Goodbye BoJack

Its been a couple of months since BoJack Horseman ended.

The show was a cultural phenomenon, capturing the zeitgeist of these times in biting humor, wit and searing intellect. Ambitious in its storytelling, BoJack was unorthodox in its structure, bold in its choices and far superior to anything playing at the moment. Being an animated show about a talking horse, it was constantly underestimated and pooh-pooh’d from the get go, and it took that to its advantage to pleasantly surprise everyone. By the time the 3rd season started, there was not a critic or animation fan who didn’t have this in their best-of lists, virtually tapping people on their shoulder insisting that they * have * to watch this show.

The consistency of its brilliance is beyond doubt a credit to the writers. They brought a level of complexity and nuance arguably unseen till now - on television - to depression, celebrity excess, trauma, sexism and much more. This, sprinkled with the trademark sardonic humor, animal puns and downright hysterical visual gags really cemented BoJack’s legacy.

BoJack aired from 2014-2020, and I grew up in this time period, watching every season. This show matters to me so much, because as cliched as it sounds, it gave a voice to a range of emotions I felt, but could not articulate. There’s nothing this show hasn’t helped me process. Its had a profound impact on my life.

I doubt I’ll ever be able to listen to the finale’s end track, Mr. Blue, without tearing up. Goodbye BoJack. It was nice while it lasted.