LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I just watched this episode and feel compelled to comment on it. I have watched the show from the beginning and wanted so bad to like it, but this episode in particular drove home what I had been sensing for a long time: the show desperately, desperately wants to say something profound about depression and mental health, but simply doesn't know what that thing is. And in all the hyperbolic reviews of this episode, critics are contorting themselves trying to present that fundamental aimlessness as profundity. The show wants to be revelatory in a Mad Men style, but it simply isn't. I wish I didn't feel that way, because the ambition is to be admired, but I can't escape it.
I've gone through long periods of depression at various points in my life, and the reasons behind the depression differed in every instance. My depression at 10 was different from my depression at 16 and again in my early 20s. I could attempt to make a profound statement about mental health based on my experiences, but I don't think one exists. The writers, to my knowledge, have always been more interested in depiction than prescription, and thank God for that.
To address the matter of aimlessness, I've never seen this as a nihilistic series and aimlessness has never been depicted as profound on this show. In Fish Out of Water, the writers went out of their way to say, explicitly, that the best aspect of life is human connection. The happiest characters on the show connect well with others and allow a degree of intimacy in their relationships. There is nothing aimless about that. Aimlessness, if anything, is depicted as self-destructive. The loss of purpose is death to these characters and you often see depression coincide with their loss of a support system. This may not be a "profound" statement on battling depression, but it is an important one that is worth taking to heart.
By far the show's finest depiction of self-hate and destructive, ruminating thought patterns is Stupid Piece of Shit, which hit me harder on a personal level than any episode of Mad Men I've ever watched (and you of all people know I love Mad Men). The message of that episode is clear: if you hate yourself, time won't make it go away. You need to be proactive about your own thoughts. That's heavy and constructive and it resonated with thousands of people. I can't properly encompass in this post the level of impact that episode had on the fanbase. It was remarkable. When I catch myself falling into self-destructive, hateful thought patterns, I still reflect back on the illustration they offered, stop myself and say "hey, why are you doing this to yourself?" The answer to that question is very personal and it's something Bojack's writers have spent the most time on.
If the writers are indeed trying too hard, I hope they keep chipping away, because they connect with stunning moments of clarity pretty damn frequently. I think we can all agree that they will never be able to craft a broadly applicable statement about depression and mental health. What they can do and have done is communicate precisely why the titular character is depressed, what he can do about it, and what is holding him back. I know the answers to all of that because this show is incredibly well written and detailed on a character level. Bojack serves as an illustration of a broader concept for the viewer, but he is not all there is to depression. In fact, his depression differs significantly from Diane's because of their similar but divergent upbringings.
None of this is to say that you have to like what they're doing, that's entirely subjective, but for a 25 minute animated comedy series, I think they've managed to be revelatory in a very different and certainly more disarming manner than Mad Men ever was. Bojack Horseman is an, ahem, Trojan horse that pulls you in when you least suspect it. It's a clinic in sleight of hand. The challenge I see in this show is in establishing that balance between linguistically-charged sardonic humor and existentialist reflection, which I think they've done an excellent job of for the most part, but it can be a struggle during small patches of seasons.
Last edited: