BoJack Horseman Season 5 Review: Is BJH Still a Comedy?

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I still remember the first season finale of BoJack Horseman, and the emotionally poignant moment where the titular washed-up actor—deeply embarrassed by what’s been revealed about him in his memoir—asks if people can change. By the end of this most recent season, that question still hangs in the air for him in a palpable way. But one thing that has changed: what used to be a comedic show with a bit of drama, has now inverted its formula…and yet still manages to deliver brilliant results.

This season, BoJack is aiming for redemption once again by appearing on the gritty streaming crime drama Philbert. The show-within-a-show is often trapped in the expectations we have for these kinds of shows; a board in creator Flip McVicker’s office details ideas like “sexy violent sex,” “sexy twist (violent?),” and “gritty musical montage with swelling riffs.” Luckily for BoJack and his Philbert supporting cast, the show manages to break out of these tropes of the medium. And this eventual diversion struck me as interesting, because this latest season of BoJack Horseman falls into the corresponding tropes for the now-booming category of dramedy.

What, then, might be those tropes for this new version of the show? Burgeoning drug addiction? Check. A re-examination of a character’s motives for doing good? Check. A penultimate episode (rather than a finale) that makes you wonder “where could this be going?” Big check here, trust me. As it has in years prior, bottle episodes and individual character studies are sprinkled in among ensemble pieces that advance the story. “The Dog Days Are Over” and “The Amelia Earhart Story” give beautiful spotlight moments to Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie) and Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), respectively. New voices literally enter the conversation- this season we get the wonderful additions of Stephanie Beatriz, Rami Malek, and Hong Chau as characters to enrich this absurd world. And to their credit, their current-events-inspired episode “BoJack the Feminist,” actually does contribute to the season’s larger story in a way that prior “ripped from the headlines” episodes have not. With each passing season, I’ve found myself impressed with the show’s ability to grow its characters and emotional range.

BoJack Horseman is still a good show. A very, very good show. But it might not be a comedy anymore, and I’m working to reckon with that.

This is an interesting pivot for a show to attempt, and one that I’m sure is intentional on the part of creators Raphael Bob-Waksburg and Lisa Hanawalt. They’ve been open about how they’ve evolved over the course of the show’s run, particularly in terms of their thoughts on casting, and likely have aimed to have their show evolve accordingly. Add to this the increasing seriousness of television comedy overall, and you have a product that continually fits in with its surroundings. And yet, for someone who remembers laughing out loud many times early on, but didn’t once during this latest binge, the shift has been jarring.

Early seasons managed to elegantly balance darkening storylines with absurdities, wordplay, and sight gags. But they all largely blend into the background here, weighed down by a heaviness that permeates the surroundings. A sex robot created by Todd called Henry Fondle in season 1 could have provided a bit of sunshine even as dark skies advanced; this season, there’s simply too much cloud cover for his hijinks to make a fun dent- making Todd seem like a relic of a wholly different show at times. We even start to see a bit of darkness in Mr. Peanutbutter, as he reckons with the nature of his relationships. I’ll say that again: there’s darkness in Mr. Peanutbutter.

And yet, I found more hope in this season’s finale than I did in previous seasons. I truly look forward to seeing where these characters will go next. These people (and animals, as the case may be) remain interesting, complicated, and worth watching. Whether they end up finding themselves in lighter circumstances as a result of their choices, or still darkening ones, I’ll be there. Especially if character actress Margo Martindale will be there too.

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Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo is a writer, speaker, and podcaster based in Boston, MA. Her writing has appeared in Femsplain, The Good Men Project, Pacific Standard, and Talking Points Memo. Chances are good that as you're reading this, she's somewhere laughing.
Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo is a writer, speaker, and podcaster based in Boston, MA. Her writing has appeared in Femsplain, The Good Men Project, Pacific Standard, and Talking Points Memo. Chances are good that as you're reading this, she's somewhere laughing.