Recap / Bojack Horseman S 6 E 16 Nice While It Lasted

BoJack: Life's a bitch and then you die, right?
Diane: Sometimes. Sometimes life's a bitch and then you keep living.

The series finale. One year into his fourteen month prison from his breaking and entering charge, BoJack gets out on day release to attend Princess Carolyn's wedding, where he shares poignant moments with the other main characters.

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Tropes:

• Acquired Error at the Printer: One last time with "Hooray for Hollywoo...............b!" After that, Mr. Peanutbutter finally decides to consider using another printing company.
• Ambiguous Ending: Going along with the show's continuous theme of real life not really having easy, satisfying endings, it concludes on an open-ended note for BoJack. There are glimmers of hope in sight for him, but we also see he could just as easily fall back in the same trap he has again and again, especially with Diane leaving, and though Princess Carolyn and Todd are both still on good terms with him and want to remain his friends, they are also moving away from the closeness of their old relationships with him. BoJack himself is cautiously optimistic about his future, but certainly fears that he might relapse.
  BoJack: Life's a bitch and then you die, right?
  Diane: Sometimes. Sometimes life's a bitch and then you keep living.
  BoJack: Yeah.
  Diane: But it's a nice night, huh?
  BoJack: Yeah. This is nice.
• Ambiguous Syntax: During their slow dance, BoJack asks Princess Carolyn if she can still represent him if he decides to go back into the show business once his prison sentence is over. She just says "I can recommend some excellent people". This can mean that either Princess Carolyn wants to remain BoJack's agent or doesn't want to be his agent anymore but can still help find another agent for him.
• And the Adventure Continues: This episode plays with the trope given how open ended it is for BoJack. BoJack notes that he's vulnerable to falling to old habits again no matter how many times he gets sober. In essence, the series ends off by alluding to the fact that BoJack might get into further shit later in his life, but for now the series has ended and the audience can fill in the blanks. This also ties into one of the show's themes of how life doesn't really have convenient, satisfying endings.
• Anger Born of Worry: Diane says that this was her reaction to finding out BoJack survived his suicidal drowning. She was relieved because she'd had spent seven hours believing that BoJack was dead and was unable to contact any of her L.A. friends who knew what was going on, but she was angry at what he did, especially since he left her a voicemail beforehand which would have given her the impression that his potential death was her fault.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  Diane: I wish I could have been the person you thought I was, the person who would save you.
  BoJack: That was never your job.
  Diane: Then why did you always make me feel like it was?
• Artistic License – Law: None of the people in the jury would've been allowed to be jurors since they knew BoJack, and would thus be biased. This is most egregious with Daniel Radcliffe and Neal McBeal in which there is televised video evidence of them knowing BoJack.
• Back for the Finale:
  • BoJack's Kangaroo Court has a few faces that haven't been seen in a while, including Beyonce, Tilda, Daniel Radcliffe, Sandro, and Neal McBeal as the jury.
  • Princess Carolyn's industry wedding attendees include Quentin Tarantulino, Henry Winkler, Amanda Hannity, Vanessa Gekko, Naomi Watts, Sextina Aquafina, Charley Witherspoon, Pinky, BoJack's Oscar competitors, Jake and Maggot Gyllenhaal, Mila Kunis, and the popsicle jokesters Abe and Ziggy.
  • Also parodied with the Hollywoo sign Bait-and-Switch, it gets a letter to replace the one stolen but it's the wrong letter.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • In a nod to the pilot, a flatline is heard, only to pull back to reveal it is a clip from the Horsin' Around series finale. There is also a newspaper headline that reads "Horseman Dead" only to reveal that it is actually about a Headless Horseman cinematic universe being scrapped and that BoJack isn't dead.
  • In BoJack and Diane’s final conversation, Diane refers to Guy as "her boyfriend at the time" when she tells BoJack how her past year has been. BoJack initially assumes that Diane and Guy broke up, but then she reveals Guy's actually her husband now.
  • BoJack finds some honeydew at Princess Carolyn's wedding reception, but for once, he actually tries it and doesn't think it's too bad.
  • Mr. Peanutbutter has a press conference to finally give Hollywoo back its 'D'. He puts in a custom order for a new D-sign that has been missing since "Our A-Story is a 'D' Story". When the curtain pulls back to reveal, it turns out to be a 'B' instead, because Mr. Peanutbutter cited "Birthday Dad" as a frame of reference for the incompetent printing company he usually hired.
• Bittersweet Ending: For BoJack:
  • Bitter:
    • He survives his near-death experience from the previous episode but ends up having to serve some jail time, officially for breaking and entering into his old house but accepting it as punishment for everything including getting Sarah Lynn killed by failing to call for help straight away.
    • Hollyhock completely cuts him out of her life after his second interview with Biscuits Braxby revealed all his last shady behavior, including being responsible for Sarah Lynn’s death. He doesn't even get to say goodbye as she sends him a letter after changing phone numbers.
    • On day release from prison for Princess Carolyn's wedding, BoJack speaks to Diane for the first time in a long time, and Diane finally vocalizes how much pain their relationship caused her despite the good times, about how BoJack made Diane feel like she was the only person who could save him, and how she needs to move on and put "LA Diane" in the past. It is made clear it will be the last time they ever talk.
    • To a lesser extent, BoJack is broke, discounting the lump sum he got from Angela. While he has some career opportunities, when he gets out of prison he'll have to figure out new living arrangements and choices for the long term, though with Mr. Peanutbutter happy to accommodate him, the former shouldn't be too hard in the short term.
  • Sweet:
    • BoJack's year in prison has gotten him sober once more, and he wants to keep helping the prison drama group he set up even after his sentence is over.
    • His career is looking up because of the Horny Unicorn movie he made before going to prison.
    • BoJack maintains the close friendship with Mr. Peanutbutter through his time in prison and reconnected with Princess Carolyn and Todd.
    • Despite wanting to cut her ties with him, Diane also sincerely thanks BoJack for all the good times he was able to give her, and they both manage to depart on mutual, if somber terms, giving BoJack closure.
• Bookends:
  • Like the first season finale, the show ends with BoJack and Diane alone together smoking on a rooftop, discussing BoJack's problems and their troubled relationship... Only this time, Diane concludes to leave BoJack for good.
  • The series began with the friendship between Diane and BoJack forming. It ends at the ending of it.
  • The episode itself starts and ends with Diane and BoJack sitting on the roof at the wedding.
  • The pilot and the finale play the same clip from the very last episode of Horsin' Around.
  • The music playing in the diner is the same music the diner had in the first episode.
  • Both the pilot and the finale have a scene of BoJack standing awkwardly at a party eating cotton candy.
• Call-Back:
  • Todd asks BoJack if a helicopter crashed into his prison wall making it easy for him to escape, which is what happened to Todd in "Our A-Story is a 'D' Story".
  • In "Xerox of a Xerox", Biscuits Braxby points out that BoJack's past misdeeds enforced his power over the people, especially the women, that he hurt with those misdeeds. During BoJack and Diane's final conversation, Diane mentions while good things came out of her friendship with BoJack, she hated that his neediness enforced so much emotional power over her.
  • BoJack and Todd's discussion about the meaning of the Hokey-Pokey and whether or not art can have a deeper meaning than the creator intended is similar to the story BoJack tells about the coffee cup in "Free Churro".invoked
  • Before eating his meatball sub, BoJack looks in the bread, since the last sandwich he got in "The Horny Unicorn" had moldy bread with a "Drop Dead" note inside.
• Character Development:
  • BoJack references this when dancing with Princess Carolyn, saying he wishes he could have saved her wedding to show how he's grown as a person. For what it's worth, he and PC dance civilly, which is great progress from how they were in the pilot. BoJack also accepts that he damaged his friendship with Diane beyond repair, telling her that she doesn't owe him anything.
  • Diane sets firm boundaries with BoJack after he finds her on the roof smoking a Cigarette of Anxiety. When he tries to start his usual dramatic antics, she shuts him down and points out that she didn't come to talk to him, she went for a smoke and he noticed her. Then Diane, rather calmly, calls him out for the verbal Suicide Note voicemail that he left her, saying that she was terrified he was dead after receiving the voicemail several hours later, not knowing what was going on and that BoJack didn't realize how it would affect her. Rather than fall back on her usual Soapbox Sadie rants, Diane explains how this badly affected her emotional being, nearly causing her to spiral, and that BoJack promised he would be okay if she moved to Chicago.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The mob boss from the pilot can be seen watching over BoJack in prison. Presumably, this is why BoJack has a relatively good experience and stays sober.
• Company Cameo: A newspaper cover is briefly shown reviewing a show on "Nextflix" - nodding to the streaming service that hosts this show, Netflix - that has "too many giraffe jokes". May also double as Self-Deprecation about BoJack frequently using animal puns for comedy.
• Contrived Coincidence: The family that bought BoJack's house happened to come home before he fully drowned in the pool. As a result, they managed to save his life by fishing him out and calling for help.
• Disney Death: The episode begins with the revelation that BoJack had actually survived his suicidal drowning incident from the previous episode, when we were led to believe that this really was the end for him.
• Distant Finale: Most of the episode takes place over a year later, near the end of BoJack's prison sentence.
• Double Meaning: Diane's monologue about how some people you meet weren't meant to be in your life forever but they help you become the person you were meant to be. While this was meant to describe her relationships with BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter, it also serves as a parallel to BoJack's bond with Hollyhock.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: All four other main characters get completely happy endings.
  • Todd reconnects with his mother and stepfather, maintains a stable romantic relationship, and VIM Agency's daycare idea has been the most successful venture he's had and will continue to run for the time being.
  • Princess Carolyn gets married to Judah, and seems to be raising Ruthie well.
  • Mr. Peanutbutter has finally learned to stop chasing relationships to find fulfillment.
  • While Diane ends her friendship with BoJack on mutual, if somber, terms, she finally finds happiness in Houston with Guy and as the author of the Ivy Tran mystery books.
• Easily Forgiven: As is depressingly common in the show, BoJack's career is on the upturn again barely a year after he was declared the most hated man in America, with his latest film being a smash-hit and the public-at-large having seemingly forgotten the controversy surrounding him.
  BoJack: I didn't even think I had other options. A year ago, everybody in this town hated me.
  (Jurj Clooners smiles at BoJack and then does a "call me" gesture at him)
  Princess Carolyn: (shrugs) People have short memories. It's the best and worst thing about people.
• End of an Era:
  • Mr. Peanutbutter ends the era of "Hollywoo" by trying to restore the missing D in the sign, but an Acquired Error at the Printer brings forth the era of Hollywoob instead.
  • Diane finally splits from California and leaves BoJack behind, starting a new era for her.
• End-of-Series Awareness: It's rather appropriate that the series' final episode is titled "Nice While It Lasted".
• Faux Symbolism: In-Universe, Todd uses "Hokey Pokey" as a metaphor for changing your life.
  BoJack: Yeah, I don't know if the songwriters put that much thought into the existential significance of the lyrics. They literally rhyme "about" with "about".
  Todd: But isn't the point of art less what people put into it and more what people get out of it?
• Formula-Breaking Episode: The series ends with one of its trademark unconventional episodes, in this case using a Minimalist Cast to keep the focus on the series' five main characters — every scene is either a monologue or a two-hander. In the first scene with dialogue, only BoJack speaks to the other prisoners. In the following scene, only BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter speak. In the beach scene, only BoJack and Todd speak. In the ballroom scene, only BoJack and Princess Carolyn speak. Finally, on the roof, only BoJack and Diane speak.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • One of the newspaper pages at the opening montage mentions Wanda from season 2 who apparently has just woken up from a second coma.
  • A billboard in the background of the diner scene shows Gina did get that Fireflame role after all.
• Gilligan Cut: Mr. Peanutbutter swears that he likely won't abandon BoJack at the wedding. Cut to BoJack standing alone.
• Grand Finale: This is the series finale, and shows the results of every major decision that BoJack and his friends have made over the past six seasons/years.
• Happily Failed Suicide: Downplayed; BoJack is relieved to be alive if depressed that he has been facing all the consequences of his actions. He also is at least committed to tackling life one day at a time.
• Hard Truth Aesop: Diane delivers it; people may not stay in your life, but you still have changed them by knowing them, for better or for worse. She thanks BoJack because he made her into the person she was today — a confident woman that changes the world with fun fiction — but makes it clear that their friendship is over.
• Headless Horseman: There is apparently an In-Universe Stillborn Franchise of a cinematic universe based on the character.
• Here We Go Again!:
  • The boy that was traumatized by BoJack breaking and entering into his new home comes up with a memetic quote that propels him to celebrity status, with the implication that it's the only thing people will ever know him for. It wouldn't be too out there to assume he's going to end up exploited and washed-up just like Sarah Lynn.
  • BoJack is weary of this trope, noting that he's vulnerable to falling back into bad habits again and again.
• I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: BoJack finally tries honeydew melon and quite likes it after complaining about it for six seasons.
• Joker Jury: A Freeze-Frame Bonus shows that among the jurors of BoJack's trial are Wallace Shawn, Beyoncé, Neal McBeal the Navy Seal, Pam (BoJack's one-night stand from the same episode as Neal McBeal), Daniel Radcliffe, Sandro and the Elephant in the Room from "Higher Love".
• Last Moment Together: In the very last scene, Diane calls out BoJack for the fact that he called her up right before his suicide attempt, saying that it was cruel to make her listen to him try to drown himself with no way of saving him because she was in a different part of the country. BoJack apologizes and tells her that she doesn't owe him anything anymore, the implication being that he understands if she just decides she never wants to talk to him or see him again.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Diane's monologue also talks to the audience, that their time with BoJack is over but both hopefully come out of it better. BoJack also wonders whether this will be the last time they ever talk to each other, a nod to the fact that this is the final conversation of the show.
• Leave the Camera Running: The final shot of the series is one, long take of BoJack and Diane sitting on the roof next to each other in somber silence, eyes shifting awkwardly at the view around them. This is mainly why the episode is a minute longer than the usual 26-minute episode.
• Minimalist Cast: There are no guest voice actors in this episode. The only speaking roles are given to the five main characters: BoJack, Princess Carolyn, Mr. Peanutbutter, Diane, and Todd.
• My Own Private "I Do": Princess Carolyn and Judah officially got married in a private ceremony a couple of weeks prior to this episode. They’re just putting on the big wedding for show and in order to vet more clients for their agency.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The wedding apparently threw in a plotline where the priest is "murdered" and Judah has to identify the killer as part of the actual ceremony. According to BoJack it worked surprisingly well in context.
• Prisoner Performance: BoJack puts on a low-budget production of Hedda Gabler with his fellow inmates.
  BoJack: Schlesinger, if you have time to fashion a shiv and organize a jump on the rats in Block C, you have time to learn your lines, 'kay?
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: Slightly. While BoJack likely will never see Diane (and by extension Hollyhock) again and is worried that he could relapse, things are at the least looking up for him. He hasn't lost the maturity lessons he learned this season, some job opportunities are on the horizon, and, now that he's experienced near death and properly repented for his actions, it's symbolically a fresh start for him. The episode pretty much stating it's the end of this chapter of his life, but now a blank slate where he has the chance to do better and learn from his consequences going forward.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Princess Carolyn pulls some strings so BoJack can leave prison for a day to attend her wedding. There's a point where he considers turning around and going back.
• Ship Sinking: The BoJack/Diane ship gets conclusively put down. Not only has she finally found a relationship, a marriage no less, that she is happy in but they both accept that their friendship is over.
• Shout-Out:
  • In the newspaper clipping of the canceled Headless Horseman movie, it quotes Guillermo del Toro as saying that (among other things), it might have had "some really big robots".
  • Mr. Peanutbutter refers to the just-got-out-of-prison BoJack as "Shawshank".
  • Diane, whose Ivy Tran middle-school book series has become a great success, compares herself to Rick Riordan at one point.
  • Princess Carolyn says she's putting together an all-female reboot of 12 Angry Men with less men, less to leave room for a sequel. The next shot is of Jurj Clooners, Mitt Dermon, and Bread Poot, who all starred in the Ocean's 11 films; altogether this alludes to Oceans 8.
  • During BoJack's prison story, he mentions The Family Stone and Pieces of April.
• Stillborn Franchise: In-Universe, the Headless Horseman Cinematic Universe never gets kicked off, according to a Bait-and-Switch gag tricking the audience into believing that BoJack died.
• Suicide Note: While it’s not a note, before his suicide attempt, an intoxicated BoJack sent a voicemail to Diane. While he doesn’t remember what he said, she tells him the content of the voicemail and it’s not pretty:
  Diane: I thought you were sober. You told me you were sober. And things were good in my life and I was thinking about my future. And I woke up one morning. And I had this voicemail...You were happy in the voicemail. You sounded happy. Or slightly sardonic or glibly nihilistic, or however you describe the feeling you get that's the closest to the emotion normal people call happy...And you were clearly intoxicated and you were talking about swimming. "I'm going swimming," you said "Since nothing matters anyway and nobody cares about me, I might as well go swimming, right?"...“Call me back if you don't want me to go swimming. Otherwise, I'm just gonna assume you don't care”.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: While BoJack was dying in the pool, he gets charged with breaking and entering someone else's house as soon as he's fit to stand trial. The judge takes the opportunity to sentence him to a maximum-security prison because everyone remembers what he did to Sarah Lynn.
• Take That!:
  • Mr. Peanutbutter mentions "Birthday Dad" getting a Nobel Prize because they'd added a new category just so it could win one, which is reminiscent of a proposed Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film category so that Black Panther (2018) could have a win without having to face the more artsy films of the main Best Picture category, while also being a Call-Back to BoJack somehow winning a Golden Globe for his memoir.
  • The "Headless Horseman Cinematic Universe dead at Sony" article is an obvious knock at Sony Pictures in general, numerous failures to get a cinematic universe off the ground (particularly Universal's The Mummy (2017)), as well as light hearted dig at Guillermo del Toro, calling out his tendency to overzealously announce projects that never get off the ground and stating that the project was going to be a new style of film for him only to list traits that are basically the bread and butter of his aesthetic along with "some really big robots."
• Tempting Fate: "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if this night was the last time we ever talked to each other?"
• Title Drop:
  Todd: It was nice while it lasted, right?
  BoJack: Sure. It was nice while it lasted.
• Wedding Finale: This series finale takes place at Princess Carolyn's wedding to Judah...or rather, her industry wedding shortly after her smaller, more personal wedding.
• Wham Line: Diane reveals that the voicemail BoJack sent her was actually not him begging for help, as he was trying to do in "The View From Halfway Down". It was actually him saying he was going swimming because nobody cares about him, and she should call him back if she doesn't want him to go swimming. BoJack himself is horrified by this and apologizes. To a lesser extent, she also reveals that she's married Guy, leading to BoJack congratulating her.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • We never find out what's going on with Penny or Hollyhock... which reflects the way BoJack will probably never know either, having driven them away.
  • Paige Sinclair, the one who exposed BoJack's misdeeds to the public (especially his involvement in Sarah Lynn's death), doesn't show up, so we never get to see how she reacts to BoJack trying to kill himself or getting into the public's good graces again.
• "What Now?" Ending: The final scene is just a long talk between BoJack and Diane, and after their conversation, the two just sit in silence for a minute, and then the series ends.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Diane calls BoJack out on calling her and leaving a voice message asking her to tell him not to get in the pool, which would have given her the impression that his potential death was her fault.
• Wrap It Up: While the additional episodes of the season so far had been dedicated to wrapping up BoJack's story, this episode is primarily focused in giving a conclusion to the other main characters' story arcs, albeit only by describing what they've been up to during the Time Skip rather than getting the chance to show it.

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