Summary: BoJack confesses to Hollyhock that Carla Mercedes Benzbrown doesn't exist. Hollyhock convinces BoJack to take her to meet Beatrice. When they arrive, Beatrice has dementia and can't remember BoJack. BoJack tries to make her remember but fails and Beatrice has a violent breakdown, getting kicked out of the retirement home. BoJack decides to take her in since she has very little time left. Princess Carolyn's Ms. Taken project is in danger with the prevalence of real life mass shootings. Diane writes an article on Courtney's use of guns and gains a lot of popularity. Women start walking around with guns, causing guns to be banned in California. The Ms. Taken project ultimately gets cancelled.
The Good: Here's the seasonal political-themed episode, and this one has a lot of fun with taking a stance on gun laws and exploring the inherent hypocrisy within society when it comes to this issue. Diane is a great viewpoint for this issue, and it's fun how she goes from anti-gun to writing a great article on how she came to love guns and felt safer with them. There's a lot that's correct and a lot that's wrong with this idea, and I like how the episode points out the issue here and then promptly has the American society ignore the main issue and simply ban guns because of the ridiculous idea that one woman doing a mass shooting is one too many, while men are seemingly allowed to do it as much as ever without major consequences. It's a funny bit of storytelling and it works really well. I also liked the cruel view on mass shootings that Hollywood execs have, as they only fret on how these shootings affect their movie productions. Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter's relationship gets a little bit of progress in this episode, and I enjoy it. The way they have compartmentalized their lives by arguing viciously on the news before having angry, aggressive sex later in the day. That scene was fun. BoJack's story is a central part of the episode, and it's pretty solid. I'm pleased to see his relationship with his mother come under deep focus, and his antics are amusing. Of course Hollyhock is horrified by BoJack's horrific treatment of Beatrice, but our prior knowledge combined with the flashbacks in this episode remind us of how terrible Beatrice has been to BoJack since the very beginning. She has earned this resentment, and even if BoJack does sometimes go too far, you can understand why. The episode strikes a good balance by having BoJack's cruelty reduced to extreme pettiness, making it quite funny to see him lash out at his mother in subtle ways. The episode has some surprisingly profound moments too with BoJack expressing frustration at his mother's condition, and his momentary confusion when Beatrice praised him on Horsin' Around, something he never expected her to do. Lastly, I loved BoJack's interactions with Princess Carolyn as he gives her a genuinely profound apology before completely undoing it by revealing that he's only calling her to find out where his mother is. This was simultaneously sad and hilarious. Lots of little things as always. The movie posters were fun with "Americanine Shooter" being my personal favourite. Other great animal jokes include "Chelsea Parrotti", and an old cat playing with the ball of yarn used for knitting at the senior's home. Mr. Peanutbutter's banner woes continue as his latest attempt says "PB for Governor, is Governor spelled with an e or an o". Todd gets in a nice pumped up kicks reference as he tries to explain the shootings in his own dumb way. The news headlines tell a very fun story about the president's obsession with a ball and cup game. The many article titles in this episode are brilliant with my favourite appearing on Princess Carolyn's computer saying "owning a gun may increase female fertility". Stuart being scared by two women walking around sporting half a dozen guns was amusing. Lastly, A Ryan Seacrest Type gets one of the episode's best lines by saying "as a straight white male I will plow forwards with confidence and assume I'm doing fine". The Bad: The political aspect of this episode was not as good as in previous seasons. This is because the gun story is shallower than the topics explored in previous seasons, and the plot feels like it has been manufactured specifically for this episode, whereas in previous seasons the story has naturally fit in with existing character arcs. Diane, Princess Carolyn, and Todd's main storylines are put on hold to have this episode, and it's noticeable with how out-of-nowhere this episode is. The Unknown: When will Beatrice die? How will BoJack react? How will the changed gun laws affect the show? I feel like this is the kind of story to have some role in continuity later in the season. Best Moment: Diane saying "I can't believe this country hates women more than it loves gun" was the perfect punchline in the gun laws storyline. Character of the Episode: Hollyhock. I really like her. Conclusion: A solid episode with good storytelling progression, though the comparatively shallow political exploration let this episode down a little bit. Score: 66
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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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