2) BoJack Horseman
BoJack Horseman claims the runner-up slot for the second straight year and you can go ahead and click that link if you want to read up on what this show is and why it's awesome. I'm going to focus this space on Season Three, which was released this past summer.
As may be implied by last year's ranking, BoJack Horseman had a tough act to follow because Season Two was truly outstanding. We followed BoJack's downward spiral until he reached what we assumed to be rock bottom in possibly the best episode of the series, "Escape from L.A." (s2.ep11). Then, the finale somewhat gave BoJack a chance for redemption as he learned that there was a chance he'd be nominated for an Oscar for his work (or lack thereof) on Secretariat. Season Three follows his chase to try to take home the hardware.
Without spoiling too much, what we thought was rock bottom in Season Two wasn't really rock bottom. BoJack had much, much further to sink and this year's penultimate episode (note: spoilers in that link and others shown below) was more crushing than anything the show has done to date. The extent to which the writers were willing to go with BoJack's depression and general awfulness helped to make Season Three truly great. If I have a concern, however, it's that I really don't know how long they can make the show interesting if the premise continues to be that BoJack is broken and there's no way out. Where are they going with the future of this show?
The season finale ends on a something of an optimistic note, even if it's mostly metaphoric, but we've been teased by silver linings and glimmers of hope so often over three seasons that it's fair to question just when they're going to pull the rug out from under us again. I don't see how they can shock us further with BoJack's sadness or depravity in Season Four without the show beginning to feel tired, so maybe they'll start working on his road to recovery and the challenges that await. Nearly all of BoJack's significant relationships (Princess Carolyn, Diane, Todd, Sarah Lynn, Kelsey Jannings, even Bradley Hitler-Smith) were strained to varying degrees (and in a couple cases, irreparably so). The only person who doesn't seem to have reason to be on bad terms with him is Mr. Peanutbutter, and that relationship was underutilized this season anyway. The situation can't get much worse for BoJack than it is right now, so this points to at least some change in the direction. In any event, I get the feeling that this show would best preserve its quality by restricting itself to about five seasons or so, else it runs the risk of its theme (the struggle to make oneself happy in the face of depression) becoming repetitive.
That's a worry for the future, however, and I don't want to use too much more space in this review lamenting that the show might become stale someday. For the time being, it's one of the greatest shows on television and still largely a hidden gem (being Netflix-only and being an animated show with animal characters hurt its accessibility and perceived credibility, respectively). Season Three produced three of the five best episodes of the season's run, along with "Let's Find Out" (s2.ep8) and the aforementioned "Escape from L.A.". The infamous silent episode "Fish Out of Water" (s3.ep4) was every bit as great as the critics say. The bottle episode, "Best Thing That Ever Happened" (s3.ep9), was the payoff to nearly three seasons of relationship development between BoJack Horseman's two primary characters. And finally, we have the ultimate gut-punch of "That's Too Much, Man" (s3.ep11), the lowest of BoJack's bottom-outs (which have taken place in the penultimate episode of each season).
It's hard to watch BoJack destroy himself and those around him, but believe me, amidst the hard-hitting emotion, stellar character work, and largely depressing plot, BoJack Horseman remains really, really funny. The show has a seemingly never-ending supply of animal puns (and you'll probably discover new ones with each re-watch). BoJack Horseman's sharp wit is what initially draws you into it and it doesn't leave that behind once it begins to take the characters and their struggles seriously. The well-drawn characters are further bolstered by superb voice acting and I sincerely wish that Will Arnett would win some sort of hardware for his work on this show. He won't, but damn, he deserves it.
Season Grade: A
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