Princess Carolyn is spread thin by the needs of her job, as well as the needs of her as-of-yet-to-be-named child.
"The New Client" provides examples of:
- Babies Make Everything Better: Deconstructed hard. The episode pulls no punches whatsoever in showing how difficult it is for a single working parent to take care of a newborn baby, especially when their job involves dealing with adults who aren't all that much more mature.
- Black Comedy:
- Princess Carolyn is so distracted from multitasking that she cradles her burrito and puts the baby in the microwave, even turning it on before realizing her mistake. The baby is so agitated that she almost seems irradiated.
- Later, PC shows up at the rehab clinic and when the receptionist notices needle marks all up her arms, she deliriously assures him they're from her baby's needles.
- Character Development: BoJack realizes Mr. Peanutbutter feels guilty about something and even though he doesn't know all the details gives him advice on the self-destructiveness of avoiding confronting a mistake. It's the first time the two are able to see eye to eye on something.
- Chekhov's Skill: Princess Carolyn's tendency to speak in Tongue Twisters is not just a funny thing she can do, it's a memory device she uses to keep track of all the things her clients do, need, or think; especially when it comes to large events. It's also the thing that gets Ruthie to calm down and stop crying.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each Carolyn Afterimage is color-coded for what it's supposed to be doing.
- Cut a Slice, Take the Rest: BoJack does a variant of this where he takes one sugar cube off a plate, but then dumps the rest of them into his coffee.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Mr Peanutbutter, if BoJack is to be believed. BoJack has to remind him that they're at a rehab clinic.
- Last-Minute Baby Naming:
- Way past last minute, since Princess Carolyn has been so busy that she still hasn't given a proper name to "Untitled Princess Carolyn Project". At the very end of the episode, she finally comes up with a name: Ruthie.
- It's even more extreme in Diane's case, since her parents apparently didn't bother to name her until she was four years old.
- Line-of-Sight Name: At the photo shoot, Princess Carolyn voices her concern about saddling her baby with a stupid name like "Light Socket". A kid with that very name overhears, and starts crying.
- Madness Mantra: Another sign of Princess Carolyn's stress statements echoing in her head.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: When Todd was at a meeting with an executive, he explained he had to cancel the previous meetings because he had to help with "Untitled Princess Carolyn Project". Not knowing he refers to her baby, they start getting excited thinking it’s about a literal project she has in line, and only asking the minimum amount of questions which Todd just takes as if they’re asking about the baby.Mr. Knickerbocker: Do you think this project has legs?Todd: Umm... Yes, she has legs.
- Poor Communication Kills: When Princess Carolyn shows up at the rehab clinic trying to find Mr. Peanutbutter (there to visit BoJack), she's so exhausted and has such visible needle marks on her arms that the receptionist thinks she's a drug addict and checks her in. The best she manages to clarify her situation is that the needles are her baby's.
- Psychological Projection: During a group therapy session, Mister Peanutbutter interrupts when someone is talking about their issues and clearly starts projecting his own guilt about cheating on Pickles onto the other person's problems.
- Speed Echoes: Most of the episode features Princess Carolyn's afterimages trying to balance all the plates she has in the air. By the climax of the episode, there are almost 20 on-screen.
- Take That!: When Princess Carolyn answers Bojack's phone call, the baby is crying loudly in the background. Bojack sarcastically apologizes for interrupting her meeting with David O. Russell.
- This Is Gonna Suck: BoJack, when Mr Peanutbutter starts hijacking the group therapy session.
- Unknown Rival: While Vanessa had obviously been battling Princess Carolyn every time they crossed paths all show, she considered it a normal part of their ruthless trade. She's absolutely floored to find out Princess Carolyn hated her personally and had thought it was mutual.
- The Voiceless: Poor Karen Kitada can't even get a word in edgewise.
