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.