Summary: Mr. Peanutbutter is running for governor and Diane is supporting him but clearly just wants it to be over. However, his campaign continues and he challenges the current governor Woodchuck to a ski race. Woodchuck refuses saying he will only accept if it's in the constitution, which Katrina makes happen. The ski race happens and Mr. Peanutbutter gets destroyed, but Todd, who started riding around in a drone throne earlier, falls into the race and wins, becoming governor. He immediately resigns and starts an election. Princess Carolyn is pregnant but she miscarries. She accepts Ralph's invitation to move in and they decide to try to conceive.
The Good: It was neat to get an episode where BoJack was entirely absent, and I appreciate how the episode poked fun at this in numerous ways. The episode opens with Mr. Peanutbutter getting his sitcom role in hilarious fashion, where the executives are talking about "doing the show about the horse without the horse". The episode then closes with a unique version of "Back in the 90s" where the lyrics instead describe Mr. Peanutbutter. I liked the idea behind this, and it resulted in a unique and fun episode. We get to see the extent of Mr. Peanutbutter's charm and charisma on display in this episode. Considering the time period that this episode was released, I'm sure that this is meant to be a satire of politicians like Donald Trump, highlighting how having the "it" factor can lead to entirely uneducated politicians seizing control of the masses using their people powers. It was amusing to see Mr. Peanutbutter's energy completely block out the will of Woodchuck, who is obviously a well-trained politician. Mr. Peanutbutter's ski race idea is laughably horrible, and it's amusing to see Katrina make it officially become part of the constitution in such a stupid way, culminating in the building of a bridge to Hawaii, perhaps the stupidest political decision that anyone could ever make. The cherry on top is the sheer ridiculousness that comes from the ski race. We have fantastic laughs throughout from Mr. Peanutbutter going to ski school with the most intentionally cliched training arc imaginable, to Todd somehow becoming governor of California in his subplot, but giving it up because he's "not into labels right now". I enjoyed Diane's role in the episode as well. With such absurdity going on around her, she needs an outlet for these emotions that she's not allowed to let out under the guise of being a supportive wife. So she calls BoJack to let out her real thoughts, creating a unique narration aspect in this episode. But Diane unintentionally makes things worse and ultimately drives Mr. Peanutbutter further into this election as a result of her hiding her true feelings. Lots of little things of course. The waitress being dressed in royal garb and saying "this cow loves getting tipped" is pretty funny. We get more amusing news headlines including an update on Margo Martindale being presumed dead (noo!), a "lobster mobster caught red-handed", and "study finds news ticker headlines to be more distracting than informative". I really enjoyed Andre Braugher's role as Woodchuck and I think he is perfectly cast for this role. I was happy to see that A Ryan Seacrest Type survived BoJack smashing into him last season. Lastly, I was amused by the presence of a polar bear in a t-shirt during the ski race. The Bad: This episode feels like it is missing something. There's lots of goofiness and fun, and decent satire of the 2016 election, but the heart to this episode seems to be missing. Most episodes of "BoJack Horseman" manage to tell an additional story on top of the comedy, but this episode left a lot to be desired in that regard. I suspect that BoJack's absence contributes a lot to this. He is usually the center of the show's most compelling storytelling, and his absence is felt with nobody else stepping up with compelling internal conflict to anchor the episode. As a result, this episode is fine comedy, but it fails to nail that balance between comedy and heavy storytelling that "BoJack Horseman" has done so well in the past two seasons. The Unknown: What's the significance of Princess Carolyn's miscarriage? Will this be a recurring problem for her? She is over 40 now, so her fertility will have gone down. Will Mr. Peanutbutter actually become governor? His campaign has finally tasted some success. Where is BoJack? Why has he gone missing for so long? Why isn't he responding to Diane's calls? Best Moment: Todd becoming governor over the stupidest of rules and giving it up immediately. A perfect Todd moment if I've ever seen one. Character of the Episode: Mr. Peanutbutter. Conclusion: "BoJack Horseman" made a bold move to have an episode without BoJack, and unfortunately his presence was missed. While I appreciate the ambition, it didn't pay off because the compelling emotional drama brought on by BoJack's presence was sorely missed in this episode. The result is a decent enough comedy episode, but unfortunately it's still one of the weakest episodes since the first season. Score: 60
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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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