Hey Wisecrack, Jared here. Bojack is back.
That means it's time to saddle up and head back to the strange and depressing world
of Hollywoo. Now we've already talked about proto narrative and distraction in
previous videos but this season really dives deep into an idea that's always
been present in the show. That idea: loneliness. Who's comfortable with it,
who's uncomfortable with it, and who takes a hundred painkillers a day to
avoid it at all costs. Through its ensemble of dysfunctional relationships,
Bojack gives us a fresh and quite nuanced perspective on loneliness not
often seen on TV. Can loneliness be healthy or even necessary well let's
find out in this Wisecrack Quick Take on Bojack Horseman season 5 and of course,
spoilers ahead but real quick a shout out to our new channel sponsor Wicks.
We're building a new website using Wix that will have a bunch of fun and
interactive features including a way for you to vote on what we should cover in
an upcoming episode. So more on that at the end of the video but for now back to
Bojack. So first guys, a quick recap. This season revolves around the production of
Bojack's new TV show Philbert where Bojack navigates a semi relationship
with his co-star Gina. Meanwhile Princess Carolyne attempts to adopt a baby,
Todd manages his career as a VP at whattimeisitrightnow.com and Mr. Peanutbutter
and Diane finalized their divorce in an attempt to move on with their
lives. As early as the first line, lowliness is established as a central
theme of the season. "Nothing's lonelier than a party.
Good thing I don't need anyone or I might feel lonesome" and as we'll see, every
major character struggles with this in their own way. Let's start with the most
obvious one: Diane, who is struggling to reconcile her identity as a newly
divorced single woman. We've seen in previous seasons how hard she used to
try to keep up with Mr. Peanutbutter's expectations to be a fun party goer like him.
Having to find herself in relation to him for so long
only made her focus on her supposed shortcomings as an introvert while
abandoning other aspects of herself that she actually liked. "This is all the stuff
that cool twenty-something Diane had to put away when she moved in with old man Peanutbutter.
In episode two, we follow her non-sequentially
across a time line that starts with her hitting on Bojack. "We could totally
make out right now." During a moment of lonely desperation. Then after finding
out that Mr. Peanutbutter has a new girlfriend, she flees to Vietnam for a
solo trip. Once there she's rendered ndoubly alone by her inability to speak
Vietnamese and her fellow American's assumptions that she doesn't speak
English. "You Vietnam." "No, me America." She copes with her loneliness in various
ways at one point engaging in a mega brief romance with a grip but every
interaction puts Diane more ill at ease. From a conversation with Todd about something.
"I'm supposed to go to the roller rink later. Hopefully there won't
be any mob bosses there. What am I saying, that's so random." To the grips
endless pontification, Diane realizes that often interacting with the outside
world only leaves her feeling more alone. She eventually comes to terms with her
romantic aloneness, apologizing to Bojack for her mixed messages and admitting that:
"I just really need a friend right now." Over the course of the season she seems
increasingly self actualized. From being able to comfort her romantic semi rival
Pickles to performing a solo intervention for Bojack.
Now more on that later. Generally she's able to exist more
truthfully now that she's not dating someone who doesn't align with her values.
Even her therapist admits that: "It sounds like our time together is done."
"What?" "The fact that you're setting a boundary is good go forth with the tools I've given you."
Through Diane, we see that self-sufficiency and embracing solitude
can be key to realizing the truest strongest version of yourself. "Now while
Diane is able to be happily alone, other characters attempt to make relationships
work in order to avoid confronting loneliness. Just as Diane's relationship
with Mr. Peanutbutter makes her obsess over her fun quotient,
Todd's relationships seem to only bring out his two shortcomings. First in his
relationship with Yolanda, Todd is hurt by the hyper focus on his
lack of life direction. "Why did you tell your family I went to college?" "Oh I don't
know I guess I just wanted you to seem impressive."
Ultimately he decides to end the relationship. "Yolanda we need to breakup."
Second, he's so eager to make things work with Emily that he constructs a
sex robot. Which he is convinced could compensate for his disinterest in sex.
While Emily isn't super into boning the sex robot, the bigwigs at whattimeisitrightnow.com
are impressed by its moxie and the robot is ultimately
promoted to CEO. Todd ultimately destroys the sex robot and takes off his
executive suit. Thereby eliminating the parts of himself that were trying to
please Yolanda and Emily. As with Diane Todd's interactions show how some
romantic relationships can leave you feeling more alone and more lacking.
And now for princess Carolyn. In episode 5 we get some deeper insights into her past.
Learning how she went from being the helps knocked-up daughter at the mercy
of her boyfriends answering machine tape dynasty. Only to miscarry and find
herself on her own. Instead of mourning the life she lost, she created an
entirely new one for herself by moving to LA and clawing her way up the
Hollywoo ladder. It's worth noting that her latest journey in self-sufficiency
also came after a miscarriage. The one that blew up her relationship with Milton.
Once again we see Princess Carolyn land on her feet and channeled
the same bravery as her teenage self and starting over after a difficult loss.
While sitting in the hospital waiting to meet her maybe baby, she admits to Milton
that fourth season princess Carolyn did want him to stick around the night she
kicked him out. "I wish you'd stayed with me that night."
"You told me to leave." "Yeah I guess the lesson is don't listen to me, right?"
However later she clearly tells him to leave saying that she doesn't want to
raise the baby with him and this time she means it. She's learned what she wants:
self-sufficiency. Princess Carolyn's joke about her baby's name:
"Untitled Princess Carolyn Project" suggests that, as with her previous
career successes, Princess Carolyn will manage single motherhood just fine.
Alright so Diane, Todd, and Princess Carolyn's journeys through season 5
illustrate various takes on that double-edged sword of loneliness and
self-sufficiency which brings us to Mr. Peanutbutter. Mr. Peanutbutter also
fits this narrative because as the character most in need of company,
he's also the least inclined to self-reflections.
"Oh, I'm not tough enough huh? I'll show them how tough I can be...
We'll be back with more of the red carpet pre-show fashion Stravaganza."
unlike the other characters Mr. Peanutbutter rarely appears to want anything beyond
fame, fun, and Parties. He seems physically incapable of being alone. Getting with
the first half-his-age dog-lady he meets after signing his divorce papers. As a
serial monogamist, he may desperately hide from loneliness or self-reflection,
seeking solace in relationships the same way he seeks solace in loud parties.
In the Halloween episode, Mr. Peanutbutter gets dangerously close to introspection.
As he wonders how each of his wives became bitter and unhappy by the end of
their relationship. "What's the common denominator?" Diane offers some insight
you keep dating women in their 20s. "I do do that." "They're not fully formed yet,
life changes people." "Well not me." The women he marries eventually grow up
while Mr. Peanutbutter remains the same. It seems that in constantly dating women
who are younger than him, Mr. Peanutbutter has carved out a convenient
emotional niche he can continue to occupy as he replaces each consecutive
life with a younger more fun version. This safe paint-by-numbers approach to
marriage has kept Mr. Peanutbutter happy but prevented him from maturing in
any meaningful way. Ultimately Mr. Peanutbutter reveals himself to be truly
pathological in his need to be coupled up when, instead of telling pickles the
truth about his infidelity and risking losing her, he decides to put a ring on it.
And finally our boy Bojack. While Mr. Peanutbutter may be needy, at least he's
totally upfront about it. Bojack on the other hand has a more
complex and more painful relationship to the outside world.
From calling Hollyhock in the middle of the night to inform her that
he liked her on Instagram. "Well I wanted to let you know that I hearted your
Instagram photo." "Okay." To pretending to match Gina's blase take on their relationship.
"We work together, we make sex together, we don't talk about our
feelings and yet sometimes a begrudging respect can blossom into..." "Nope."
"...blossoms into nothing, is what I was gonna say" Bojack's need for human / animal companionship is
palpable. Bojack has gone the Mr. Peanutbutter
route in the past. Getting with women to avoid solitude. A toxic pattern that
peaked with the near seduction of his ex-girlfriend's teenage daughter.
This season he's kind of dating the supremely jaded Gina. Who doesn't appear to need
anything from him emotionally. "I love being alone. I wish I were alone right now."
Leaving him just as lonely as before. So he decides to bypass the whole
learning to be alone with your thoughts thing by altering his state of being.
Enter painkillers. Writer Johann Hari makes a compelling case for considering
drug addiction as a disease of bonding. Humans have an innate primal need to
bond and when they're unable to bond with other people, they'll bond with a
negative behavior like smoking or gambling. Essentially he argues that
substance use is a substitute for meaningful human connection and while
researchers are also studying how other social and economic factors can
influence addiction, in the fictional world of Bojack, loneliness seems like a
close lick. Bojack find solace and drugs even as they embed him deeper into a
fantasy world. Increasingly cutting him off from the people around him, he begins
to see friends and loved ones as tools for getting what he wants. Gina is a tool
for helping him seize the limelight and Hollyhock is a tool for helping him
steal his pills back from Gina's medicine cabinet.
Our sense of bojack's loneliness is augmented by the Philbert TV show
narrative. Philbert is a hard-boiled loner detective with a penchant for secrets and
grizzly voiceover. "Why do you still use a landline?" What am I supposed to tell her?
I'm just an old-fashioned guy or maybe I like things that are plugged to the wall.
Something to grab onto if I start floating away." From the opening lines of the
series, Bojack tries to imply that he relates to the character as a fellow
loner slash cynic. This develops into an ongoing joke about the similarities
between the two. The set of the show looks exactly like Bojack's house and
Bojack's constantly wearing his Philbert costume off set. "It's a costume. I just
finished filming a show." "Normally people return the costume." Also Bojack frequently
reads too deeply into his character's narrative despite reminders that
"It's not about you, you know, it's Philbert. By the end he's become so dissociated he's
completely lost himself in the character. Even the character Philbert loses track
of where he begins and ends: inventing a make-believe partner who he blames for
his wife's murder rather than taking responsibility for it. "There's no record
of you ever having a partner at all." "What're you saying?" "You killed your wife, and the
chief, and the coroner, and the others." Similarly Bojack loses any distinction
between himself and Philbert, also because he can't cope with the horrible things
he's done. The result of this disassociation: Bojack pretty much
retreats into a fantasy world where he does crazy shit like choke Gina.
At one point he comes face to face with the bloated balloon version of himself. As if
to illustrate the fact that his inability to face himself is ultimately
to blame for all of his problems. In an interesting moment in the season finale,
Bojack begs Diane to write one of her internet takedowns of him. He wants
everyone to know about his worst behavior. He wants to be despised,
chastised, and punished. Here Bojack craves the feeling of being held
accountable by the world for the same exact reason he craves it's company:
praise and romantic attention because he has no consistent sense of self.
He needs the world to reconcile his persona as lovable Hollywoo leading
man and narcissistic creep because he can't seem to do it on his own.
A self-actualized Diane is no longer interested in playing Bojack's games and
Diagnoses his request for what it is, self-serving. Eventually Diane convinces
him that the only person whose job it is to hold him accountable is himself.
"I am asking to be held accountable." "And I'm telling you it's not
gonna happen. Whatever you put in that story, no one is gonna hold you
accountable. You need to take responsibility for yourself."
And faster than you can say Narcotics Anonymous, she's persuaded him to go to rehab.
So, what are we to take from Bojack Season 5? "You can't rely on other people, Bojack."
Well, not quite. Bojack and his dad's certainly know how
to put a pessimistic spin on relationships but we shouldn't buy into
their bleakest insights. Well we can't hide ourselves in the company of others.
We have options beyond live and die alone
While romantic relationships may fail or prove toxic. It's the platonic
friendships that radiate through season 5. Whether it's the budding roommate-hood
between Todd and Princess Carolyn, or the lasting bond between Diane and
Bojack. They may have their ups and downs and stolen cheese sticks but they prove
uniquely enduring. Bojack starts the season claiming he doesn't need anyone
but he ends it knowing there's one person he can count on: his friend, Diane.
So what do you guys think, are we all alone in the world? Are romantic
relationships elaborate traps for making us feel bad about ourselves? And is there
power in being able to tolerate loneliness? Let us know what you think in the comments
and as always thanks for watching.
but before you go, we have an announcement in the coming months we're going to be launching some exciting new
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