BoJack Horseman Season 4 (2017)
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BoJack Horseman Season 4 Review
The fourth season of BoJack Horseman is the least comedic and most dramatic season for better and for worse.
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“You’ve got a nice set of pipes.
You’re like a Josh Groban
who doesn’t also think he’s funny“
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See Mr. Peanutbutter Run is fun in that skiing competition, but otherwise it’s one of the weakest episodes of this season as it doesn’t have BoJack in it at any capacity, and other characters apart from Mr. Peanutbutter are less interesting. But The Old Sugarman Place is absolutely terrific as a deep, very touching take on the protagonist’s depression, and a tragic backstory of his family. I also loved how atmospheric it was in its setting.
Hooray! Todd Episode! is actually much better than it has any right to be given that Todd is usually not the most interesting character, but his journey for self-acceptance of his sexual orientation was so well handled throughout this season, and it gave the character much needed purpose. Commence Fracking is a great episode with all three storylines working, but BoJack getting a possible daughter in Hollyhock is the best part of it.
Thoughts and Prayers does not tackle gun control in any meaningful way which is unfortunate as they tackled abortion in the previous season so competently. Stupid Piece of Sh*t gets inside BoJack’s head a bit too much, leading to an overly depressing episode of an overly dark season as a whole.
Underground is such a crazy episode that makes fun of celebrities, and introduces this underground world so well. The imagery here is great as is the humor in what is the lightest episode of the season. The Judge is at its best with Princess Carolyn and her story with Ralph and his family, but the racism angle was not subtle at all.
Ruthie is an absolutely heartbreaking episode that leaves Princess Carolyn devastated and losing everything. The framing here is beyond clever and manipulative, leading to an even more tragic ending. Loving that cali lifestyle is important in Hollyhock’s emergency subplot, but otherwise far from great.
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Time’s Arrow is another tragic backstory, this time for Beatrice. And I loved how it ended on such a touching note between a mother and a son. What Time Is It Right Now actually ended the season on a very hopeful note with BoJack and Hollyhock agreeing to be siblings in the future. It was a wonderful, finally happy series finale.
Overall, this entire season is incredibly dark. That mature storytelling worked, especially in the flashback episodes, but it was still overbearing at times, leading to a lack of humor that plagued this otherwise very sophisticated season.
Worst Episodes: See Mr. Peanutbutter Run and The Judge.
Best Episodes: The Old Sugarman Place and Ruthie.
