Summary: BoJack has no memory of what he has done while the Philbert crew try to clean up the mess. Princess Carolyn talks to him and gets him to do an interview with Gina so that things can continue normally. However, Henry Fondle is ousted as a sexual predator and is forced to resign in shame. Todd kills him and leaves his position. This results in Philbert being cancelled anyways. Princess Carolyn is called by Sadie, who wants to give up her baby again and Princess Carolyn immediately goes to her after Philbert's cancellation, finally becoming a mother. Mr. Peanutbutter is conflicted by his feelings for Diane and they have sex again. He wants to get back together but Diane says she doesn't want to and that he should tell Pickles what happened. However, he's unable to and asks her to marry him instead. BoJack goes to Diane and wants to be held accountable for what he's done but Diane tells him that it won't help anyone. Instead, she takes him to a rehab centre so that he can truly recover.
The Good: The fallout from BoJack strangling Gina was beautifully told. BoJack didn't even remember what he did, but everyone went in complete damage control mode, an indicator of how justice is often pushed aside to protect the bigger picture; it wouldn't do for the company to have controversy surrounding Philbert so they would rather hide it away instead of doing something about it. The most heartbreaking aspect is that Gina is also complicit with it since she doesn't want to see her newfound career go up in flames because of what BoJack did. In the end, BoJack gets a free pass despite doing something absolutely awful, and it's horrifying and sad to see that there is no way for him to atone or be punished because it would just make things worse for the victim. Wanting help with the situation, BoJack goes to Diane because he knows her as someone moral enough to let him be punished. But even Diane is jaded enough by society to understand that BoJack being ousted will not help anyone. But Diane is still able to do some good, and she is able to capitalize on BoJack's shame to get him to go into rehab and put his trust in someone else to guide his recovery. Their final scene together as BoJack heads to rehab is brilliant, an exploration of their friendship which BoJack knows he does not deserve, but Diane finds herself incapable of letting go of. The animators do a great job showing Diane in this scene and they are able to portray her complex emotions towards BoJack in a compelling way. Speaking of Diane, her story with Mr. Peanutbutter is also very well done. I'm glad that she is still firm on not getting back together with him, but the complexity of her emotions leads to her making repeated bad decisions as they hook up multiple times. Mr. Peanutbutter knows he wants to get back together because he still has feeling for her, but Diane's situation is more complicated and her inability to deal with her negative emotions puts her back with Mr. Peanutbutter repeatedly. But she is firm about not wanting to be with him, leaving Mr. Peanutbutter with a real problem now that he has cheated on his current girlfriend. The fall of Henry Fondle has its problems (see: The Bad), but it does offer some good entertainment. After repeated sexual comments, it is amusing that it's a "low battery" warning that gets him in trouble. I was entertained by how Fondle's fall parallels the MeToo movement, and Todd's interview about him is pretty amusing. I got a good laugh out of the line "this is a great day for the women of this company, many of whom will be laid off". I liked the little things as well. Henry Fondle's death being an homage to Of Mice and Men was a clever reference. Tracy and Stuart have to be the most annoyingly incompetent characters in this show, and seeing them be too incompetent to realize that they are each other's long lost twin is a fantastic payoff. There are a few nice animal jokes in here, like a couch with a bed bug hiding in it, and Mr. Peanutbutter referring to the "humany style" sex position. We also get more amusing headlines with my favourite being "US military solves refugee crisis by bombing all refugees". Lastly, I like how Flip's story concluded with him getting lost in the themes of his own show ("I was Princess Carolyn the whole time"), which is also a nice reference to "Mr. Robot" with Rami Malek voicing Flip. The Bad: Henry Fondle was certainly funny, but I think the show went too far with it by making Fondle such a significant plot point in this season finale. It was tough enough to stomach Fondle becoming the CEO to begin with, but now we have people finally feeling offended by him, leading to a forced resignation, the fall of What Time Is It Right Now, and the cancellation of Philbert. Considering how serious the show has treated BoJack strangling Gina and how realistic the fallout from it has been, it is a slap in the face to have the Philbert storyline ended by something so absurd and stupid. It's a step too far in suspending my disbelief, and I'm not happy with the decision to have Henry Fondle be the reason that the Philbert storyline ends. This episode drives home how underutilized Todd and Princess Carolyn were in this season. Todd had a huge new role in What Time Is It Right Now, but he never did anything meaningful or substantial with his new role, barring a few jokes. But now Todd has lost his position and has reverted to the exact same place he was in at the start of the season, making the whole ordeal feel pointless. I wish that Todd had more to do in season 5 so that this did not feel like such a waste of the character. Princess Carolyn's story was similarly underwhelming. She doesn't undergo any significant growth after "The Amelia Earhart Story", but she's rewarded with a baby anyways, which feels like an anticlimax to her adoption story arc. Much like with Todd, I wish this season had done more with her. Because she was so underutilized, the ending of her season 5 story falls flat. The Unknown: Will rehab be able to help BoJack? Is it still possible for him to change and become a better person? How will Princess Carolyn handle being a single mother? What's next for Todd now that he's quit his new position? He can pretty much do whatever he wants. Will Mr. Peanutbutter tell Pickles the truth, or is he going to continue to string her along? Best Moment: The ending scene with Diane sending BoJack away to rehab is heartfelt and beautiful. Character of the Episode: Diane. Conclusion: Barring some disappointing conclusions for Todd and Princess Carolyn, I thought that this episode had some of the strongest storytelling we have seen in a "BoJack Horseman" season finale, especially when it came to the stuff with BoJack and Diane. In the end, season 5 was another great season of "BoJack Horseman". The season's biggest strength came from its creativity with there being a large number of unique gimmick episodes, all of which are the best episodes of the season ("Free Churro", "The Showstopper", "The Dog Days Are Over", "INT. Sub", etc.). This resulted in a number of great standalone episodes that I will remember for a long time. I also have to praise this season's story of relapsing, which was told with realistic depth and subtlety, and becomes a more complete story by the end of the season with BoJack finally deciding to go to rehab. However, I don't enjoy season 5 as much as I enjoyed seasons 3 and 4, and that's likely because of how poorly the season utilized its side characters. Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane had good stuff, but Princess Carolyn and Todd had forgettable stories. The minor characters also felt like a step back as Gina, Flip, and Pickles weren't nearly as interesting or funny as other characters like Hollyhock, Sarah Lynn, Ralph, and Kelsey from previous seasons. Despite this problem, I still found season 5 to be an entertaining and compelling watch, and another strong addition to the show. Score: 70
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
|