Season Review: BoJack Horseman Season 2

 

Some Spoilers Below

My main sticking points for BoJack Horseman’s first season were two-fold. On one hand, you had a mess of impressive guest stars with very good production, but the overall plot was boring and the dialogue had its high points, but not so much in making me want to keep watching the show like a Netflix series is supposed to. Welp, guess what?

BoJack Horseman season two blows season one out of the water. Quite honestly, it isn’t even close. This season, for the most part, BoJack is a rather happy guy who is striving to fix his career, but he often dealt with a lot of cruel hands at life. The ride for this is so much more fun and rewarding than the book premise from season one and is made even more fun with the addition of quite a few recurring stars. Very early on in the show, we are introduced to BoJack’s new love interest ‘Wanda’ played brilliantly by Lisa Kudrow, an owl lady trying to make a name for herself in the male-dominated broadcast television workforce after being asleep for decades. During the course of the show, it is so hysterical watching Wanda work her way from someone who thought beepers were still a thing to that of an executive that actually does get a few networks hit shows on her hands most notably a game show with Mr. Peanut Butter.

This is where things get rocky for budding couple BoJack and Wanda because while the latter is getting her priorities in order, BoJack is constantly struggling with his. I would say right around episodes nine through eleven are some of the most compelling pieces of evidence of this as BoJack goes from an actor on the verge of producing Academy Award-nominated material, to that of a tool of the trade causing him to have a breakdown and try and reconnect with his ex-Charlotte played by Olivia Wilde. And yes, unlike last season, Charlotte gets a much more important role this season that sort of leads to an almost horrifying event that was so bad that BoJack has to head back home and it hits you as you’ve never been hit before.

Aaron Paul’s ”Todd” was a STARK improvement from his first season as he transitioned from an annoyance to someone that can flow in and out to pepper in comedic moments when they are needed as well as being able own his own stories to the point I almost found myself rooting for him the last few episodes in his budding career as an improv actor, but I did think the ‘Todd Almost Moves Out’ deal is already to starting to show tread and even leads to an unexpected and kinda sorta confusing reconnect with BoJack. That said, Todd’s take on Disney Land is pretty brilliant and is just the sort of shit Todd is good at getting himself into as he takes on a smidgen of a ‘Peter Griffin’ as a character reference.

Amy Sedaris also ventures out on her own (and not just in her job) with Princess Carolyn keeping us grounded in the day-to-day of the profession of whence she works. Joining Carolyn in most of her episodes is Ben Schwartz’s ”Rutabaga” featuring the two flirting with the idea of being a romantic interest and with Ben doing a stellar follow-up from his Randy Cunningham work, but with even more silliness and flair.

Diane (Alison Brie) is all over the place this season…literally. But again, we sacrificed guest stars (good thing) to get more girth out of ‘B’ plots featuring the main cast like so which helped us open the door a bit wider for Keegan-Michael Key’s ”Sebastian St. Clair” to really develop and you couldn’t help but marvel at Key’s European accent as it twists and turns into tighter and more difficult scenes, but it’s pulled off like championship material. The increase in Diane’s time also put more focus on her relationship with Mr. Peanut Butter (Paul F. Tompkins) which at times got rather contentious, but ultimately Peanut Butter’s adorableness shines through. Last year, it looked more like PB was doing a bunch of shit for the sole reason to get under BoJack’s skin, but this season he really took on the role of a caring husband. Diane on the other hand? I think we have more questions about whether or not her relationship is really solid because she pulls some rather innocuous shit that may or may not have an impact on next season.

And yes, recurring and guest stars are aplenty and another very strong point in terms of name-value, but not quite as many names I think as it appears the producers put more investment into the different arcs and plots that you will appreciate. My favorite character from season one, Herb voiced by Stanley Tucci, was short-lived, unfortunately, but in his place came a lot of new characters. Alan Arkin’s take on ‘J.D. Salinger’ should make every Brooklyn-esque hipster scream out for glee and Maria Bamford’s ”Kelsey” showcases another level of her voice acting ability, especially when you compare it to her role as ‘Carole’ in Golan the Insatiable. 

Cameos were a bunch of fun, too. Daniel Radcliffe and Paul McCartney were awesome, but I had more fun watching guest stars play parts. Prime examples certainly include Amy Schumer as Irving and certainly Colbert’s Witherspoon, both of whom I hope to see back next season (with the latter looking maybe-ish).

The production on BoJack Horseman looks improved, and I love background gags that usually reference prior episodes, but I kinda missed some of the cool shit that came along with having animal-characters. Last season I remember more instances of Carolyn scratching her cat posts and doing other ‘cat’ things and Mr. Peanut Butter acting more like a dog which was kinda seen early on with him in his cone, but was seen seldom since. That’s the stuff I used to love in season one because it would make you take a step back for a second and remember the non-human personality traits that the characters have instead of just being humans, the latter of which can be offered as excuses when you are in fact human.

But, what of our titular hero? With everything going on around him, one could forget that we are dealing with a character with serious flaws, but they do show up from time to time. Will Arnett takes this on fabulously as Bojack grows as a character, away from the constant drunken jokes and sleeping with women war stories that say an Archer has already perfected.  As a matter of fact, the season is over, and you come away with a lot of great questions as to what’s going to happen in BoJack’s future and the show producers demand that you care. On one hand, he loves his ‘family’ which certainly includes Todd and Diane and Carolyn, but does Wanda come back? Does he take a job in NYC or are those aforementioned roots strong? Does he go on his Oscar tour for a project that he really didn’t have a lot of involvement in? There’s a lot to take in and you are going to want more.

Dare I say that BoJack Horseman has elevated itself to that of being one of the most emotionally compelling animated dramedies of our time that now stands as a flag bearer for not only the TV-streaming service that is slowly but surely taking over the globe but for the cartoon industry as a whole. Let it be known, nothing else is like this on broadcast or cable television.

One could equate the characteristics of BoJack Horseman to that of a sci-fi movie in that at the end of it you are left with a bunch of questions that really need to be answered, which in itself, would lend itself to sequels…or another season.