Intro: BoJack Horseman Main Theme Tune - L'Orchestra Cinematique
Shalom, hola, ciao, ladies and jellyfish to the TOP 10 BEST EPISODES OF BOJACK HORSEMAN!
As you guessed from the title, this is the top 10 best episodes of Bojack, real shocker,
I know. Another shocker is that these are my opinions, so take them with a grain of salt,
pepper, whatever. With that out of the way, let’s just get into this!
#10: The Showstopper: The Animals - House Of The Rising Sun
Starting off our list is The Showstopper from season 5. We start off the episode with an
amazing custom intro and theme song, cutting out the official theme song altogether. You gotta
respect the extra minute of animation they had to make for that. As for the actual episode, it gets
much better by the end. Before that, the form of storytelling through Bojack’s perspective is
interesting, the scenes with Charlotte’s husband are funny, the drug hiding places are clever,
and I love Rami Malek’s character, but the real meat of the episode come from the end,
with the song, which is very beautiful foreshadowing for The View from Halfway Down,
which, let’s just say is also here on this list. That climax though, is also beautiful.
Being told from a semi-non-linear way was a great way to do it in my opinion,
and having the 5th, and let’s be honest last good F-Bomb in the show was a great way to
signify the end of Gina and Bojack’s relationship going forward. And while that giant balloon of
Bojack at the end may be a metaphor for many things, I’m not gonna amount it to much and
overanalyze it like many people love to do, I’m sure there’s tons of theories everywhere,
but my two cents is that the balloon represents Bojack’s internal struggle between trying to be
happy and being arrogant. And uh yeah, that outro music is so simple yet so beautiful.
Just a great episode, that totally didn’t make me simp for Gina. Come on guys, don’t say it.
#9: Stupid Piece of Sh*t: Time Waits for No One (Sax Cover by JK Sax)
This might be a bit of a hot take, but I absolutely adore this episode! While
it isn’t super consistent all the way through in terms of comedy and plot,
the tone is pretty consistent throughout the whole thing and we get a lot of interesting moments
throughout. The beginning scene in particular is awesome, featuring most of the little animations
in Bojack’s head as he talks to himself. It’s a pretty relatable thing that they show to further
help us connect to Bojack’s inner struggles and doubts of himself. Will Arnett’s performance here
is awesome by the way, probably the best from the whole show! As a person who likes Bojack the most
out of the main cast of characters, this episode was really fun for me because it is a heavily
Bojack surrounded episode, while also featuring literally every other character in small scenes.
This episode was also nominated for 2 Emmys, although it didn’t win either, and don’t worry,
we got way more awarded episodes coming up, but anyway, the fact that the Emmy’s thought this
episode was that special definitely says a lot about it. And oh yeah, that ending is awesome!
#8: The Face of Depression: James Henry Jr. - Take Me Down Easy
The Face of Depression might not be an obvious pick for this list, but in my opinion, stands
out in a way not a lot of other episodes do. This episode was the first episode in the last half of
the season 6 episodes, and not the last of those 6 episodes to be on this list, by the way. We start
off the episode with an amazing intro, made to illustrate Bojack’s descent into hating himself
and becoming depressed, and while it is very touching, the intro ends with the most hilarious
honeydew gag, probably in the whole show. If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend checking it
out. And can I just say, that I LOVE the season 6 theme song? The transitions are so beautiful
and its definitely the best visuals out of the 6 theme songs. The episode itself is also awesome,
taking us to various cities around America, where we see the depression among different characters,
with Bojack interacting with each one. Oh, and Mr. Peanutbutter finally got his crossoooover.
While I’m not crazy about shoehorning Joey Pogo into this again, the best scenes in the episode
are clearly the depression circle where Bojack meets up with his ex-Horsin’ Around cast member,
Sharona, who ends up revealing the fact that Bojack had dyed his hair for 20 years,
which this episode is also special for pointing out. I also love the coffee shop scenes,
they’re just super wholesome for no reason at all, and of course the Diane arc is finally resolved
here with the antidepressants scene. Oh yeah, and “Take Me Down Easy” is a fantastic ending song.
But oh god, I can’t describe how much I wince when I see Ruthie’s spikes poke through her clothes.
Wince. You don’t know what wincing is? Whatever, just revile in the
subtle complexities of Bojack Horseman. After all, you do need an IQ of 400 to understa--
#7: That’s Too Much, Man!: Lesley Gore - Sunshine, Lollipops And Rainbows
Before we go any further, I feel like I have to give some love to Kristen Schaal, who even
got nominated for an Emmy for playing Sarah Lynn here. I think the episode stays pretty consistent
in this one, unlike some of these where only the beginning and end are really interesting, and the
middle can drag out, this episode stays pretty great throughout. From the start of the episode,
we see how hard it is for Sarah Lynn to be happy, considering the paparazzi taking pictures of her
wherever she is, even from the privacy of her own home. The actual main plot of the episode
is about the bender that Bojack and Sarah Lynn partake in, and the many places they go,
like to Penny’s college, by accident, and scarring Penny again after the events of Escape from L.A.,
or the hilarious scene at Ana’s house with Bojack blacking out over and over,
or the speech Bojack gives at the AA meeting. But in my opinion, the best scene is at the very end,
where Bojack and Sarah Lynn go to the planetarium, with narration from the awesome Neil DeGrasse
Tyson, who I’m a huge fan of (great book Neil), as Sarah Lynn says “I want to be an architect”,
before she dies in a beautiful scene that might just be the best scene in this show.
In a way, this beautifully silhouetted scene illustrates their very complex relationship,
as they are the only people who understand each other’s struggles,
and with complete writing genius, Bojack brand heroine ends up killing her due to an overdose,
which was first seen in the appropriately named Bojack Kills. Basically, Bojack was
responsible for the death of Sarah Lynn, and this episode is genius. Is that too much, man?
#6: The Old Sugarman Place: Farid Farjad - Shab Bood Biaban Bood
This episode is a personal guilty pleasure, because no matter how some people might not think
its THAT amazing, I can always appreciate the level of brilliance that went into writing this
episode. From the beginning, starting off where we left off with Bojack after the end of season 3,
we see Bojack running away from his old life in his car. We see a lot of emotion induced from the
beautiful ‘A Horse With No Name’ playing, and not a word of dialogue. We can see Bojack has become
desperate and unguided, like in the short clip of him at the gas station. But the real meat of
the episode is after the theme song, as he goes to an abandoned house in Michigan where his mom
and grandparents used to live. We see probably my favorite Bojack character of all time, Eddie,
who really made me look at flies a different way. But in all seriousness, this episode, much like
Zuko Alone from Avatar, which I literally reviewed in my last video, cuts often from flashbacks to
the present day, but this is even more well done than Avatar in my opinion, as some scenes take
place in the exact same location with characters from both sides interacting, like the scene of
Beatrice and her mom at the piano with Eddie and Bojack. There are some funny jokes like Tamara
and Tamaara, but this episode takes the more bittersweet road, with hints to Beatrice’s past,
which will later be reinforced in an episode we’ll also get to later, Eddie’s wife’s death,
and just shows us a lot in terms of Bojack’s development and his family in general. There
are so many scenes I love, like when Bojack saves Eddie in a heartbreaking scene, or when Beatrice
sees her mom with the stitches, that made this episode one of my absolute favorite episodes of
Bojack that never fails to make me laugh, make me cry and keep me entertained, all in 22 minutes!
#5: Escape from L.A.: Kyle and the Kids
You may have noticed that, if the video didn’t get claimed, the song you just heard was the Kyle and
the Kids theme song, which replaces the Bojack theme song in this episode. That is because this
is not a Bojack episode. This episode focuses on Charlotte’s family, hence why we are not in L.A.
anymore, rather New Mexico. This episode was, in my opinion, the first episode that really
shifted this show from a decent comedy to a fantastic drama. While there are some
episodes like Telescope or some other season 2 episodes that might come to mind, this was
the turning point for Bojack’s character and the most emotional point of the show since it began.
In the span of the 22 minutes that make up this episode, we learn a tremendous amount about Penny,
Charlotte and even minor characters like Pete Repeat, who might be the best character to ever
exist. And I think this might be one of the best examples in the show and animation in general,
in terms of showing how to establish a character from scratch in such a short time-span. After
an episode worth of Bojack being irresponsible and stupid, we get that amazing climax that is
one of the best moments in the whole series. It starts off with the balloon leading Charlotte to
the boat, the balloon visually representing Bojack’s recklessness. And, as we all know,
we get that amazing F-Bomb that signified the end of the relationship between Charlotte and Bojack,
and also the stamp that was left on Bojack’s mind as one of his regrets for what he did to Penny.
And yes, that boat montage at the end is awesome, finally playing the full Bojack theme to show us
that he’s returning to his crappy life in L.A. once again. Just a great episode that shows how
powerful ‘show don’t tell’ can be for establishing a character and telling a richer story.
#4: Fish Out of Water: Oberhofer - Sea of Dreams Well, here it is. The silent episode. Look, I
have a personal love for silent films, Chaplin and all that, and while this is definitely not that,
the lack of dialogue for the majority of the episode really makes this one, in particular,
stand out among many others in its season. I personally think this one of the most beautiful
sounding episodes of the show, and ironically many agree with me as this episode was
nominated for a Motion Picture Sound Editors award for Sound Editing. Didn’t win it, unfortunately,
but I think it’s pretty ironic and funny how this episode got nominated for a sound editing award.
The story itself is also really heartwarming, as we see Bojack care for a seahorse who’s lost his
family. It is one of the few episodes to touch on Bojack’s lack of children or a real family,
and I think if any episode was gonna help us to connect as much as possible with this character
and this concept, it would be the silent episode. And while we’re on the topic of silent films
and Chaplin, this episode weirdly reminded me of the Charlie Chaplin movie “The Kid”,
which has a pretty similar premise, and let’s just say they were both amazing in their own rights.
But hands down my favorite part of the episode is the ending, where Bojack finally finds the guts
to apologize to Kelsey, but the water smudges the writing from his letter. Until its revealed
Bojack could’ve talked the whole time, in a very hilarious clip that I really recommend you watch
after this, and we hear the song “Sea of Dreams”, which is now one of my favorite songs ever,
and perfectly sums up the mood of the episode. Just a masterclass of storytelling to be honest.
#3: The View From Halfway Down - Trumpet Song by Crackerjack
Ah yes, this episode. Everyone’s DARKEST episode that always comes to mind. While that is true,
I don’t think everyone truly takes into account how deep this episode is. Like many episodes here,
it was nominated for an award, this time for a Gold Derby award, but it didn’t win. Although
it was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy! Anyway, this episode is nothing short of amazing.
There’s so many hidden meanings and easter eggs everywhere, from the paintings on the walls,
the foods the characters eat, to the lyrics of the songs. If you want to see all the hidden
meanings in this episode, I’ll leave a link to a great video in the description that breaks it down
by the awesome Johnny 2 Cellos. I won’t go too deep into it, but know that there’s a
lot that you probably didn’t know about it, just like me. As for the main plot of the episode,
it is amazingly complex and dark. Bojack has almost drowned in his pool, and we go into a
dreamlike world with all the characters who have died in the episodes prior, from Beatrice, Herb
to Sarah Lynn. Personally, these are my favorite set of characters if we’re talking unironically,
especially Herb or Secretariat, so it was a blast to see these characters back together again. They
all talk about their lives, their deaths, and their regrets. Meanwhile, a black tar keeps
dripping on Bojack, which is a callback to the symbol from season 1. The episode really gets
juicy during the show, commemorating Bojack. This sequence gives a lot more awesome easter
eggs like Sarah Lynn singing Don’t Stop Dancing, being a callback to The Showstopper, which we’ve
touched on, or Beatrice and Crackerjack performing ‘I Will Always Think of You’ from Sugarman Place,
which we ALSO TOUCHED ON. But man, the best part of the episode has to be Secretariat's
speech on The View from Halfway Done, which hits me harder the more I listen to it. It describes
the terrible feeling of regret when you see the view from halfway down when you jump off a bridge.
It is such a beautiful poem, and the door coming closer and closer symbolizes the water approaching
Secretariat as he jumped. At the end, as Bojack talks to Diane, and the credits are a flatline,
but eventually give a heartbeat, we are hit with a spark of bittersweet hope for Bojack to
not drown and stay alive. Overall, this episode is fantastic, and while it’s not #1 on this list due
to the sheer brilliance of some other episodes, it is definitely a masterpiece regardless.
#2: Free Churro: JUNES - Sweat
Ah, Free Churro, the simplest yet most fascinating episode of the entire show. Free Churro, written
by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, is a prime example of how you can make an amazing episode with
only one character, and a script of 90% dialogue, which makes it really hard to show not tell. This
episode goes against all the cliches and breaks all the rules, and for some reason it pulls it
off incredibly well. Will Arnett’s performance alone was incredible, and proves how versatile
and powerful of a voice actor he can be. His inflections and passion are probably the best
in the entire show, and he is the only voice actor in this episode, both for Bojack and Butterscotch
Horseman. Speaking of Butterscotch, that intro with Butterscotch talking to Bojack in the car,
really gives us an insight to the character of Butterscotch, probably one of the best examples
of this in the series. There are tons of awesome parts to this episode, like the churro lines,
the line about the coffee cup, which I love so much because it describes pretty much every video
essay on Youtube, and all the emotional scenes of Bojack talking about Beatrice’s hatred are really
emphasized by Arnett’s performance. And of course, that ending line was genius and really funny,
and while I’m not a fan of the organ credits music, the ending was admittedly pretty funny.
Predominantly, it's an amazing episode that breaks all the rules in all the best ways. If I
had to sum it up in ‘10 words or less’ trademark, “This episode ended and everything is worse now”.
With #2 out of the way, before we get to the #1 best episode, here are some honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions: Beach Boys - Surfin USA Downer Ending
Nice While It Lasted
It’s You Ruthie
The Dog Days are Over The Telescope
#1: Time’s Arrow: Greg Ah Sue - Married Life Cover from Up
Yep, I do think the absolute best episode of Bojack Horseman, is Time’s Arrow. From the getgo,
this episode details the life story of one of the deepest characters whose been built up for many
seasons at this point: Beatrice Horseman. We get a detailed look from the start of Beatrice’s life,
from a non-linear and non-vivid point of view, like the way the ladder twists in her childhood,
or why different characters are featured in different flashbacks, or why most of
the background characters are faceless. This interesting and rapid form of telling the story
really made it more interesting in my opinion, rather than being told chronologically. The same
could go for a film like Pulp Fiction or The Prestige. Anyway, all the events that happen to
Beatrice in this episode show us how trauma can create a ripple effect throughout many
generations, and affect the lives of many people like Bojack himself. For instance, after Beatrice
lost her brother and eventually her mother, and then her doll, which was her last real love, she
listens to her mother’s advice from Old Sugarman Place and never loves someone as much as Honey
loved Crackerjack. This leads to her hating Bojack and always resenting him throughout his childhood,
despite not getting an abortion earlier because of her doll burning, which ends up with her regreting
Bojack and later forcing Henrietta to get an abortion, which ruined her and Hollyhock’s lives
as well. Another example could be how she loved Butterscotch because loving him would go against
the wishes of her father who, despite being a soft-voiced antagonist here, Beatrice hated and
never agreed with. Beatrice’s backwards mindset ultimately leads to her making Hollyhock overdose
on the weight-loss pills, because that’s what her father would’ve done, which led to the beginning
of this episode. The way these events coincide is amazingly told and is the reason I love it so
much. There’s so many scenes I love here, from the burning of the doll scene, which always gives me
massive goosebumps, to the fact that Henrietta’s face is scribbled, which in my opinion is because
Beatrice can’t forget about her, so to erase that person from her mind, she scribbles it out, just
like how we scribble something if we can’t erase it from somewhere. And of course, we can’t talk
about this episode without mentioning the ending scene, which is so amazing and heartbreaking,
and the final time we see Beatrice in the present day. And I can’t talk about this episode without
mentioning the Emmy nomination that Wendy Malick, the voice actor for Beatrice, received. The only
flaw here is that she lost. Overall, Time’s Arrow is the peak of the peak of Bojack in my opinion,
and proved how amazing an animated series, especially an adult-animation show, could be.
With all that out of the way, I hope you all enjoyed my top 10 Bojack Horseman episodes
list! If you enjoyed, please be sure to subscribe with notifications turned on,
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help them out. Be sure to leave your top 10 best episodes in the comments below,
and follow me on Twitter @MrAskAir and join the Discord server to chat with me and a lot
of other members about Bojack and many other things, and with ALL THAT OUT OF THE WAY, thank
you so much for watching, and I’ll see you beautiful ladies and jellyfish next time. Ciao!
Outro: Bojack Horseman // Back in the 90's +
Kyle and the Kids [Synth-Folk Cover]