BoJack Horseman was a unique show, with anthropomorphic animals, but that was as profound and real with its characters as any prestigious TV series. It started as a joke machine, but little by little, episode by episode, the series started focusing on deeper themes, like addiction, depression, mental health, or being a good person, while still being funnier than most comedies. In its six seasons, BoJack Horseman had some incredible episodes. Here are its best, ranked.
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9 Nice While It Lasted (S6 E16)
Netflix
The show’s last episode is sad but hopeful, with BoJack (Will Arnett) and Diane (Alison Brie) alone on the roof, and it had to end this way. After being sent to prison, this is the first time BoJack has seen all his friends in a long time. We see how each has been doing, and what the future might look like for them. There are jokes, a party, and only the five main characters speak in the whole episode (it can’t be a coincidence). It ends with a conversation between the biggest friendship on the show, BoJack, and Diane. They say a lot without saying much, as many people with shared pasts can do while thinking about everything they have done together; everything we’ve seen them do together. It’s a beautiful ending for a beautiful series.
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MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
8 Ruthie (S4 E9)
Princess Carolyn’s (Amy Sedaris) great-great-great-grandaughter in the future, Ruthie, tells the story of a very bad day for her ancestor. As we follow that horrible day Princess Carolyn is having, at least we know the future will look good for her. That’s when the episode pulls the rug from under us, as we discover Ruthie is a fantasy that Princess Carolyn thinks about on her worst days. Today, she has broken up with her boyfriend, Ralphie, but especially, she discovers she has a miscarriage, the fifth, and her dreams of being a mother are further away every day. Sedaris gives an incredible voice performance, as we feel the devastating ending for the character. Someone who didn’t always get the spotlight as much as she deserved.
7 The Dog Days Are Over (S5 E2)
This episode is all about Diane (Alison Brie). She’s been on a downward trajectory for a while, and after her divorce from Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins), she decides now is the moment to go to Vietnam and reconnect with her heritage. Diane is usually the voice of reason on the show, so seeing her spiral out of control and feel lost is new for both her and us as viewers. The episode is a tour-de-force by Brie, who can transmit the character’s many emotions just with her voice, especially the contrast between what she’s really feeling and how she writes it, in list form, for the website she’s working at, as an “x reasons to travel” article.
6 Escape From L.A. (S2 E11)
BoJack leaves the set of his movie Secretariat to go to New Mexico to find an old friend, Charlotte (Olivia Wilde), who he believes might be the love of his life. There, he finds out she has a family, but decides to stay anyway, getting closer and closer to her teenage daughter. When Charlotte discovers her daughter on BoJack’s boat after a night of underage drinking, everything goes to hell.
About the episode, creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg told Variety: “There’s this thing in writers’ rooms where you’re always pitching the darkest story you’re never going to do… like, “can you imagine if the protagonist of our show tried to sleep with a 17-year-old girl? What kind of show would do that? That would just be crazy, right? We would never — right?” But then it became, “What if we are that show? What would that look like?” And once the idea was out there, it felt kind of cowardly not to go down that road.”
5 The View from Halfway Down (S6 E15)
The penultimate episode of the whole show made us wonder if BoJack was going to make it out alive. This episode is both experimental and profound, as we find BoJack with some of the people important in his life who have died in the past (and also Zach Braff). It shows all the revelations one can have on the brink of death, and the possible “nothingness” that maybe comes after as we finally discover that BoJack is drowning in his pool.
About the episode, Bob-Waksberg told Vulture: “I wanted things to feel not quite real. It’s not like BoJack is in purgatory with these people. We wanted it to be loose and dream-logic-y. BoJack’s father would be Secretariat, but he wouldn’t really comment on it. BoJack’s not like, “Wait, you’re not my dad.”
4 That’s Too Much, Man! (S3 E11)
Like many other characters on the show, Sarah Lynn (Kristen Schaal) started as a one-note joke: the child actor that has become wild in their teenage years. But the character kept appearing on the show, evolving, and even got her sobriety. That’s why it’s so sad when BoJack convinces her to go partying together, and it tragically ends with her character’s death, as she overdosed. This episode was one of the first times the consequences caught up with BoJack in the saddest way possible, showing why BoJack Horseman could be one of the most depressing shows on TV.
3 Time’s Arrow (S4 E11)
This episode centers on Beatrice Horseman, BoJack’s mother, and her dementia, as we see her life through her not-all-there memories from past and present. It’s the first time we understand why she’s so cruel to BoJack and also the intergenerational cycle of violence that some families (like BoJack’s) are marked with. The animation in this episode must be lauded, as it’s imaginative in all the ways it shows and explains how dementia works in a deteriorated mind.
2 Fish Out of Water (S3 E4)
This episode is one of the many reasons why BoJack Horseman is one of Netflix’s best original series, while proving the incredible animation team the show has. The episode is almost dialogue-free when BoJack goes to the Pacific Ocean City Film Festival, set in the underwater metropolis, full of anthropomorphic sea creatures. The character of BoJack loves talking, especially about himself, so this episode is a surprising change of pace. We understand everything as if it were an old silent movie, with some interesting vignettes and adventures in the deep blue sea. Even then, there’s some empathy for the characters as BoJack tries to apologize to an old friend.
1 Free Churro (S5 E6)
This episode is a monologue of BoJack giving a eulogy at his mother’s funeral, and it’s awesome. It surprisingly holds our attention for its full duration, as we understand every conflicting emotion BoJack is feeling in this, which should be a sad day after he never felt loved by his parents. BoJack also talks about the feeling of being seen, and how important it is for everyone, giving more profound undertones to an episode that could have been one note; one where we see BoJack as vulnerable as ever in an incredible performance by Will Arnett. This episode should be taught in writing classes, and it’s one of the many things other comedies could learn from this show.
