On the surface, ‘BoJack Horseman’ is a show about anthropomorphic animals living in Hollywood. Underneath it, it’s so much more than that. Now on its fifth series, it’s a show that has never been afraid to pull its emotional punches and experiment with its format and series five is probably the most experimental and emotional yet.

‘BoJack’ series five follows BoJack acting in his new show ‘Philbert’, alongside Princess Carolyn, his long-time friend who is producing it, and Flip, the misogynist writer of the show. BoJack develops a romantic relationship with his co-star Gina while struggling to get to grips with sobriety while also becoming addicted to opiates, losing his grip on reality, and still trying to maintain his limited friendships with Diane and Hollyhock.

While the series starts off struggling to find its pace, it has stand-out episodes and tackles important issues. The plot of the series is quite sparse, there’s not much of a story or a progression and instead it focuses more on character introspection and experimentation of format. The show has become renowned for not sticking to a linear plot and instead paying homage to different styles of film, such as French cinema in the divisive episode, ‘Fish Out of Water’, in Series 3. This series, there’s various interesting styles to develop the characters and tell a story, such as one episode being a monologue with the backdrop of a funeral, and another episode where the identity of the characters are changed. It makes for interesting viewing: the pulpit episode is emotionally raw and honest, and it makes for an amazing exploration of the title character.

The show has always been self-aware, making references to third-wall breaking, taking real life issues and satirising them in the show. Series five is more self-aware than the previous series’ as this time, it takes aim frequently on its very fan-base. The use of a show within a show is cleverly done; the writers use this as a device to make the audience aware of their own behaviour. The fans of ‘BoJack Horseman’, specifically men, idolise BoJack as he uses his mental illness as an excuse for his self-destruction and inability to maintain a healthy relationship. Diane becomes involved in the writing of ‘Philbert’ and upon its release, realises how the show glorifies self-destructive behaviour, encouraging its audience to behave in the same way as Philbert/BoJack, and BoJack realises he doesn’t want to be like that anymore. It’s an important theme that runs through this series, making the fans of ‘BoJack’ look at themselves and become more aware of their own behaviour as a direct result of idolising the main character.

There’s also an amazing commentary on actors in Hollywood in the episode ‘BoJack the Feminist’. This episode offers biting commentary on the Hollywood industry when disgraced male celebrities are forgiven for the bad things they have done. This same episode focuses on men, especially famous ones, claiming to be feminists, putting out statements like ‘don’t choke women’ and getting a huge pat on the back for this. The show has tackled male celebrities in a previous series, ‘Hank After Dark’, but this time it’s more direct on its attack, not shying away from using feminist language and being more aware of the brownie points men are rewarded for calling themselves ‘feminist’.

Whilst this series feels like it has less direction than the previous series and is by no means flawless, there are some shining moments which make it unique and well worth a watch. It continues to tackle important issues, representing subjects such as asexuality, addiction, and mental health whilst also continuing to put Los Angeles under the microscope. It continues to be going strong so roll on series 6!

Creator: Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Stars: Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie
Lauren Jones
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