I watch a ton of television, and I mean a ton. I checked my profile - I've rated 1,678 episodes of television before. 1,678. Out of those, only 25 have ever received a perfect 10. Ever. It's never happened to an episode of "Bojack Horseman" before. It has now.
This is, without doubt, the best episode of "Bojack Horseman" that the show has ever graced us with. I haven't watched the finale yet. Maybe I'll be eating my words, and that'll be even better, but I seriously doubt it. I don't know if "Bojack Horseman" will ever be able to top this episode. Well, they probably will, but this ranks among the greatest episodes of television I've ever seen. And, again, that's quite a bit.
It's hard to describe the magnitude of this episode. It really is. It doesn't feature Diane, Todd, Mr. Peanutbutter, or Princess Carolyn. It features Bojack, his parents, and some characters we get to know through flashbacks. That's it. The episode isn't without humor - Beatrice's father is full of shock-value-offensive quips, much in the style of the show. But most of the episode is a bit reminiscent of "Downer Ending" from season 1. It isn't a drug trip, but it has the feel of one. Physics are denied at every turn. Items and people suddenly appear to suit the story. People are juxtaposed in front of fire, darkness, and anything else that isn't really happening. Time is played with. And yet, it seems like one of the most coherent episodes the show's ever given us. Because despite all that, it makes perfect sense. Everything about this episode makes sense. It explains characters, particularly the parents, it tells the best stand-alone story in the show since "Escape from L.A." (which was, until this episode, the best in the show), and it hides the hand of the writers - the hand that reads 'we own your heart.'
And that's something this show has always been magnificent at - choosing our emotions. Watching this show, the writers have complete and absolute control over what we feel. They're masters at it - it's a level of heart-control that is, frankly, unparalleled in the world of television. When it wants to be funny, it is. When it wants you to be happy, or hopeful, or at least content, you are. And when it wants you to be disgusted with a character - yup. When it wants to drag you through the dirt, with no regard for your well-being and no sympathy for your broken soul, it does. And it's hard to find an example of that better than this one.
The episode takes you on a remarkable journey through the distant and near past alike. The episode is, ironically, named "Time's Arrow," referring to it always "marching forward," but here, the arrow moves back and forth and sideways. Because while real, actual time only moves forward, the human heart, our memories, they collide with each other. I never would've expected to feel bad for Beatrice Horseman. Remember all the horrible things she's said to Bojack over the seasons? But this episode does something ingenious. It turns Beatrice into Bojack. We always knew they were similar, and yet we never fully understood that. We never fully understood Beatrice's hardship. That doesn't excuse her behavior. Bojack's hardship doesn't excuse his, either. But it makes it understandable.
By the end of the episode, you're left in shambles. And then, Bojack does the most decent thing he's ever done on the show. Not long after purposefully bringing his mother down as far as she can reasonably go within the confines of the law, in exchange for ruining the only good relationship in his life, something about his mother's confusion, and recognition of him, strikes a chord - with him and us. And Bojack sits down and humors his mother. Makes her happy. She believes she's in Michigan, and not some hellhole. Twenty-eight minutes ago, we hated Beatrice as much as Bojack did. We hoped to God Bojack would be as cruel as possible. But this episode doesn't end with Bojack's cruelty. It ends with him realizing that his mother's dementia serves as a clean slate. This can be a good relationship in his life. Bojack never had a good mother. Now, to a certain extent, he can. He can have unconditional love. That isn't said. But you can hear it in Arnett and Malick's voices.
To get into the technical reasons this episode is brilliant, I'll be rather brief. Arnett gives his best performance on the show, and it's only beaten by a Emmy-worthy outing from Wendy Malick (as Beatrice). The writing is most certainly up there with "Escape from L.A.;" it might be better. The directing and "cinematography" (well, the way it's animated) is without a doubt the best we've seen from the show (though each Episode 11 blows us away with that kind of thing). And, obviously, it's original. Maybe not quite as original as "Fish Out of Water," but still, even for this show, very inventive.
In truth, I never thought this show would top "Escape from L.A." I didn't even think that it could last episode. But this half-hour proved me very, very wrong and topped, surpassed, and left "Escape from L.A." far behind in the dust. I cannot stress enough how powerful this episode is. How moving it is. How important is. How incredibly brilliant it is.
In fact the only word that is meaningful enough to describe this episode is this one: A Masterpiece.
This is, without doubt, the best episode of "Bojack Horseman" that the show has ever graced us with. I haven't watched the finale yet. Maybe I'll be eating my words, and that'll be even better, but I seriously doubt it. I don't know if "Bojack Horseman" will ever be able to top this episode. Well, they probably will, but this ranks among the greatest episodes of television I've ever seen. And, again, that's quite a bit.
It's hard to describe the magnitude of this episode. It really is. It doesn't feature Diane, Todd, Mr. Peanutbutter, or Princess Carolyn. It features Bojack, his parents, and some characters we get to know through flashbacks. That's it. The episode isn't without humor - Beatrice's father is full of shock-value-offensive quips, much in the style of the show. But most of the episode is a bit reminiscent of "Downer Ending" from season 1. It isn't a drug trip, but it has the feel of one. Physics are denied at every turn. Items and people suddenly appear to suit the story. People are juxtaposed in front of fire, darkness, and anything else that isn't really happening. Time is played with. And yet, it seems like one of the most coherent episodes the show's ever given us. Because despite all that, it makes perfect sense. Everything about this episode makes sense. It explains characters, particularly the parents, it tells the best stand-alone story in the show since "Escape from L.A." (which was, until this episode, the best in the show), and it hides the hand of the writers - the hand that reads 'we own your heart.'
And that's something this show has always been magnificent at - choosing our emotions. Watching this show, the writers have complete and absolute control over what we feel. They're masters at it - it's a level of heart-control that is, frankly, unparalleled in the world of television. When it wants to be funny, it is. When it wants you to be happy, or hopeful, or at least content, you are. And when it wants you to be disgusted with a character - yup. When it wants to drag you through the dirt, with no regard for your well-being and no sympathy for your broken soul, it does. And it's hard to find an example of that better than this one.
The episode takes you on a remarkable journey through the distant and near past alike. The episode is, ironically, named "Time's Arrow," referring to it always "marching forward," but here, the arrow moves back and forth and sideways. Because while real, actual time only moves forward, the human heart, our memories, they collide with each other. I never would've expected to feel bad for Beatrice Horseman. Remember all the horrible things she's said to Bojack over the seasons? But this episode does something ingenious. It turns Beatrice into Bojack. We always knew they were similar, and yet we never fully understood that. We never fully understood Beatrice's hardship. That doesn't excuse her behavior. Bojack's hardship doesn't excuse his, either. But it makes it understandable.
By the end of the episode, you're left in shambles. And then, Bojack does the most decent thing he's ever done on the show. Not long after purposefully bringing his mother down as far as she can reasonably go within the confines of the law, in exchange for ruining the only good relationship in his life, something about his mother's confusion, and recognition of him, strikes a chord - with him and us. And Bojack sits down and humors his mother. Makes her happy. She believes she's in Michigan, and not some hellhole. Twenty-eight minutes ago, we hated Beatrice as much as Bojack did. We hoped to God Bojack would be as cruel as possible. But this episode doesn't end with Bojack's cruelty. It ends with him realizing that his mother's dementia serves as a clean slate. This can be a good relationship in his life. Bojack never had a good mother. Now, to a certain extent, he can. He can have unconditional love. That isn't said. But you can hear it in Arnett and Malick's voices.
To get into the technical reasons this episode is brilliant, I'll be rather brief. Arnett gives his best performance on the show, and it's only beaten by a Emmy-worthy outing from Wendy Malick (as Beatrice). The writing is most certainly up there with "Escape from L.A.;" it might be better. The directing and "cinematography" (well, the way it's animated) is without a doubt the best we've seen from the show (though each Episode 11 blows us away with that kind of thing). And, obviously, it's original. Maybe not quite as original as "Fish Out of Water," but still, even for this show, very inventive.
In truth, I never thought this show would top "Escape from L.A." I didn't even think that it could last episode. But this half-hour proved me very, very wrong and topped, surpassed, and left "Escape from L.A." far behind in the dust. I cannot stress enough how powerful this episode is. How moving it is. How important is. How incredibly brilliant it is.
In fact the only word that is meaningful enough to describe this episode is this one: A Masterpiece.
