- I think I'm depressed.
- Yeah?
- It started when I was having trouble with my book
and then it kind of snowballed into my boyfriend saying
I should take antidepressants.
- Are you going to?
- What's the point?
- Of antidepressants?
I believe the point is to be anti-depressed.
- Sure or you just flip over the nothing
and underneath there's more nothing.
(lively guitar music)
- [Dan] Over six seasons, BoJack Horseman,
has delivered a groundbreaking,
nuanced exploration of mental health.
It has subverted expectations around animated shows
and sitcom structure to deliver a single, narrative arc,
exploring not just the reality of living with mental illness
but also examining it's many root causes
and knock on effects.
- I can't keep lying to myself,
saying I'm gonna change, I'm poison.
- BoJack.
- I come from poison, I have poison inside me
and I destroy everything I touch.
That's my legacy.
- [Dan] In BoJack Horseman,
the world doesn't reset at the end of every episode
and as such, every action sooner or later has a consequence.
- So you don't know where Sarah Lynn got the heroin from?
- I have no idea.
- Alrighty then, that's the only question I had.
- I mean, of course, I knew she was doing a lot of drugs,
but that's who she was, who I was.
Felt like we could keep partying forever
and it wouldn't catch up with us.
- [Dan] In the first few seasons the camera
was fixed firmly on BoJack himself.
A middle aged, fading star, suffering the twin perils
of addiction and depression.
The cycles of which he found himself unable to escape.
- [BoJack] You stupid alcoholic, talk to your daughter.
You're ruining her, you know that, right?
No matter what, your poison is already in her,
there's nothing you can do.
That's not true.
Yeah, it is, you stupid piece of shit.
You're a real stupid piece of shit
and everywhere you go, you destroy people.
- [Dan] But in recent seasons,
the lens has shifted somewhat.
Zoomed out, expanding the scope of the stories being told
and giving us a broader view of depression, anxiety, PTSD
and dementia.
Attempting to document the many masks
that mental illness wears.
- Okay, yeah, I've been a little depressed but I'm not,
like, depressed, I don't have depression.
- [Dan] By spending time with the supporting characters
and showing us more of the struggles they're dealing with,
season six, as a whole, and episode seven in particular
is dispelling the myth
that mental illness only affects certain people
and deconstructing the question,
what does depression look like?
- What is depression?
- Depression.
- Who is depression?
- You or someone you love.
- Where is depression?
- A grassy field, perhaps.
- If any of these words describe you or your feelings,
you may suffer from.
- Depression. - Depression.
(somber music)
- [Dan] In episode seven, BoJack, fresh out of rehab
and on a mission to make amends,
travels the country checking in with
his now disparate friends and loved ones.
- So what're you gonna do now?
Just keep getting lunch with your friends?
- There was a stewardess in the meeting,
she was talking about how everyday she wakes up
in a different place.
I thought, that sounds perfect.
Every city, a clean slate.
- Stewardess?
I think the preferred term is flight servant.
- [Dan] Throughout season six, BoJack,
has been working through the 12 steps
and struggling with both reality and his identity.
Now he's sober, if he doesn't hate himself then who is he?
- Of course, you did this to me, because I cared about you
and you ruin people who care about you.
- Well, best of luck.
- I want you to remember this, BoJack.
I want you to remember what you did to me.
(forlorn music)
- I remember everything.
I'm sober now.
- [Dan] We followed him through chemical highs
and ever lower lows but against the odds, by this episode,
BoJack is finally making good choices.
While those around him are seeming to stumble,
he is the one who has made the most progress towards balance
and wellness.
- Okay, you got me.
My parents gave me an internalized self hatred of horses
so my horse body is a prison that I can never escape.
This manifests in rotten behavior
because I subconsciously believe
I deserve to be punished but being famous,
I'm never punished so I act out even more
and since this pattern is so woven into my identity
it is unfathomable to me that it can ever be curbed
so instead I drink!
- Check, please!
- So the only way I can progress is to return
to my life as a sober man
and finally hold myself accountable for my actions,
past and future.
Oh, my God, is this what therapy is?
- [Dan] His friends are in pain.
Each at a crossroads.
Transitioning between life stages, jobs and relationships.
- It's so amazing to hold a baby and look at it sleep
and think, this is a perfect thing.
- I can't imagine.
- It's weird to think that at one point someone held me in
their hands and thought,
I'm going to love this kid forever, you know?
What happened?
- What happened to what?
- I dunno.
Moms are weird, right?
- Yeah.
- [Dan] BoJack has no answers but he's present.
For the first time in a long time, he's turning up.
He's a terrible listener but he's trying.
- I need my job!
I love my job!
- Okay!
- It's just, there's always so much stupid bullshit
to take care of there.
- Aren't you the boss?
Why are you doing the stupid bullshit?
- I dunno.
- Hey, my only responsibility right now is to not drink
and I'm barely getting by.
You are producing a show, running a company,
catering to your clients, raising a child, a tod,
you need your own Princess Carolyn to take care of you.
- [Dan] And though he does offer comfort,
he realizes during these visits that he can only do so much.
The ripples of his self destruction spread further
than simple words can reach.
- I was in a bad way and Sarah Lynn followed me down
because she thought I was a safe place.
What have I done?
- [Dan] The one friend BoJack can help
is the only one who isn't struggling, Mr. Peanutbutter,
a pathologically happy yellow lab,
is being publicly vilified for cheating on his fiance
until Princess Carolyn convinces the world
that he's depressed.
He's called a hero for speaking up
and is named the national face of depression.
Mr. Peanutbutter is not even sure what depression is
but he's pretty sure he doesn't have it.
- I am
not depressed.
(gasping)
- Wait, how can you know that?
- Well I feel very happy.
Oh, I know, just as I suspected, half full.
- That is a troubling development.
- And right before our tour!
I would be quite upset by this if I were at all prone
to depression which as we've just established, I am not.
- But isn't it possible that you are depressed
and just don't know it.
- Well I do frequently not know things.
- According to the literature for this tour
that I did not read, but had my mom peruse
and then paraphrase for me,
people who seem happy can actually be the most depressed.
- Oh, no, I seem very happy!
- I know!
- But, wait, you seem happy too.
- Oh, no, does that mean I'm also depressed?
- Oh, good thing we're going on this tour.
- We gotta get the word out.
- [Dan] This is BoJack at it's best.
The very real issues affecting
Mr. Peanutbutter's friends and loved ones are made
a mockery of by his sudden celebrity.
What the show is doing is exactly what depression does.
It undercuts you at every turn.
- You're looking at the national face of depression.
- You're the national face of depression?
- Yup.
- This face?
- Uh-huh.
- You're depressed?
- [Dan] Literally any other character in the show would be
a more suitable face of depression
but the overwhelmingly positive, Mr. Peanutbutter,
is the only face the public will accept.
Everyone else is, well, too depressing.
- Well, I gotta say, I am having the time
of my life being depressed.
- [Dan] Is this willingness to poke fun
at the most difficult aspects of mental health
that makes BoJack so good.
The humor helps balance the dark and the heartfelt
and ensures that on the occasions the writers swap
a complex punchline for a simple gut punch.
BoJack is rarely short of devastating.
- [BoJack Voiceover] The main thing I think about
is how stupid I am that I didn't do this sooner.
I wasted so many years being miserable
because I assumed that was the only way to be.
I don't wanna do that anymore.
(somber music)
Also, am I crazy
or have I gotten really good at writing letters?
- [Dan] The road to recovery isn't just 12 big steps,
it's 1000 small ones.
BoJack is making tiny,
incremental leaps in the right direction on his journey to
a destination he may never arrive at.
Certainly not before the show ends but that's the struggle.
For all of us.
Well, unwell and in between.
It's the journey and, yes, the friends we make along the way
that make it all worthwhile.
Everyone is struggling.
None of us are alone.
(inspirational music)
- You do this thing where you don't think you can ever
be forgiven so you don't apologize
but I can't forgive you if you don't say you're sorry.
- Okay.
I'm sorry.
- Thank you.
That's all I wanted.
- I'm sorry.
- I love you.
- I love you too!
Come here.
- That's it?
- Come on.
Let's dance. - Yeah!
BoJack!
- [Dan] But creator, Raphael Bob-Waksberg,
is too savvy to suggest that BoJack is all better
or that depression is an illness that can be cured.
This show is all about the ebb and flow of life.
The natural ups and downs.
It's about the day after happily ever after
and the day after that.
- [BoJack] So the thing I keep thinking about is,
was it worth it for Beverly to be happy for
a little bit even though it ended up sad
or would it have been better
if the whole thing never happened?
- [Dan] At the end of episode seven, BoJack,
visits a historical reenactment town where he attends
a church service.
- It is only when we show ourselves forgiveness
and mercy that we truly live a life of grace.
That we are reborn!
Turn to the horse next to you and offer a sign of grace
and peace in the name of the Lord.
- [Church Goers] Peace, peace be with you.
- [Dan] He offers enthusiast affirmations of,
may peace be with you, to his fellow patrons
but peace is not with him,
not yet, just as he is attending a facsimile of
a historical church service, BoJack feels like he is
a facsimile of a real person
or horse.
He's walking the walk of wellness.
But it feels pretend.
The question BoJack is left with, is this,
when you've spent the better part
of your adult life wrecking everything you touch,
how do you begin to reckon with the ruins?
- I bought into this idea that I was the thing
that couldn't be changed so the reason I came to Chicago is
I wanted to thank you for believing in me when I didn't
and for encouraging me to accept the help I needed.
- [Dan] BoJack's face is the very face we think of when
we think of the face of depression.
When your illness is so tied to your identity,
can you ever truly leave that identity behind?
And who would you be without it?
It remains to be seen whether BoJack can forgive himself
for the pain he's caused
or if his forthcoming self-judgment day
will see him tumble back into the depths of depression,
addiction and loneliness.
Season six started with a reference to the well known joke.
A horse walks into rehab.
So why the long face?
After five and a half seasons, we're still finding out.
(lighthearted music)