Summary: A flashback shows Butterscotch picking up BoJack late after soccer and ranting to him about Beatrice and life in general. In the present, BoJack gives an extended eulogy for his mother but it turns out he was at the wrong funeral.
The Good: It was a genius idea to have this episode be one long monologue. Well technically two if you count the flashback sequence as well, but it's still the same brilliant idea. A whole episode of listening to BoJack speak and process his mother's death as a way to dive into the character deeper than we have ever gone before. This concept is basically the inverse of season 3's fantastic "Fish Out of Water", and it is every bit as effective. The whole premise is BoJack giving a eulogy, in which he amusingly uses his stand-up comedy skills to make it more entertaining. Throughout this self-indulgent, emotionally messy speech, we get to learn more and more about BoJack's past, unearthing new details we never knew, while also exploring his current mental state and why it has been so hard for him to deal with his parents dying even though he never even liked them. The episode handles this stuff superbly well and I can't wait to dive into what this episode had to offer. First and foremost, BoJack's grief for his mother is crushingly sad. What makes it so impactful is that the episode doesn't outwardly show his pain, instead it subtly reveals it underneath the surface of a man who is trying to stay put together and explain this pain that he can't seem to understand. The loss of an abusive parent is so much more complex than just losing a parent, and I love that this episode cared to address the contradictory feelings that one experiences in this situation. It's the accuracy to reality which makes this so affecting and so painful. So many little things are perfectly accurate. BoJack's jokes about his dead mother scream defence mechanism to save himself from hurting too much. I also absolutely loved seeing BoJack ranting about the bad parts about his mother, and yet still finding solace in one of the few beautiful memories he had: when his father would come out to watch her dance at parties. The only moment when the monologue stopped all episode was for a brief bit of recollection in this moment as BoJack remembers the one hopeful memory he had. And just like in real life, it's gone in a flash and we see him snap back to reality and the eulogy he is giving. Brutal stuff. The obvious highlight of the episode for me is BoJack trying to attribute meaning to his mother's "I See You" (see: Best Moment). He dwells on this for a long period, going through the rational and emotional aspects of his brain in trying to figure out what it all meant, before discovering the truth towards the end of the episode in a heartbreaking moment. This is all outstanding storytelling, and a compelling dive into the character of BoJack and the episode's theme of the complicated grief after losing family members. The episode started away from BoJack's monologue in an interesting flashback sequence where we get another horrifying snapshot of BoJack's life when his father comes to pick him up. The sequence is horrible as Butterscotch rambles on and on, somehow saying worse and worse things every sentence while a hurt and angry BoJack cowers, looking outside the car window. Anyone who has experienced similar ravings from a parent can understand and connect to BoJack, and the scene is fantastically written. It does hold some storytelling weight to it as well since Butterscotch advises BoJack that he can never rely on other people and that he's all alone. It's an awful thing to say to your own kid, but ironically, Butterscotch telling this to BoJack accomplishes the opposite. Instead of believing he is alone, BoJack lived a life in denial of this fact, waiting for it to be proven wrong because he so desperately wanted some sort of affection from his awful parents. But as BoJack repeats Butterscotch's dialogue about how good it is that he learned not to rely on others at Beatrice's funeral, it's clear that BoJack has finally been defeated by this lesson. That's a tragic overarching theme for this episode, and it's told naturally with such great attention to detail to make it all the more devastating. More on Butterscotch, we learned quite a bit about him. We never knew how he passed away, but now we get the half-funny, half-sad reveal that he died after tripping and falling during a duel because people didn't like his novel. It's painfully ironic and exemplifies all of Butterscotch's worst character traits, but you can only imagine how this would have affected BoJack and Beatrice. It also stemmed one of the episode's best lines: "my husband is dead and everything is worse now", a line that is explored in great depth by BoJack throughout the episode. Before I ramble on about every little thing I loved about this episode, I'll go ahead and talk about the ending. After BoJack finally finds some clarity and closure for saying goodbye to his mother, he decides to do an open casket and honour the one thing he knew his mother wanted. It's here that we're given a fantastic gag to close out the episode as BoJack realizes he was in the wrong funeral parlour and gave this heartfelt eulogy to a dozen lizards who don't even know Beatrice. This is a hilarious and excellent closing joke, but it also reflects BoJack's character perfectly. This eulogy is incredibly self-indulgent, which is what we expect of BoJack who has always struggled to see things outside of his point of view. Him not even noticing that he might be in the wrong room is perfectly in-character with someone who is so self-obsessed that he doesn't think a single thought about the audience members, failing to even realize that he's at the wrong funeral. It's fantastic, it's fitting, and it ends the episode on the right note. I've got a few other small bits that I want to touch on before finishing this review. I loved the gag with the musician, who always seemed to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. It was amusing and added to the feeling that BoJack was using his stand-up skills to get by with this eulogy. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing BoJack reference his attempt to save Todd back in "Out to Sea" when he's talking about how a grand gesture of love isn't enough to make up for consistent failings. It's clear that BoJack has taken the incident to heart and regrets what happened with Todd, but he understands that he failed as a friend, which is a beautiful detail to include. The story about how he got a free churro was a good way to kick off the speech since it's BoJack contemplating something odd he couldn't quite explain (getting a free churro because your mother died). It sets the right tone for the contemplative nature of his eulogy, and it also gets called back brilliantly at the end with BoJack referencing the kindness of the stranger giving him a free churro in contrast to his mother's cruelty. Lastly, as a writer I couldn't help but chuckle when Butterscotch talked about his unique sentence that went on for pages and pages. If only we could have a chance to read his novel, I'm sure it was awful. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: Will BoJack ever find peace after his mother's passing? How will this affect him going forwards? Best Moment: BoJack's realization that "I see you" was actually "ICU". This is a crushing realization for BoJack who had blissfully tries to use this final line as closure, perhaps just one moment where his mother recognized him. But it was false, and the realization launches BoJack into a heartfelt rant where he gets to address his disappointment and frustration in his mother and why it still hurts to lose her. Consistent with how BoJack learned everything from TV, he compares his feeling for her passing to his feelings for the TV show "Becker", a profound way for him to communicate his feelings in a way we don't usually see from him. In an incredible and profound monologue, this small section stood out the most to me. Character of the Episode: BoJack obviously. Conclusion: One of the best episode's of the show yet, easily. The premise behind this one was creative and unique, and the result was a focused and emotional deep dive into BoJack with some brilliant writing and voice acting. You don't get episodes like these from every TV show. This is a rare gem, and it will go down as one of the most memorable experiences from this show. Score: 86
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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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