Summary: Herb died and BoJack goes to the funeral. He briefly meets with Charlotte and then reunites with the Horsin' Around cast. They get sent on a "treasure hunt" for Herb's gold and discover that he might have been murdered by Henry Winkler. When BoJack confronts him, and Henry reveals that he stole the book Herb was writing because it was terrible and he didn't want to damage Herb's legacy. Meanwhile, flashbacks show the connections Herb made with the cast members. Todd goes on a side adventure where he learns to be confident and cool.
The Good: I always enjoy stand-alone episodes, and having an episode dedicated to Herb's death was a great utilization of the idea, even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations (see: The Bad). Regardless, I enjoyed what this episode had to offer. The cast reunion is fun to see, especially with how everyone has changed and gone through vastly different lives from when they were all together. I quite liked the flashbacks with Herb, which offered some insight into Herb's values and how each of the cast members failed to respect the idea of family that Herb tried to instill within them. These four were supposed to have each other's backs, but they have all gone in wildly different directions and there is always tension between them. The show conveys this sad idea in a typically light-hearted way and it works well. All of the flashbacks have character-specific jokes, and this episode never tries to take itself too seriously. Herb's death itself is treated as a joke and a damn good one at that as Henry Winkler reads out Herb's brilliant final tweets. The light-heartedness is an asset of this episode, and it makes the treasure hunt for Herb's gold into a more enjoyable storyline. I think that the side stories were a highlight of this episode and both were fairly effective at creating some extra laughs. Princess Carolyn is quite disgusting at the funeral as she looks for business, and I loved how she ended up getting punished for this by having to make such extreme lies about her friendship with Herb, hilariously spurred on by Mr. Peanutbutter, who acknowledges his true motives for being there unlike Princess Carolyn. Todd's story is a lot of fun. It's sort of filler, but seeing Todd going around like such a badass is charming and effective. What Todd brings to the table is becoming clearer this season. He's the guy that has these fun side plots, and they work because Todd has a good heart that we can connect with. I love the way that Todd loses the money BoJack gave him (picked up by a mouse, who is grabbed by a hawk and then hit by a plane), which is the most comically absurd thing imaginable. There are a few little funny bits as always. I enjoyed the Steve Urkel jokes in the Todd story, and Maggie Gyllenhaal being turned into Maggot Gyllenhaal is a fantastic idea. The Bad: The mystery parody doesn't work well. There aren't enough creative jokes to make this parody feel worthwhile, and shoehorning a mystery into this episode detracted from its more emotional qualities without any upside. I wish that more time was spent on the idea of BoJack looking to put some meaning on Herb's death. So much of this idea is told through a cheesy and heavy-handed speech by Henry Winkler at the end, and it isn't an effective way to get me thinking about the idea. "Brand New Couch" did a far better job of emotionally engaging me into an idea because it took more effort to explore its central themes. I wish that this episode had done the same. I expected more from Herb's death, especially considering how BoJack and Herb's last scene went. I expected that Herb's death could have been pivotal for BoJack's character and could have led to another fascinating character introspection. Instead, Herb's death feels quite insignificant because it's in an episode that is otherwise entirely disconnected from what season 2 has been about so far, and it doesn't seem to have affected BoJack in any meaningful way. Perhaps I will be proven wrong in upcoming episodes, but this didn't feel as emotionally significant as it should have been. The Unknown: No real questions after this episode. Best Moment: The ending scene of Herb saying "the future is bright" as he and BoJack look at a fake horizon was surprisingly melancholy and effective. Beautiful imagery to have a bright blue scene covering up a sad purple sunset. Character of the Episode: Herb. Conclusion: This episode didn't go as far as I expected with Herb's death and it had some cheesy bits. Still, it told an overall effective story that created some funny moments and a burst of emotional resonance by the end. Score: 64
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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