24 hours (consequently, that episode sucked). That afforded them the opportunity to get in more Trump satire (splicing "Hail to the Chief" with "The Imperial March" was particularly inspired, particularly given the season's focus on Star Wars), but there's plenty of that to go around these days. I would have loved to see how they would have wound up the season had Clinton won, because you get the sense that was the story they were prepared to tell.

I guess this means that South Park is back to being just a good show instead of whatever awesomeness we got to experience in 2015. That's just fine for a show that just concluded its second decade of life. At this point, it's doubtful that Parker and Stone's material will ever get stale, because the insanity of our wonderful society will always keep generating more.

Season Grade: B

You're the Worst (Seasons 1-3)

I've been curious about You're the Worst pretty much since FX and its related networks began running commercials for it. After a couple recommendations from friends and a clutch Twitter suggestion regarding how to watch it on the cheap (read: free), I was set to binge the first couple seasons and catch up to the third, which just wrapped up last week. I've had mixed reactions to the shows I've decided to pick up on a whim this year, but You're the Worst was a thoroughly rewarding experience.

You're the Worst is set in Los Angeles and follows Jimmy Shive-Overly (Chris Geere), a British writer whose arrogance and self-serving behavior would be downright horrible to encounter in real life, but is thoroughly amusing to watch on screen. In the first episode, Jimmy encounters a kindred spirit in Gretchen Cutler (Aya Cash) after being thrown out of a wedding. On the surface, the two are a near-perfect match in their crass dealings with other human beings. They wind up hooking up repeatedly and at least initially insist to one another that they have no desire for a relationship; each supposedly always has "one foot out the door". Fittingly, the only lyric of the show's theme song is "I'm gonna leave you anyway."

Jimmy lives with Edgar Quintero (Desmin Borges), the only of the four main characters who seems like anything resembling a good person. He's a war veteran but doesn't have much of a means to support himself, so he lives with Jimmy and repays him by performing household tasks. The core cast is rounded out by Gretchen's best friend Lindsay Jillian (Kether Donohue), an intellectually-challenged woman who's married to her nerdy husband Paul. Lindsay is dissatisfied with her marriage and spends most of the show oscillating between half-trying to be happy with Paul and seeking out sex with other men. Jimmy and Gretchen are the oft-selfish assholes from whom the show's title was coined, but Lindsay might really be "the worst".

At first, the show's humor is built around Jimmy and Gretchen's complete disregard for social convention and courtesy. It's a lot of fun to watch them troll around Los Angeles and be truly awful to everyone they encounter (Geere's British accent greatly enhances the comedic effect). However, it's tough to get three seasons of a good show out of just that premise, so You're the Worst is most effective when it begins to delve into the show's interpersonal relationships and serious issues that face the characters. If we've learned anything from the movies No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits (which were both released in 2011 and are the same movie), it's that it's difficult for fictional characters to continually hook up with one another without emotional attachment. Yes, Jimmy and Gretchen grow closer and develop a need for each other's emotional support, but that development is more complex than the predictable "happily ever after" from the Kutcher/Portman and Timberlake/Kunis relationships. These are two deeply screwed up individuals and even though each learns to (sometimes) put the other person before themselves, you rarely get the sense that they're on solid footing because of everything that's happened in their lives and who they are at their cores.

Much of You're the Worst is lighthearted fun, but the show also tackles serious issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (the "Edgar episode" in Season Three is fantastic), depression, and the fallout of awful parental relationships. I think that BoJack Horseman is probably the closest comparable show I can think of in terms of quick wit meeting dark emotions. Much like the animated show I've spilled far too many words reviewing, You're the Worst sucks you in with lighter episodes with clever banter before bringing out all the feels. Yet no matter how serious the subject matter gets, the show never loses its sense of humor.

Part of that sense of humor are the show's excellent running gags, which are used sparingly and subtly enough to avoid feeling gimmicky. For those who have seen the show already, Vernon's trash juice (Vernon is the stealth MVP of the show) and Jimmy stealing alcohol are two of my favorites. While not technically a running gag, I chuckle on the inside whenever I think of Jimmy's obsession with his "car booze" and "bed booze".

I've heard friends of mine say that Season Three is "over the top" and that the show loses itself, but I fully disagree with that, despite a shark-jumpy moment that takes place early in the season. "Twenty Two", "Seventh Layer" and "The Inherent, Unsullied, Qualitative Value of Anything" (penultimate episodes rule) are three of the series' best installments. If you called it quits early in Season Three, keep going. It's worth it.

There's so much more to discuss about this show, but I don't want to spoil anything in an overview post. I may have to write another at some point discussing the Season Three finale because there was just so much to take in. For those who haven't seen it, this is a really easy show to get into. Give it a try. Since you're reading this, I know you're not doing anything else important, so you don't have much of an excuse.

Season One Grade: A-
Season Two Grade: A
Season Three Grade: A

Ballers -- Season One

I know I've heard several recommendations to watch HBO's Ballers over time, though I can't remember specific instances or people who have told me. Come to think of it, maybe I was drunk every time it's come up. In any event, checking it out has been on my to-do list for quite some time.

Ballers follows the story of ex-Miami Dolphins star Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who has taken to a career of personal financial management in his post-football life. Spencer was recruited by his boss and buddy-cop Joe Krutel (Rob Corddry) to utilize his connections to pro athletes to grow the financial management firm's practice. Johnson and Corddry connect very well on-screen together and many of the show's best scenes involve their interplay.

Strasmore has two good friends that receive season-long story arcs. Ricky Jerret (John David Washington) is a slot receiver who, despite his relatively advanced age, has plenty of NFL talent left in him. Jerret's a loose cannon and his off-the-field problems are constantly getting in the way of his career. He's got a good heart on him and a fiery, intense personality, but often his rash behavior gets in the way of his good intentions.

Strasmore's other friend is Charles Greane (Omar Miller), a teddy bear of a former offensive lineman who's struggling to find fulfillment after football. Much of Charles' storyline focuses on his relationship with his wife Julie (Jazmyn Simon) and his adaptation to a considerably lower-excitement job at a car dealership.

Ballers insists that it falls under the category of a "dramedy", but it has roughly the same amount of drama as a typical episode of Full House. There's plenty of moments in the show that will make you laugh (many of them involving Corddry), but the biggest problem with Ballers is that everything that happens has low stakes. These are privileged people who have made millions of dollars in their careers. Any financial tragedy that befalls them is borne of their own incompetence.

For example, Spencer is a charismatic, fully competent man with a well-known name. Can his life ever really be in hot water if he doesn't succeed at Anderson Financial Management? What about Ricky Jerret? He owns a gigantic mansion along with a not-so-secret and equally sized "funhouse". What are we supposed to feel if he's unable to continue playing in the NFL? Why should this matter?

The glorification of wealth (which, don't get me wrong, is a necessary aspect of any TV show about professional athletes for realism purposes) makes it tricky for a show with the premise of Ballers to resonate with an audience, and while there's plenty of plot lines they could have explored to make this show more interesting, Ballers shies away from anything remotely challenging. For example, we're constantly shown Spencer popping pills and experiencing a particularly haunting flashback to a particular hit he put upon an opposing player. With all the issues of concussions and brain trauma surrounding the NFL, seeing an ex-player struggle with the ramifications of that would have been very compelling. Instead, Spencer goes to the doctor and finds out that his head is completely fine and that he's experiencing psychological problems. The psychological problems, as Spencer realizes, are coming from guilt about that big hit he made that keeps flashing before his eyes. So what does he do? He apologizes to the guy he hit and takes him to a Marlins game to have him throw out the first pitch. Problem solved, no lasting consequence.

Several of Ricky's storylines are equally problematic. He's got a teammate, Alonzo, who doesn't like him because Ricky has been sleeping with a woman who, unbeknownst to Ricky, is Alonzo's mother. Ricky cuts it off (not in the least because of that realization), but Alonzo still engages in an escalating series of pranks and hateful activities. How does Ricky eventually solve the problem? We use an overdone sitcom trope of Ricky setting up a situation for him to "save" Alonzo and enter into his good graces. The hoax works, and we barely see any of Alonzo for the rest of the season. Another story involves Ricky pissing off his girlfriend by being ignorant of her feelings during the "Alonzo's mom" controversy. So what does he do? He tries to buy ridiculously expensive jewelry to repair the damage. Given how nice and neat Ballers wrapped up pretty much every problem that surfaced during this season, I'm surprised that didn't work.

One principal criticism of this show that I've heard is the pervasive Entourage-esque sexism. This may seem like a controversial thought, but I don't think that this is a valid criticism of the show's quality. Current and former professional football players have a long history of a culture that objectifies and mistreats women. If the show were to ignore that, or portray a cast of football players that act with utmost kindness and respect towards women, it would unfortunately ring hallow. I was often put off by the show's portrayal of its female characters (Julie excepted -- she's awesome), but for the show's more mindful viewers, that's part of the point.

Despite its flaws, Ballers is a really easy watch and I never found myself particularly bored while going through the first season. I just don't think that it's a very good television show. You can have a successful comedy without hard-hitting drama (see Seinfeld, Arrested Development), but the show needs to have an excellent/unique sense of humor. I watch The Big Bang Theory and Silicon Valley -- both are comedies that are funnier than Ballers and somehow have substantially more dramatic weight, despite both being extremely lighthearted shows. In retrospect, I'm not sure what was so compelling about Ballers that kept me going. I do think that Johnson, Washington, and Corddry are pretty good actors, so maybe that's it. It's just a shame that they're being held back by mediocre and unambitious writing.

Season Grade: C

Bullet Points

• Awww hell no. They've got my man Bunny Colvin mixed up in this show?

• So, what was the point of that nonsense with Jason and the golfer guy dating his mom?

• That scene where Dan chucks the baseball at the cameraman when throwing out the first pitch was simply awful. The throw looked fake as all hell -- nay -- FAKER than all hell, and I'm not sure why the show wanted to glorify drilling some random dude with a baseball.

• There were a LOT of NFL players that guest starred in this show, plus Giancarlo Stanton! I recall Antonio Brown, Victor Cruz, Julian Edelman....and that's probably it for people whose pictures I remember from fantasy football profile photos.

• I'm not sure whether I'll watch Season Two.

So What's Else Is Going On? - TV

Clearly I've spent a good amount of time here discussing Better Call Saul and BoJack Horseman, but I do watch other stuff (I promise!) that I don't have the desire or energy to discuss on an episode-to-episode basis. Here's some blurbs on what else I've been watching this year.

Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory

I'm lumping these two together because they're both just kinda there. They've had two very different trajectories over their run. Modern Family started out amazing and then gradually went down the tubes. The Big Bang Theory started out pretty bad, got significantly better and peaked in its seventh season, and now is facing the decline phase as it tries to wring whatever plot lines it might have left in this core group of characters. I enjoy these shows, but they're largely forgettable.

Archer

I mentioned during last year's TV review that Archer was getting dangerously close to getting dropped from my rotation if it didn't start getting a lot better. While Season Seven was nothing like its Seasons 1-3 heyday, it at the very least featured a massive rebound from Season Six. The gang's reboot as The Figgis Agency largely worked and we got an interesting season-long plot line that kept things moving. I'm not a fan of the clones/Kriegerbots/whatever, but at the very least that aspect of the show was used to great effect in the finale. Without spoiling anything, I have no idea how they're going to reconcile the Season Seven ending with the fact that Archer has been renewed for another three years.

Catastrophe

This is the first Amazon Prime show I've ever watched and it was a good one. Rob Norris (Rob Delaney), an American, goes on a business trip to London and meets Sharon Morris (Sharon Horgan). The two have an extended fling, but when he goes back home, he gets a call from Sharon (who amusingly pops up as "Sharon London Sex" on his phone during the series' entire run), who reveals that she's pregnant. This is the initial "catastrophe", but many others ensue as Rob moves to London to make it work with Sharon and raise their baby.

The heart of the show is Sharon and Rob's relationship, but the minor characters get a little more to do in the second season. The show has a sharp wit and is often laugh-out-loud funny (Carrie Fisher is awesome as Rob's awful mother). It's only two seasons of six episodes apiece, so it's a relatively quick watch if you're looking for something new to get into.

Suits

Suits somehow is still trucking along through Season Six and has been renewed for Seasons Seven and Eight. I have no idea what they're going to do with it -- they've already exhausted pretty much every plot line that could cause upheaval within Pearson Specter Litt. The firm's been whittled down to just the core six characters and Mike's stuck in prison. I've been pretty invested in Mike's prison plot line and his relationship with his roommate and his prison nemesis, but the rest of it has been pretty "eh". The writing has become piss-poor on this show over the years and they use the word "goddamn" like a crutch. 

Louis Litt, the show's best character, has very little to do relevant to the drama and does ridiculous things, like purchase a house just so he can spend time with an interior decorator he has a crush on. Donna's schtick is getting pretty old after six seasons. The whole thing seems so low-leverage to me -- Mike's in prison for two years and everyone else got off scot-free. Isn't that a tremendously positive result given how many rules they've broken? Can't he just wait the two years (assuming Harvey could get Gallo out of there) and call it a win? I don't see why a group of very smart people is willing to risk even greater chunks of their lives to spring Mike from jail, even if he took those years to protect them. I'm probably not going to stop watching Suits because it's fun, brainless, easy to digest, and my wife likes it too, but it's far past its prime.

Louie (Season Five)

Season Five of Louie came out on Netflix this year and it was pretty strong, even if it was short. The season features Louie and Pamela trying to make sense out of their relationship and some interesting experiences that Louie has when traveling for work.

Louie is always a hard show to explain to people who haven't seen it. I guess I'd compare it to a more serious Curb Your Enthusiasm in that Louie explores the ridiculousness of some somewhat mundane situations, but the show digs deeper than Curb's pure goofballery and there's a surreal component to it as well. I'm never over-the-moon enjoying myself while watching the show (Season Four's superlatively excellent "Into the Woods" arc aside), but it's always making you think about the way we interact with the world.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

This is belated, but I finally got around to watching Season 11 (wow, how is that possible already) of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This is a show that just kinda sits around on our DVR, never at the top of my wife's / my list of things to watch on a given night, and eventually we accumulate the entire season until I just decide to binge it while she's working or reading. It was surprisingly pretty funny even this late into its run. Much of the season is spent nodding and winking to loyal fans of the series over the past ten seasons, but despite that, it's still great television on its own. My personal favorite is one told entirely through Frank's eyes, and we learn just how ol' Danny DeVito struggles to keep up with the gang's shenanigans on a day-to-day basis.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

This one I'm close to writing off. I fell asleep (literally) during many of the episodes and it just wasn't compelling enough to keep me going now that Kimmy's somewhat removed from being a prisoner. Two of the four primary characters -- Lillian and Jacqueline -- are thoroughly disinteresting, particularly Lillian, whose weird anti-gentrification schtick wears pretty thin and who offers absolutely nothing except attempts at humor through ohmygawd-she's-so-decrepit shock value. Jacqueline is just Jane Krakowski playing essentially the same self-absorbed elitist character she played on 30 Rock. I've seen that movie before. Plus, the show weirdly created a second character for Tina Fey to play. It's her baby, so she can do whatever she wants, but as an audience member, I found her plurality bothersome.

Silicon Valley

This slipped my mind somehow in my original edition of this post. Silicon Valley's sense of humor is as great as that of any show currently on television and Ehrlich Bachman and Bertram Gilfoyle are outstanding comedic characters. Season Three digs further into the somewhat complicated relationship between Richard and Ehrlich as the latter's mistakes continue to wear on their friendship. Richard continues to deal with what's been the central conflict of the entire show -- the difficulties of having control over the destiny of your own idea. I have no idea whether the show accurately portrays the power struggle between the idea men, the business managers, and investors, but it's fascinating to watch. The show has done well to give Richard more of an edge to him as the series has developed. Originally, Richard was pretty shy and humble, but he's attained more confidence from the call of leadership and it's not clear that's made him a stronger person -- in reality, he's kind of an ass sometimes. We're not rooting as hard for Richard to succeed as we did when the show began, but we're just as interested to see if he does.

South Park

I'm only two (good) episodes in, but I can just tell that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are going to hit this one out of the park, just like they did last year.

Other Shows I Hope to Watch Before Year-End
Mr. Robot (Season Two)
You're the Worst (Seasons One through Three)
Top Chef (first half of Season Fourteen)
Ballers (Seasons One & Two)

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Twelve: "That Went Well"

On the heels of the crushing death of Sarah Lynn and BoJack (again) hitting (what appears to be) rock bottom, BoJack Horseman had a lot of loose ends to tie up in its season finale, particularly with only one of the previous three episodes featuring the broad cast of characters.

We first start off with the mystery of the spaghetti strainers, which has been set up and played with all season long (even to the point of Mr. Peanutbutter insisting that "the payoff is gonna be worth it"). Yes, boat thief and esteemed character actress Margo Martindale collided with the not-so-famous Cartindale Cargo ship, causing the sea to fill up with pasta threatening to somehow destroy an underwater city. Who do you think can save the day?

Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed by the "payoff" because they foreshadowed it so heavily that it was impossible to not see coming and they spent way too long reaching the resolution, which was going to be obvious from the second Sandro said "pasta". We didn't need Tom Jumbo-Grumbo and some "pasta scientist" explaining that many strainers would be needed and that drivers that could swim would be needed. It was also totally unnecessary / unfunny to include the effort that it took to reach Mr. Peanutbutter, who turned his phone off at the movies. Cutting straight from the first shot of Pacific Ocean City's impending doom to Mr. Peanutbutter arriving on scene looking like a strainer-laden badass with the whale girls in cabs would have been much funnier, not to mention more efficient.

Anyway, it was a nice bit of comedy before we jump back into the serious stuff.

Diane comes to visit BoJack because he's got some weird effect on her, as we saw from two episodes ago. Despite how much he pissed her off, their fight somehow flipped a switch in Diane when she yelled at a waitress for pouring water that wasn't requested. Her friend (whom we've weirdly never seen before) also made the observation that she's really hung up on BoJack. So it makes sense that out of Todd, Princess Carolyn, and Diane that Diane is the only one to return to BoJack's house to talk to him after Sarah Lynn's death. She tells BoJack that Horsin' Around was a source of comfort to her during her early years with her awful family and in reply, BoJack says that Diane knows him better than anyone and that he needs her in his life.

Diane's talk inspires BoJack to call Bradley Hitler-Smith about doing Ethan Around, feeling that a show like Horsin' Around is still needed in this day and age ("I knew there'd be Full House parallels, but this is ridiculous!"). Bradley is again overjoyed and uproots his life and burns the bridges once more. Man, that guy is pathetic.

Later, we cut to Ethan and BoJack on the set and BoJack is selflessly pushing for Ethan to take the best lines, insisting that it's his show. He even works with Ethan on his comedic timing and facial expressions. It seems like he's doing a great job helping to put the show together until one of the young girls working on the show tells him that she wants to be like him when he grows up. That cuts to BoJack's core in the aftermath of Sarah Lynn's death and the thought of repeating the cycle haunts him. He leaves the set, takes a look at his house, leaves without closing the door, and drives far away.

Mr. Peanutbutter decides to sell Cabracadabra, a move that would have yielded a crazy payoff to Princess Carolyn had she still been running Vim. Carolyn overhears Mr. Peanutbutter taking an offer for the business and the agent inside her is screaming because he's going about it all wrong. She's been having a great time with Ralph since leaving the agency but in the end, it appears she can't save herself from herself. She wants to be a "manager" instead of an "agent", which the show aggressively points out is just same shit different name. In the end, she's reunited with Judah at Vim, invigorated and ready to attack her "new" career. This time around, though, she won't have just a bunch of unwatched DVDs of The Good Wife waiting for her at home; there'll be a guy that she really clicks with who's clearly not thrilled that she's heading back to the job that owns her.

There's even more setup for drama in the next season as Diane takes a job writing for Ralph's sister's website. It sounded just like a celebrity smut website as far as I could tell, but the most interesting part about their meeting was the implication that Diane will at some point have to publish criticisms of her husband -- a problem compounded by the latter's impending run for governor. Diane is vocal against Cabracadabra and wouldn't back down from the Hank Hippopopoulos scandal last season even when her refusal to do so could've been detrimental to Mr. Peanutbutter's career. That marriage was on the brink earlier this season and though it appears that they've fixed some things, we're set up to see Diane choose between her principles and her husband in Season Four. And what's BoJack's role in that potential mess? I don't think we've completely slammed the door on BoJack as a love interest for Diane.

Meanwhile, Todd and Emily both receive $8 million from the sale of Cabracadabra and they see each other for the first time since their BoJack-induced falling out. They start to hit it off and Emily asks Todd the question that we've all been pondering for a while now. "What's your deal?" Todd's answer registers as a bit of a surprise:

"I'm not gay. I mean, I don't think I am, but I don't think I'm straight, either. I don't know what I am. I think I might be nothing."

It's an interesting turn that merits exploring in future seasons, particularly in light of Todd's past behavior. In Season One, Todd was seen trying to date women from other countries over the internet ("In America, I am actually considered very handsome"). Maybe he was trying to discover his sexuality back then and his encounters with Emily cemented that he really doesn't have feelings like that? In any case, Todd coming to this realization is a big moment and I'm anxious to see where they go with this.

The finale was overall pretty busy and served as some quality setup for next season, but it's a step down from most of the episodes that preceded it. I don't know what to make of the concluding scene with BoJack watching a herd of horses running across the desert. The music makes it feel uplifting and important, but just what are we supposed to believe clicks for BoJack here? We've been fooled by moments like this before and BoJack Horseman needs to let us believe that positive change is possible before we can get our hopes up.

Episode Grade: B-

Bullet Points

• Okay, so there's pretty much zero chance that Margo Martindale is dead, right?

• "Spaghetti or not. Here. I. Come."

• I don't think houses with two sets of stairs are as uncommon as Diane thinks they are. But I get the joke....Full House, Family Matters, etc. all had a set of stairs in the living room and the kitchen.

• "His company's basically Hooters on Wheels."

• "You can tell me if you're gay. This isn't the 1600s or some places in the present."

• Dammit, Todd's broke again after tipping the waitress $8 million. I was looking forward to Rich Todd. You just know that the waitress' wealth is going to come back in Season Four as at least a throwaway gag, because this is BoJack Horseman.

• It certainly seems that BoJack is a father to a daughter he's never met. That's some more quality setup for next season.

• And finally, my pet peeve is the thing that's yet unresolved...what about Judah's mid-season meeting with Charley Witherspoon?  I was really intrigued with where they were going with that and why Judah decided to set up that meeting in secret. I guess we'll have to wait. There's few details in BoJack Horseman that don't prove themselves relevant eventually.

2000-2009 Was an Awful Decade for Pop Music

My wife, daughter, and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Saugatuck, Michigan to celebrate Labor Day. On the way home, I was getting a little sick of hearing Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling for the 200th time (though no disrespect -- solid song!), so we put on Sirius's Pop2K station and listened to the Pop2Kountdown, in which they counted down the top 30 "summer songs" from 2000-2009 based on how many weeks they were at #1 on the charts.  Here is a list of these songs:

30. Sisqo - Incomplete ('00)
29. Chamillionaire / Krayzie Bone - Ridin' ('06)
28. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah ('06)
27. Destiny's Child - Bootylicious ('01)
26. 'N Sync - It's Gonna Be Me ('00)
25. Juvenile & Soulja Slim - Slow Motion ('04)
24. Enrique Iglesias - Be With You ('00)
23. Shakira / Wyclef Jean - Hips Don't Lie ('06)
22. Fergie - London Bridge ('06)
21. Terror Squad Ft. Fat Joe & Remy - Lean Back ('04)
20. Alicia Keys - Fallin' ('01)
19. Janet Jackson - Doesn't Really Matter ('00)
18. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls ('07)
17. Lil' Wayne - Lollipop - ('08)
16. Nelly/Diddy/Murphy Lee - Shake Ya Tailfeather ('03)
15. 50 Cent - 21 Questions ('03)
14. Usher - You Remind Me ('01)
13. Christina Aguilera/Lil Kim/Mya/Pink - Lady Marmalade ('01)
12. Nelly Furtado / Timbaland - Promiscuous ('06)
11. Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl ('08)
10. Rihanna / Jay-Z - Umbrella ('07)
9. Nelly - Hot In Herre - ('02)
8. Usher - Burn ('04)
7. Beyonce / Jay-Z - Crazy In Love ('03)
6. Nelly & Kelly Rowland - Dilemma ('02)
5. Ashanti - Foolish ('02)
4. Santana - Maria Maria ('00)
3. Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow ('09)
2. Mariah Carey - We Belong Together ('05)
1. Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling ('09)

Holy.....

What a horsecrap list of songs that is.

It is genuinely batshit bonkers that this is what the country was obsessed with over a course of a full decade of summers. I mean there's some winners scattered here or there, but wow.

I may be on the wrong side of 30 (just slightly!) but this isn't salty-old-curmudgeon-isn't-hip-with-the-times bashing, nor is it music-elitist-all-pop-music-is-terrible blather. I like a good deal of pop music. That list of songs is just putrid and there's really no debating it. Who listens to more than one or two of these songs on purpose in 2016? Do people get stoked when any of these songs come on at a wedding? Would hearing any of these at a bar cause the place to go crazy with singing and dancing? Do any of these songs make a person feel anything at all?

In particular, the era between 2004 and 2008, unfortunately the chunk of time during which I was in college, is the saddest collection of the bunch. They're mostly generic hip hop / club / rap songs that are terrible. I've nothing against the genre, but I have plenty against these specific songs. I guess when you're in college, it could be worse because at least most of them are fine as background noise at sloppy, trashy parties. But man, outside of that context, almost none of them hold up. Are you going to play Lean Back at your barbeque this weekend? Whether you're looking for a jam to sing along to, dance to, lift your spirits, pump you up, or help you escape from / cope with life, Slow Motion is useless.

Just for comparison, I wanted to see how this decade has been looking. We've only crossed 7 summers off the list so far, but I compiled what this list would look like including only songs that have hit #1 on The Hot 100 between May and August during a year in the 2010s (important that I can only draw on a similar base of songs to the prior list....so stuff like Tik Tok doesn't qualify).

30. Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop the Feeling ('16) (1 week)
29. Taylor Swift Ft. Kendrick Lamar - Bad Blood ('15) (1 week)
28. Pitbull Ft. Ne-Yo - Give Me Everything ('11) (1 week)
27. Eminem - Not Afraid ('10) (1 week)
26. Desiigner - Panda ('16) (2 weeks)
25. Flo Rida - Whistle ('12) (2 weeks)
24. Katy Perry - Last Friday Night ('11) (2 weeks)
23. B.O.B. Ft. Bruno Mars - Nothin' on You ('10) (2 weeks)
22. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face ('15) (3 weeks)
21. John Legend - All of Me ('14) (3 weeks)
20. P!nk Ft. Nate Reuss - Just Give Me A Reason ('13) (3 weeks)
19. Sia Ft. Sean Paul - Cheap Thrills ('16) (4 weeks)
18. OMG - Usher Ft. will.i.am ('10) (4 weeks)
17. MAGIC! - Rude ('14) (5 weeks)
16. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us ('13) (5 weeks)
15. Katy Perry Ft. Kayne West - E.T. ('11) (5 weeks)
14. Omi - Cheerleader ('15) (6 weeks)
13. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop ('13) (6 weeks)
12. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem ('11) (6 weeks)
11. Adele - Rolling in the Deep ('11) (6 weeks)
10. Eminem Ft. Rihanna - Love the Way You Lie ('10) (6 weeks)
9. Katy Perry Ft. Snoop Dogg - California Gurls ('10) (6 weeks)
8. Iggy Azalea Ft. Charli XCX - Fancy ('14) (7 weeks)
7. Gotye Ft. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know ('12) (8 weeks)
6. Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe ('12) (9 weeks)
5. Drake Ft. WizKid & Kyla - One Dance ('16) (10 weeks)
4. Pharrell Williams - Happy ('14) (10 weeks)
3. Wiz Khalifa Ft. Charlie Puth - See You Again ('15) (12 weeks)
2. Robin Thicke Ft. T.I. & Pharrell - Blurred Lines ('13) (12 weeks)
1. Mark Ronson Ft. Bruno Mars  - Uptown Funk ('15) (14 weeks)

It's seriously like night and day. If we were to combine the two sets of 30 songs to make a list of the 30 "best" songs, how many from the 2000's even make the list? Five?

In conclusion, 2000-2009 is the worst decade in pop music history.

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Eleven: "That's Too Much, Man!"

My least-favorite episode of the series' run was the penultimate episode of Season One, "Downer Ending". The episode featured BoJack and Sarah Lynn going on an epic bender as they tried to complete BoJack's memoir after BoJack had fired Diane. Aside from a brief scene involving Charlotte, that episode missed the mark because it seemed like it was going for "let's see how messed up these people can get" rather than making any sort of point or advancing the plot. It was...well...a downer.

So as you might imagine, when I discovered in the cold open that the penultimate episode of Season Three was going to feature the same premise of BoJack and Sarah Lynn wrecking themselves with drugs, you can only imagine my disappointment.

I should've known by now just how far this show has come.

While it's true that "That's Too Much, Man!" has the two characters tripping on various drugs during the course of the episode, there's some dark undertones beneath the craziness that we can glean just from the cold open. Sarah Lynn wakes up with angelic music playing and hums a fairy tale-esque upbeat tune. She's 90 days sober and appears to be doing great until BoJack calls and asks her if she wants to party, to which she replies, "Oh thank God...YES!" and immediately begins pounding hard alcohol.

The pair go on a series of misadventures told with intermittent blackout periods, including crashing an AA meeting at which BoJack tries to top all the sob stories and "making amends" with all the people BoJack has wronged. Unlike previous iterations, no one is having any of it. Princess Carolyn simply walks back inside after seeing BoJack, Sarah Lynn and BoJack are completely unaware of Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane's presence at their house (in a particularly hilarious scene), and BoJack is too messed up to realize he's apologizing to a small child at the park instead of Todd. He's hurt all of these people many times (well, except Diane really) over the course of the series and it's a fresh turn to see that an easy return to normalcy isn't in the cards.

The only person that BoJack gets a real explanation from is Ana, who likens him to a drowning person that can't be saved and will only take you down with them if you try. Without the allure of a potential Oscar win, Ana has no desire to be around BoJack. She sees him for what he really is, a cancer to everyone else in his life.

But wait, the BoJack Horseman apology tour gets even more pathetic as he and Sarah Lynn drive all the way to Ohio to see how Penny's doing in college. There's few things creepier than a 50+ year old (horse)man attempting to sleep with a 17-year-old girl, but one of the things on that list is driving cross-country to stalk her at her college after said attempt. After they're mostly convinced that she's doing fine, BoJack accidentally stumbles into her view and she's immediately scarred by seeing him again. It was a horrible idea and the aftermath might extend just beyond re-damaging Penny. What if Charlotte finds out? She said that she'd "fucking kill" BoJack if he ever went near her family again, and she certainly sounded like she meant it. There were a LOT of pictures of BoJack taken at the scene.  I have a feeling this isn't over.

On the way home, Sarah Lynn discovers a packet of "BoJack" heroin and this is where things start to get really dark.  Wasn't there an image of some kind associated with that drug? Ahh...yes...here it is.

After they inevitably take the BoJack drug, BoJack starts to ponder just how much Sarah Lynn means to him. They're both broken, despicable people who can't stop getting in their own way and because each has sunk so low, they not only have a mutual understanding of one another, but also can't judge one another. They're each other's safe space. Armed with that feeling, BoJack's finally ready to drop the L-bomb on someone.

"I love you, Sarah Lynn."

Sarah Lynn probably doesn't even hear that line, she's lying still on a crappy motel bed with BoJack. For a second you think she's dead from overdose, but she shortly comes to and they flip on the Oscars, where we get the twist of a lifetime. Apparently, Sarah Lynn wrote a song for The Nazi Who Played Yahtzee and won an award. It hadn't been mentioned beforehand; Sarah Lynn forgot she had even been nominated because she'd been on the month-plus-long bender with BoJack. She's thrilled for a hot minute, but then demonstrates to BoJack the horrible aftermath he'd been dreading since the first episode of the season, had he won the Oscar:

BoJack, I don't like anything about me. None of this is me. These boobs aren't me. This house isn't me. The only reason I wear this shirt is because some company paid me $8,000 to wear it. And I don't even need the money. I just liked that someone still wanted me to wear their shirt. What am I supposed to do? I don't know what to do. Am I doomed? Are you doomed? Are we all doomed? 

After hearing this, BoJack tries to comfort her by taking Sarah Lynn to the planetarium, the place she's been begging to visit the whole time. It's a genuinely peaceful scene as the two of them feel small looking at the beauty of all the stars in the galaxy. Making everything they do feel insignificant is probably the only thing that can lessen the pain of the shitty choices each one has made in their lives. For a moment, they feel great.

And then Sarah Lynn is dead.

Despite the heavy foreshadowing, I admit that I didn't see this coming at all the first time I watched the episode. It hit me hard as BoJack said her name several times after the show cut to black. The title of the episode, "That's Too Much, Man!" -- Sarah Lynn's playful Horsin' Around catch phrase -- suddenly takes on a dark meaning in of itself. Her overdose makes her the latest collateral damage of BoJack's neverending quest to feel good about himself, killed not only by his encouragement to accompany him on his substance abuse rampage, but also by a drug that bears BoJack's name.

It makes the idea of BoJack trying to sleep with a 17-year-old girl look pretty damn far from the rock bottom it seemed like a year ago.

Episode Grade: A

Bullet Points

• How did Sarah Lynn stay sober for so long if that's all it took to get her to take drugs?

• As expected, Todd and Diane no longer appear in BoJack's house during the opening credits.

• BoJack destroys a child's playhouse with his car. It belongs to none other than the son of Mr. Peanutbutter's accountant. Man, when is that guy gonna catch a break?

• "What's Diane's deal again? She's like an Asian Daria?" -- hands down my favorite line of the episode.

• BoJack and Sarah Lynn steal a box of spaghetti strainers from Mr. Peanutbutter's house. They keep alluding to a "payoff" regarding the strainers. The strainers simply have to figure into the season finale.

• "There's that old saying, 'Liquor before beer, never fear. Don't do heroin."

• The Cuddlywhiskers flashback with all the meta jokes made me laugh a little bit. It was weird, though.

• BoJack and Sarah Lynn sit on the same bench they sat on in "Prickly Muffin", the third episode of the series.

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Ten: "It's You"

While watching this season of BoJack Horseman, I never once felt it was a possibility that BoJack wouldn't at least be nominated for the Oscar he and Ana have been chasing since the opening bell. I sorta thought it was a given -- hell, the opening credits even show a red-carpet-ish scene. But this episode flipped the script on that plot line as everything in BoJack's life takes a deep turn south. When he spurned Princess Carolyn in the previous episode, it felt like a decision that might haunt him, but severing ties with his former lover-agent turned out to just be the tip of the iceberg.

Mr. Peanutbutter hosted the nominations show (which: is that really a thing? It's not, right?) and announced BoJack as one of the nominees for best actor. BoJack feels basically nothing upon receiving the nomination and panics, but after a pep talk from Ana, he throws a gigantic party mostly filled with strangers. Of his actual friends, only Diane shows up and it isn't long before BoJack starts to dig at the recent emptiness of her life. He's right, after all. Diane used to take up causes and try to make a difference in the world and her job running Vim's social media is completely not her. She's tired of all the backlash and sadness her past crusades brought her. But still, it's a sensitive note, and she walks out on BoJack, getting extremely dark in the process:

You know what's gonna happen? You're gonna win that Oscar, and you're gonna go up on that stage and give your little speech, and then you're gonna go home. And you're gonna be so miserable, you'll want to kill yourself. And you're gonna have nobody left to stop you.

Cold.

Depressed and drugged, BoJack shortly drives his car into his pool and Mr. Peanutbutter (who was around, I guess?) has to save his life.

It's then revealed through a fairly hilarious flashback that Mr. Peanutbutter lost the envelope with the real nominees and just made everything up with Todd before the show. They tried to come up with a last person to nominate for Best Supporting Actor and Mr. Peanutbutter suggested BoJack, because he's their friend, to which Todd replied, "Is he?" This is the third time and as many seasons Todd's been pissed with BoJack (sabotage of his rock opera, missing his improv recital, ruining things with Emily), and he's rightfully fed up that BoJack just does whatever he wants and gets whatever he wants, regardless of who he tramples on en route.

Everyone at BoJack's party overhears the revelation and leaves immediately. BoJack's left alone in his wrecked house and tries to reach Ana, who's no longer answering his calls -- not all that surprising. Then, Todd comes home and after an argument, BoJack lets slip that he slept with Emily. I was a bit shocked that Todd hadn't already deduced this even though Emily didn't explicitly say it. It seemed like she didn't have to. Obviously, Todd flips out.

Todd: "You can't keep doing this! You can't keep doing shitty things, and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it okay! You need to be better!" 

BoJack: "I know.  And I'm sorry, okay? I was drunk, and there was all this pressure with the Oscar campaign. But now...now that it's over, I - "

Todd: "No! No, BoJack, just stop. You are all the things that are wrong with you. It's not the alcohol, or the drugs, or any of the shitty things that happened to you in your career, or when you were a kid. It's you. All right? It's you. Fuck, man. What else is there to say?"

The AV Club had an interesting observation that this was only the third F-bomb of the entire series and that the other two came in big fights other characters had with Bojack -- first Herb Kazzaz in Season One and then Charlotte in the arguably the best episode of the series, Season Two's "Escape from L.A.". Appropriately, Todd's speech hits pretty hard. BoJack's pushed away Princess Carolyn, Diane, and Todd over the course of two episodes. He also treated Mr. Peanutbutter like shit after the latter saved BoJack's life, but Mr. Peanutbutter just shrugged it off. BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter haven't interacted much after their big on-stage fight in "Let's Find Out", and Mr. Peanutbutter was a pretty damn good friend to BoJack in this episode. Will BoJack finally appreciate what's in front of him with everyone else tossed out of his life? I have to imagine the final two episodes will feature a long look at that relationship.

Meanwhile, Princess Carolyn feels she's wasting her life running Vim. Judah convinces her that maybe it's time she gives up that life, and she seems to accept his advice. Feeling a burden lifted from her shoulders, she calls Ralph for another date. But what's on Judah's mind here? His secret meeting with Charley Witherspoon about a potential merger from a few episodes back hasn't re-surfaced, but you have to figure that's still in play, right?

Episode Grade: B+

Bullet Points

• Princess Carolyn no longer appears in BoJack's kitchen in the opening credits, though she's still there on the red carpet.

• That beret-wearing cotton candy doofus guy is in the background of a lot of scenes during the show's run. He was eating at Elefante in the previous episode, "Best Thing That Ever Happened". I wonder what his deal is.

• "Someone sent a...nerd?" ~ A Whale World girl upon seeing Diane at the door to BoJack's party.

• "Well, it started as a safe space for women. Then, it became a safe space for women and men. Now, it's more of a safe-ish space for women, and a really safe space for men to look at women."

• "I'm promoting you to a position of finding a job somewhere else."

• Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter made up all the nominees for all the categories in 36 minutes minus the time it took for them to chase Mr. Peanutbutter's phone and take the "everything's OK" call from Captain Peanutbutter.

• Some jokes I liked from Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter's whiteboard: "Black People" being crossed out under the choices for Best Actor, the category for "Best Best Boy" (which surprisingly consists of actual best boys from famous 2015 films -- but how did Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter know their names?), "The Hateful BB-8", "A Rivers Runs Through It: The Weezer Story", "Connect Four - The Movie", and Jennifer Lawrence's name appearing as over half the nominees for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress -- and once for sound editing,

• "I found it to be an above-average experience. Please forgive me for getting emotional."

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Nine: "Best Thing that Ever Happened"

Holy shit.

What did I just watch?

When I try to sell BoJack Horseman on people who don't watch it and don't get what it's about, the first thing I use to try to sell them is that it has really, really strong characters.  When my friend Dan turned me onto this show originally, that's the pitch I got. It feels so dorky and weird to actually feel feelings towards cartoon characters, but that's been a growing reality ever since Matt Groening subtly taught us to do that with The Simpsons. Then, Pixar came along and gave us gems like Up, The Good Dinosaur, and Inside Out. Voice acting and animation has become so strong that having a real person on screen has become less critical to giving the viewer a powerful experience.

"Best Thing that Ever Happened" represents some of BoJack Horseman's best character work to date as it draws on nearly three seasons worth of developing its leading horse and kitty. BoJack invites Princess Carolyn to Elefante with the intent to fire her for botching his potential acting gig with Kelsey Jannings. After Princess Carolyn tries to defend her actions and point out just how long their working relationship has been, he flatly tells her, "you're fired". The restaurant manager, who apparently has been doing a GREAT job keeping Elefante afloat with little guidance from BoJack, misunderstands and thinks he is the one who's been fired. So now a budding argument between BoJack and Carolyn is set to take place in a restaurant that's about to completely lose function.

Princess Carolyn goes straight to the Denial stage, thinking BoJack will get over this in a couple days, but pretty soon, she moves straight into Anger. She's indignant that she stuck with BoJack through his relentless screw-ups and against the advice of her bosses and peers. BoJack is pretty justified in being mad about Princess Carolyn's mistake, but if we're keeping score, his history of wasting her career and relative youth trumps this one transgression.

What follows is a series of below-the-belt punches that land particularly well because of just how intimately these two characters know each other. From BoJack's consistent self-sabotage to Princess Carolyn's love (compulsion?) of bailing BoJack out of his self-created issues, it all comes out. And eventually, BoJack drops a bomb on Princess Carolyn while mocking the way that she verbally abuses him:

"BoJack, you're such a big stupid asshole."
"BoJack, why were you even in the bounce house, dummy?"
"BoJack, you wasted my thirties."

That last bit is something we've felt ever since Season One's "Say Anything", in which Princess Carolyn turns 40 on a night of yet another love-and-loss experience with BoJack. The flashbacks from earlier this season, not to mention the cold open, show us just how long BoJack's jerked her heart around. This has been a long time coming and when it's finally put out there, BoJack's the one to call it out.

What REALLY sets off Princess Carolyn, though, is the fact that BoJack consulted Ana about the firing decision. I guess I'd like to think what made her the most pissed off is that she slept with him for years and was never able to exert that same level of influence over him. She's losing BoJack from both a professional and personal standpoint and as much as he's been a piece of shit to her, she's really angry that the (perceived?) underlying cause is the woman BoJack's now sleeping with.

Meanwhile, while the restaurant falls apart, the food critic has ordered mushroom risotto. No one knows how to make it but Princess Carolyn and she volunteers to do it. BoJack sees this as another one of her attempts to "put out a fire" for him at her own expense and calls it out. She agrees and leaves the restaurant, but only gets so far before she wheels around and feeds her weird, self-destructive craving to help BoJack out of a jam.

BoJack's touched by her return and they talk amicably for a time until BoJack asks her why she's an agent if it makes her so miserable. Princess Carolyn replies that it's because she's good at it (which, have we really seen much evidence of that?), but then wonders, "What else would I do? Who else would I be?" She's realized her dream job kind of sucks, but has mentally trapped herself there. Saddened by hearing that, BoJack offers her the best comfort he possibly can:

"I do love you, by the way. I mean, as much as I'm capable of loving anyone. Which is never enough. I'm sorry."

It's a bittersweet moment that we've come to know all too well from this show. Princess Carolyn's touched by the vulnerability and starts to say genuinely nice things to BoJack, particularly understanding that his rough-around-the-edges nature is understandable because of his terrible parents. She appreciates that he let her help him out, knowing what it meant to her, and BoJack tells her she's a good friend. Princess Carolyn then tries to spin the encounter into asking BoJack for an extra six months with her as his agent to try to turn it around.

BoJack's answer is a crushing, flat "no".

But why?

We were led by this episode to believe that these are two people who need each other. It's clear that each fills a significant void in the other's life. Does BoJack really still think after the events of the evening that a clean break is still the best course of action? Is this just another act of self-sabotage? Was BoJack just pushing away someone who's getting close to him as he so often does? Was that "no" really Ana talking?

Rarely does such a clear and concise answer leave so many questions.

Episode Grade: A

Bullet Points

• "I ordered a few feel-better pizzas to feel better. It did not work."

• The way Amy Sedaris reads, "Okay BoJack" in bed during the cold open was really, really sad.

• "Now let us bow our heads and bray. HEE HAWWW HEE HAWW!!!"

• "You, sir, have just cut off your nose and thrown Sprite in your face!

• My favorite laugh-out loud moment of the episode was with the random guy sitting at the bar between BoJack and Princess Carolyn during their argument.
• "Hey, listen, man. I don't wanna get in the middle of this, it's none of my business, but I just have to say I love that sweater.  Can you give it to me?" 
• "What? No."
• "I held my mouth open a really long time."
• "What does that have to do..."
• "You're not being fair, to me or Princess Katniss."
• "Who?"
• "Your friend. You've forgotten her already? Typical BoSchwack."

• "Is there a single woman you've worked with that you haven't tried to groggily thrust yourself into?" Kelsey immediately came to mind as a counterexample, albeit not a heterosexual one.

• "Who threw my cocaine in the champagne fountain?"

• The "critic" gives the restaurant 412 stars out of a possible one billion. The realization that she writes for "SamanthaGoesToRestaurants.tumblr.com" was amazing -- it felt like a slight nod to South Park's "You're Not Yelping" episode from last season in that everyone at the restaurant was freaking out about what some random online food blogger might say. The voice work on "Samantha" was also outstanding.

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Eight: Old Acquaintance

The thing that's going to stick with me about this episode is that everyone probably sees themselves as "the good guy" in conflicts in their own life, regardless of whether they're good people or people like Rutabaga Rabbitowitz and Vanessa Gekko. We see that duo celebrating the great success of their day at the end of the episode, as they team up to make sure that Rutabaga can be there for his wife during the birth of their children and Vanessa can cover the business side in his absence. Rutabaga's a bit of a sleaze; he cheated on his wife last season and turned out to kinda be a jerk after a season of flirting with Princess Carolyn. Vanessa hasn't done anything truly horrible over the series' run outside of lording her success over Princess Carolyn; most of the rest of her actions could be viewed as simply being competitive in her job. In any case, after witnessing these two since the series' inception, they're villain characters to the viewer. It's clear after today's episode that they don't see themselves that way.

And to the credit of BoJack Horseman's writing, we get a better side of both people in this episode. Rutabaga seems to have committed to make things work with his wife and after some counseling, they seem to be doing better than ever. Vanessa encourages Rutabaga to leave to attend to his wife when she goes into labor, assuring him that family comes first and that she can hold down the fort in his absence. She's still a schemer, but Princess Carolyn's doing the same and that just seems to be part of the gig.

Vim and Gekko-Rabbitowitz are both struggling agencies and they see an opportunity to land a starring role in David Pincher's (obviously going to be a lobster of some kind when we actually see him) film for one of their clients. Princess Carolyn puts BoJack up for the role despite the fact that he seems way too damn old for it.  Meanwhile, BoJack also gets clued in by Sarah Lynn that Bradley Hitler-Smith is trying to do a Horsin' Around reboot called "Ethan Around" centered around Bradley's wildly unpopular character. It's a really dumb idea, but BoJack's weak ego gets the better of him and he gets semi-invested in the proposal simply because Bradley didn't tell him about it in the first place. That causes Bradley to overestimate BoJack's interest level and he immediately books a flight to L.A. to work on it with BoJack. He even buys a house and takes his kids out of school. Yeesh.

Princess Carolyn realizes that Laura, her former assistant, is working for Pincher and might be able to influence him into choosing BoJack, she gives Laura a speech about how great she is and how women need to stick together.

Realizing the connection with Laura, Vanessa and Rutabaga decide to try to convince BoJack he doesn't want the role by suggesting he get involved with one of Kelsey Jannings' (who happens to be one of Vanessa's clients, apparently!) projects. The pitch Kelsey gives to BoJack is genuinely moving. On her surface, she's kind of a bitch, but she also has more faith in BoJack's acting ability than literally everyone else on the show. She tells him that the role isn't sexy, but it's real. Plus, it gives him the opportunity to work with the person who "gets" him. BoJack decides to go along with it, and it definitely feels like the right decision.

Everything becomes unraveled, however, when Rutabaga discovers an old e-mail from Princess Carolyn to Mr. Witherspoon encouraging him to not promote Laura because she was too good as Carolyn's assistant. It's a crushing moment because for the first time, we witness Princess Carolyn doing something selfish that actively hurts another person, and it comes on the heels of us seeing her encourage BoJack to take the Pincher role instead of the more meaningful one offered by Kelsey because it will make her more money. It's even worse when we remember Carolyn's years stuck as a secretary, as this is her showing absolutely no sympathy to a person she could completely identify with. To this point, Princess Carolyn's been drawn as someone who lets other people step on her and often acts against her own self-interest. As horrible as it is to watch, these events really add another dimension to her character.

The failure with Laura jacks up the price Princess Carolyn demands from Kelsey for BoJack to do her more artistic film. Kelsey calls BoJack and accuses him of not being transparent in his desire to do her movie and BoJack is genuinely confused. He does want to do the movie and Princess Carolyn's attempts to keep her agency afloat sent Kelsey the wrong message. It's a brutal moment, as this is an episode in which BoJack does pretty much nothing wrong (over-encouragement of Bradley aside) and he winds up looking like the bad guy. BoJack does enough shitty things that we really want things to work out when he makes the right choices, particularly when Kelsey is involved.

Meanwhile, Todd and Diane are vacationing to the too-perfect Labrador Peninsula to visit his brother, Captain Peanutbutter (voiced by Weird Al Yankovic, of all people). It's pretty easy to see why Mr. Peanutbutter is so upbeat and positive all the time coming from a place where the radio weather updates say, "Nothing bad ever happens on the Labrador Peninsula."

However, not all seems well with Captain Peanutbutter, as he asks Diane when they're alone if she believes in the soul and tells her that life is the most precious resource that they have. It's set up to make the viewer think that Captain Peanutbutter's going to find out about Diane's abortion and have a serious problem with it. We instead get a twist that the poor Captain is suffering from a twisted spleen. He insists it's not fatal to Mr. Peanutbutter, but there's a concerning undertone here.

Captain's revelation could have been much more powerful if we had more time to spend on this storyline. A ton happens in this episode and it's often too much of a speed rap to fully absorb. Between the Captain's health condition, yet another BoJack-Kelsey falling out, the first inter-firm war between Princess Carolyn and Gekko-Rabbitowitz, the potential merger, and Princess Carolyn's misdeeds, there's already too much to think about, and that's ignoring Todd's entertaining side-plot in which he misdirects Cabracadabra in the absence of Emily.

Episode Grade: B-

Bullet Points

• Everything about Bradley's life is a B-plus, except his children, which are a B-minus

• "Mr. Peanutbutter and Captain Peanutbutter in the same room? What is this, a flashback episode?"

• "I've heard of overloaded motherboards, but this is ridiculous!"

• "I'm like a father figure to him. By that I mean I slept with his mother."

• "He's a good dog. All bark, no bite. Sorry, that's a Labrador expression. I guess in human terms it would be: 'He's all talk, and no shooting you with an assault rifle.'"

• Charley Witherspoon is one of my favorite running jokes on the show (he's so nonsensical that the very character is a joke) and seeing him in that admiral outfit while thunder crashed when Judah met with him about a potential merger with Vim was just A+ sight gag work.

• Rutabaga suggests a laser pointer to distract Princess Carolyn.

• "So...it turns out that men love safe spaces for women even more than women do."

• Todd reads an online feedback comment from "queefburglar69". In Season Two's "Let's Find Out", Wanda also read live feedback from "queefburglar69" on the iPad during the debut episode of Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities: What Do They Know? Do They Know Things? Let's Find Out!"

• Todd gets the Whale World girls to drive for Cabracadabra when he lets men share rides and they rate women drivers on looks. This was a pretty amusing sub-plot, but there was too much else going on in the episode for me to drill into it.

• Ana Spanakopita's crushing monologue to Bradley: "BoJack is about to win an Oscar. Why do you think he would want to do your soon-to-fail sitcom about the further adventures of a carb-faced nobody? You are not a television star. You have no talent and I am forgetting your face even as I'm looking at it. Pack your bags. Go back to Nowheresville. Thank you for the champagne. Best regards, Ana Spanakopita."

• "What is this, a very special episode?"

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Seven: "Stop the Presses"

I can't remember the last time I've had to cancel something over the phone.  Typically, whenever I'm in a phone call like the ones BoJack was involved in during tonight's episode, I'm fake-calling Comcast pretending I'm going to cancel my service when all I'm trying to do is extract the competitive "new customer" rate. Rarely am I actually wanting to cancel something. But I can say that I pretty much hate the boilerplate customer service experience. Few things frustrate me more than amount of time it takes to navigate the sea of teleprompter options, hold music, and useless people before you actually get to someone who can help. So when BoJack is desperately trying to cancel the L.A. Gazette over the phone and gets re-directed to "The Closer" and she says....

"Hello, good morning, and I say this with 100% sincerity, how can I help you." 

....let's just say that my interest was piqued.

What follows is a brilliant pseudo-psychotherapy between BoJack and The Closer in which the latter intermixes good, deep advice with repeated plugs for BoJack to keep his newspaper subscription. It's an extremely well-done setup and it makes for one of the top couple episodes in an already pretty strong season of BoJack Horseman.

BoJack eventually goes off on a slight tangent to The Closer about Todd in his complaints about continued receipt of the newspaper and much to his surprise, The Closer pursues the ability to dig deeper into what's going on in BoJack's life. From there, BoJack begins to dig deep into his friendship with Todd, his mistake one-night stand with Emily (which was very clearly hinted at the end of Episode Five), and a surprisingly intimate plot line between BoJack and Ana.

Todd and Emily pitch their idea for a women-only ride-share service to Mr. Peanutbutter and he winds up very enthusiastic about the idea (which says absolutely nothing about the quality of the idea). They wind up using BoJack's house to build the business because BoJack feels guilty about sleeping with Emily. The situation is really awkward, but Mr. Peanutbutter's obliviousness saves the day...temporarily.

Flash forward to the next day, and BoJack's in a marketing meeting for Secretariat. They're trying to come up with an ad billboard design and Lenny Turtletaub presents one that tested the best. However, BoJack's smitten with one that's just a mirror that says "You Are Secretariat". He explains to The Closer why he likes it:

When I looked at the mirror ad, I was seeing me as I see myself and I thought there was something beautiful about that. Intimate, almost.

For the second time, Lenny (who's really a pretty serious asshole, more so than he let on in earlier seasons, pre-Kelsey firing) shuts down BoJack's attempt to find meaning in Secretariat by flatly saying, "The point of the movie is to make a lot of money and win awards" and asks why BoJack should win the Oscar if the underlying message is that anyone can be Secretariat? Ana more gently suggests that BoJack leaves this decision to the professionals and then we get a complete surprise that somehow still registers as a shock despite how BoJack generally interacts with women.

Despite Ana's betrayal in "Brrap Brrap Pew Pew", it seems that BoJack has been having regular sex with his publicist.  During one of their rendezvous, BoJack observes that she controls every part of his life and he doesn't know a thing about her. Ana's been drawn as a pretty mysterious character from the get-go. It's obvious that she's really good at what she does, but we don't often get to see just how she does it (think back to Episode One's quick resolution of BoJack telling the journalist that he was replaced with a CGI in the movie).

BoJack's curious as to what she's really like, so he follows her home. What follows is a scene showing Ana trying to make a simple meal of macaroni and cheese. When the cheese packet explodes onto her shirt, it's the first time we see Ana as even the least bit vulnerable. It's a simple, powerful scene that features BoJack drop a line very similar to the reason he and Wanda broke up last season:

"It's so sad that when you see someone as they really are, it ruins them."

By the time BoJack has explained all of this to The Closer, she's got him pretty well figured out and essentially tricks him into keeping his subscription by saying that cancelling it only gives him an illusion of control over his life. BoJack even thanks her for the renewal. Damn. Closer gon' close.

After the last phone call, BoJack goes to Ana's place and she tries to send him away, but he explains all the great things he sees in Ana and that he wants to know her, and that neither one of them should be afraid of that. He also demands the use of the mirror ad and Ana seems impressed by his aggression and confidence about the matter. Unfortunately, BoJack's idea seemed much more intelligent in the meeting than it does in practice. The mirror billboard appears to just reflect the sky when looked at from a ground angle and when the sun is setting, it's a massive glare problem for drivers. The episode ends with a literal thud, as a bird-person flies into it and slinks to the ground.

The B-story was also pretty entertaining, culminating in Emily essentially explaining to Todd what happened between her and BoJack without spelling it out. Todd's disappointment is painful, but you can tell that he's not completely surprised about what happened. We also got a reappearance of Esteemed Character Actress Margo Martindale, who steals BoJack's boat to stay on the run from the law. Her appearances are always appreciated, though this was something of a throwaway plot line -- for now anyway.  BoJack Horseman knows how to play the long game.

Episode Grade: A- (I have gone back and put a grade on my reviews for all the other episodes I've reviewed this season)

Bullet Points

• "Cabracadabra! We wanna reach out and grab ya!"

• The view of the Los Angeles Gazette office is scathing, from the dilapidated building to the "Sales" chart turned sideways in the manager's office. BoJack Horseman hates print media and network television with a passion.

• "Every morning, I open my door to a new edition of the L.A. Gazette. It's like I'm in a boring episode of the Twilight Zone".

• Per The Closer's computer, BoJack's middle initial is "F".  Do we know his middle name?

• "Todd AND Emily you've done it again! For the first time!"

• Ana's favorite fruit is honey dew and that repulses BoJack -- one of the show's more subtle running gags.

• BoJack throws a delivered box of Cabracadabra stuff into his bush and it's never mentioned again. I wonder if that will be relevant in a future episode.

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Six: "Brrap Brrap Pew Pew"

Per my introductory post to this website and the sensitive nature of the subject matter of this episode, I won't be recapping it.  I'm happy to discuss my thoughts on BoJack Horseman's handling of the abortion issue (and have, several times since watching "Brrap Brrap Pew Pew" earlier this week) to anyone who wants to have a one-on-one conversation. But, despite the fact that I have plenty of feelings and opinions on the episode, this isn't the forum for it.

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Episode Five: "Love And/Or Marriage"

It's back to the world of landlubbers as we reunite with the main cast of characters, each of which gets a little something interesting to do (even Todd!). Secretariat hits theaters and Bojack feels just awesome that it's a huge hit and that he's become a big star. The fame goes to his head as he lords his status over others (even Kiefer Sutherland!), asks for free drinks, and ultimately, crashes a rehearsal dinner.

BoJack makes a point of taking Todd along for the ride. One thing I've noticed so far this season is that BoJack has been a far better friend to Todd, which has made their reconciliation at the end of Season Two feel all the more sincere. I like the direction they've taken there. Most "standard" TV shows would have had the two make up only to resume business as usual in the next episode, but Bojack Horseman seems committed to building their friendship.

At a bar, Todd encounters his old love interest from high school, Emily. Her best friend is one of the two women getting married and the entire wedding is thrilled that BoJack Horseman, movie star has shown up. The father of the bride even asks BoJack to take over his speech and he gives a brief but genuinely touching speech about knowing how your spouse is your missing puzzle piece.

Unfortunately, the speech backfires and one of the brides, Taneisha, calls off the wedding. She says she doesn't really "know" about her fiancee and thanks BoJack for helping her see the light. For the first time in the episode, shit hits the fan for BoJack and he's faced with a room full of people that suddenly despise him. He takes it upon himself to do the right thing and talk to Taneisha and the words he gives her are both what she needs to hear and (in true BoJack fashion) unfathomably sad at the same time:

"Taneisha, nobody completes anybody. That's not a real thing. If you're lucky enough to find someone you can halfway tolerate, sink your nails in and don't let go, no matter what....because otherwise you're going to get older, harder, and more alone. And you're gonna do everything you can to fill that hole, with friends, and your career, and meaningless sex, but the hole doesn't get filled. One day, you're gonna look around and you're going to realize that everybody loves you, but nobody likes you. And that is the loneliest feeling in the world."

Wow.

OK. The wedding's back on now.

Meanwhile, Todd tells Emily about his idea for a ride-share app with women-only drivers. Emily is enthusiastic about the idea and wants to see the project through and begins hitting on Todd in the process. Todd seems uncomfortable with the idea of being intimate with Emily and starts drinking a lot, followed by telling her that he feels sick and wants to go to bed when she tries to take him back to his room. It all seems like a nervous defense mechanism, and we see Todd later just laying on the bed by himself, all melancholy. This is as excited about a Todd storyline as I've been throughout the series' run, and it will be interesting to watch both his app idea (if they pursue this) as well as his difficulty connecting with Emily unfold (though Emily's brief bar encounter with BoJack before the episode ends is REALLY unsettling).

This week's episode also pushes forward the Mr. Peanutbutter-Diane dynamic. The former is hogging all the speaking time at their marriage counselor session, but that's just as much because Diane doesn't have a clue how to express the way she feels. When talking about her inability to communicate with Mr. Peanutbutter, she attributes the issue to her upbringing which rings pretty true. We know Diane's family treats her like garbage (remember the awful 'Criane' video?) and it makes perfect sense that she'd have trouble expressing herself when the people she should be closest with just dump on her all the time.

Diane randomly gets a text invite to hang out with movie star Alexi Brosefino and she's apprehensive about how she'll act around "cool kids". She gets peer pressured into taking drugs, and shortly after it's revealed that Alexi sent the text to the wrong Diane. Diane gets embarrassed and after an authentically kind talk from Alexi, realizes that she needs to go home to her husband. In her drugged-out state, she's finally able to tell Mr. Peanutbutter how much she loves him and needs him. It's a touching moment, and the first moment of this season that makes any sense out of this couple.

But then, they randomly drop a bomb at the end of the episode. Diane's pregnant. Her reaction? "MOTHER F-" (they save the "ucker" for the beginning of the next episode.)

The "C" story focuses on Princess Carolyn, who's (as usual) overworked. However, she's being helped out a great deal by her assistant Judah, who really seems to have his shit together. He asks her for an ownership stake in the company because of how far above and beyond he's gone to help out, even taking the liberty of handling both sides of the percentage negotiation and drawing up the paperwork. More importantly to the episode's plot, Judah sets up three dates for Princess Carolyn on a rare night off.

The first two dates are a dullard and a gynecologist who's snippy about Princess Carolyn conceiving children at her age. The third date is a mouse named Ralph and the two of them want to call off the date for species reasons, but he turns out to be an engaging, nice fellow and the two hit it off.  She returns to her office afterwards where Judah has been diligently keeping the place running smoothly. Judah seems too good to be true. I wonder where they're going with this.

Episode Grade: B+

Bullet Points

• "Critics called it gurble glub glub blub blub."

• In the background of the bar, you can see that random awful girl that BoJack slept with in the second episode of the series

• "I didn't have Diane Peninsula. I had the Isthmus of Assholes."

• I think Todd's idea is an allusion to SafeHer or SheRides, but it comes off as a really good idea in the context of the episode.

• "Oh, drug taking. That's cool. I'm cool."

• "MR. PEEPERNUMBER!"

BoJack Horseman Season Three, Epiosde Four: "Fish Out of Water"

BoJack Horseman's greatest asset is the fact that it has some of the best writers on television right now. A close second is the voice acting which does a stellar job of making you feel things that you never thought you could watching an animated show.

The writers decided to strip that second element from the fourth episode of Season Three by giving us a mostly silent adventure in an underwater environment. And you know what? It was one of the best episodes of the entire series.

I'd heard a bit about the infamous "silent episode" from a few sources before actually sitting down to watch it. Some said it was pretty great. My friend Jake said "you basically feel like you're high the whole time watching it." I've never smoked in my life, but I'm pretty sure I get that.  Needless to say, going in I was pretty excited about what it had to offer.

BoJack's heading off to an underwater film festival to "make a splash" and improve his Oscar buzz. After all the comments I've made so far this season about BoJack Horseman's supporting cast staying way in the background of the interesting stuff, I'm surprised that the best episode to-date was pretty much a BoJack-only story.  We don't even see Todd, Diane, or Princess Carolyn in the episode and Mr. Peanutbutter's only around because he briefly appears in an underwater TV commercial and sign-board ad for seahorse milk.

BoJack starts to dread the trip when he hears that Kelsey Jannings is going to be attending the festival. Kelsey has probably been the best minor character (outside of the main five) on the series and I'm very happy that they decided to at least return to the fact that she and BoJack really need some closure after BoJack pushed her to do the Nixon scene in "The Shot" last season, causing her to get fired.  BoJack wants to apologize to her, but it's painfully obvious that he has no idea how to do it. His attempts to write an olive branch letter range from the stupidly obtuse ("Kelsey, weird we haven't talked. Keep it real!"), to the nonsensical ("Kelsey! Long time no talk. So anyway, you're the Kelseyiest! Smell you later." to the dammit-he-sort-of-tried-but-she'd-slap-him-upon-reading-this ("Kelsey, sorry you got fired. That sucks for you. P.S., We're cool, right?").  It's pathetic on its surface, but we know that BoJack can have a hard time bringing the good out in himself to connect with people even when he tries pretty hard, so the ostensibly weak effort resonates.

Eventually BoJack falls asleep on a bus and winds up stranded in the middle of nowhere after witnessing the birth of five six baby seahorses.  One of the baby seahorses winds up stranded behind with BoJack. We know that BoJack's kind of a shitty dude and he actually contemplates leaving the baby behind because dammit, he's already 30 nautical miles away from where he needs to be and that youngun would be nothing but a hindrance. But of course, he's ultimately not able to abandon the infant and takes the little seahorse with him.

They embark on adventures that seem Looney Tunes-ish in nature. It could have been totally silly, but the music and animation makes their misadventures (including a trippy hop through light-up anemones) a bonding experience and by the time that BoJack is actually able to return the infant to its father, it's obvious that BoJack has really bonded with the baby and has found some fleeting happiness in caring for it.

In typical BoJack fashion, we get the rug ripped out from under us when BoJack gives back the baby at its home. The father seems to just robotically think of the baby as a statistic and shows little enthusiasm to have his child back. By the time BoJack leaves, the baby has already blended in with its identical siblings and he realizes that his brief but meaningful relationship with the little seahorse has ended.

To BoJack's credit, he channels the experience into something constructive as he finally has the words to write to Kelsey.

"Kelsey, in this terrifying world, all we have are the connections that we make. I'm sorry I got you fired. I'm sorry I never called you after."

But we get yet another gut-punch when BoJack successfully tracks down Kelsey's cab just to find that the ink on the note has become runny and illegible. Kelsey's not exactly patient enough to wait around for BoJack to explain himself. I'm hopeful that they'll return to this storyline, but for the time being, it's hard to watch BoJack do the right thing and have it not be rewarded.

In the absence of characters speaking, the episode's soundtrack is simply brilliant. Aside from it being serene and pleasant, it helps to set the atmosphere of each scene and often helps to convey BoJack's emotions. This was an extremely creative installment; the writers took a big risk and it's easy to see how this could have wound up a complete dud a-la Season One's "Downer Ending".  Fortunately, they really hit this one out of the park and we got another treasure of an episode that I'll throw right up there with "Say Anything" (s.1 ep.7), "Let's Find Out" (s.2 ep.8), and "Escape from L.A." (s.2. ep.11).

Episode Grade: A

Bullet Points

• "Also the French smell and I hate them."

• "I haven't been underwater since my mother tried to drown me in the bathtub when I was 22."

• Billie Jean is Not My Lover -- directed by Kelsey Jannings

• What fish in the right mind would want to watch "Naked and Filleted"?

• One nice touch that I caught upon re-watch -- it's pretty clear that Kelsey is not doing well. When BoJack first sees her sitting at her booth at the reception, she tries to awkwardly smile and wave at a passer-by to attract his interest in her film. She's pretty cold on her surface and she must be feeling pretty desperate to put on that kind of face.

• The thumbs-up thing and the "we don't care for your paper dollars down in this here ocean, mister" running joke were excellent sources of humor throughout the episode.

• The revelation at the end that BoJack could have talked the whole time had he just pushed a voice-box button on his air-helmet was one of the best laugh-out-loud moments of the series.