Summary: The story is framed by a married couple telling stories of their clients to each other. BoJack is distressed by his mother's death but is struggling to express it. He wants to talk with Diane, but she needs space from BoJack after hearing the tape. Diane tells BoJack her therapist says she shouldn't talk to him so BoJack storms off to see the therapist and ends up becoming her client unintentionally. Diane is furious and leaves, but BoJack also leaves when he realizes this is therapy and not just a new friend. Diane and BoJack argue and Diane writes a scene into Philbert that mirrors what happened to BoJack in New Mexico. Princess Carolyn and Todd have a disagreement when Todd accuses her of stealing his cheese string. After some drama, they end up working it out and Todd gives Princess Carolyn a new office.
The Good: This episode has such a creative concept behind it that makes it so much more interesting. This could easily just be a normal story exploring two separate conflicts but instead the episode goes the extra mile and tells a vast majority of the story from the perspective of a married couple swapping stories in a restaurant. This is a breath of fresh air, and it leads to several hilarious jokes involving the characters who are now alternate versions of themselves. The new intro with "BoBo the Angsty Zebra" is fantastic, and the rest of the episode is filled with similarly comedic characters. Flippy the dolphin is really funny, Todd being "Emperor Fingerface" for some reason is really amusing, and I got a real laugh out of the simplicity of "Mr. Chocolate Hazelnut Spread". I also like that the character of each of the wives is established with how they name the characters. Indira isn't particularly creative and just makes character names sound laughably similar to what they actually are, while Mary-Beth comes up with outrageously left field ideas to describe everyone. It's consistently entertaining and I got a lot of laughs out of seeing what variations of existing characters we will get. The storytelling is pretty good too. I thought that BoJack and Diane's conflict was very realistic. BoJack's way to handle problems has always been to clamour for attention without outright asking for it, leading to nobody actually caring. So he just ends up complaining to whoever will listen to him, which is usually Diane. However, Diane wants to stay away from him this time and that puts BoJack in an awkward place. He desperately needs to talk to someone but his one friend he usually relies on is unavailable. To make matters worse, Mr. Peanutbutter continues to make him feel bad about himself because of how BoJack is unable to connect with people like he does. It's amusing to see everyone console Mr. Peanutbutter on a loss that doesn't ring true like it does for BoJack, and it's easy to understand his frustration. Meanwhile, Diane just needs some time to process what she heard on the tape and collect her thoughts regarding BoJack. But he doesn't give her the opportunity because he ends up going to her therapist (courtesy of some awful advice from Indira) and even steals her therapist away. Indira is pretty deplorable here to cause all of this chaos, and you can't help but feel bad for Diane who has now lost her safe space to BoJack. Their eventual argument at the end of the episode feels earned, and it makes sense that Diane would lash out angrily at BoJack considering what she knows and how her morality will not let her stand for BoJack's awful behaviour. This was a well written story that perfectly captures how frustrations can lead to a divide in friendships. The end of the episode is a perfect catharsis for everything. Diane is fed up by BoJack relating with her and thinking they are the same because she knows that he crossed a boundary that she never will cross. And his stubborn refusal to do therapy pushes her over the edge, doing something that will most certainly hurt BoJack and could potentially undo all of the progress he has made to become a better person. Diane writes a scene for Flip and makes it so that the character BoJack is playing will be struggling with the very same past mistake that BoJack is dealing with, forcing BoJack to relive his nightmare every single day. It's a cruel and vindictive thing to do, and it's heartbreaking to see BoJack realize what Diane has done and that she knows about what happened. We know BoJack has been trying to get better, and it's sad to see that he is unable to escape from his past mistakes, even if he justifiably should be condemned for what he's done. This is a dark and complicated moment that really made me think about what is justifiable and who is in the right in this fight between BoJack and Diane. Princess Carolyn and Todd's B-story doesn't add much (see: The Bad), but it's a decent way to flesh out their relationship more. I was especially amused by the cheese string reveal at the end of the storyline, which had been subtly set up by some dramatic drumrolls any time Todd reached for his pen earlier in the episode. There are some little things as always. The various iterations of our main characters were quite funny, and I love that the show went all out with making a new intro featuring BoBo instead of BoJack. I enjoyed Mary-Beth quite a bit because her mediation tactics were laughably simplistic. Her flowchart in the background called "Mary-Beth's mediation map" is laughably simplistic and utterly useless. I also quite liked the 4th wall breaking joke as Mary-Beth and Indira talk about how it will be better to intertwine their stories as a tongue-in-cheek reference to how TV shows handle A-stories and B-stories. Lastly, I really liked the jab at cliched action movies with the "barf me a river fartbags" line during the intense submarine shootout. The Bad: The Todd/Princess Carolyn story feels completely pointless. It has been a pattern in this season where the side stories don't go anywhere interesting and only serve to provide a comedic B-story. Previous seasons had more substance to their side stories, but this season has not offered the same storytelling depth. Instead we get what is basically a typical animated comedy storyline that doesn't offer much outside of the novelty of the episode's main premise. The Unknown: I imagine that BoJack will tell Diane the full story of New Mexico at some point. What happens when Diane finds out? Will they reconnect, or will this destroy their friendship? Best Moment: The final scene is done very well as BoJack slowly realizes that this submarine scene has been maliciously inspired by his most shameful moment in real life. Character of the Episode: Diane. Conclusion: Another creative episode, this time one that is rooted in the compelling developing conflict between BoJack and Diane. The story was good and I got some of the biggest laughs of the season out of this one. Score: 73
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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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