10 Thoughts on Bojack HorsemanYes, And

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Hey, hey, hey Bojackers! Welcome back to another 10 thoughts installment of Bojack Horseman. Today’s episode is Yes, And and we got some big things going down. We’re hurtling towards the finale and it looks like things are going to continue in a downward spiral for all our animal and human friends. Today’s episode brought some huge changes for almost every single one of our characters and nobody is really happy. Par for the course for Bojack Horseman, but today was an especially big downer.

After a new director, Abe the Catfish, is hired on the set of Bojack’s Secretariat movie, Bojack makes the mistake of accidentally insulting Abe about his abilities as a director. Bojack starts phoning it in and joining Diane in wallowing, who is crashing on his couch to avoid telling Mr. Peanutbutter that she couldn’t hack it in Cordovia. Meanwhile, Todd has joined an improv group that may or may not be a cult and Wanda has had it with Diane staying at their place. Princess Carolyn and Rutabaga take steps towards starting their own agency.

Let’s jump right in.

1. This is largely a show about depression

This is something that I’ve thought about before and may have danced around in previous reviews. But what a lot of this show is doing is talking about depression in a really roundabout way. Our central character is somebody who had a really difficult past, achieved fame and success, and has tricked himself into thinking that he’s unhappy because he lost it. We see in flashbacks that Bojack wasn’t much happier when he was on Horsin’ Around than he is now. He’s constantly confused as to why he’s unhappy and is constantly looking for ways to be happy again. This episode hit this note pretty hard. Now that Diane is living in his house like a slob, he sees that he’s not that different from her. She’s lost, too. His movie isn’t what he wants it to be, so he gives up, and sinks into the depression with Diane. At the end of the episode, Diane asks him if he would be happier if Kelsey had never left the movie. He says, yeah. For a little while. She asks if would be happy doing a play off-broadway. He says, yeah. For a little while. This is the problem with depression. You can distract yourself, but if you don’t attack the root causes head on, you will never really cure yourself. But I can’t blame him for being depressed because…

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2. The movie is going off the rails

Secretariat’s suicide scene has been replaced with him teaching inner city kids about calculus. Ouch. The new director, Abe, doesn’t seem all that interested in doing anything great. “We’re not making Casablanca here,” he says to Bojack after he asks if they can do another take. This is definitely not the attitude you want in a director. I can’t blame Bojack for being frustrated that his dream role in his dream movie is being whittled down to a boring, blunt stub of a film. He just needs to learn how to keep his ego and outrage in check.

3. Bojack goes to NYC?!

Princess Carolyn got Bojack a role in an off-broadway show in New York City. New York City! Are we going to get to see our favorite horse walk the streets of the Big Apple? That would be a thrill for me, mostly because I live in NYC. But also because it opens up all sorts of opportunities for characters. New York is in many ways the polar opposite of sunny LA. People are a lot more “serious” here, and it would be really interesting to see how a bunch of snobby actors from Bushwick would react to the former sitcom star. It’s ripe for comedy! RIPE!

4. Improv commentary is on point

Todd is lonely and wants to spend time with his friends, something that has gotten him into trouble in the past. He comes across an improv group and is thrilled and excited about the opportunity to play games with these strangers. However, it becomes clear pretty quickly that these people are more part of a cult than an improv troupe. At one point, Bojack likens it to Scientology, but quickly states, “This… is about improv. This is in no way about Scientology,” which is a clever little nod to Scientology’s notorious litigiousness. It’s a funny little side plot because having grown up in the theatre world, I have known many, many improv people. I was even in an improv troupe at one point. And I can tell you, their behavior can sometimes be borderline cultish. Not Scientology level cultish, but enough to draw a comparison between the two.

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5. No, I wanted to see Bojack in New York!

Ah, he futzed it up and now Bojack isn’t going to New York. He managed to thoroughly insult his new director, and now Abe is going to make the shoot much longer just to spite Bojack. Bummer. Maybe he’ll get another opportunity because I really want to see him in NYC.

6. Rutabaga is totally gonna screw over Princess Carolyn

First signs of trouble. Rutabaga has to put the LLC in Princess Carolyn’s name because he’s going through a divorce and his ex-wife’s lawyer is sniffing around looking for things to get him in trouble. So if the agency goes underwater, it’s going to PC who’s on the line. We don’t really know Rutabaga well enough to trust that he’s going to be really trustworthy and I have a feeling Princess Carolyn is going to end this season in dire straits.

7. Diane is the worst when she’s not trying

It was really depressing watching Diane loaf around Boajck’s, spouting negative one liners and advocating for giving up. This is not the plucky Diane we have all come to know and love. My hope is that next episode she’ll come to her senses and return to Mr. Peanutbutter, because watching her now is a real drag in a show that is showing signs of dipping into some really dark existential territory. Here’s hoping she bucks up and starts acting like an adult again.

8. Bojack has a major self-destructive streak

Welp. Bojack may have finally done it. After Wanda has been so patient with him, he has finally flipped his lid and broken up with the only person who is truly good for him in his life. He really needed Wanda and now everything is mucked up. He kicked her out and basically said he can’t be with her. But that’s just his selfishness kicking in. Poor Wanda. Bojack, you’re a moron.

9. And Wanda is so great

She’s so patient! Even after he says terrible things to her about her job, she’s willing to fight for their relationship. But Bojack is too stubborn and leaves. We see him at the end of the episode going to the home of that deer he knew from all those years ago. But he’s falling for the same trap Princess Carolyn did last episode. He can’t handle the simple life. He needs the go-go Hollywoo lifestyle or he’s just going to get more and more unhappy.

10. Bojack and Diane are pretty industrious when they’re on a bender

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Check out previous 10 Thought installments of Bojack Horseman below!

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – The Shot

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – Let’s Find Out!

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – Hank After Dark

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – Higher Love

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – Chickens

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – After the Party

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – Still Broken

10 Thoughts on Bojack Horseman – Brand New Couch & Yesterdayland

Colin is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, NY.