Todd: When you put it that way, it's almost like these mass shootings could be a good thing for the movie.
Princess Carolyn: No, no, no, of course not, they're a terrible tragedy and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims.
Princess Carolyn: No, no, no, of course not, they're a terrible tragedy and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims.
The release of Lenny Turtletaub's upcoming film Ms. Taken, starring Princess Carolyn's client Courtney Portnoy, is derailed by a slew of mass shootings, so PC enlists Diane to write a fluffy empowerment piece to stave off bad PR. Meanwhile, BoJack and Hollyhock visit Beatrice at her retirement home.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Law: LA severely restricts purchasing and carrying handguns, and Diane almost certainly wouldn't get a permit. The show implies there is no gun control at all in the state, especially towards the end where people are openly carrying military hardware. Also a state government banning guns outright just to keep women from having them is blatantly unconstitutional.
- Bleak Abyss Retirement Home: Hollyhock wonders if BoJack feels any guilt at all leaving his mother to die in an expensive but lonely retirement home. As she was abusive, it clearly doesn't bother him that much.
- Brick Joke: Todd suggests having a meeting at a water park. In the next conference call, he is indeed at a water park.
- Compressed Vice: Diane starts the episode as very anti-gun, then gets exposed to one thanks to Courtney. She then publishes a piece saying that she owns a gun because it makes her feel safe in a world that oppresses and threatens women. This causes a legislative flurry that is resolved by the end of the episode. Sort of.
- Didn't See That Coming: When controversy arises over women owning guns, Diane comes out with a statement blaming society for making women feel threatened. She concludes that if they want to resolve the issue they should either make the country a better place for women, or just ban all guns. In an instant, ownership of all guns is made completely illegal in California.Diane: I really thought that would go the other way...
- Distanced from Current Events: Parodied In-Universe. Cortney Portnoy's film Ms. Taken, an action film with a bunch of gun violence, is about to be released, but due to a slew of mass shootings, the film gets pared down until it's only a few seconds long.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: You have a woman learning to use guns and arguing to carry one around. This starts a controversy where no one wants a woman carrying a firearm and using morality arguments. This is basically what happened with black people and gun control
. - Double Standard: Apparently carrying around a gun is fine, unless you're a woman and an ethnic minority. Diane starts controversy about it because she purchases a gun and writes about it.
- Everyone Has Standards: Courtney pulls a gun on a guy harassing Diane, telling him to start walking and stop being racist. It wasn't just to convince her that guns make someone feel powerful.
- Foreshadowing: Beatrice's reaction to meeting Hollyhock is to say "Oh. It's you. I can't believe you came back. You look just like him." This foreshadows that Hollyhock is Butterscotch's daughter, and while Beatrice is confused, she is somehow able to realize who Hollyhock is.
- Funny Background Event: In a continuation of the epic saga between Mr. Peanutbutter and the banner people, the banner says "P.B. FOR GOVERNOR: IS GOVERNOR SPELLED WITH AN E OR AN O?"
- Gilligan Cut: Mr. Peanutbutter tells Diane that he's happy how their differing political ideologies don't get in the way of their relationship. Cut to the two of them on a news show arguing so loudly that nobody can understand what either of them are saying.
- Hypocritical Humor:
- Lenny bemoans the culture of gun violence that leads to real mass shootings because they stop him from releasing films that glamorize gun violence.
- All the executives saying "thoughts and prayers" whenever talking about the shootings with so little sincerity it's clear that they don't actually care about the lives as much as they care about the bad PR.
- "Miss X" Pun: starlet Courtney Portnoy is supposed to appear in a female-led Taken spinoff titled Ms. Taken (Portnoy plays the niece of Liam Neeson's character). The film's release gets put in jeopardy after a nationwide spate of gun violence, and Princess Carolyn suggests emphasizing "Ms" part to save face.Princess Carolyn: Men! What if we played up the "Ms." in Ms. Taken? In a world of increasing terror, our movie tells women they don't have to be afraid anymore.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The first appearance of A Billy Bush Type, who is extremely similar to A Ryan Seacrest Type.
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures: A valet greets the Vietnamese Diane with "Konnichiwa, Princess Mulan". Diane is just about to explain that he used a Japanese greeting and referred to her as a Chinese mythical character before Courtney pulls a gun on him.
- Not That There's Anything Wrong with That: The Running Gag of everyone saying "thoughts and prayers" whenever a real-life mass shooting comes up, believing that it will absolve them of the guilt of ignoring them and/or focusing on how big a problem they are for their movie.
- Precision F-Strike: BoJack finally gets one, although he technically doesn't "use" the word so much as say it when he tells Hollyhock that he wants to look his mother in the eyes and say "Fuck you!" Not only does it subvert the show's tradition of only using it for when someone disowns BoJack, but it foreshadows his eventual decision not to go though with it, as his plan is ruined and therefore wastes this once-per-season use.
- Reality Subtext: In-Universe, gun control issues impact the development of "Ms Taken", which is apparently a very violent film as the gun ban leaves only a single scene usable for the final product. Turtletaub laments the same kind of thing happened to a family comedy about a klutzy babysitter they were going to do called "Hurricane Sandy".
- Running Gag: Mr. Peanutbutter fails to properly dictate yet another banner."P.B. FOR GOVERNOR (below) IS GOVERNOR SPELLED WITH AN E OR O?"
- Skewed Priorities: Princess Carolyn and the movie executives remain focused on making their female-centric film, while cutting scenes that are too relevant to the mass shootings reported throughout the episode. PC, especially, doesn't act like these shootings are a threat since all the instigators, so far, were men. When the next shooter is reported to be a woman, it completely threatens the movie's overall production.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: As with the last episode, Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane's extreme political differences result in some amazing hate-fucking.
- Shout-Out: Todd's suggestion to evade mass shootings is pumped up kicks that can run faster than a bullet.
- Spoiled by the Format: Inverted. The fact that BoJack wastes this season's one Precision F-Strike on describing how he is going to use it on his long abusive mother foreshadows his eventual decision not to go through with it.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Invoked — the doctor at the retirement home sneaks up on BoJack as a metaphor for the creeping mention of dementia.
- Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: Due to her dementia, Beatrice thinks BoJack is a maid named Henrietta. This persists throughout most of the season.
- What Are Records?: BoJack produces a Horsin' Around DVD case and Hollyhock wonders what he's doing with a thin hard book.
- What the Hell, Hero?: BoJack calls Princess Carolyn and delivers a heartfelt apology to her for not keeping contact for months, and when she responds with gratitude, BoJack abruptly cuts her off to ask the name of the care home that he sent his mother into, souring the mood between the two right afterwards. Hollyhock, who sits besides him in the car, stares at him disapprovingly.
- Zany Scheme: Although Beatrice doesn't recognize BoJack as himself, she does recognize the Horse from Horsin' Around as BoJack, so he decides to perform a live episode for her to help her connect the dots, before planning to savagely tear her down with a big "Fuck You". The plan backfires, confusing Beatrice and causing her to attack other patients of the nursing home. Instead of initially distancing from his mother, he is now stuck with her for most of the season after she is kicked out due to the nursing home's policy.
