Yeah, he ascended the stairway to heaven expecting to see his (dead) parents, expecting to blame them for his shitty actions. But as Todd says, “it’s you.”
I battled opioid addiction and this episode is spot on when portraying what it’s like when one is battling addiction. When you’re stoned to the gills, like Bojack is, you do things you wouldn’t ever dream of doing when sober. I’m proud to say I’m six years sober, btw.
At the start of the episode Mr. Peanutbutter couldn’t get the strangling right making it look fake, but in the end Bojack ended up being too good at strangling
I think you're definitely spot on with the balloon representing his untethering to reality. But I also think that the balloon, being literally an advertisement for Philbert, is a manifestation of bojack's commercialized and inflated (pun intended) ego. His whole life has been devoted to other people's consumption and entertainment, and now he is staring that fact right in the face: a hollow, larger than life version of himself that is nothing more than an advertisement for a tv show. (edited for grammar and clarity)
This also really ties into "his" performance on Secretariat. The public loves the empty shell of the bojack that's in the movie, while the actual bojack never acted for it.
I just realized that the board for Philbert in the opening forms Bojack's face. He's been looking for himself the whole time. God I miss the little details in this show.
The scene with Beatrice yelling at Bojack while he was hiding under a table and telling him he had to perform for her party guests was very reminiscent of the scene where Bojack was talking to Sarah Lynn while she was hiding under the table on the "Horsin' Around" set. This is when he gave her the "don't stop dancing" advice, which was directly referenced when Sarah Lynn did a reprise of this song in "The View From Halfway Down." It wasn't until she sang the words "a song you taught me when I was small" that I made this connection, and it was like a punch in the gut.
Bojack walking up those steps where he meets up with the balloon seems like a reference to a scene in the Truman Show, a movie where a man's whole life is unknowingly broadcasted as a show.
I thought that too! I love that movie so much. Interesting that the core of the movie is Truman developing paranoia and questioning everyone he’s close to. Of course in that situation his paranoia was justified tho
I was watching the video and went down to comments, because I was hoping someone else notices this. For me was instantaneous, mostly because I really liked Truman Show
One thing that I really loved while watching the show was how when Bojack finished a message. He alwayd says "This is Bojack by the way, Horseman." After a couple of seasons, Diane starts to pick up that line and it really shows how Bojack affected her life.
I knew they only used 1 F-bomb per season, but had not noticed how well they had distributed them--1 to each of the people that Bojack hurt the most. Incredible.
i still think the season 6 f bomb was wasted. its good, its fine, it makes sense, but i feel like it wasnt nearly as good as the others. i wouldve liked to see bojack himself say it
Stuff like this reminds me why Bojack being cancelled was something that NEEDED to happen. Not only because he deserved to be called out after inflicting so much abuse, but because Bojack would have never been able to live happily knowing everything could fall apart at any second.
"Things are going to get worse before they get better, but at least you won't have to spend the rest of your life waiting for the other shoe to drop." Diane in Sunk Cost and All That
i agree i feel like him finally going to jail was something that needed to happen because it’s clear that no matter what he did, he wasn’t going to take responsibility for his own actions so it needed to be out of his control if that makes sense
I actually saw the balloon much simpler; the entire episode was Bojack looking for the person who was blackmailing him/out to get him. Him walking up the steps and looking at the balloon conveyed to me as if to say "Oh I found the person ruining my life...it's me".
I feel the "Don't stop dancing" sequence can also be seen as a meta-commentary of the show itself, pointing out the irony of BoJack selling his sadness as a brand which is exactly what this show is doing. Much like the rest of this season being a commentary on why you shouldn't identify with toxic male characters like Walter White, Don Draper or BoJack himself and why you shouldn't use BoJack's actions as a way of justifying your behavior. EDIT: Also could you do a video on Nice While It Lasted? I feel like a lot of people misunderstand that episode and it doesn't get the love and recognition it deserves
I can't imagine anyone having ever thought "Bojack Horseman does it, so it's okay." The entire series is an unglamorous portrait of his self-destructive cycle of abuse. That characters like him ought not to be identified with is assumed. That you single out the males suggests that television needs more toxic female characters for people not to identify with.
An extra thing with the balloon. It kinda looks like he's walking up the stairs to heaven, but instead of acceptance he gets judgment. The untethered BoJack looks at him completely plainly and uncompromisingly. It's the culmination of all his guilt.
I think it's a bit different though you're on the right track imo. He is looking for heaven, but he's mainly doing this to find someone other than himself to blame. Bojack's always been someone who tries to run away from his problems and from confronting himself and it's hinted even at the very start of the series, but this moment is when he finally internalizes what Todd told him. "It's you". He goes up to heaven, expecting something, anything really, but all he finds is himself, and he realizes that there's nobody to blame but himself for his actions. He is his own God. Of course, I think the interpretation made by the video also adds another layer to it that Bojack attained this epiphany while running away from the situation yet again. He's literally become so escapist that he came right back around full circle. He became so untethered from reality that he finally met reality and was able to see the truth of it all
When BoJack kept hallucinating the staircase with golden handrails, I thought it was foreshadowing that he was going to overdose and have a near death experience, with the stairs symbolising the ascent into the afterlife. What actually happened instead was, of course, far worse.
I love that he loved Hollyhock so much, he never once suspected her of betraying him even during a bender, despite knowing a LOT about the way he’s lived his life and private details that could have ended his career.
i find it interesting that when gina gets free of the choking she said "what the fuck is wrong with you" and then on season six when we see gina again (in the red dress) her co-star says the same thing to her and after that, she touches her neck.
@@KD-ou2np What's wrong with you idiots?! She lied during the interview to cover up the goddamn truth and she get away with crime!!! She should be in jail for this!!!!
with the "generating more conflict" it reminded me of what he said about sitcom endings, that if theres no conflict theres no more show "and theres always more show"
Well Judy Garland's career was plagued by her drug use, that could be directly representative of Bojacks drug problem in season 5 along with his self destructive tendencies.
@@Danny-fy9it Judy is actually a great parallel to BoJack, and even Sarah Lynn, in real life, as a person whose parents pushed her out onto a stage for a long time. Like Sarah Lynn, she was only 3 when her family put her at the front of her sister’s band. She had a very distant bad damaged relationship with her mother bc she was a stage mother who constantly pushed her career and was believed to tear her down at times to push her success. Her fall into addiction was different, as her management put her on drugs to deal with weight fluctuations, but it still led her to be addicted to drugs and alcohol for her whole life. She was pushed constantly to work and work and work, until she was a tired, broken version of herself, sometimes ending up distant from most of her loved ones, and eventually sinking into mental trauma and addictions until she accidentally took one too many.
What I find most interesting is that although Bojack has used many, many drugs none of them were a genuine addiction that caused such a huge problem for him. The pills provided the perfect cover for him to indulge in his addictions without coming off as problematic showing that he has absolutely no self control and at this point doesn’t identify that what he is doing is wrong.
Throughout most of the show, Bojacks morals are largely defined by how people see him; if nobody sees him do something wrong, it isn't wrong, he only confronts his actions when someone sees them, and runs away from anything that can stay secret (Sarah Lynn, Arizona, etc). Who is is vs how he is seen is his biggest conflict, and after season 6's end brings the two into sharp and sudden equality, when Bojack is seen for what he's done, he reaches his lowest low and possibly then his highest high. Ironically, maybe Diane was wrong, and she should have done a takedown of Bojack and held him accountable, without an image to hide behind Bojack may have done more healing earlier on, and before making later mistakes.
I mean, alcohol is super highly addictive, but yeah, the painkillers have more psychoactive and dissociative effects, so it creates a different kind of conflict for this season.
I think that is what makes it one of the best. It is Bojack's shitty choices accumulating at a personal level, whereas in season 6 we see his shitty choices accumulating at a public level.
I actually didn't watch it for a few months when it came out out of fear it would suck and also knowing it was the last season. I didn't want it to end.
@@firstnamelastname-oi3cp The reason why I stop watching a stupid show is adult cartoons and real-world issue is a bad combo... on the bright side, Tuca and Bertie is coming to Adult Swim this June and they're about to go #AllElite
Great eye on the only people to say the f word thing. Every season I always looked forward to the f word. It was such a subtle detail that meant so much
I thought the balloon was wholly representative of addiction. it was untethered after his major fallout with Diane, which for BoJack was extremely significant because Diane is so much for him. He sees it when he doesn’t have control. After his most violent “rock bottom” (even thought think the point is that he doesn’t have one), the showstopper moment, he consciously greets the balloon and acknowledges his issue. Diane then brings him to rehab, and he’s “holding on to the balloon” he’s in control. Great video!
Am I the only one who has watched the Truman Show? Like walking up the blue stairs? Confusion from fiction and reality? The ending is an obvious reference to the Truman Show(sorry for my anger, I’m just really confused how literally no one caught this)
@@Alex-oo3rv That is a good point! I've heard of the Truman Show having that along with similar themes. I'll admit, the Truman Show has definitely been on my to-watch list for a long time and haven't gotten to it yet (there's so many shows/movies to see, lol). ^^;
i feel like he imagined gina as singing because his guilt made him think that she hated him, and that no matter what he did, she was going to end up like all of the other people he hurt; and he was right:(
What I love with your balloon interpretation, is that Diane "sent" that balloon floating away. Like Diane was the last thing keeping him on the ground, and their argument was the end of him trying to keep touch with reality. Great insight, as always !
When I saw that scene of BoJack confronting the balloon, all that came to my mind was "It's you", just that line. We kept seeing that balloon whenever BoJack was feeling paranoid, so to see him facing it meant he was also facing the person who was sabotaging him.
bojack nearly strangling gina to death was the moment i realized he was completely irredeemable. it brought to life every woman’s worst fear- that someone who supposedly loves you will kill you- and i have never been able to see bojack in the same light. idk what people say… there’s no coming back from this. he would’ve killed her if there wasn’t a crew watching
For me it was the boat. But you have a very good point. Especially in a society where the number one cause of death for pregnant women is homicide. It strikes me how differently we can see Bojack from many men. For them they're watching their own mistakes, for us it's seeing the consequences of those violent actions that directly affects our gender in a society that denies it while ironically celebrating it.
Playing with perspectives is something Bojack does a lot. The only reason we don't see him as irredeemable most of the time is that we get a special insight into why he is the way he is and later on how he can be better. Moments like these are effective because we break from seeing from his eyes and see how he appears to others. Though I personally wouldn't call this irredeemable per say (I know cases of warlords with extensive lists of atrocities turning over a completely new leaf), but that is just my perspective informed by my beliefs and experiences
I think the writers didn't want us to normalize Bojack's behaviour, the same way Diane didn't want Philbert to be relatable. It is easy detach yourelf from a character as they are not real; for example Philbert choking Gina is considered normal until we realize Bojack was not acting anymore, suddenly, it all became morbid and tangible. I think the balloon represents all the romanticized characters like Philbert, who should not be celebrated nor promoted according to their actions (especially not with a giant balloon), and yet they are for commercial purposes. And it all makes more sense considering Diane was the one who untethered the balloon, and both Don't Stop Dancing sequences directly reference the commercialization of celebrities. The Balloon also fell on Bojack, breaking the "screen" which also serves to remind us of our relationship with Bojack and that we are the audience. Bojack was never able to distinguish between *being* and *performing* (he literally is performing to us), reality failed him and his rolemodels were always from tv -aka performers. Bojack found comfort in Philbert, and some people might be in the same position when they relate to Bojack.
I feel like the ladder scene was also a reference to Jacob's Ladder, in that movie the protagonist struggles to understand what is real and what is not while having several hallucinations just like Bojack does. Only once he accepts the truth of his own reality and his past he is able to move on, and this is shown by him climbing up the stairs. It's a really good movie if you want to check it up, it also inspired one of the endings of Silent Hill 1 and some of its overall aesthetic/atmosphere.
"Even when things are going well Bojack's mind continue to prepare for the worst case scenario..." That sounds so familiar it's scary. Feeling like everything good is just going to ripped away at any moment. Can't be happy for expecting to lose it.
One thing I love about Sara Lynn's reprisal is it's the curtain CALL. Even after death, the players take a final bow. Sometimes this bow is brief, you played your part and the audience politely claps. The stars however are given roaring applause, as you extend your time on the stage. You've stopped dancing, your show is over, but the world will keep you on the stage just as long as they maintain interest.
I love how intricately structured the episodes are especially in S5 and S6! You should make an episode about Dr. Champ, was bojack really the villain or did Dr. Champ cross a very big line by spilling what bojack told him in confidence even it’s technically legal?
BoJack had been a villain all his life. He hurt a lot of people, lied to the people, cover up the truth which is wrong. But Tuca never hurt lot of people including her best friend, Bertie.
@@chadkennedy7855 Tuca was/is never even close to as messed up as BoJack, why would you even compare the two? Both the shows might be set in similar realities but they explore remarkably different themes.
@@mahak19 Now look pal, ever heard of the episode "The Deli Guy?" Tuca has drinking issues before season 1 and worst of all she's sleeping with Bruce was a mistake. This is one other reason why she stopped drinking because it was the right thing to do. Also she been with Bertie since day one.
@@jordanspitzer4053 well before season 1 of Tuca & Bertie, Tuca having a drinking problem while she's at the bar, the concert and during spring break, and not to mention she sleep with Bruce which was a mistake.
This is, in my humble opinion, the BEST and most tragic episode in the entire show. Every time I watch it, I get this horrible feeling in my chest, which is what bojack is probably feeling. It's insane how the writers can make you connect to such an awful character, so much as you feel the larger-than-life dread that all of the series' narrative and his drug abuse have led to.
The part of Gina's song where she says "you don't want that, everything to be fine, how dreadfully boring" and by extension, the whole song is incredibly meta as without Bojack's drama, the show would literally be boring and likely end.
I always interpreted the balloon as bojacks struggle with disassociation. We hear him say it multiple times throughout the show, especially in xerox of a xerox, that he feels like he's watching someone else live his life. As someone's who has dealt with disassociation, it's terrifying to feel like there's this person pretending to be you and you can't do anything to change them. I think the balloon is meant to be the real bojack, representing how he feels like he's just watching this fake version of him live his life from 1000 feet up in the sky, powerless to change the bojack on the ground. When bojack climbs the stairs, he must confront the "real" him. I think you're interpretation is more accurate to what the showrunners were going for. But from the moment I saw that last scene, I fell in love with it. Never have I seen something portray what it's like to become so distant from your own life so clearly. Whatever anyone gets out of the scene, it's amazing just how much impact it has on bojack, and the viewer.
My opinion on the balloon symbolizes that Bojack is looking for who is trying to take him down, and it wasn’t under his nose the whole time. It’s himself. You’re biggest enemy is yourself. I love these breakdowns! I can’t wait to see when you breakdown, “Nice while it lasted”
i personally saw the last scene with the balloon as bojack realizing that it wasn’t philbert who choked gina, who was constantly paranoid, who was addicted to pills. he saw the balloon and realized that philbert is just a character, something that isn’t real, something as simple as a balloon. and if he’s looking at what philbert really is, then he realizes he’s bojack, and everything he has done until that point is what bojack has done.
@@carterkruse6471 Imagine during his Firefly Funhouse stagnant, Bray beat up a puppet that looks like BoJack with a sledgehammer showing Netflix why he pathetic and a drunken piece of trash.
The insistent idea that everyone is out to get you and the blurring of fiction and reality was the worst part of my addiction. "Don't stop dancing" is all you can think. This show portrays it perfectly.
One interpretation I had about the balloon was as a representation of Bojack's reputation; a visual representation of how Bojack's actions and choices ultimately overshadow the man himself, becoming larger and more uncontrollable as time goes on, until it eventually pops and deflates, representing how when Bojack's history comes to a head, his status will cease to be.
i think this episode brought me comfort because as you said as long as theirs drama and conflict the curtains won’t fall. now that the show is over, I hope bojacks life has no more conflict.
Another detail is that Gina is dressed as Judy Garland in her song 'get happy', probably symbolising how she was a performer who was deeply damaged and troubled, but she performed for the entirety of her life. Also, Judy's songs are older and therefore more theatrical which fits the theme, but maybe also to say that this motive of performing until you're in your grave has been in the minds of Hollywood performers for a long long time. (If you watch 'Judy', the movie with Renee Zellweger, it goes into detail how deeply sad and traumatised she was, but still performed to her audience despite it all.)
I always saw the Bojack balloon was a metaphor for accountability. Everytime he saw it, he panicked and/or ran away with more drugs. And at the end of the episode after choking Gina, he climbs the stairs and has to look accountability in the eye which leads into the following episode well. Awesome analysis! Definitely one of my favorite episodes of the show 💯
I haven't started watching the video, but I've got a story to tell. During the airing of this season I got hooked with pain medication, i started taking them not because I was phisicaly hurt, but i just wanted to stop feeling the reality i was living. I went for a full year just lonely, i had quited University and used just to roam around parks mostly alone, and in the afternoons i would smoke weed with a friend in, another park. I can't still understand what happened to me that year, but i went downhill, i simply stopped caring about myself and the people around me. I had became just a ghost, most of the time I didn't even knew where i was standing or with whom. In January, of the following year I had an overdose with heroin, i was actually hoping to die, but for some reason I lived, from the i went to rehab, I've been going with a psychiatrist, and getting better. Rewatching this season was simply hurtful, now, that I'm clean, i can understand the outside world, and I'm able to clearly see what I was going through, while watching this Bojack season. I was completely lost, and unaware of the outside world, and just living in a fantasy fulled by drugs. I can't say I got to the point I had a song and an opera show to confront me to reality, but i can say I was simply blinded.
Something I haven't really seen any comments talking about is something that I noticed: in "The View from Halfway Down" with Sarah Lynn's take on "Don't Stop Dancing", Bojack says that he usually "goes" before he sees the show. But he's not able to leave and wanders in. Then Sarah Lynn gets up on stage and sings her first rendition. If he had never stayed that long before, how did he know what it sounded like when he made up Gina's rendition of "Don't Stop Dancing"? Is it possible that he'd been that close to death before during one of his "benders" and had heard it earlier? Is it possible that he was that close to death in Gina's rendition? Sure, he didn't SEEM to be that zonked out, but how many stories are their of addicts laying down, and just... Never waking up again? I think about that a lot. I wonder how many times Bojack has heard that song, literal moments away from death, only to forget it each time because he was too high to remember?
One Easter egg I noticed on rewatch is the cork board in Flip’s office has index cards that layout the beats of the three acts of the Filbert episode they are shooting, the story beats can also be mapped to what’s happening to bojack too.
I love these breakdowns of Bojack episodes! The way you flow out the many representations makes the show much more meaningful upon deeper analysis. May I suggest the episode "Stupid Piece of Sh*t?" That episode hits closest to me when it comes to self hatred and having your own inner voice be your worst demon.
My interpretation of the balloon was that after going over the deep end with strangling Gina, he finally has to come to grips with the reality that his inflated ego is just a facade and now his true self is realizing how he is so small compared to what he thinks the world thinks of him
9:10 At 8:50 when Bojack is concerned about something that could ruin everything the ballon appears I think it represents the fact that is Bojack himself that takes himself down, that tries to sabotage himself. Like Todd said "it's you"
I would love to see a video on the funeral episode! It honestly left a huge impact on me as someone who grew up in an emotionally abusive household and I connected deeply with the fears of what I might think after my parents are gone
im currently in a 6 year long fentanyl addiction and I have been watching this same video for 3 and a half years now, this video has been the one constant in the aspect of understanding and the first bit of help I remember when I was abandoned by all family and peers around me and I was stuck in rehab with nothing but myself a hospital bed and a tv with youtube and Hulu, Netflix, Hbo + etc. obviously having no money or subscriptions had to rely on YT and thats where I found this channel, thx Johnny
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! 👏🏻. This whole episode reminds me of the old saying “Life imitates art...” Bojack is running from himself. He doesn’t want to admit that his addictions and vices has gone too far... and that’s a lot to say considering we are talking about Bojack. He has always dealt with his depression, and alcohol however, up until this point we have not seen Bojack get this paranoid and detached from reality before for this long. This is the turning point for him, he can’t function. He’s in denial.. that’s why he thinks his life is going so “well”. To me Bojack finally going up the stairs, and coming face to face with the ballon is Bojack finally facing himself, his vices and his drug problem. It’s at this point he kinda of in some way realizes he went too far.. he needs help. He keeps telling himself that’s things are fine and under control because Bojack has always to some extent made a comeback from the things he has done. However, I personally feel that in this episode the balloon following him is a representation of his subconscious mind telling him that he needs to face his reality and get help.... it’s kind of fitting that he has to go up a flight of stairs to the “sky” to finally face himself because it’s almost like he has to come face to face with his “higher self.” Also thanks for pointing out the color difference between when they’re on the show Philbert, and when he’s just Bojack. I didn’t realize that the first time I watched the episode. It’s a good call. 👍🏻
Also.... Gina is wearing the same outfit as Judy Garland from her song “Get Happy” from the film Summer Stock. Who also eventually died from an overdose later in life.
Each of these deep looks, I learn something every time. This is why I love BoJack so much... all the hints and nods to future events, past events... It's one of the best Netflix originals!
Did anyone else notice the Philbert intro has BoJack on the board? The sticky note make up BoJack, and under his "eye"(badge) there's a baby blue sticky note, almost like he's crying
Excellent! Love your analysis man, keep explaining Bojack's episodes. Also, this episodes is brilliant. His dream is one of the best and the scariest scenes at the whole show (except for the "halfway down" episode)
my interpretation of beatrices tap dance in the dont stop dancing number when she tap dances into her grave she tap dances backwards. there might be a connection to her memory regression from her dementia in there
Showstopper is one of my favorite episodes!! I never thought about the balloon and what it could mean much. My favorite part of the episode was the musical number.
The Bojack balloon is very cartoonish, harmless looking, but it also looms intimidatingly large over Bojack throughout the ep. It's also actually dangerous given how large and heavy it is, and we see this when it smashes Bojack headfirst into the glass fourth wall, drawing blood at least. At his lowest, Bojack doesn't merely see himself as a loser or a failure. He sees himself as toxic, as poison in a pleasant package, a villain gilded in cutesy cartoon nostalgia and celebrity status. I think the balloon can be seen as a confrontation with his self image. I very much enjoyed your video Johnny and your analysis, it makes me want to do some of my own!
Only 2 dislikes? That’s a testament to you on the quality of your videos. Love ur analysis of bojack, makes me love the show even more than I did upon my first viewing
At the end of this video I noticed that the ballon of bojack popped and crashed down on the real bojack. It could just be me but it seems like this could be referencing the failed stunt bojack tried to perform but got brutally injured, making him addicted to the pain killers. When Johnny 3 cello said that the only thing that’s ruining bojack, is bojack it makes makes more heart breaking to know that the thing destroying bojack is him self.
This is one of my favorite episodes of BoJack and you perfectly captured the nuances of it. Plus the last shot. Been waiting to see a youtuber comment on that. Thank you for that Btw are you gonna do do Downer Ending soon cuz that episode doesnt get enough love imo
I love this episode, partially because I'm a sucker for unstable reality type stories but also because I have anxiety disorders and PTSD that mean I've experienced some of this same type of paranoia and this is *exactly* what it feels like.
The balloon is definitely a hallucination, because the real balloon arrived on the island character actress and fugitive from the law Margo Martindale was stranded
I always assumed the balloon was bojack looking himself in the face, always there, always oppressing over him, this cartoon of a man he's become. Diane kicking it over is her turning him around at this image of himself, so that he can't ignore it. Also great episode!
I like the idea that the big floating bojack is like him viewing himself nearly in his pool horse painting and how the one looking down on the other trying to reach the edge of the pool before drowning, much like the view from halfway down. and how bojack was now pushing everyone away even more and making more mistakes that are horribly detrimental to his relationships and all leading him to nearly drowning in a pool because of one more bender
5:08 I love the detail that the cast shown here are all humans, a meta reference to how Bojack's life is literally a show played by human actors. It's both metaphorical and literal in his situation.
I actually saw the balloon as a callback to when Todd said "Its you"
Love that!
Yes! I saw that too
I always thought it represented how he finally sees himself, unlike Beatrice in the Free Churro episode.
Yeah, he ascended the stairway to heaven expecting to see his (dead) parents, expecting to blame them for his shitty actions. But as Todd says, “it’s you.”
@@danfitzgerald7276 And that's why Tuca never do shitty actions all her life.
I battled opioid addiction and this episode is spot on when portraying what it’s like when one is battling addiction. When you’re stoned to the gills, like Bojack is, you do things you wouldn’t ever dream of doing when sober. I’m proud to say I’m six years sober, btw.
Congrats! That’s huge
That's amazing, man! Congrats ✌🏼
Congratulations! Keep it up!
opioid addiction tore my family apart. it's so hard to see someone when they're high like that. I'm so proud of your sobriety
I'm proud of you too heck !!!!!! Now that's an accomplishment :)))))
At the start of the episode Mr. Peanutbutter couldn’t get the strangling right making it look fake, but in the end Bojack ended up being too good at strangling
I mean hey, show business is show business and that was some good strangling
@@ai_hi5115 Yeah, but it went a bit too far... 😑
@Some Dude On The Internet That Likes Cheese Not my fault they two nimrod can't get it right!
Probably because he's supposed to be a polar opposite to bojack, while simultaneously being everything bojack wants to be.
Part of it might be that he didn't really want to hurt the actress, he's not a violent person.
"Nothing's certain but the curtain"
Best way to abruptly end a song
fax
Aw, Shucks!
And the fact that it's sung by B99's own Stephanie Beatriz makes it all the better
That surely marked me
@@sprytefox More like aw, shit.
I think you're definitely spot on with the balloon representing his untethering to reality. But I also think that the balloon, being literally an advertisement for Philbert, is a manifestation of bojack's commercialized and inflated (pun intended) ego. His whole life has been devoted to other people's consumption and entertainment, and now he is staring that fact right in the face: a hollow, larger than life version of himself that is nothing more than an advertisement for a tv show.
(edited for grammar and clarity)
Love your take
love it when people intend their puns. 10/10
This also really ties into "his" performance on Secretariat. The public loves the empty shell of the bojack that's in the movie, while the actual bojack never acted for it.
d a m n .
@@gaborsophie3347 D A M N . f r ick
I just realized that the board for Philbert in the opening forms Bojack's face. He's been looking for himself the whole time. God I miss the little details in this show.
Oh my God what great attention to detail! I hadn't noticed that! And the blue post it is a tear :(
Same here.
Holy shit
damn
The scene with Beatrice yelling at Bojack while he was hiding under a table and telling him he had to perform for her party guests was very reminiscent of the scene where Bojack was talking to Sarah Lynn while she was hiding under the table on the "Horsin' Around" set. This is when he gave her the "don't stop dancing" advice, which was directly referenced when Sarah Lynn did a reprise of this song in "The View From Halfway Down." It wasn't until she sang the words "a song you taught me when I was small" that I made this connection, and it was like a punch in the gut.
Yeah I talk about this in pretty great detail in some of my other episode breakdowns
Ugh... enough of this... it's time to stop dancing and fight the MPLA!!!!
So true.
something tells me u had a savimbi profile at one point@@chadkennedy7855
Bojack walking up those steps where he meets up with the balloon seems like a reference to a scene in the Truman Show, a movie where a man's whole life is unknowingly broadcasted as a show.
I didn't even realise this!!
I thought that too! I love that movie so much. Interesting that the core of the movie is Truman developing paranoia and questioning everyone he’s close to. Of course in that situation his paranoia was justified tho
@@realsadegg7246 that's such a cool comparison omg
I was watching the video and went down to comments, because I was hoping someone else notices this. For me was instantaneous, mostly because I really liked Truman Show
Woah
That's an amazing connection
The show itself might have ended but there's always more to find with each watch
There’s always more...show
Life *is* a never ending show my friend.
@@nightstrider15 I hate you.
@@nightstrider15 it ends when we die
@@d.6781 your line was ‘except the minor detail that it ends’
One thing that I really loved while watching the show was how when Bojack finished a message. He alwayd says "This is Bojack by the way, Horseman." After a couple of seasons, Diane starts to pick up that line and it really shows how Bojack affected her life.
oooo i never noticed that!! i love all the small things like that the showmakers thought about
It’s like with the honey dew, even PC hates it. But in the end Bojack says it isn’t that bad.
@@jayshmay PC hates it yet there was a full plate honey dew at her wedding
@@hbluemole6941 exactly my point. At her wedding she is happy with her life.
@@jayshmay Oh yes! Now I get you
I knew they only used 1 F-bomb per season, but had not noticed how well they had distributed them--1 to each of the people that Bojack hurt the most. Incredible.
"What's the fuck is wrong with YOU?!"
It's usually reserved for when he's damaged a relationship beyond repair.
I immediately thought of Todd and Charlotte
@@communistpropaganda3629 Two examples of relationships he's damaged beyond repair.
i still think the season 6 f bomb was wasted. its good, its fine, it makes sense, but i feel like it wasnt nearly as good as the others. i wouldve liked to see bojack himself say it
Stuff like this reminds me why Bojack being cancelled was something that NEEDED to happen. Not only because he deserved to be called out after inflicting so much abuse, but because Bojack would have never been able to live happily knowing everything could fall apart at any second.
That's what Johnny says: The damage has already been done.
"Things are going to get worse before they get better, but at least you won't have to spend the rest of your life waiting for the other shoe to drop." Diane in Sunk Cost and All That
i agree i feel like him finally going to jail was something that needed to happen because it’s clear that no matter what he did, he wasn’t going to take responsibility for his own actions so it needed to be out of his control if that makes sense
Especially remember what Cuddly Whiskers said,
“Only after you give up everything, can you begin, to find a way to be happy”
I actually saw the balloon much simpler; the entire episode was Bojack looking for the person who was blackmailing him/out to get him. Him walking up the steps and looking at the balloon conveyed to me as if to say "Oh I found the person ruining my life...it's me".
“You tried to kill me! That’s usually a series wrap on a friendship.”- Bojack to Eddie in The Old Sugarman Place
I feel the "Don't stop dancing" sequence can also be seen as a meta-commentary of the show itself, pointing out the irony of BoJack selling his sadness as a brand which is exactly what this show is doing. Much like the rest of this season being a commentary on why you shouldn't identify with toxic male characters like Walter White, Don Draper or BoJack himself and why you shouldn't use BoJack's actions as a way of justifying your behavior.
EDIT: Also could you do a video on Nice While It Lasted? I feel like a lot of people misunderstand that episode and it doesn't get the love and recognition it deserves
Nice While it Lasted will be my FINAL BoJack episode breakdown :)
@@Johnny2Cellos Not going to happen...
#LetMeIn
I can't imagine anyone having ever thought "Bojack Horseman does it, so it's okay." The entire series is an unglamorous portrait of his self-destructive cycle of abuse. That characters like him ought not to be identified with is assumed.
That you single out the males suggests that television needs more toxic female characters for people not to identify with.
@Eric Lee Are you trying to say that people don't identify with the female characters of BoJack Horseman?
@@SaltpeterTaffy alright I guess you've never read a comment section filled with bojack apologists? You don't have to imagine it, it exists
Do not stop making these bojack breakdowns. Love what you’re putting into this series
I'll definitely keep making these!
@@Johnny2Cellos Try "The Telescope" and "Still Broken."
And Stupid Piece of Shit and/or Good Damage
@@Johnny2Cellos can you do free churro please?
@@franciscoduran4618 that's my favourite duology in the show
An extra thing with the balloon. It kinda looks like he's walking up the stairs to heaven, but instead of acceptance he gets judgment. The untethered BoJack looks at him completely plainly and uncompromisingly. It's the culmination of all his guilt.
never thought about that but it’s a really REALLY good observation
It’s just him. He’s seeing himself. Every little bit of his messed up self
I think it's a bit different though you're on the right track imo. He is looking for heaven, but he's mainly doing this to find someone other than himself to blame. Bojack's always been someone who tries to run away from his problems and from confronting himself and it's hinted even at the very start of the series, but this moment is when he finally internalizes what Todd told him. "It's you". He goes up to heaven, expecting something, anything really, but all he finds is himself, and he realizes that there's nobody to blame but himself for his actions. He is his own God.
Of course, I think the interpretation made by the video also adds another layer to it that Bojack attained this epiphany while running away from the situation yet again. He's literally become so escapist that he came right back around full circle. He became so untethered from reality that he finally met reality and was able to see the truth of it all
When BoJack kept hallucinating the staircase with golden handrails, I thought it was foreshadowing that he was going to overdose and have a near death experience, with the stairs symbolising the ascent into the afterlife. What actually happened instead was, of course, far worse.
yeah i also thought that especially with all the parallels in this episode to “the view from halfway down”
“Nothings certain but the curtain.” The only truly inevitable thing about a life is that it ends.
I love that he loved Hollyhock so much, he never once suspected her of betraying him even during a bender, despite knowing a LOT about the way he’s lived his life and private details that could have ended his career.
i find it interesting that when gina gets free of the choking she said "what the fuck is wrong with you" and then on season six when we see gina again (in the red dress) her co-star says the same thing to her and after that, she touches her neck.
She lied to the public, which gets her into trouble...
@@chadkennedy7855 ???
@@KD-ou2np What's wrong with you idiots?! She lied during the interview to cover up the goddamn truth and she get away with crime!!! She should be in jail for this!!!!
@@chadkennedy7855 I’m seriously curious what you think Gina should be in jail for?
@@teddy-1965 She's can't lied on live TV. If she does, she could put her friends and family in danger.
with the "generating more conflict" it reminded me of what he said about sitcom endings, that if theres no conflict theres no more show "and theres always more show"
I also find it interesting Gina is dressed as Judy Garland from her song “come on get happy” I feel like this means something...
Ah, what does it meeean? Is it irony?
Well Judy Garland's career was plagued by her drug use, that could be directly representative of Bojacks drug problem in season 5 along with his self destructive tendencies.
@@Danny-fy9it Judy is actually a great parallel to BoJack, and even Sarah Lynn, in real life, as a person whose parents pushed her out onto a stage for a long time. Like Sarah Lynn, she was only 3 when her family put her at the front of her sister’s band. She had a very distant bad damaged relationship with her mother bc she was a stage mother who constantly pushed her career and was believed to tear her down at times to push her success. Her fall into addiction was different, as her management put her on drugs to deal with weight fluctuations, but it still led her to be addicted to drugs and alcohol for her whole life. She was pushed constantly to work and work and work, until she was a tired, broken version of herself, sometimes ending up distant from most of her loved ones, and eventually sinking into mental trauma and addictions until she accidentally took one too many.
This is why this episode gives adults nightmares.
What I find most interesting is that although Bojack has used many, many drugs none of them were a genuine addiction that caused such a huge problem for him. The pills provided the perfect cover for him to indulge in his addictions without coming off as problematic showing that he has absolutely no self control and at this point doesn’t identify that what he is doing is wrong.
that's a really good point and I wonder if this effect spills into real life. The opioid crisis is maybe exacerbated by it legality
Throughout most of the show, Bojacks morals are largely defined by how people see him; if nobody sees him do something wrong, it isn't wrong, he only confronts his actions when someone sees them, and runs away from anything that can stay secret (Sarah Lynn, Arizona, etc). Who is is vs how he is seen is his biggest conflict, and after season 6's end brings the two into sharp and sudden equality, when Bojack is seen for what he's done, he reaches his lowest low and possibly then his highest high. Ironically, maybe Diane was wrong, and she should have done a takedown of Bojack and held him accountable, without an image to hide behind Bojack may have done more healing earlier on, and before making later mistakes.
I mean, alcohol is super highly addictive, but yeah, the painkillers have more psychoactive and dissociative effects, so it creates a different kind of conflict for this season.
@@asadsabir7718 oh stop. There is no "opioid crisis".
@@andieallison6792 wtf? Who told you that? Its a huge issue in every state in the US.
The Showstopper was a great episode - seeing Bojack fall into insanity as a result of his drug abuse
I think that is what makes it one of the best. It is Bojack's shitty choices accumulating at a personal level, whereas in season 6 we see his shitty choices accumulating at a public level.
Not to mention the darkest.
And this isn't the first drug bending that got out of control...
Season 5 was really really good. I remember being anxious if it would live up to expectations, and it blew my mind.
But it end disappointed.
I actually didn't watch it for a few months when it came out out of fear it would suck and also knowing it was the last season. I didn't want it to end.
@@meowmachine9147 if Hulu or Adult Swim want to pick that show up for Season 7, so be it.
@@meowmachine9147 same, actually. But luckily it wasn’t the final and season 6 turned out to be great as well.
I’m glad your still talking about bojack. People still look at me funny when I tell them my favorite show is about a cartoon horse :|
THEY'RE the wrong ones!
Same. I can’t trust ppl that don’t watch the show
@@Johnny2Cellos I don't watch that stupid show anymore.
@@chadkennedy7855 Why? You finished it, or another reason?
@@firstnamelastname-oi3cp The reason why I stop watching a stupid show is adult cartoons and real-world issue is a bad combo... on the bright side, Tuca and Bertie is coming to Adult Swim this June and they're about to go #AllElite
Great eye on the only people to say the f word thing. Every season I always looked forward to the f word. It was such a subtle detail that meant so much
I thought the balloon was wholly representative of addiction. it was untethered after his major fallout with Diane, which for BoJack was extremely significant because Diane is so much for him. He sees it when he doesn’t have control. After his most violent “rock bottom” (even thought think the point is that he doesn’t have one), the showstopper moment, he consciously greets the balloon and acknowledges his issue. Diane then brings him to rehab, and he’s “holding on to the balloon” he’s in control. Great video!
That’s a really great take
But was it too little too late? The answer is yes...
@@Johnny2Cellos Stop Dancing, brother! We must fight the MPLA!!!!
@@Johnny2Cellos But like you say: the damage has already been done...
When bojack can't differentiate between reality and the TV show it reminds me of the anime movie Perfect Blue.
love this comparison!
That was my first thought while watching this episode as well (and even some of the themes of Perfect Blue are similar to Bojack Horseman too)!
Am I the only one who has watched the Truman Show? Like walking up the blue stairs? Confusion from fiction and reality? The ending is an obvious reference to the Truman Show(sorry for my anger, I’m just really confused how literally no one caught this)
@@Alex-oo3rv
That is a good point! I've heard of the Truman Show having that along with similar themes.
I'll admit, the Truman Show has definitely been on my to-watch list for a long time and haven't gotten to it yet (there's so many shows/movies to see, lol). ^^;
i feel like he imagined gina as singing because his guilt made him think that she hated him, and that no matter what he did, she was going to end up like all of the other people he hurt; and he was right:(
Tuca never hurt people including her best friend Bertie and you know that.
The BoJack analyses always blow my mind
What I love with your balloon interpretation, is that Diane "sent" that balloon floating away. Like Diane was the last thing keeping him on the ground, and their argument was the end of him trying to keep touch with reality. Great insight, as always !
When I saw that scene of BoJack confronting the balloon, all that came to my mind was "It's you", just that line.
We kept seeing that balloon whenever BoJack was feeling paranoid, so to see him facing it meant he was also facing the person who was sabotaging him.
That's why he got himself sabotage because of those damn drugs and his mother's death. So show some respect for god sakes!
bojack nearly strangling gina to death was the moment i realized he was completely irredeemable. it brought to life every woman’s worst fear- that someone who supposedly loves you will kill you- and i have never been able to see bojack in the same light. idk what people say… there’s no coming back from this. he would’ve killed her if there wasn’t a crew watching
For me it was the boat. But you have a very good point. Especially in a society where the number one cause of death for pregnant women is homicide. It strikes me how differently we can see Bojack from many men. For them they're watching their own mistakes, for us it's seeing the consequences of those violent actions that directly affects our gender in a society that denies it while ironically celebrating it.
Playing with perspectives is something Bojack does a lot. The only reason we don't see him as irredeemable most of the time is that we get a special insight into why he is the way he is and later on how he can be better. Moments like these are effective because we break from seeing from his eyes and see how he appears to others. Though I personally wouldn't call this irredeemable per say (I know cases of warlords with extensive lists of atrocities turning over a completely new leaf), but that is just my perspective informed by my beliefs and experiences
I think the writers didn't want us to normalize Bojack's behaviour, the same way Diane didn't want Philbert to be relatable. It is easy detach yourelf from a character as they are not real; for example Philbert choking Gina is considered normal until we realize Bojack was not acting anymore, suddenly, it all became morbid and tangible. I think the balloon represents all the romanticized characters like Philbert, who should not be celebrated nor promoted according to their actions (especially not with a giant balloon), and yet they are for commercial purposes. And it all makes more sense considering Diane was the one who untethered the balloon, and both Don't Stop Dancing sequences directly reference the commercialization of celebrities. The Balloon also fell on Bojack, breaking the "screen" which also serves to remind us of our relationship with Bojack and that we are the audience. Bojack was never able to distinguish between *being* and *performing* (he literally is performing to us), reality failed him and his rolemodels were always from tv -aka performers. Bojack found comfort in Philbert, and some people might be in the same position when they relate to Bojack.
The way child BoJack flinches when his mother points at him is so heartbreaking...
I feel like the ladder scene was also a reference to Jacob's Ladder, in that movie the protagonist struggles to understand what is real and what is not while having several hallucinations just like Bojack does. Only once he accepts the truth of his own reality and his past he is able to move on, and this is shown by him climbing up the stairs.
It's a really good movie if you want to check it up, it also inspired one of the endings of Silent Hill 1 and some of its overall aesthetic/atmosphere.
I would love to hear your thoughts on whether ski racing is the way forward for elections in America.
Well that would be one solution to getting all of these ancient career politicians out of the picture lol
@@Johnny2Cellos Oh come on, that's stupid! I hope you don't screw up the date just like Tuca.
😂😂😂
"Even when things are going well Bojack's mind continue to prepare for the worst case scenario..." That sounds so familiar it's scary. Feeling like everything good is just going to ripped away at any moment. Can't be happy for expecting to lose it.
One thing I love about Sara Lynn's reprisal is it's the curtain CALL. Even after death, the players take a final bow. Sometimes this bow is brief, you played your part and the audience politely claps. The stars however are given roaring applause, as you extend your time on the stage. You've stopped dancing, your show is over, but the world will keep you on the stage just as long as they maintain interest.
I forgot how reminiscent this episode is of Perfect Blue. The confused identities, reality and paranoia
I love how intricately structured the episodes are especially in S5 and S6! You should make an episode about Dr. Champ, was bojack really the villain or did Dr. Champ cross a very big line by spilling what bojack told him in confidence even it’s technically legal?
BoJack had been a villain all his life. He hurt a lot of people, lied to the people, cover up the truth which is wrong. But Tuca never hurt lot of people including her best friend, Bertie.
@@chadkennedy7855 Tuca was/is never even close to as messed up as BoJack, why would you even compare the two? Both the shows might be set in similar realities but they explore remarkably different themes.
@@mahak19 Now look pal, ever heard of the episode "The Deli Guy?" Tuca has drinking issues before season 1 and worst of all she's sleeping with Bruce was a mistake. This is one other reason why she stopped drinking because it was the right thing to do. Also she been with Bertie since day one.
My comment is about bojack and dr champ, why are these replies about tuca?
@@jordanspitzer4053 well before season 1 of Tuca & Bertie, Tuca having a drinking problem while she's at the bar, the concert and during spring break, and not to mention she sleep with Bruce which was a mistake.
Every time I see one of your vids on Bojack, I immediately want to go back and rewatch the entire series. Excellent work on this one!
Same tho
This is, in my humble opinion, the BEST and most tragic episode in the entire show. Every time I watch it, I get this horrible feeling in my chest, which is what bojack is probably feeling. It's insane how the writers can make you connect to such an awful character, so much as you feel the larger-than-life dread that all of the series' narrative and his drug abuse have led to.
The part of Gina's song where she says "you don't want that, everything to be fine, how dreadfully boring" and by extension, the whole song is incredibly meta as without Bojack's drama, the show would literally be boring and likely end.
I always interpreted the balloon as bojacks struggle with disassociation. We hear him say it multiple times throughout the show, especially in xerox of a xerox, that he feels like he's watching someone else live his life.
As someone's who has dealt with disassociation, it's terrifying to feel like there's this person pretending to be you and you can't do anything to change them. I think the balloon is meant to be the real bojack, representing how he feels like he's just watching this fake version of him live his life from 1000 feet up in the sky, powerless to change the bojack on the ground. When bojack climbs the stairs, he must confront the "real" him.
I think you're interpretation is more accurate to what the showrunners were going for. But from the moment I saw that last scene, I fell in love with it. Never have I seen something portray what it's like to become so distant from your own life so clearly.
Whatever anyone gets out of the scene, it's amazing just how much impact it has on bojack, and the viewer.
My opinion on the balloon symbolizes that Bojack is looking for who is trying to take him down, and it wasn’t under his nose the whole time. It’s himself. You’re biggest enemy is yourself. I love these breakdowns! I can’t wait to see when you breakdown, “Nice while it lasted”
Where would you go without your popsicles dancers?!
Kills me every time for some reason 😂
What makes it so jarring is that this is one of the 3 times they show blood in the series
What was the first?
@@chadkennedy7855
When Sarah Lynn stabbed herself
@@lalaicyling8429 Oh, I see... that's unfortunate. In front of her boyfriend?
@@chadkennedy7855
Yes. In front of Andrew Garfield 🤣
@@lalaicyling8429 Too bad he didn't sue Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter after he got injured while he enter that silly Halloween store in January.
Man. These videos really enhance the experience from the show. Keep up the awsome work!
Thank you!
i personally saw the last scene with the balloon as bojack realizing that it wasn’t philbert who choked gina, who was constantly paranoid, who was addicted to pills. he saw the balloon and realized that philbert is just a character, something that isn’t real, something as simple as a balloon. and if he’s looking at what philbert really is, then he realizes he’s bojack, and everything he has done until that point is what bojack has done.
Fantastic breakdown as usual Johnny.
thank you!
@@Johnny2Cellos This episode still give adult nightmare.
"You did a bad thing and I'm going to tell." - Bray Wyatt
He is one of my favorite wrestlers yowie wowie!
@@carterkruse6471 Let me in!
@@chadkennedy7855 HURT HEAL
@@carterkruse6471 Imagine during his Firefly Funhouse stagnant, Bray beat up a puppet that looks like BoJack with a sledgehammer showing Netflix why he pathetic and a drunken piece of trash.
@@chadkennedy7855 that would be pretty cool actually, merry Christmas 🎄
The insistent idea that everyone is out to get you and the blurring of fiction and reality was the worst part of my addiction. "Don't stop dancing" is all you can think. This show portrays it perfectly.
I really appreciate these videos. They gave me a whole new perspective of the episodes. Keep up the good work bro.
Thanks Dedria!
@@Johnny2Cellos I really hope you are doing Downer Ending soon. That's my favorite episode.
@@dedriajelks9262 Too disturbing...
One interpretation I had about the balloon was as a representation of Bojack's reputation; a visual representation of how Bojack's actions and choices ultimately overshadow the man himself, becoming larger and more uncontrollable as time goes on, until it eventually pops and deflates, representing how when Bojack's history comes to a head, his status will cease to be.
Is it weird that I spend a lot of the video DREADING the moment we got to the part where Bojack does....that to Gina?
This moment is more disturbing as I thought.
shoutout to stephanie beatriz for that truly show-stopping performance. it was such a trip seeing her in this when i know her as rosa from b99.
i think this episode brought me comfort because as you said as long as theirs drama and conflict the curtains won’t fall. now that the show is over, I hope bojacks life has no more conflict.
Another detail is that Gina is dressed as Judy Garland in her song 'get happy', probably symbolising how she was a performer who was deeply damaged and troubled, but she performed for the entirety of her life. Also, Judy's songs are older and therefore more theatrical which fits the theme, but maybe also to say that this motive of performing until you're in your grave has been in the minds of Hollywood performers for a long long time. (If you watch 'Judy', the movie with Renee Zellweger, it goes into detail how deeply sad and traumatised she was, but still performed to her audience despite it all.)
Holy hell, these breakdowns are insane. Never really noticed how much I missed. It makes me appreciate the show even more.
I like how Philbert gives Mr. Peanutbutter an excuse to wear his sunglasses on his face instead of on his head (or securely snuggled in his v-neck)
I always saw the Bojack balloon was a metaphor for accountability. Everytime he saw it, he panicked and/or ran away with more drugs. And at the end of the episode after choking Gina, he climbs the stairs and has to look accountability in the eye which leads into the following episode well. Awesome analysis! Definitely one of my favorite episodes of the show 💯
I haven't started watching the video, but I've got a story to tell.
During the airing of this season I got hooked with pain medication, i started taking them not because I was phisicaly hurt, but i just wanted to stop feeling the reality i was living.
I went for a full year just lonely, i had quited University and used just to roam around parks mostly alone, and in the afternoons i would smoke weed with a friend in, another park.
I can't still understand what happened to me that year, but i went downhill, i simply stopped caring about myself and the people around me. I had became just a ghost, most of the time I didn't even knew where i was standing or with whom.
In January, of the following year I had an overdose with heroin, i was actually hoping to die, but for some reason I lived, from the i went to rehab, I've been going with a psychiatrist, and getting better.
Rewatching this season was simply hurtful, now, that I'm clean, i can understand the outside world, and I'm able to clearly see what I was going through, while watching this Bojack season.
I was completely lost, and unaware of the outside world, and just living in a fantasy fulled by drugs.
I can't say I got to the point I had a song and an opera show to confront me to reality, but i can say I was simply blinded.
Something I haven't really seen any comments talking about is something that I noticed: in "The View from Halfway Down" with Sarah Lynn's take on "Don't Stop Dancing", Bojack says that he usually "goes" before he sees the show. But he's not able to leave and wanders in. Then Sarah Lynn gets up on stage and sings her first rendition.
If he had never stayed that long before, how did he know what it sounded like when he made up Gina's rendition of "Don't Stop Dancing"?
Is it possible that he'd been that close to death before during one of his "benders" and had heard it earlier? Is it possible that he was that close to death in Gina's rendition? Sure, he didn't SEEM to be that zonked out, but how many stories are their of addicts laying down, and just... Never waking up again?
I think about that a lot. I wonder how many times Bojack has heard that song, literal moments away from death, only to forget it each time because he was too high to remember?
Love the bojack content!
One Easter egg I noticed on rewatch is the cork board in Flip’s office has index cards that layout the beats of the three acts of the Filbert episode they are shooting, the story beats can also be mapped to what’s happening to bojack too.
I love these breakdowns of Bojack episodes! The way you flow out the many representations makes the show much more meaningful upon deeper analysis. May I suggest the episode "Stupid Piece of Sh*t?" That episode hits closest to me when it comes to self hatred and having your own inner voice be your worst demon.
i LOVE that there's still new amazing quality bojack content to watch
My interpretation of the balloon was that after going over the deep end with strangling Gina, he finally has to come to grips with the reality that his inflated ego is just a facade and now his true self is realizing how he is so small compared to what he thinks the world thinks of him
Wait...more Bojack content? Yes Please!! 🤩
9:10
At 8:50 when Bojack is concerned about something that could ruin everything the ballon appears
I think it represents the fact that is Bojack himself that takes himself down, that tries to sabotage himself. Like Todd said "it's you"
I would love to see a video on the funeral episode! It honestly left a huge impact on me as someone who grew up in an emotionally abusive household and I connected deeply with the fears of what I might think after my parents are gone
im currently in a 6 year long fentanyl addiction and I have been watching this same video for 3 and a half years now, this video has been the one constant in the aspect of understanding and the first bit of help I remember when I was abandoned by all family and peers around me and I was stuck in rehab with nothing but myself a hospital bed and a tv with youtube and Hulu, Netflix, Hbo + etc. obviously having no money or subscriptions had to rely on YT and thats where I found this channel, thx Johnny
Well done brother/sister
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! 👏🏻. This whole episode reminds me of the old saying “Life imitates art...” Bojack is running from himself. He doesn’t want to admit that his addictions and vices has gone too far... and that’s a lot to say considering we are talking about Bojack. He has always dealt with his depression, and alcohol however, up until this point we have not seen Bojack get this paranoid and detached from reality before for this long. This is the turning point for him, he can’t function. He’s in denial.. that’s why he thinks his life is going so “well”. To me Bojack finally going up the stairs, and coming face to face with the ballon is Bojack finally facing himself, his vices and his drug problem. It’s at this point he kinda of in some way realizes he went too far.. he needs help. He keeps telling himself that’s things are fine and under control because Bojack has always to some extent made a comeback from the things he has done. However, I personally feel that in this episode the balloon following him is a representation of his subconscious mind telling him that he needs to face his reality and get help.... it’s kind of fitting that he has to go up a flight of stairs to the “sky” to finally face himself because it’s almost like he has to come face to face with his “higher self.”
Also thanks for pointing out the color difference between when they’re on the show Philbert, and when he’s just Bojack. I didn’t realize that the first time I watched the episode. It’s a good call. 👍🏻
This episode kinda reminded me of perfect blue.
Also.... Gina is wearing the same outfit as Judy Garland from her song “Get Happy” from the film Summer Stock. Who also eventually died from an overdose later in life.
Each of these deep looks, I learn something every time. This is why I love BoJack so much... all the hints and nods to future events, past events... It's one of the best Netflix originals!
Did anyone else notice the Philbert intro has BoJack on the board? The sticky note make up BoJack, and under his "eye"(badge) there's a baby blue sticky note, almost like he's crying
You just make me love this series so much more ive watch all 6 seasons twice now and didn’t even notice half of these details
Excellent! Love your analysis man, keep explaining Bojack's episodes. Also, this episodes is brilliant. His dream is one of the best and the scariest scenes at the whole show (except for the "halfway down" episode)
YOWIE WOWIE!
#LetMeIn
my interpretation of beatrices tap dance in the dont stop dancing number when she tap dances into her grave she tap dances backwards. there might be a connection to her memory regression from her dementia in there
Showstopper is one of my favorite episodes!! I never thought about the balloon and what it could mean much. My favorite part of the episode was the musical number.
My guy, how are you so good at making reviews? I’m genuinely floored by every Bojack review you’ve done
The Bojack balloon is very cartoonish, harmless looking, but it also looms intimidatingly large over Bojack throughout the ep. It's also actually dangerous given how large and heavy it is, and we see this when it smashes Bojack headfirst into the glass fourth wall, drawing blood at least.
At his lowest, Bojack doesn't merely see himself as a loser or a failure. He sees himself as toxic, as poison in a pleasant package, a villain gilded in cutesy cartoon nostalgia and celebrity status. I think the balloon can be seen as a confrontation with his self image.
I very much enjoyed your video Johnny and your analysis, it makes me want to do some of my own!
Only 2 dislikes? That’s a testament to you on the quality of your videos. Love ur analysis of bojack, makes me love the show even more than I did upon my first viewing
At the end of this video I noticed that the ballon of bojack popped and crashed down on the real bojack. It could just be me but it seems like this could be referencing the failed stunt bojack tried to perform but got brutally injured, making him addicted to the pain killers. When Johnny 3 cello said that the only thing that’s ruining bojack, is bojack it makes makes more heart breaking to know that the thing destroying bojack is him self.
This is one of my favorite episodes of BoJack and you perfectly captured the nuances of it. Plus the last shot. Been waiting to see a youtuber comment on that. Thank you for that
Btw are you gonna do do Downer Ending soon cuz that episode doesnt get enough love imo
Thanks Dan! Downer Ending is def on the list
@@Johnny2Cellos YOWIE WOWIE!!!
Woah I'm lucky this was in my recommendeds
God, thanks, this day became much better now
I love this episode, partially because I'm a sucker for unstable reality type stories but also because I have anxiety disorders and PTSD that mean I've experienced some of this same type of paranoia and this is *exactly* what it feels like.
The balloon is definitely a hallucination, because the real balloon arrived on the island character actress and fugitive from the law Margo Martindale was stranded
Man idk how this channel isn't more popular yet! Love your stuff 😊
when you look deeper into bojack it’s so much more darker when you realize
“But what do they have in… COMMON?” gets me every single time
I always assumed the balloon was bojack looking himself in the face, always there, always oppressing over him, this cartoon of a man he's become. Diane kicking it over is her turning him around at this image of himself, so that he can't ignore it.
Also great episode!
i'd love to see an episode breakdown of head in the clouds. i love this show and your breakdowns are all so cool!
I like the idea that the big floating bojack is like him viewing himself nearly in his pool horse painting and how the one looking down on the other trying to reach the edge of the pool before drowning, much like the view from halfway down. and how bojack was now pushing everyone away even more and making more mistakes that are horribly detrimental to his relationships and all leading him to nearly drowning in a pool because of one more bender
5:08 I love the detail that the cast shown here are all humans, a meta reference to how Bojack's life is literally a show played by human actors. It's both metaphorical and literal in his situation.