Summary: The episode is told non-linearly. Todd invites Emily over to help him start the Cabracadabra business at BoJack's house, but she feels awkward because she had sex with BoJack. Todd is happy to have everyone together but Emily ultimately leaves, saying that she and BoJack have been bad friends to him. BoJack discovers Margo Martindale has been living in his boat. She leaves, taking the boat into international waters. BoJack tries calling to cancel his subscription to the LA Gazette, but speaks with "The Closer" who listens to him rant and convinces him to keep the subscription. BoJack launches a new ad for Secretariat.
The Good: This was a massively fun concept episode. "Stop the Presses" breaks the norm by having an entirely non-linear episode, jumping between so many entertaining yet entirely disconnected storylines. This sounds like it could be tedious to watch, but impressively the "BoJack Horseman" team pulls off this concept with panache, making an episode that could have so easily gone wrong into a total delight. The central idea of the episode is genius: BoJack wants to cancel his newspaper subscription and ends up on a lengthy call with The Closer. This episode is almost like "Seinfeld" in how it comes up with such a stupid plot and then manages to make something brilliant out of it. The Closer is built up wonderfully and hearing her function as a surrogate therapist while trying to hunt down an opportunity to keep BoJack's subscription is a total blast. It's a fun critique of how difficult it can be to cancel subscriptions with large companies, and how manipulative business people can be. The Closer's role as a therapist is so much fun because she nails down exactly what is driving BoJack's questionable actions, like him feeling like he doesn't deserve Todd, he does bad things so that he doesn't have to face the fact that he is intrinsically bad, and that he wants to cancel the paper because it reminds him of what he's done. These observations were unexpectedly profound, and a great way to attribute deeper meaning to this conversation as The Closer acts like a therapist for BoJack in order to get closer to him. It feels so real to see BoJack, who desperately could use a therapist, so averse to the idea of speaking to one; he is afraid of what The Closer has to say to him. This show continues to nail down its deeper messages and connections to reality. The side stories in this episode are a blast. It's so fun to see how BoJack's conversation with The Closer led into some totally random and irrelevant side stories that are so much fun to listen to. Diane has a completely random and stupid story that is included for no real reason and I love it, it's stupidly amusing. I feel similarly to Margo Martindale's brilliant and unexpected cameo. Margo gets a great speech as she recounts what happened to her after "The Shot", and the whole sequence is dumb, funny, and entertaining. It all culminates in a great moment as Margo leaves with BoJack's boat, which BoJack carelessly accepts all the while he rants to The Closer about wanting to take control of his life. Brilliant use of irony. I also liked how casually BoJack discusses his relationship with Ana, which neatly plays on his messy mind and also how absolutely weird this relationship is. There are definite red flags in how Ana is treating BoJack, and it's sad to see BoJack spending his time following her to her home because he is so desperately looking for a genuine connection. These stories are so random, but they are entertaining and offered more meaningful storytelling to this episode. Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter have a solid episode. It's nice to see Todd actually start the Cabracadabra business, and it's nice to see him having so much fun doing it with Emily. Their sales pitch to Mr. Peanutbutter who is so uncertain of how he is supposed to act is really funny, and I enjoyed watching it. Of course because this is "BoJack Horseman", the episode has to have a bit of a downer ending as Emily leaves Cabracadabra, forcing Todd to face the reality that BoJack, despite his efforts to be better, is not someone that is good for him to be around. As always, there are little things that add to the episode. BoJack and Emily's horrible lying is really funny. I got a laugh out of Margo having to lay low by doing theatre performances, and the shaved head/wig gag was unexpected and made me smile. The overdramatic theatre performance followed by "she's dead" was clever as well. I like how the smoke bomb being a plum joke paid off by the episode's end. Lastly, the mirror ad being placed on a billboard is exactly the kind of stupid idea that would somehow be implemented in this universe. I liked the episode-ending gag of a bird flying straight into it. The Bad: Nothing I would call bad. The Unknown: Seriously, what's going on with the spaghetti strainers? They have been mentioned so often now, so surely there's going to be a pay-off... right?? I wouldn't put it past this show to have the joke be that this goes absolutely nowhere. When will Todd find out about BoJack and Emily? How will he react? Will BoJack be able to cover it up for long? Best Moment: It's tough to decide. I'll go with Margo Martindale's story of what happened to her, a fun sidebar from the main story that offered plenty of laughs and enjoyment. Also, it's just great to see Margo in the show once again. Character of the Episode: BoJack. Conclusion: This was a creative, funny, meaningful, and entertaining episode. I may be going a bit high on this, but the episode was such a blast and provided an experience totally different from everything else in this show. This season has had some great concept episodes, and I hope we continue to see more throughout the show's run. Score: 72
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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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