Horsin' Around's Urkel is a weirdo known only as "Goober" and anyone who saw the BoJack Christmas special is keenly aware of the "Go Home, Goober!" catchphrase. It's called back in the cold open and we're introduced to Goober ("Reggie somethingorother", who cares, the guy's Goober, I don't blame BoJack for not remembering his name) as he exists today. He's the manager of a strip club / amusement park hybrid that's a "sexy time for the whole family" and exploits killer whale-women. Fred Savage takes a lot of shit for the fact that he's a pretty crappy actor, but I loved his voice work as Goober. Somehow, the kid from The Wonder Years was perfect for the voice of perhaps BoJack Horseman's creepiest character yet. Whodathunkit?
This week's story pairs up BoJack and Diane, who's been avoiding BoJack due to some combination of shame and desire for self-correction, as she associates BoJack with all the time she wasted drinking in his house when she didn't want to deal with the fact that she couldn't cut it in Cordovia. It makes perfect sense and it's nice that their relationship has something of a more evolved plot to it than the love interest angle.
BoJack essentially traps Diane into joining him on his errand to pick up a letter that Jill Pill wanted reclaimed from Cuddlywhiskers' house. The pair find a dead killer whale-woman from Goober's club lying in the pool and the police instantly show up and pin BoJack as a suspect. This sets the pair off on a murder mystery to figure out whodunit before the controversy blows up BoJack's Oscar campaign. The twists get even weirder when the dead woman's phone shows a text saying "BoJack is going to kill me" and an investigation into Goober's club shows "BOJACK KILLS" spray-painted on the wall.
At the end of it, it's revealed that "BoJack" didn't refer to the Horseman but rather a brand of heroin being distributed by Goober, who's arrested by Officer Meowmeow Fuzzyface shortly after that revelation. It's a fun little twist, but this ends up being more of a throwaway plot line in the grand scheme of things. Cuddlywhiskers eventually shows up at the end to talk about his newfound happiness, gained from throwing away his worldly possessions and dedicating his life to helping people. He mentions that his Oscar never made him happy, an ominous statement that pretty much takes the wind out of the motivation that Ana gave BoJack in the first episode of the season. Diane and BoJack are both struggling to find a way to be happy in this world, and the path that Cuddlywhiskers outlined to doing so is unsettling to both. The episode ends with his words sinking in during the car trip home, during which both are visibly very uncomfortable with what they heard.
The "B" story in this episode revolves around Mr. Peanutbutter and Todd getting skunked and Princess Carolyn needing to swoop in to save them from their predicament for some reason. There's some decent jokes in there (I particularly enjoyed Mr. Peanutbutter being unable to shake off his compulsion to shake himself dry after taking his tomato bath) and enjoyable references to the absurd amount of spaghetti strainers that Mr. Peanutbutter purchased from his "business venture" in the first episode of the season, but it's mostly not that compelling. Todd desperately needs something to do. He's a comic relief character that keeps things lighthearted, but he's had plot lines over the show's run, like his rock opera or his brief improv career that have done a better job of fleshing him out beyond "goofy dude who's just kinda there."
I'd say the same for Mr. Peanutbutter except this episode probes deeper into the issues he and Diane are experiencing. It's confirmed that they're seeing a marriage counselor (all but spoken in "Start Spreading the News") and Mr. Peanutbutter's neediness is placing a pretty serious strain on the relationship. His first real conversation with Diane in the flashback episode showed how happy he was when Diane validated something he said and to this day he's still seeking that validation. Diane's clearly in a rough spot, trying to get through a day at time without dwelling on the stress of asking herself whether she's happy. She becomes so consumed with the thrill of the murder mystery and the way it helps her forget herself that Mr. Peanutbutter gets lost in the shuffle. He calls her angrily (pretty rightfully) because she never went home that night and she doesn't have much to say for herself. Mr. Peanutbutter seems pretty damn irrelevant to Diane's quest for self-satisfaction, and combined with how important she is to his, it certainly seems that this won't end well.
Episode Grade: B
Bullet Points
- Todd still has the Latin Kings and Skin Heads tatoos. Nice continuity touch.
- Goober is also the #1 customer of Whale World. Not surprised.
- One of my favorite parts of this episode was the first post-theme scene featuring the "Non-Denominational Winter Day Pageant". The PC jokes were fast and furious....
- The song was great: "It is winter yes that's right / A time for family and lights / It doesn't mean God and it doesn't mean pray / Unless that's what you want but who are we to say."
- "Where are you? I hear mirth."
- "Snow goblin is an offensive slur."
- "Jesus Jill, you thought your play sucked." "I didn't."
- The non-denominational word for schmooze is "hobnob". The more you know.
- "Did you miss the three wise people make their journey to visit the regular baby?"
- "Watch your mouth, lady. There are children here."
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