Review: ‘BoJack Horseman’ season five shows a new side to BoJack

Margaret Troup
October 2, 2018

After waiting almost a year since the launch of season four, Sept. 2017, the fifth season of “BoJack Horseman” has finally arrived Netflix.

“BoJack Horseman” follows the titular character, a bipedal horse living in present-day “Hollywoo”. The once-famous actor gets himself and his “friends” into various exciting and, most of the time, illegal exploits which come from his poor decisions related to his heavy drug use, selfish behavior and clinical depression.

Season five provided expansive character development for BoJack Horseman, along with the crazy cast of characters who join him on the ride.

The stand out episode of the season, “Free Churro”, centered around BoJack giving a eulogy. This is the first episode in the series to not include anyone from the main cast besides BoJack. This is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, and is my favorite episode from season five due to its simplicity.

“Free Churro” is like any other episode, but it’s just BoJack recounting the story in a monologue, opposed to the audience watching the story play out. This episode also shows a different side to BoJack, one the audience hasn’t seen before, as the character talks about something he is unfamiliar with, love and acceptance.

The lead writers, Kate Purdy and Joanna Calo, use creative word play to catch the audience off-guard and keep them interested. Series-long running gags reared their heads again this season, conjured by Calo and Purdy, included misprinted banners and animal wordplay.

In Hollywoo “Warbler Brothers” stands in for “Warner Brothers”, a sign which reads “Hogstress wanted” instead of “Hostess wanted”, a gym called “24 Hare Fitness” instead of “24 Hour Fitness” and the list goes on and on. This season’s use of word play and sight-gags range from obvious to subtle, which is all the more reason to give it a re-watch.

“BoJack Horseman” shines in its ability to blend serious topics such as grief and addiction with puns and subtle jokes like no other show I’ve seen. The series can make you laugh, cry or ponder about the meaning of life. Season five continues everything clever and entertaining about this show. I, as well as every other fan, eagerly await the release of season six.