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BoJack Horseman S2 |OT| Hollywoo’s Biggest Comeback – Spoiler Tags until 7/31

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B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
CornBurrito said:
I also love how this season ended.
The purple (baboon?) dude has no knowledge of Bojack's life. His motivational speech to Bojack from his perspective really is just about running up a hill. But then for the viewer we see the metaphor. At the start of the season (episode 1) we see Bojack trying and failing to get up the hill. Now at the end he's finally made it up the hill, but he's so tired. And then this guy tells him that if he tries each day it will get easier and easier. Bojack can become a better person, despite being pretty shitty, and it will get easier and easier with his active efforts to better himself. The hill is a metaphor, the runner's speech is a metaphor, Bojack is a metaphor, everything is a metaphor.
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It made me cry really hard
.
 
M

MindCollizion

Member
Mike M said:
But BoJack can't cry in front of other people!


Archer is more laugh out loud funny for me, but BoJack has *ridiculous* quantities of sight gags. BoJack has a lot more dramatic elements and better defined arcs. Both are extremely self-referential.
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Hmm I will check this out then. Thanks for the info.
 
G

golem

Member
This season started off pretty slowly I thought-- wasnt sure where they were going with all of it, but the payoff in the end was spectacular. Cant wait for the next one.
 
G

Guess Who

Banned
Not said:
I don't like that Diane's character becomes the object of Bojack's affections simply because she's the main hot female character. It would have shown admirable restraint on the writer's part to never bring that up as a means of tension, as the "fighting over the woman" thing is so, so, so, so played out at this point.
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I think the rest of your post raises some good points - particularly about discomfort with Alison Brie playing a Vietnamese-American, which is definitely something I had concerns with - but I will defend this arc to the death.

She doesn't become the object of Bojack's affection just because she is the "hot main female character." She becomes the object of Bojack's affection because she's the only person in years he's been able to open up to emotionally. Bojack is desperately lonely and depressed and Diane is a kind, empathetic, non-judging figure who openly invites Bojack to dump all his emotions onto her (because she's being paid to). Having known plenty of depressed and lonely people - and having been one - this is an incredibly realistic and plausible setup.

And I'd argue they absolutely do show admirable restraint precisely because Bojack doesn't end up with her. In so many other shows, that whole let's-sabotage-the-wedding bit would've ended exactly as Bojack hopes it will. But no, the show tells you, that's not how it fucking works. Women have their own agency and make their own decisions and you just have to deal with that. The whole arc is actually a complete teardown of the kind of plot I think you're reading it as. I think the show would be tremendously lesser without it. And by season two,
the whole thing is wrapped up and Bojack and Diane live on as simply good platonic friends.
 
B

bistromathics

facing a bright new dawn
yeah ok, this show has grown on me.

edit: although, i do think will arnett/bojack might be the worst part. idk if i'd like the show as much if i didn't have a huge man-crush on PFT
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Just finished S2.

Loved the season. Got a bit too real at points with how shitty Bojack can be amidst the good he tries to do.

I'm really sad to see
Wanda go away from his life as that was like the most well balanced relationship he had even if they were largely polar opposites
but it was inevitable.

Solid fucking season imho. Tough to decide which season I liked better. S1 had less 'let's get real' moments but the ones it had were amazing. S2 never really quite reached those highs imho, but it still reached some really spectacular ones.
 
B

bistromathics

facing a bright new dawn
I too just finished marathoning s2 while in SF5 beta hell, and yeah, it was pretty good.

I kinda wonder though - why the animals? I mean, except for a couple of background sight-gags, they could have made an identical show with an all-human cast and lost nothing. It's not like Art Spiegelman's "Maus" or anything where they're drawing parallels between different types of animals and their roles in society. It's just kinda....pointless? Idk.
 
S

ShemhazaiX

Member
bistromathics said:
I too just finished marathoning s2 while in SF5 beta hell, and yeah, it was pretty good.

I kinda wonder though - why the animals? I mean, except for a couple of background sight-gags, they could have made an identical show with an all-human cast and lost nothing. It's not like Art Spiegelman's "Maus" or anything where they're drawing parallels between different types of animals and their roles in society. It's just kinda....pointless? Idk.
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"I wonder though, why real people? Except for a little less suspension of belief they could have made an identical show with an all animal cast and lost nothing."

Mostly because they can. Also it's incredibly fitting to be themes of the show to the extent that the show would actually lose some of its charm.

First of all, there's the fact that one of the shows many themes is heartless television executives and it riffs in the dumb executive cliché of "how about we make a show like X BUT <insert hollow superficial change to concept >".

Second the show thrives on the juxtaposition of ridiculousness and soul crushing emotional trauma. The idea that there are anthropomorphic animals walking about adds to the core concept of the show.

Thirdly: they couldn't have done the Vanessa Gecko bait and switch without it.
 
B

bistromathics

facing a bright new dawn
ShemhazaiX said:
"I wonder though, why real people? Except for a little less suspension of belief they could have made an identical show with an all animal cast and lost nothing."

Mostly because they can. Also it's incredibly fitting to be themes of the show to the extent that the show would actually lose some of its charm.

First of all, there's the fact that one of the shows many themes is heartless television executives and it riffs in the dumb executive cliché of "how about we make a show like X BUT <insert hollow superficial change to concept >".

Second the show thrives on the juxtaposition of ridiculousness and soul crushing emotional trauma. The idea that there are anthropomorphic animals walking about adds to the core concept of the show.

Thirdly: they couldn't have done the Vanessa Gecko bait and switch without it.
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bolded is the main one I'd agree with, but it ends up falling under "wacky and absurd" which honestly weren't my favorite aspects of the show. i know the irony of what i'm about to say, but I am curious how "bojack horseman with animals" and "jack bowman with humans" would stack up in a focus group.

it's just there was more than one scene where it felt...weird. Like wrong-side-of-deviant-art weird. kinda gave me the same vibe as Duckman, which was also a...really weird show (that i remember liking)
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
I'm sure the creators wanted a big part of the show to be ridiculous and amazing and colossally dumb animal jokes. It's not an arbitrary part of the show, it's responsible for at least 70% of its phenomenonal humor.

Unrelated, I had to watch "higher love" again for the bar scene.

"Blue face blast off"
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
bistromathics said:
I kinda wonder though - why the animals? I mean, except for a couple of background sight-gags, they could have made an identical show with an all-human cast and lost nothing. .
Click to expand...
There's a *lot* more than a couple background sight gags, the show is pretty densely packed with them. It's kind of like Futurama where that's a huge part of the humor. Plus you have the afore mentioned Vanessa Geko gag, Wanda asking "Who?" every time someone famous enough was mentioned, almost everything involving Mr. Peanutbutter, and shit like "I'll let you get back to your business" that flies over the head of anyone without a degree in zoology.

The story doesn't need the animals, but it would be a radically different tone and far less clever for their loss.

I have a degree in zoology, so I extra appreciate it.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
Finally finished the season after trying (and failing) to drag it out because I didn't want it to be over. People in this thread weren't kidding about episode 11. This show really wasn't what I expected it to be and I can't wait for season 3, whenever that may be
 
E

etrain911

Member
So, my mother is not a huge cartoon fan. She finds them super obnoxious. But, I think that the poignancy and existentialism found in Bojack would really make her appreciate it. What would be a good starter episode for her? I made her watch 1-3 of season 1 but I don't know how much she loved it and those were before the show really found its footing.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
etrain911 said:
So, my mother is not a huge cartoon fan. She finds them super obnoxious. But, I think that the poignancy and existentialism found in Bojack would really make her appreciate it. What would be a good starter episode for her? I made her watch 1-3 of season 1 but I don't know how much she loved it and those were before the show really found its footing.
Click to expand...

Eh, it's kind of a serial. I'm not sure random episodes would be able to stand on their own to a newcomer when divorced of everything that came before it. The end of episode 11 of S1 is probably as heavy as the emotional impact of the drama gets for the first season, but the emotional gut punches are preceded by a bunch of "wackiness" that might turn people off..
 
K

Killa Sasa

Member
What a fantastic season and a great followup to S1, which I also found great (particularly the Princess Carolyn episode in S1).

I almost wish I hadn't read into people's dread around ep. 11,
literally just a no-no-no-no-nooooo on my end as things happened. FFS Bojack
. Although ep 12 is a little neat and tidy, that final line/metaphor
EVERYTHING IS A METAPHOR!
struck a chord for sure. Fantastic, satisfying stuff. Netflix Originals continue a strong record for me.

Finished this a lot faster than I thought I would. As far as cartoons go, gonna do Rick and Morty to speed time until S3 of BH - slightly ot, but comparable in anyway beyond both being cartoons and primarily aimed at adults?
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Killa Sasa said:
Rick and Morty to speed time until S3 of BH - slightly ot, but comparable in anyway beyond both being cartoons and primarily aimed at adults?
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Rick and Morty has a bunch of sight gags, but nowhere to the extent of BoJack or even Futurama. That's kind of it, I guess? They're both great shows, but not really competing in the same space.
 
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Maybe I'm reading too much into things but I feel like the gag of the squirrel opening a storage container of nuts in episode 3 was a reference to an episode of the Dick van Dyke show
 
G

GtwoK

Member
Alright , finally watched this.

Really really liked it. After hearing so many good things about Season 1 last year, I watched it, but had to force myself to watch it. Nearly every joke fell flat and/or was predictable, and the characters didn't really sit right with me. Everyone seemed to be over-dramatization of themselves, which was kinda bad since they had only just been introduced.

Season 2, however, was phenomenal. It was a TON more grounded, and felt way more believable and relatable. I still wouldn't call it overly funny (I only really got a good laugh maybe 3 times the entire season), but the story and characters have become real. It hit a few emotional spots too, which was great. The entire episode with BoJack in New Mexico was beyond good.
 
R

RC

Banned
Wow, this show really came into its own in the second season.

The emotional poignent parts are what really drew me in and kept interested all season long. I hope Bojack can grow as a person, and continue on the path he started in the season finale.

And I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but everything in New Mexico was amazing.
 
jadedm17

jadedm17

Member
The first season was solid but season two this show hit its groove.
Start to finish, season 2 of this show was absolutely fantastic. A new favorite.

So many damn poignant moments.
 
S

SpoonyBard

Banned
Finished watching the second season yesterday. The ending was again good, but this time it felt like they were sure that they will do a third season, so thre was not a sense of closure like after the first season. And as a whole the season felt a bit more sitcommy, but not too much. Yet.
 
D

danm999

Member
Great season. Watched the entire show this weekend.

What started off slow was absolutely amazing eight episodes in, and Season 2 held up that quality.

And holy shit how topical that Hippo episode is given that Cosby cover.
 
B

Baron von Loathsome

Member
Jesus Christ, Hank After Dark. This show fucking on point.

"At this point, we just don't know enough to judge. Who are these women? Have they ever shoplifted, perhaps? Do they wear short shorts? Do they drink alcohol? All these things are possible. We don't know the facts."
 
O

Ourobolus

Banned
I caught this one and it's still my favorite:

enhanced-buzz-7320-1437472291-7.jpg
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
I finally read some Rafael interviews and I was so surprised! I always assumed (from his name p much) that he was like a Herb Kazazz type who was washed up in Hollywoo and created this fever dream of a show as his last shot. But he's just some kid!
 
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