In the one sense, it's totally understandable, because ever since Donald Trump became a thing, everything has become politicized. It's hard to turn on a late night talk show, watch a football game, log on to social media, or even have a conversation with friends and family without hot-button issues creeping in. The problem is that BoJack Horseman doesn't have the biting satire and nuanced storytelling of South Park, nor is it equipped to comment on hot-of-the presses stories (or tweets) like the late-night hosts. When BoJack Horseman tries to veer into this territory, it provides nothing that you can't get from the Twitter echo-chamber and the writing comes off pretty flat as a result.
Take the following lines from this episode:
- "Thoughts and prayers." This is repeated nine times during the episode, and it's meant to be a shot at the hallow virtue-signaling done by celebrities and normies all over social media (i.e., a person is not posting their feelings on social media because their sadness compels them to, they're posting because they want other people to think they're compassionate, and/or get likes/reactions). However, it's a joke that's been made many times before and far better. As a one-off, this might have worked, but they kept going back to it with diminishing returns.
- "I am totally unqualified to cover a news story this important. But as a straight white male, I will plow forward with confidence and assume I'm doing fine." The underlying message here from A Ryan Seacrest Type isn't wrong, it's just something that's been beaten ruthlessly to death.
- "I can't believe this country hates women more than it loves guns." This was probably the laziest line of the episode, as that sort of message was plainly clear by the immediately preceding banning of guns in reaction to Diane's speech. In of itself, it's an arguable statement to make that's presented as fact, despite nothing but a ridiculous congressional (I think?) scene to earn it in the context of the episode.
This country does need more responsible gun control laws. Women deserve to live as safely as men do, and men absolutely take their relative safety for granted. Straight white males exist in a state of relative privilege that most of them fail to recognize and all of them fail to deserve. These messages are all true, but in this episode, BoJack Horseman wasn't able to deliver any of them in a meaningful, creative, or nuanced* way. In fact, they didn't even try to do that; they just had their characters directly speak the messages. It would be unfair to expect BoJack Horseman to illustrate these points via extended and powerful storytelling a-la-The Wire. However, their chosen method of trying to extract a laugh by flatly observing these societal problems isn't worth a full episode of TV.
*The one thing I did think was interesting that did add some nuance was the way that Diane's worldview was warped by the power of holding a gun and that her stance on their usefulness flipped once it became a source of empowerment rather than a threat. Diane's not one to compromise her morals easily and it was a nice way for the show to at least acknowledge the seductive hold that guns can have on people.
It's completely fair, on the other hand, to expect BoJack Horseman to understand what it is at its core and develop content accordingly. Fortunately, the BoJack plot in this episode was on point and kept the episode from completely floundering. It's been a long time since BoJack has actually interacted with his horrible mother, Beatrice, and he tracks her down in a retirement home (with some not-so-eager help from Princess Carolyn) only to find that she has dementia and doesn't remember him. "The Old Sugarman Place" did a great deal to humanize (heh) Beatrice, and that pays off here. There's something tragic to Beatrice's condition when it could have seemed more like "horrible woman is on her way out".
BoJack just wants her to remember him so that he can give her a straight "Fuck you, Mom" to the face. That particularly hits home because BoJack Horseman to this point has only used the word "fuck" once per season, all in critical moments. Beatrice recognizes BoJack in re-runs of Horsin' Around, so BoJack tries to put on a live Horsin' Around skit with Hollyhock to jog Beatrice's memory. That backfires when Beatrice has a bad reaction to the skit and winds up getting herself kicked out of the home, ultimately leading to her living with BoJack. It's a very interesting way to set up future episodes.
Unfortunately, the gun control storyline (and its associated offshoots) is possibly the weakest that BoJack Horseman has ever done. This was the worst episode of the show since early in Season One.
Episode Grade: B-
I can't believe this country hates women more than it loves guns. Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=bojack-horseman-2014&episode=s04e05
I can't believe this country hates women more than it loves guns. Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=bojack-horseman-2014&episode=s04e05I can't believe this country hates women more than it loves guns.
Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=bojack-horseman-2014&episode=s04e05
I am totally unqualified to cover a news story this important. But as a straight white male, I will plow forward with confidence and assume I'm doing fine. Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=bojack-horseman-2014&episode=s04e05
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