History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / BoJackHorseman

** [=BoJack=] himself questions his motivations when it comes out that [[spoiler:he left Sarah Lynn to die and didn't call 911 for seventeen minutes after she stopped breathing in the planetarium. The reason was to create an alibi that she called him, and thus making it look like he wasn't responsible. It turns out that he didn't ''remember'' doing this owing to all the drugs in his system but had suspected he had done something worse than give her the drugs that caused her overdose, hence his caginess about discussing what happened. Biscuits Braxby uses this information to blindside [=BoJack=] and paint him as a predator that likes evading the consequences of his actions, and his every attempts to deflect makes him look worse. The ambiguous part is that [=BoJack=] has done similar actions while drunk or high, from scheduling ghostwriting sessions with Diane to stealing the D from Hollywood]].

* As shown in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Maf2d3ek0Y this video]], even a character as [[HateSink loathsome]] as Joseph Sugarman can be subject to interpretation. For example, [[spoiler:lobotomies]] were seen as a cutting-edge medical treatment in the 1940s and 50s, not [[spoiler:a cruel form of brain damage]], and in "Time's Arrow", he is shown telling his wife Honey [[spoiler:if he knew she would become an EmptyShell because of the treatment, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he wouldn't have put her through it]]]]. Even when he [[spoiler:burns Beatrice's baby doll]], the event that would traumatize her for the rest of her life, it's clear to the audience that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he had to do it]] to protect the household from scarlet fever, as [[spoiler:Beatrice bringing the doll everywhere]] could potentially expose others to the deadly disease.

[[folder:Butterscotch]]
* While Butterscotch is one of the biggest {{Hate Sink|s}} in the show with little to explain his behavior, the one element he does give of his backstory -- his mother died when he was young -- raises some questions. Is the childhood trauma related to losing his mother one of the reasons he became such an abusive narcissist? And since he tells both Beatrice and [[spoiler:Henrietta]] that they look like his mother while flirting with them, is he using them to fill some emotional void? On the other hand, Butterscotch could just be using the "dead mother" story for sympathy as we have no confirmation that it's true, which would make him look even more manipulative and callous.

* Todd sabotaging BoJack's chances at winning an Oscar may have been payback for [=BoJack=] ruining his Rock Opera. On the other hand, it was destined to fail, given Todd's track record.

* Does Diane have a better grip on her mental health and trauma and is her advice to others (either to Bojack or through her column) wisdom from actual life lessons, or is she a KnowNothingKnowItAll who's "advice" is just her acting like she's come out the other side successfully while really just telling other people what to do to deflect from her own problems?
** It's all but stated that Diane genuinely loves Bojack and wants what's best for him, but refuses to admit it, both out of fear of enabling him and refusal to accept that, even if she's not obligated to make personal sacrifices to help him, she wants to. Despite refusing to help him any more after his incident on ''Philbert'', she still drives him to rehab, which can be seen as both her getting him out of her hair and helping him by directing him to someone more capable of doing so. She also tells him that she was angry when she found out that he tried to commit suicide, which, while not the most compassionate thing to say to someone who'd just made a suicide attempt, is a very common reaction that friends of people who've done so are known to say.

* Todd sabotaging [=BoJack=]'s chances at winning an Oscar may have been payback for [=BoJack=] ruining his Rock Opera. On the other hand, it was destined to fail, given Todd's track record.

* InUniverse: Todd believes that the cop from the movie ''Film/DieHard'' and the dad from ''Series/FamilyMatters'' are [[TwoAliasesOneCharacter the same person]]. It's just that the cop went into witness protection after the events of the first two Die Hard films.

* Is Vanessa Gekko really any worse than Princess Carolyn? How much of their rivalry is fueled by PC being jealous of how Gekko managed to have a lasting marriage, children, and overall lifestyle she's longed for but could never get? Somewhat answered when Vanessa is shocked that Princess Carolyn admits to hating her.

* Is Flip a GiftedlyBad writer who's deeply personal work just ''happens'' to include a lot of [[MaleGaze naked women]], or did he just "fail upwards" into a showbiz career and is using it as [[PrimaDonnaDirector an excuse to treat actors like his play things]]? The first episode of season 5 seems to make it ambiguous just how much he's putting in his show to spite Bojack and/or control Gina and how much of it is [[ItsAllAboutMe Bojack projecting]]. Later, he tells the camera man, with an intrigued grin, to continue filming when [[spoiler:Bojack nearly chokes Gina to death]]. Is he trying to capture some EnforcedMethodActing and work it into his passion project, or is it something more insidious?

* In general, whenever the characters pontificate about life with convoluted metaphors, are they accurately assigning words to the exact way that they understand ideas and feelings, are they [[CannotSpitItOut trying and failing to do so]], just [[KnowNothingKnowItAll completely full of crap and trying to sound like they have life figured out when they clearly don't]], or is it just [[WriterOnBoard the writers putting their own words in the characters' mouths]]? Perhaps some combination of all four?
* Did Ruthie's mom genuinely think that Princess Carolyn was too work absorbed to care for her daughter, or was it a Secret Test of Character. She tells PC that she was the only prospective mother who accepted her decision when told, so the latter option is a possibility.

** "The Telescope" shows that Herb's ego got just as out of control as Bojack's midway through his time on the show, but also that he recognized this and wanted to make peace with his friend before they pushed one another away for good. On the other hand, while threatening to leave the show to stand by his friend would certainly have been noble, Bojack would have risked getting blacklisted and never working again (analogous to when Creator/JohnKricfalusi was fired from ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' and tried to force Creator/BillyWest to quit out of protest, to which West refused, both out of fear of blacklisting and not feeling any greater loyalty to Kricfalusi. Bojack has only slightly more of a reason to be loyal to Herb). Did he feel [[EntitledBastard entitled to Bojack's loyalty]] in the same way Bojack felt entitled to an accepted apology? Was rejecting Bojack's apology an act of sincere anger or, again, just a power move on the one person from whom he'd gain some sort of closure by taking his anger out on? He outright tells Bojack that he's not going to give him closure, so he knows that what he's doing is going to hurt him. His line "I'm not gonna give you ''closure!''" could be read as "I'm ''intentionally denying'' you closure so you'll suffer."