Summary: Hollyhock passes out in BoJack's bathroom during a game of uno. She is taken to a hospital and BoJack can't get an update until her eight dads arrive. He learns she overdosed on amphetamines and is not allowed to see her. BoJack discovers Beatrice had been spiking Hollyhock's coffee. Angrily, BoJack takes her to a bad retirement home to leave her there, but she says his name. Woodchuck and Jessica Biel continue to have a ridiculous political battle, but Diane seals Woodchuck's victory by publishing an article on how Jessica Biel hates avocados. Todd's clown dentist venture comes under fire and he has to perform a show to keep it alive. Todd helps Princess Carolyn secure a job opportunity by meeting with Turteltaub to propose a TV show. She forges a signature to attach BoJack to the project. Todd's show is not good enough and he has to shut down his business.
The Good: The structure of this episode is really unique as we get to see three separate storylines told in their entirety back to back to back. All three storylines are fun, with the tone becoming more and more serious with each storyline. The first storyline shows the conclusion to the political storyline that's been going all season, and it more than delivers a satisfying conclusion. The political angle has been ridiculous since minute one, and it ends on a suitably stupid note. The montage of Woodchuck's hand-related rivalry with Jessica Biel is quite funny with a lot of amusing little details. Could there have been more thematic relevance and seriousness to this political storyline? Maybe. But the show chose not to do that and was very consistent with the ridiculousness, so it worked overall. The story also had the underlying role of creating more distance between Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane. Even in this episode, Diane comes up with such a stupid plan to ruin Jessica Biel, and it worked spectacularly well, but she has to put up with Mr. Peanutbutter acting like this was a team effort. Tensions between them have been set up well throughout the season. The second storyline features Todd and Princess Carolyn. Princess Carolyn is obviously in a bad place right now after all that happened, but she finds a calling in making this new TV show that personally appeals to her by being called "Philbert". Even still, she's in no fit state to pull this off herself, so Todd has to help her make this a reality, once more showing his giving side. The ridiculous caper with the clowns setting up a meeting with Turteltaub is pretty funny, and I love that earlier in the episode we inexplicably see Princess Carolyn flying through the sky in the background, setting up this moment. Todd's clown dentists look like they have run their course after the performance failed, but they brought a lot of levity to this show and were a joke that worked exceptionally well. Lastly, we get to the BoJack storyline which is far more serious as Hollyhock gets sent to the hospital. Perhaps the most painful thing about this fall for BoJack is that he doesn't know what he did wrong this time. Sure, he didn't notice Hollyhock's appearance changing because he's ignorant when it comes to these things, but outside of that, he didn't do anything outrageously wrong like trying to have sex with Penny or leading Sarah Lynn to her death. That makes this loss so much more painful for him, and it gets worse when he discovers the true culprit: Beatrice. Ultimately he believes his mistake was bringing Beatrice into his house, and watching him lash out at her was sad and affecting. The episode ends on a curious cliffhanger with Beatrice finally recognizing him, and I'm interested to see what happens next (see: The Unknown). Lots of little things in this episode. I enjoyed BoJack playing uno like he was playing poker. The story of Woodchuck's hands was really funny, and there are so many funny newspaper clippings that are absolutely worth pausing to read. My favourite aspect of them is the recurring "Baby Billy the Balloon Man", a 17 year old with dwarfism giving his opinions on hands. Tom gets a great line here after Jessica Biel accuses Woodchuck of taking hands from a pedophile/murderer, saying "well if you have to murder somebody". The saga of Mr. Peanutbutter's banners continues with the latest entry "hooray for Woodchuck and if he doesn't win write I'm sorry Woodchuck". The Bad: Nothing I'd call bad. The side stories aren't nearly as interesting as what's going on with BoJack and Hollyhock, but I would not call them bad by any means. The Unknown: Will BoJack be okay with working on Philbert? How will he react to Princess Carolyn forging his signature? Will this new TV show get Princess Carolyn back on her feet? Will BoJack ever see Hollyhock again? Is there any way that he can make up for what he did? How will BoJack react to Beatrice finally recognizing him? What's next for Todd after his latest business venture failed? Best Moment: BoJack's terror after realizing he was responsible for what happened to Hollyhock was sad and painful to watch, but even better was the immediate realization we saw afterwards that Beatrice was the one spiking the coffee. BoJack's rage and frustration was very real, and seeing him unleash it against Beatrice who no longer understands anything in her current state is really sad. Character of the Episode: BoJack. Conclusion: This episode had a weirdly fun structure featuring three easy to enjoy stories while setting up the season's endgame. Not one of the show's best episodes, but a very easy one to enjoy. Score: 68
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|