Summary: BoJack meets Charlotte in New Mexico and is introduced to her family. He makes an excuse for why he's there and says he's going to a boat show. He bonds a bit with Charlotte's daughter Penny and brings back a boat. He stays at Charlotte's place for several months, ignoring all other commitments. He goes with Penny to her prom and gets one of her friends very drunk. He leaves her at a hospital when she passes out and goes back with Penny. Penny makes a pass on him but BoJack sends her away. BoJack meets with Charlotte who offers him some advice. They kiss and he says they should stay together but Charlotte tells him he makes her sad and has to leave the next day. BoJack goes back to his boat where Penny is waiting. Charlotte goes to the boat and sees Penny and BoJack together. Outraged, she tells BoJack to leave. BoJack goes back to L.A. where he finds that Diane is still at his place.
The Good: What a sad reflection on the character of BoJack. This episode is sublime because it confirms the worst that we have feared all along about BoJack: that it is himself that is the cause of all of his issues. There has always been hope in previous episodes that BoJack can break out of this rut in his life, and that much of what has gone wrong has been because of his assimilation into Hollywoo(d) culture. But this episode, aptly titled "Escape From L.A." proves the lie in this sentiment. Here, BoJack has left his fame, career, and difficult life behind to find something new with Charlotte's family. And yet it all goes woefully wrong and everything gets ruined - and it's all BoJack's fault with nothing to blame but himself for what happened. It's a bleak reality check for BoJack, but also paints a strong message of how your life is always in your control to a certain degree, and if everything is going wrong, it's likely not society that needs to change, it's you. The episode starts off innocuously enough. The first part of the episode is abotu introducing Charlotte's family and how this throws BoJack off, but he's still putting in the effort to stay here with them; he'll do anything to avoid going back to his old life. It's surprising how well BoJack adjusts. He seems to grow into the role of being the fun "uncle" living in the boat, and develops a good relationship with the kids, especially Penny. It's great to see him start off as ruthlessly uncaring about Penny's high school life, but then later we see him be a certified expert in Penny's social life, showing that he's taken time to grow this relationship. It all seems fun, and it leads to BoJack joining Penny and her friends at the high school prom, which seems to be a harmless night of fun. It feels like BoJack has turned a corner, and as they all form a great memory by releasing glowstick balloons into the night sky, this feels like a fresh start for BoJack. But then, in a brilliantly constructed moment of horror, that all shifts. As he gives Penny the dance she never got, BoJack tells her "you look just like your mother", and suddenly all the red flags have become startlingly clear. You remember that BoJack opened up conversation with Penny by looking to see if he can get rid of Kyle. You remember how creeped out everyone was by BoJack's presence at the prom, and you realize how weird it is that he is here. And with Maddy passing out, you also realize just how irresponsible BoJack is being by not monitoring how much she drinks. It's a horrifying twist that makes you realize that underneath the glamour of BoJack's new life, he is stillt he same as always, and as the episode goes on, this just gets worse and worse. After BoJack rejects Penny's advances, there's a moment of relief where it feels like BoJack is making the mature decision. But all it takes is one negative conversation with Charlotte to bring out the worst in him again. BoJack makes a pass on her as he opens up about his struggles with himself and the choices he makes, but all he faces is an impending return to L.A., and the crushing reality that it's far too late for him to ever live out that dream life with Charlotte that he had back in "Downer Ending". So what does BoJack do? The single worst thing he could have possibly done, and the single worst thing he has ever done in this show so far. While he rejected Penny firmly the first time, the second time he leaves the door open, a brutal indication of how likely he would be to give in to Penny's demands to make himself feel better. And sure enough, that's what he does. There's a terrific moment as Charlotte goes back to the boat, led their by one of the glowstick balloons, a symbol of BoJack's immaturity, inability to grow out of his 20s, and general unawareness of the long-reaching consequences of his actions. With this, Charlotte, and also the audience, is horrified to see that BoJack gave in to his worst instincts once again and was about to sleep with a 17 year old. The aftermath is horrific, and Charlotte's delivery of "if I ever see you again, I will f*cking kill you" is like a knife through the heart. It's not just an awful moment for BoJack, it's an awful moment for the viewer who would have been rooting for BoJack to be better, and seeing him fail so badly is gutwrenchingly disappointing. The episode ends on a fantastic note. This show is typically very dialogue-heavy, so it's very notable that we get a sequence to end things off that's purely visual with little to no dialogue. BoJack returns to L.A. as his theme song plays, and we really get to reflect on who BoJack is and what he's done. I'm sure interpretation on this scene will vary, but for me this moment was an indication that L.A. is the place where BoJack belongs, because it's the location that best embodies the type of person BoJack has become. He can try to escape all he wants, but like Charlotte said earlier, he is now the tar pit. The return to L.A. with nothing having changed is indicative of BoJack's inability to change and grow out of the way of life he has been living for 30 years. And when he's back he's greeted with a funny, yet sad sight. After many months... Diane is still there. These two gave each other great advice at the end of "Yes And" to get their lives back together, and yet after several months, here they are back where they started with nothing having changed at all. Sad. More little things, as always. The "Kyle and the Kids" opening is absolutely fantastic, and I love that it replaced the regular intro, highlighting how this episode was such a departure from the usual format. The song is catchy and a perfect parody of cheesy sitcom intros. The pictures throughout have fun little bits in them as well, with a picture at Todd's doomed Disneyland from "Yesterdayland", an alligator waving at the camera in the Everglades, and a statue of Liberty that is a cat holding a torch made of yarn. I liked the humour that came from BoJack's lame excuses to justify why he's in Santa Fe. The boat show excuse is funny, and his improvised dialogue while on the phone is laughably terrible. Lastly, Pete Repeat actually not repeating a single thing he says is a terrific running joke. The Bad: Nothing I would call bad. The Unknown: What's next for BoJack now that any chance of an idyllic family life with Charlotte has vanished? What's his next move? After months, Diane is still at BoJack's place! What has she been doing? What will be the consequences of BoJack leaving his job for months? Will he be able to return after all this time? Best Moment: The horrifying moment that Charlotte finds Penny with BoJack. Character of the Episode: BoJack. Conclusion: A brutally sad, horrifying, and powerful episode. Much like "Downer Ending" last season, "Escape From L.A." provided an emotional climax for the season in a beautiful self-contained episode that told a complete story about BoJack's inner nastiness and how the problem is not rooted in where he is, but who he is. This season has been exceptional with how it has handled its heavier content, and it has especially gotten good at ending episodes on a grim, memorable note without it being overpowering. Fantastic stuff. Score: 80
1 Comment
Joe Y
1/23/2023 09:24:00 pm
Yeah, I'm glad you pointed out that even before the big moment at the end, his behavior in the entire second half of the episode was pure BoJack awfulness (And as you noticed from the very beginning he was trying to get rid of Kyle). That final moment was just the logical conclusion of his rotten actions. It's just a brutally effective gut punch of an episode that basically confirms that the show's main character is effectively doomed. Or is he? Can the show possibly rebuild and move forward after this? Guess we'll have to see.
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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