"Over these last two nights, you’ve drawn an outline of a person. A person who doesn’t think about others, a person who puts his own needs first. And over and over, other people get hurt, not necessarily because he means to hurt them, but because he just doesn’t care. This person I’m describing, is it a different person, or is it you?"
— Biscuits Braxby
After the Sarah Lynn story breaks, BoJack tries to mitigate the damage.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation:
- It's unclear how sober BoJack was when he waited 17 minutes to call an ambulance for Sarah Lynn, as he himself doesn't remember the details. What's so damning about this is that unlike in other similar circumstances he found himself in in the past, there's no way to spin it as remotely forgivable.
- No one, not even the audience, will ever know if BoJack immediately calling an ambulance to save Sarah Lynn (who was still alive and only died in the hospital because it was too late to do anything) instead of waiting seventeen minutes so he could construct an alibi to avoid being implicated would’ve made a difference. Nor does it matter to Biscuits; as she points out, the act of calling 911 immediately would’ve shown basic decency.
- Attention Whore: This episode perhaps best demonstrates that being in the spotlight is a major addiction of BoJack's. After the first, successful interview, his desire to do another - to once more feel the public's support and adoration - is extremely reminiscent of someone coming down and chasing a renewed high.
- Call-Back:
- Dr. Champ is where Biscuits Braxby got most of the information about BoJack's past misdeeds, which she used against him during the second interview.
- The Chicken 4 Dayz commercial from "Chickens" is briefly seen playing on the TV at the comedy club.
- Pinky Penguin still uses a pair of Malibu Monsters slippers.
- Celebrity Paradox: Some of the comedians' headshots include Kristen Schaal (who is a horse, the voice of Sarah Lynn), Ali Wong (who is a pregnant cobra, a reference to her Netflix stand-up special Baby Cobra, recorded while she was seven months pregnant; also she voiced Maddie in "Escape from L.A."), and Maria Bamford (the voice of Kelsey).
- Cerebus Retcon: Most of the show has it Played for Laughs when BoJack doesn't remember what he did while drunk or high, and the dramatic moments serve as rock-bottom for him. Not-so-much here; it turns out BoJack didn't remember leaving Sarah Lynn to die, and it means he has no defense when Biscuits reveals that she has evidence about the phone calls he made so that to the cops, it appeared as if Sarah Lynn called him for help.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: As Princess Carolyn puts it rather bitterly at the end of the episode, she warned BoJack not to do the second follow-up interview. If he’d followed her advice and quietly returned to his teaching job in Connecticut, then he wouldn't have shot himself in the foot so badly. This is a mess that she can't clean up or sweep under the rug.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: BoJack trying to defend himself in the second interview only makes him look worse. Particularly when he lets slip how he had sex with Sarah Lynn, something Biscuits Braxby didn't even know about before the interview started. While BoJack makes it very clear that Sarah Lynn was 30 years old at the time and well over the age of consent, the fact that it was while they were drunk and/or high as well didn't help at all. And this was after he stated that he gave her alcohol when she was ten, which adds even more evidence on the horse's negative influence.
- Disappointed in You: Princess Carolyn is displeased and saddened that BoJack couldn't listen to her this one time to just fly back to Connecticut and resume his Character Development. She warns him his life will be ruined when the interview airs and tells him bluntly that she can't protect him.
- Downer Ending: Against his better judgement and Princess Carolyn's advice, BoJack does another interview, and whatever goodwill he garnered with the first one is destroyed when Braxby, now armed with Doctor Champ's information, reveals the truth behind Sarah Lynn's death; she was still alive when she overdosed and BoJack, more worried about coming up with an alibi and saving his own skin than he was about saving her life, waited seventeen minutes before he called 911, by which point it was too late. And BoJack doesn't remember this, meaning that either he was too high to remember or buried the memory out of sheer guilt. Braxby rakes BoJack over the coals, using this revelation and the knowledge of his past failed relationships to paint him as a sexual predator. And to top it all off, PC finally realizes that BoJack may never escape his destructive behavior and washes her hands of him, telling BoJack in no uncertain terms that his life will be ruined when the interview airs and leaving him to face the music alone.
- Dumped via Text Message: Pickles breaks up with Mr. Peanutbutter over text, as he announces as he's out the door.
- Easily Forgiven: In the first interview, Biscuits Braxby was a little soft on BoJack, and as a result, people treat him better. Averted in the second interview as Biscuits reveals more of BoJack's immoral actions and condemns him for it.
- Everyone Has Standards: Biscuits was fine with doing her usual softball interviews for disgraced celebrities. That's how she puts bread on the table. It's when Paige shows evidence that BoJack left Sarah Lynn to die that Biscuits changes her tune.
- Also, even though it is subtle, Braxby noticeably does not mention Gina in the interview. Paige Sinclair presumably knows about Gina if Dr.Champ told her "everything," yet Paige respected Gina's right to privacy.
- Exact Words: Dr. Champ's previous assertions that he's not a therapist, but a therapy horse, finally comes to a head when Paige and Biscuits Braxby come to him for dirt on BoJack. Because he's not a therapist, he doesn't have to adhere to doctor/patient confidentiality.
- Fake Alibi: BoJack used Sarah Lynn's phone to call himself, then slinked into the parking lot for 17 minutes for the illusion he drove to the planetarium, then called 911 when he "got there". Biscuits points out that this is more than likely what sealed Sarah Lynn's fate.
- Foregone Conclusion: Princess Carolyn already knows how the second interview will impact BoJack's life and career, and comes to the conclusion that they can't fix this. She decides to leave him with some time to think about what he will do before it goes on the air, but she can't be able to bail him out since he didn't listen to her.
- Genre Refugee: Paige's sister calls her out for talking and dressing as someone from Screwball Comedies of the 30s and 40s. They're from Fresno.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: After his first interview goes surprisingly well BoJack decides to go against Princess Carolyn's advice and hold a second interview to milk his newfound goodwill. This time however, Braxby has now learned about the multiple contradictions in his story and comes prepared with more hard-hitting questions that BoJack isn't prepared for.
- It's All About Me: BoJack celebrates how his first interview went in terms of how it would present him in a positive light to the public eye, as opposed to feeling genuine relief over no longer needing to lie to the public over what had happened between him and Sarah Lynn. He then goes further into his own selfishness when he agrees to a second interview, to continue lavishing in the positive reception, rather than listen to Princess Carolyn and leave it be.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- In the previous episode, BoJack ranted about how Paige Sinclair wasn't reporting the story because she actually cared about the victims, but because she was trying to tear him down in an effort to build her own career. In a brief scene near the start of the episode, we do see Paige venting to her sister that she is upset that BoJack's impending interview will end up overshadowing her story.
- Paige, in turn, expresses frustration and disgust that the media is framing his true involvement in Sarah Lynn's death in a sympathetic and even noble light. True, she planned to air his take-down story for her own gain, but her outrage over the media's attempt at damage control is genuine. And during her investigation, Paige has uncovered plenty of evidence that BoJack has a "pattern" of repeated behavior like this with women, rather than one instance involving Sarah Lynn's death, and BoJack was showing no signs of stopping that behavior anytime soon. This outrage is part of what spurs her to give all of the collected evidence to Braxby and convince her not to go easy on BoJack during her second interview.
- Despite selfish reasons for doing a second interview, BoJack at least learns his sympathetic light is inspiring others, and this can be a bonus while milking his newfound fame. Not showing up a second time would make him a "dick". Unfortunately, it only results in turning from him going from "sympathetic" to just "pathetic".
- While Braxby does her harsh interview with BoJack exposing his misdeeds only to further her own career, her outrage at discovering BoJack's pattern of repeated misbehavior with women and discovering his Murder by Inaction of Sarah Lynn is completely genuine.
- Also in the second interview, Braxby effectively portrays BoJack as a serial misogynist and abuser who seeks out women to mistreat and take advantage of. Those who've followed BoJack over the series know this isn't true since men (such as Herb, Dr. Champ, and Todd) have also gotten hurt by his actions, something that BoJack himself admits. However, Braxby is correct in pointing out that due to the gendered power dynamics in play, women tend to be the ones harmed the most by his behavior.
- Karma Houdini: It's clear to the audience that Sarah Lynn's mom and stepdad are at least as responsible for her becoming an Addled Addict as BoJack was (though he is directly responsible for her death), given that one was a pushy and selfish Stage Mom and the other is heavily implied to have sexually abused her as a kid, but none of this is ever brought to light. Sarah Lynn's mother even gets five million dollars from BoJack's estate thanks to Sarah Lynn's death and continues to shamelessly profit off her daughter's image in death (selling it to companies to sell products, some with tasteless jokes like "I'd die for a Pepsi!") as she did in the girl's life.
- Kick the Dog: BoJack essentially throws Sharona under the bus on TV, when he mistakenly assumes that it was her that shared BoJack secret of leaving vodka on the Horsin' Around set for young Sarah Lynn to find. This is after having made amends with Sharona when the two met inside an Alcoholics Anonymous group.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Realizing there is no way that she can save BoJack from the second interview's inevitable fallout, Princess Carolyn finally leaves BoJack. She's gentle about it, saying that she can't protect him now, and he can't protect himself from what's about to come. Then she goes home to take care of Ruthie.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Knowledge of BoJack's relationship with and influence on Sarah Lynn finally comes to bite him in the ass 3 seasons after her death. It doesn't help that he seriously dug himself deep in the second interview.
- Loud Gulp: BoJack emits an audible gulp when he realizes that the second interview has gone completely south and he is effectively screwed.
- Murder by Inaction: During her second interview with BoJack, Braxby, now armed with more information about his misdeeds thanks to Paige Sinclair and Dr. Champ, points out that in trying to create a cover story so the police wouldn't think he's responsible for Sarah Lynn's fatal overdose, he waited for 17 minutes to call 911 even though she was still alive and didn't die until she was at the hospital and it was too late for the doctors to save her.Braxby: So to recap, you gave Sarah Lynn alcohol when she was a child. She then became an addict. [...] When she was intoxicated, you had sex with her, and when she was sober, you gave her the heroin that killed her. Then in an effort to cover for yourself, you waited to call the paramedics that might have saved her life. And you don't think you have any power over women.
- Mythology Gag: One of the posters on the wall of the comedy club is for Olde English, which was the comedy troupe that creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg was in before BoJack came along. It also served as the origin of the "Boxer vs. Raptor" vanity card.
- Never My Fault: After the second interview, BoJack rants and raves to Princess Carolyn in the parking lot that Paige and Braxby were clearly framing the facts in a skewed and negative light, making him out to be a bad person when he wasn't, were clearly out to get him and the audience would see that. During his raving, Princess Carolyn looks increasingly troubled and crestfallen, as she seems to realize that BoJack will never escape his own nature, and gently washes her hands of him.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Bojack's disastrous second interview with Braxby is quite similar to R. Kelly's infamous televised interview, detailing his history of sexual abuse, with Gayle King. There are also some similarities to Prince Andrew's equally infamous interview detailing his history with Jeffrey Epstein.
- Nominal Hero: Paige and Biscuits Braxby working together finally expose all the horrendous and selfish things BoJack has done to others for everyone to see, and while they are genuinely outraged over discovering this behavior, they're only exposing it to further their own careers rather than for any particularly noble cause.
- Offscreen Breakup: Mr. Peanutbutter literally walks off-screen when he gets a text from Pickles calling off their engagement.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: In the middle of all the other terrible things the horse says during the second interview, BoJack also shouts that he never meant to hurt Sarah Lynn; he loved her! This comes a few minutes after Biscuits notes that he and Princess Carolyn hooked up a few times. Princess Carolyn's expression shows hurt and confusion, as she gets more confirmation that she was only one of BoJack's many mindless dalliances.
- Pride Before a Fall: If BoJack had just taken the one interview and flown back to Connecticut as Princess Carolyn suggested, the second interview would not have ruined all the goodwill he curated during the first one.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After BoJack's second, disastrous interview, as he rants and raves that the reporters were clearly framing his past actions as far worse than they really were and were clearly just out to get him, Princess Carolyn looks increasingly troubled and crestfallen. When he asks her what they're going to do and how they're going to combat this, she gently reminds him that he should have just taken the first interview and flown back to Connecticut like she suggested, that all they can do now is wait for the second interview to air, and gently tells him that she needs to get home to her daughter, before driving off. It's clear that she's finally done putting out fires for him.
- Spanner in the Works: Paige Sinclair brought Biscuits Braxby's attention to all the bad deeds BoJack did, especially to the women in his life, and also showed Biscuits proof that he waited 17 minutes before calling the paramedics when Sarah Lynn overdosed. This allows her second interview with BoJack to be much more scathing.
- Sympathetic P.O.V.: Deconstructed, as BoJack can be frustrating even with insight into his past and mind; Diane predicts that he'll use his Freudian Excuse to come off sympathetic, and Biscuits shows how much he comes off like a predatory abuser to the outside world.
- Tempting Fate: After his first interview is a resounding success and ensures he's forgiven by the public, BoJack's ego convinces him to do another interview in order to stay in the limelight. It does not go well.
- The Reveal: One that recontextualizes the fallout of Season 3: BoJack waited 17 minutes before getting help for Sarah Lynn, who was still alive and expired in the hospital. Tragically, he himself genuinely doesn't remember doing this, meaning he either buried the memory or did this subconsciously while high.
- Title Drop: By BoJack in his first TV interview. It was even featured in the trailer.BoJack: I came from a broken home, and I used to feel like my whole life was an acting job, doing an impression of the people I saw on television, which was just a projection of a bunch of equally screwed-up writers and actors. I felt like a xerox of a xerox of a person, you know what I mean?
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Pinky calls PC that his network is given a massive ratings boost thanks to BoJack's initial interview, but makes the mistake of suggesting that he does a "Part Two" to continue this hype. PC shoots down the idea, but it's already too late. The idea is put into Bojack's head and he insists on doing a second interview.
- We Need to Get Proof: Something that Biscuits tells Paige when the latter storms into her office. It's one thing to have allegations that a celebrity is actually a predator, but another to have solid evidence. A woman journalist can't just go out and make accusations. Paige then reveals the ace up her sleeve: Dr. Champ.
- Wham Line: Two from Braxby, which give further details on how Sarah Lynn died.Braxby: There was a two-minute phone call made from her phone to your phone, 17 minutes before you called 911.
Braxby: But she wasn't actually dead yet. She died in the hospital.
