What An Idiot / BoJack Horseman

Back in the 90's, they were making some real dumbass decisions...

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General

• In seasons one and two, BoJack constantly reminds his agent/ex-girlfriend Princess Carolyn that her new boyfriend Vincent is actually three young children standing atop each other, and not an adult human.
  You'd Expect: Princess Carolyn, an otherwise smart and driven anthropomorphic cat, to find something fishy (no pun intended) about a "grown man" in a trenchcoat with a child's voice and a limited vocabulary who doesn't let her visit him at home, among other things.
  Instead: Princess Carolyn and Vincent date for most of Seasons 1 and 2, with Carolyn none the wiser and still dismissing BoJack's warnings as more of his trademark insecurities. While she did realize that Vincent was hiding something and broke up with him, she assumed that he was ashamed of lying about his "son" Kevin.
• BoJack's rival, friend, and pet peeve Mr. Peanutbutter isn't the sharpest tool in the shed either. He frequently goes along with slacker Todd's outrageous business ventures, no matter how silly they are.
  You'd Expect: Mr. Peanutbutter to wise up and gently, politely ask Todd what the hell he's smoking to come up with such terrible ideas.
  Instead: Mr. Peanutbutter's extremely positive personality makes it virtually impossible for him to say no.
  Result: PB Living, the company run by Mr. Peanutbutter and Todd, goes bankrupt due to their wacky, money-losing business ideas, forcing Mr. Peanutbutter to temporarily work at a Lady Foot Locker store.

Season One

• Played for Laughs in "Bojack Hates The Troops". Neal The Navy Seal is grocery shopping and sees the last box of apple muffins. He has to use the bathroom in the store.
  You'd Expect: He would put them in a cart or a basket, as Bojack points out during their argument.
  Instead: Neal "hides" it in the produce section.
  The Result: Bojack finds them and eyes them curiously because he's trying to figure out what they're doing with the vegetables. Neal comes out and sees this.
  You'd Then Expect: Neal to wait and see if Bojack decides to buy them or not before jumping into action.
  Or: He would politely ask the horse if he is interested in buying them, because he himself wants this type of muffins and there are no others left. He doesn't have to say that he put them there.
  Or: If he's going to say what he did he would not act like an asshole considering that the muffins don't belong to him, since he didn't pay for them yet and he would try to come to an agreement with the horse.
  Instead: Neal starts claiming he has dibs, accusing Bojack of using celebrity entitlement to get his muffins. Bojack, to spite the guy for being an idiot, buys the muffins even though he doesn't want them. While Neal manages to turn the public against Bojack for a few days and is declared a hero, he never gets those muffins because Bojack eats the Apology Gift that Princess Carolyn bought. Instead, he gets stale hamburger buns and an insincere apology from Bojack and points out Neal has cheapened the meaning of the word "hero".
• Played for Laughs with two bird paparazzi they get pictures of BoJack and Sarah Lynn hooking up. They try to call the horse to blackmail him, but he doesn't pick up thinking they're scam calls.
  You'd Expect: They would sell the photos to Page Four or any tabloid that would want to see the Horse hooking up with his fictional daughter.
  Instead: They try to blackmail him by going to his agent, who is currently Vanessa Gecko.
  The Result: Vanessa points out they photographed on private property without a permit and thought they could blatantly announce they wanted to extort her client. She confiscates the photos and they get nothing.
  • In the early-mid 90's, Bojack's costar and friend Herb got outed as a gay man. The network executives made Bojack throw Herb under the bus, even though the horse was willing to get fired and blacklisted at one point. In the present, Herb has terminal cancer and Bojack wants to make amends. It turns out Herb is angrier about Bojack not talking to him for several decades and that is something an apology won't fix.
    You'd Expect: Bojack would accept this. You sometimes can't undo the damage you've done. Or, if he's going to be a stubborn butt, ask Herb what he could do to be right.
    Instead: In his attempt to redeem himself, he keeps pressing Herb's buttons and inadvertently gets into a fight with him after checking the telescope that symbolized their friendship. Mind that Bojack is not trying to be a jerk in this instant.
    The Result: The telescope gets broken in the fight, and Bojack has a breakdown when Diane later jokes about telling the story at Herb's funeral. Later, Herb dies with the last meeting of an old friend being less than cordial.
    • Herb himself wasn't the most level-headed either. After he tells Bojack he won't forgive him and asks him to get out the latter heads out and stops to look at the mentioned telescope on the way. Herb sees this and tells Bojack to let the telescope go which the latter replies that he won't since Herb himself gave it as a present to him.
      You'd Expect: Herb to realize that the horse has a point. The telescope is now in Bojack's posession so it's his right to do whatever he wants with it. While Herb not wanting to forgive Bojack is understandable, the horse wasn't about to do anything illegal or that could've hurt Herb further. It's understandable that Herb would not like Bojack keeping the telescope, since it is a symbol of their now broken friendship, but it's just a symbol and doesn't have any further power in that regard. Herb did live a good life and the thing about the telescope isn't doing him any harm, so he would let this go.
      Alternatively: If he still wants the telescope back he would use only words to get it or ask his nurse for help. In his condition he shouldn't risk anything by attacking Bojack. Even if the latter won't hurt him, Herb could get hurt by his own fast moves and that telescope isn't worth his health.
      Instead: He attacks Bojack and fells down because of it. Because of this his nurse has to help him get up and he probably did suffer damage on his already frail health.
  • "One Trick Pony" has a big one from Diane. She has been taking notes on BoJack for several months to ghostwrite for him. It turns out that she thinks writing a biography rather than ghostwriting is the better route to go, to show her new friend as the horse he is rather than the idealized image that he wants everyone to think that he is.
    You'd Expect: That when BoJack is sober that she would schedule a business meeting with him and clear with him what details are okay to publish. Sure, the horse may veto everything but it would show that Diane respects his feelings on writing about his life.
    Instead: She writes the book with a lot of embarrassing details about BoJack, including when he binged on apple fritters and sends it off to Pinky. Then she tells BoJack he can read it by asking Pinky for a copy.
    The Result: While the book is well-written, BoJack is understandably hurt and embarrassed that Diane put these details about him, and he expresses that he's worried Diane sees him as a giant jerk. Diane keeps talking about how the book is great and will let people see themselves in the horse. When BoJack orders her to fix it, she leaks the first three chapters to BuzzFeed in a fit of spite. Sure enough, the horse becomes a laughingstock, she violated the terms of her ghostwriting contract as Pinky notes, and their relationship becomes strained. Diane takes a long time to realize that publishing the book with no thought for BoJack's feelings was a shitty thing to do.

Season Two

• "Brand New Couch": Princess Carolyn has appointed herself as Diane's new agent in the wake of One Trick Pony becoming a financial and literary success. She gets Diane a job as a "story consultant" for the Secretariat movie that ends up being nothing more than Diane answering Kelsey Jannings's insane requests. While Kelsey is smart, she immediately takes a dislike to Diane. She assigns Diane to warn people about a rather thick and obvious cable in the middle of the set, a task that an intern could do. Diane took this job rather than go to Cordovia and cover the war going on there, writing a book about a supposed philanthropist named Sebastian St. Clair, who personally requested to fly her over.
  You'd Expect: Diane would write up a sign rather than verbally warn people. She knows that this is a dumb task.
  'You'd Also Expect: That Diane would dial Princess Carolyn and demand that she either be given actual work or another job that's actually meaningful. She could pull a BoJack and threaten to go to Cordovia since making demands was how BoJack got the film made in the first place.
  Instead: Diane says nothing. She actually does try to fulfill her task but also tries to do her story consultant job and provide advice for a scene that BoJack is failing to hit.
  The Result: An assistant named Deborah trips on the cable, spills boiling coffee all over her face and sets the set on fire. Deborah screams that no one warned her about the thick cable, and Henry Turtletaub dismissively tells Diane later to write a sign about the cable since it "won't be distracted".
• "Still Broken": As a last request, Herb wanted the cast of Horsin' Around to publish his treasure: a novel that he had been working on before he died. Tina Bear and Henry Winkler found the book, read it, and found that it was terrible. They determined that if the book was published as is, Herb's already-tarnished reputation would get tarnished further.
  You'd Expect: Considering Henry Winkler is well-connected, that he would have a publisher and an editor work on the book, polish it up, and publish it as a collaboration. The prose itself is terrible but more than a few editors can fix a hot mess. Heck, they could ask Diane to do it since she saved BoJack's book deal with her writing and has editing experience.
  Instead: He and Tina make the Sadistic Choice to remove the manuscript from Herb's storage box, so that it can never see the light of day. Henry reasons that Herb had a good life and it is no shame that the only thing he has to his name is a stand-up career and a sitcom that eventually fired him.
  The Result: At first, BoJack, Sarah Lynn, Joelle, and Bradley think that Henry must have murdered Herb to steal his manuscript because it was so good. They accuse him publicly at the wake, causing a Mass "Oh, Crap!". It's only when Henry explains that everyone decides, for better or for worse, to disrespect Herb's last wishes and let Henry keep the only copy of the story.   
• "Chickens":
  • Kelsey doesn't like Diane, though it's not explained why. She has set up the woman for various You, Get Me Coffee situations, like warning people about a wire. During Take Your Daughter To Work Day, Kelsey has to bring her daughter to the set, but she can't focus on the film while Irving is there.
    You'd Expect: She would ask Diane to simply drive Irving to the Jannings house and set her up with a safe activity. Be specific and order Irving to text when she arrives, even if Irving is a Bratty Teenage Daughter.
    Instead: Kelsey brusquely asks Diane to entertain Irving for a few hours, and lends her car keys. She then doesn't follow up with her daughter.
    The Result: It turns out that Diane has her own responsibilities, and stops by her house to run a load of laundry. Thanks to that decision, she, Irving, and Todd end up on the lam for reasons listed below. Kelsey gets a fearful moment when the cops call her and "reassure" her that she'll get her daughter back "alive or dead".
  • Thanks to BoJack driving terribly, a nonsapient chicken breaks free from a Chickens 4 Dayz truck. She ends up at Mr. Peanutbutter's house, where Todd is looking for something to do. The Dulcinea Effect hits Todd when he realizes that "Becca" as he calls her needs help, and he hides her in the house. Soon the police come, albeit without a search warrant.
    You'd Expect: Detective Meow Meow Fuzzyface would recognize the place is Mr. Peanutbutter's house and Diane as the dog's wife. He should ask Todd to dial Mr. Peanutbutter about investigating since while Todd knows that a cop needs a warrant to investigate, Mr. Peanutbutter is friendly to a fault. He would let the detective come inside.
    Instead: He buys Todd's lies at face value that he lives there with Becca, and that Diane is Todd's maid.
    Predictably: Meow Meow realizes he's been had a few minutes too late when analyzing that Todd was lying about going to the beach and that Becca is the fugitive chicken.
• In one of the most depressing and realistic episodes, "Hank After Dark," Diane ends up causing controversy when she refers offhand to allegations about a show host named Hank, that he was abusing his secretaries, while on tour with BoJack for promoting One Trick Pony. No one believes her because Hank is beloved and good at covering his tracks. Because she's a woman of color and a lowly ghostwriter going against the Hollywoo machine, Bojack knows that this isn't going to go well as the ball of chaos starts rolling before they finish the book tour. Before things get too out of hand, he and Mr. Peanutbutter advise Diane to pick her battles and let it go, and go back to staying under the radar for now. While Mr. Peanutbutter's motivations are selfish — he and Hank are working on a show— he also reveals that Diane has been getting death threats in the mail. He's been taking to opening them before she can to shield her, which Diane finds sweet and a little condescending.
  You'd Expect: Diane would become smart about this, because it is a bad day when BoJack Horseman of all people is telling her to be sensible and not go on another crusade to correct an old injustice. If she is going to go this route, she needs proof: a source that is willing to go public, and solid evidence. The allegations against Hank are only verbal at this point. We see that Paige Sinclair actually follows this route when she investigates BoJack for his part in Sarah Lynn's death, taking months if not years gathering her sources before firing them and keeping a low profile.
   Instead: Diane rather than backing down decides it's a good idea to stand her ground on this one when a random visitor on the book tour says all women are hysterical. She does try to contact several editors who will publish allegations, but one tells her that the story won't sell papers because it's just that— hearsay, and Hanks' parent company MBN owns their periodical. Nevertheless, she persists and argues with anyone on the street who is mad at her for attacking Hank. Bojack realizes that she's actually going to see this through the end and gives his support, under protest, while warning her that this still isn't a good idea.
  The Result:  Hank lures Diane to a parking lot using one of his secretaries, and gives her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech that she seriously thought that she could take him down. The sad thing is he's not wrong; Hank is apt in saying that Hollywoo finds him too valuable to cancel, and anyone who does care can be shut up with the money and power he commands. He also implies that if he wanted to hurt Diane, he could and no one would care. Diane is so shaken that she decides to travel to another country to cover an ongoing civil war there, so as to let the heat die down.
• "Let's Find Out" has three big ones:
  • Mr. Peanutbutter has known for a few months that BoJack kissed Diane in a fit of passion and obsession after the visit with Herb went south. Diane told him and emphasizes that she was very not okay with it.
    You'd Expect: He would confront the horse in private. The conversation they eventually do have is not appropriate for a public audience.
    Alternatively: That Mr. Peanutbutter would tell Wanda that he and BoJack have some personal issues and he can't in good conscience host with him.
    Instead: Mr. Peanutbutter represses it until BoJack appears on the first episode of the dog's gameshow, and then proceeds to act like a dick in front of the audience. He presses BoJack's hot buttons about looking like a fool.
    The Result: Hitting his Rage Breaking Point, Bojack then asks Mr. Peanutbutter, "Why did your wife fly to war-torn Cordovia just to get away from you?" Everyone is in Stunned Silence for a moment, before Mr. Peanutbutter sheds his Nice Guy persona and calls out the guy he considers a friend for betraying his trust. By revealing this information about the kiss, Mr. Peanutbutter also inadvertently sabotages the horse's relationship with Wanda. 
  • On the show, BoJack is set up to fail. He's given all the hard questions, while Special Guest Daniel Radcliffe gets the easy ones. This is because the other Former Child Star is more famous and him winning would boost the show's ratings for its pilot.
    You'd Expect: That someone besides Wanda would have warned him about it, that he has to lose for better viewership. Wanda is so out-of-touch with modern technology that she mistook a paper shredder for a fax machine. Todd, while trying to make a name for himself, expresses that the drama may be going too far and looks worried for BoJack.
    Instead: He basically goes in blind and decides he'll have fun while winning money for charity. At first he thinks the money is for himself but at least understands when Mr. Peanutbutter emphasizes the celebrities can't keep the winnings.
    The Result: While the horse does throw the gameshow for Wanda's sake, he gives her exactly what she wants while Bothering by the Book: BoJack technically wins, but throws away all the prize money meant for charity by spitefully refusing to remember Daniel Radcliffe's name for a question. 
  • Daniel Radcliffe in the meantime has been a dick to BoJack as well, who started off by being uncharacteristically civil to him. He gets uncomfortable, however, when BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter start having their argument on live TV, in front of an audience, and tries to break it up. BoJack has admitted that he was a jerk to Mr. Peanutbutter by projecting his own insecurities and apologizes.
    You'd Expect: During the break that Daniel would seek out BoJack and maybe emulate the same behavior. Daniel is being a jerk but he understands that the money is meant for charity.
    Instead: Daniel does nothing.
    The Result: He goes Oh, Crap! when BoJack deliberately throws a question about Harry Potter in a bonus round, "guessing" that Elijah Wood played the character. All Daniel can do is stare in horror as the prize money for charity ends up in the fire, with an expression saying that he may have deserved it, but charity certainly didn't.
• "The Shot": Bojack is disappointed that while filming the Secretariat biopic that it's going to be a cheesy fairy tale rather than a gritty tragedy. Kelsey the director agrees with him but points out they don't have the final word; the producers do. Bojack begs her to film an important scene in Secretariat's life, which the producers asked her not to include.
  You'd Expect: Kelsey would say no and pull rank. Hollywood is not a place where dreams come true the way you want them. They can always include the scene on the DVD, or in a Director's cut.
  Instead: She agrees to film it and show the producers.
  Predictably: She gets fired from the film and replaced, and the same thing happens to BoJack thanks to the studio making a CGI double of him. Kelsey blames herself and Bojack for thinking they could get away with it.
• "Yes And": Wanda has been showing some Green-Eyed Monster about Diane coming to crash at BoJack's place while she is living there, after learning about the kiss. Diane has undergone a Heroic BSoD Madness Makeover after her Cordovia trip; she's spending her days drinking beer and watching Horsin Around. Meanwhile, the horse is struggling with guilt that he got Kelsey fired and has already made the mistake of insulting her replacement Abe De Catfish while refusing to back down or apologize. He becomes disillusioned with going to set, as the movie becomes cheesier.
  You'd Expect: She would ask BoJack if they can talk somewhere private, away from Diane. Wanda does deserve the right to know if he still has feelings for Diane, and where their relationship is going. She truly loves him, even if he doesn't love her the same way.
  You'd Also Expect: Wanda would call up Princess Carolyn and beg her to find ways to make amends with Abe. If anyone knows how to smooth over ruffled fish scales, it's Princess Carolyn.
  Instead: Wanda watches, trying to express her disapproval about the fact that Diane is lying to her husband Mr. Peanutbutter, and her boyfriend is enabling Diane, in not-so-subtle language. They both miss the point, especially when BoJack joins Diane in day-long drinking binges and blowing off the extended days at the set. Abe keeps pushing the horse's buttons when the horse is forced to return.
  The Result: By the time that Wanda plans a nice surprise for herself and her boyfriend, the damage is done. BoJack has hit a rock-bottom, and he's not in a state of listening when she proposes they have a romantic weekend in Santa Barbara with just the two of them, some good wine, and the sun. They break up.
• "Escape From L.A.":
  • Near the end of season 2, things have gone south for Bojack, from the production of the Secretariat biopic to his relationship with Wanda. He decides to visit Charlotte (Herb's ex-girlfriend who Bojack was in love with) in New Mexico. To BoJack's chagrin, he finds that Charlotte is Happily Married to a Nice Guy named Kyle and has two kids: Trip and Penny. He makes up a story about buying a boat in "landlocked New Mexico" and buys one for real when Penny advises him to Maintain the Lie. Charlotte is surprised that he seemed to be telling the truth about buying a boat. She has invited him to stay the weekend and can see he is troubled.
    You'd Expect: Charlotte would either ask BoJack for the truth about why he doesn't want to return to L.A. Her instinct is that all is not well, and surely she knows that BoJack is supposed to be on-set filming Secreteriat. The talk they have at the end of the episode was harsh for both of them, but establishes that having her ex's former best friend hanging around is a bad idea.
    Instead: When BoJack sincerely says that he doesn't want to impose and prepares to leave to return to set, with his boat in tow, Charlotte replies, "Stay for as long as you like."
    The Result: BoJack ends up staying 2 months later and living in the boat in their driveway. After he inadvertently ruins prom for Penny, Pete and Maddy, BoJack and Charlotte have a talk about the past, and Charlotte is forced to shut down BoJack's attempts to convince her to leave with him. She tells him to leave in the morning, only to find him in a compromising position with Penny, and kicks him out that night. Penny develops bad PTSD, to the point that she has panic attacks, over realizing that while she didn't know any better but to hit on her mother's friend, BoJack ought to have stuck to his guns and turned her down. Charlotte admits a few years later that it was one of the worst mistakes that she could have made, because they ignored the red flags about BoJack and she accidentally traumatized her only daughter.
  • BoJack volunteers to chaperone Charlotte's daughter Penny and her friends to the prom, and Maddy is drinking Red Bull and vodka. He makes her hand over the flask.
    You'd Expect: BoJack, being an adult with a drinking problem, to not allow them to have any booze at the risk of irresponsibility.
    Instead: BoJack orders Penny to stop by a liquor store so he can get Maddy and Pete some bourbon cut with water. He explains that with the water, you won't get hungover.
    The Result: Maddy ends up getting sick, forcing the group to bring her to the hospital. BoJack makes Penny drop off Pete as well to watch Maddy and tells Pete to stick to the story that he and Maddy were alone and he doesn't know where she got the alcohol.
    To Make Matters Worse: Pete develops some bad anxiety, and becomes averse to drinking. At a New York party, he sees a mare having a panic attack and talks her through it. They then discuss their reasons for not wanting to touch alcohol, and Pete emphasizes that a "shitty dude" was responsible for Maddy getting alcohol poisoning. While he notes that he and Maddy were interested, BoJack as the adult should have known better. Who is this mare? Hollyhock, who later sets boundaries with BoJack and severs ties with her half-brother, eventually.
  • During season two, Princess Carolyn feels stifled at her job. She's been denied a promotion that her boss's well-meaning but incompetent son took, and looking after BoJack with the Secretariat hijinks and after her Vincent breakup has been a drag. As a result, she hooks up with fellow agent Rutabaga Rabbitowitz, who says they should start their own agency, and he'll leave his wife for her since they're separated. As they're about to leave the company, however, Princess Carolyn finds out a few important things: her former boss died and Rutabaga still insults the son to Burn The Ships, and Rutabaga lied about the separation. Actually, he and his wife went to marriage counseling and renewed the spark in their relationship, so the divorce may not actually happen.
    You'd Expect: That Rutabaga would admit fault, and that he and Princess Carolyn would talk privately about the new business, and their relationship. As we see in season 3, he does truly love his wife and wanted to make things work with Princess Carolyn at the same time.
    Instead: He tells "Carolyn" that she may as well settle for him because she's turned forty and there aren't many options for people their age. Sure, like Rutabaga thinks the spirited cat agent would take an option where she is The Mistress and the Other Woman.
    The Result: Princess Carolyn says screw settling, she'd rather be alone and independent than shackled to a relationship with a power imbalance. She also put all her paperwork for the new business in her name per his instructions, so she fires him on the spot from the agency and plans to run it solo.
    Fortunately: For Rutabaga, he ends up starting an agency with Vanessa Gecko, Princess Carolyn's Sitcom Archnemesis, and they end up being a rousing success and Positive Friend Influence on each other. They even manage to secure a high-profile account and he gets to see the birth of his baby.

Season Three

• "Fish out Of Water": For press reasons, BoJack has to attend a film festival underwater. His PR person Anna can't attend with him, but she tells him all he has to do is show up at the premiere at 8 PM, smile and wave at the press, and not offend anyone.
  You'd Expect: That given BoJack has a reputation for being flighty and unreliable, that she would send in an assistant or handler to get him from point A to point B. He is not idiot-proof, even when sober. The city uses clams for currency, and they use nicotine patches as well as enemas for those things that landlubbers can't otherwise enjoy.
  Instead: All Anna does is verbally instruct BoJack over the phone to attend the premiere, not say anything stupid, and don't give people a thumbs-up underwater since it's equivalent to Flipping the Bird.
  The Result: At first, BoJack plans to kill time by waiting in his hotel room, only to find that he can't smoke a regular cigarette underwater, drink, or eat regular food. Things go wrong, however, when he spots Kelsey Jannings at a lonely stall promoting her latest indie movie, and his attempts to deliver her a written apology about what happened with ''Secretariat" lead him to be swept onto a crowded bus that ends up "30 nautical miles" from the city. Hilarity Ensues as a baby seahorse that he helped deliver attaches to his leg, and he determines to return the child to its father. BoJack spends the whole night trying to get formula for the baby and reuniting the family, before he can hail a sea taxi. He ends up missing the premiere, though Abe is able to save the situation and forgives BoJack.
• Bradley Hitler-Smith is a Former Child Star from Horsin' Around that quit the business and started running a hardware store. He has a grudge against BoJack for sleeping with his mother and ruining his parents' marriage, but is able to make peace with him. After Sarah Lynn dies, Bradley decides life is too short. He pitches a spinoff pilot called Ethan Around that retcons the Sudden Downer Ending of the Horse dying, with BoJack playing a supportive role. Feeling guilty about everything and wanting a fresh start, BoJack agrees when filming on the pilot gets greenlit.
  You'd Expect: Given that Bradley was the Only Sane Man of the cast who didn't grow up to be a needy Attention Whore, that he would have a fallback for his pilot. BoJack is notoriously unreliable as well as the guy that broke up Bradley's parents. Everyone in Hollywoo knows that the horse ditched production on Secretariat the previous season.
  Instead: Bradley reveals he sold his hardware store and put his all-in for the pilot. It even seems like an Out-of-Character Moment.
  Predictably: Even though BoJack vows to treat this sitcom as My Greatest Second Chance and not be a dick this time around, he has a Freak Out when one of the foal actors says that she wants to be like him. The horse walks off the set on day one, and vanishes for a few months. Bradley then vanishes from the rest of the series, and his acting career is never revied.

Season Four

• Bojack runs into a young mare named Hollyhock who is convinced that Bojack is her biological father. Bojack is unsure and tries dealing with his emotionally abusive mother getting kicked out of her nursing home some time later. He wants to put his mother in another home, lacking the physical and mental resources to care for her.
  You'd Expect: Hollyhock would stay out of it. Bojack is flawed but he knows what kind of person his mother is.
  Instead: She browbeats Bojack into taking care of Beatrice, thinking that he owes it to the person who raised him.
  Predictably: Bojack is proven right. Beatrice spikes Hollyhock's coffee with amphetamines to "assist" her with weight loss, causing her to overdose and develop a drug addiction. Her having dementia was no excuse and Bojack puts her in another home to protect Hollyhock and himself from her.
  To Make Matters Worse: It's revealed that Hollyhock is Bojack's half-sister, sharing the same father and his mother's maid gave birth to Hollyhock. Beatrice made Henrietta give up the baby, out of a misguided belief that Henrietta would ruin her kid's life. Only she was acting out of selfishness and jealousy in reality.
• "Ruthie" has a big one from Judah, Princess Carolyn's assistant extraordinaire. He is a Hypercompetent Sidekick that anticipates problems and solves them, only needing his boss's signoff. She even agreed to give him a few shares in the company so he can make executive decisions. One problem is that when Princess Carolyn's firm starts to fail, they are running out of revenue streams, especially since BoJack fired Princess Carolyn the previous season for understandable reasons. They are in great danger of going other. Witherspoon, Princess Carolyn's former employer, reaches out to her with an offer to buy the business and show no hard feelings about how she left. It could save the firm but cost Princess Carolyn her autonomy. Judah finds out about this before his boss does. Unknown to her, he's been holding a candle for her even while having arranged her meeting with her current boyfriend Ralph.
  You'd Expect: Judah would sit down Princess Carolyn and talk through all the pros and cons. Going back to Witherspoon would mean throwing in the towel because the whole reason why Princess Carolyn left was to finally have autonomy over her life rather than doing others' dirty work and receiving little to no credit for it. Heck, the guy reaching out to her, Charlie Witherspoon earned his position through nepotism though he is doing a decent job, a better one as a leader than as an assistant, showing no hard feelings for how Princess Carolyn and her boyfriend at the time Ralph walked out right when his father was suffering a stroke and died in the hospital.
  Instead: He uses his executive promotion to go over her head and turn down the offer before she even finds out about it. Then he proceeds to lie to her that he doesn't know about Charlie Witherspoon.
  The Result: This is one of many nasty surprises that hit Princess Carolyn during a really bad day, including a miscarriage and breaking up with her boyfriend. While by her tone she says she understands why Judah was doing it— to protect her from begging from her former employers— the fact that he was insubordinate, violated her trust, and pretty much doomed their company means that she has to fire him. Judah walks out, looking sadder and angrier than he has for two seasons.
  Fortunately: In season 6, Princess Carolyn forgives Judah when she slips his phone number to assistants negotiating a strike knowing he is the best person to help the underdog. They have a talk after the negotiations go in his favor, and as an apology she offers to hire him back, as an official executive with a higher pay and his own personalized birthday cake. Judah accepts, and as a result of the reconciliation, he drums up the courage to declare that he loves her. They get married in the Series Finale.

Season Five

• "The Dog Days Are Over" and throughout season 5: Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter have gotten a divorce. They're doing their best to remain amicable, despite the obvious tension and awkwardness. Diane can only get a crappy apartment on her Girl Croosh income, what with paying for her car and phone bill. She also doesn't really have friends in Los Angeles that can provide emotional support, since Todd is working to find a new job after his clown business went under, and she accidentally chases away BoJack when drunkenly hitting on him and he offers her the guest room instead.
  You'd Expect: She would set some boundaries with Mr. Peanutbutter, acknowledging that they both need some space.
  Instead: She meets with him regularly for dinner, so they can play the part of a cool Amicable Exes pair, agrees to go to his housewarming party, and gives relationship advice for his new girlfriend Pickles. He in turn picks her up from the airport, listens to her Girl Croosh podcast saying their marriage was akin to planned obsolescence, and calls regularly to check on her. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if he hadn't blurted out to Pickles that he still loves Diane, making Pickles feel insecure and jealous.
  The Result: The mixed messages come to a head when Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane have sex following the day where Mr. Peanutbutter had to rescue Gina from a drugged-out BoJack, and they have sex again when she insists that he needs to tell Pickles, and not her. When Mr. Peanutbutter confesses out of guilt to Pickles, it's just as Todd plans a surprise wedding for them and it torpedoes their relationship while the guests duck for cover. Pickles eventually leaves him for Joey Pogo when Mr. Peanutbutter offers to let her cheat on him to make things even.
  • "The Amelia Earhart Story": As a manager, Princess Carolyn has to ensure that BoJack behaves himself while filming Philbert. She's also taking a few days off from work to visit a pregnant lady that may adopt out her baby.
    You'd Expect: That she would assign her assistant Stewart to manage Bojack or else find someone super-competent to do so while she's visiting home. Sure, she had to fire Judah in the previous season for betraying her trust, but there are many assistants in Hollywoo or agents.
    Instead: She juggles BoJack management with baby hunting.
    The Result: The horse suffers a debilitating injury while doing a stunt, necessitating medical attention, and thanks to Princess Carolyn, he gets prescribed addictive opioids. The drugs also mess with BoJack's sense of reality and fiction, to the point where he thinks that he is Philbert and nearly kills Gina for real while filming season two.
• "INT SUB.": Dr. Indira Dadyshue relates a conflict that her patient "Princess Diana" had with "Bobo the Angsty Zebra" while talking with her wife over dinner. It turns out that Diane found out about what happened in New Mexico, and it's causing her no end of stress while talking with BoJack because he doesn't know. The problem is that Beatrice just died, BoJack is giving mixed messages about if he wants to talk about it, and Flip is having a breakdown because he's hit a block and a "Subway" was written was "Sub", causing set design to build a submarine and they have to somehow work it into the episode. Tensions are high on set while everyone is waiting for their pages. Dr. Indira advises "Diana" that she has a choice to make: either confront "Bobo" about the tape, or set boundaries. Diane tries the latter, but BoJack being BoJack doesn't understand the meaning of the word "boundaries".
  You'd Expect: Diane would tell BoJack that she needs to talk with him in private and play the tape for him. Then she could ask for his side of the story. She knows that what must have happened must have been bad, because it's BoJack but maybe, just maybe, there is a logical explanation.
  Instead: Diane says that per her therapist's order, she needs a bit of time for herself, just for a few days until she and Flip can get the script pages.
  The Result: BoJack drives in a rage during lunch break to Dr. Indira's office, to confront her about why she asked his best friend to stop talking to him. He ends up having a therapy session with her unknowingly while she refers to it as a lunch break, and decides they can be lunch buddies until Diane is done with her thing. This ends up driving a huge wedge between him and Diane when she finds out that he's seeing her therapist behind his back, and when Diane says she no longer feels safe in Dr. Indira's office, Dr. Indira has to terminate the relationship for legal reasons. BoJack also refuses to sign on as a long-term client and cannot understand why Diane is mad at him, and enrages her when saying that they are the same. She ends up putting the confession from the tape recorder into the script, making BoJack act out what happened with Penny. The two become awkward around each other, with Diane realizing that she went too far but also needing a break from the horse, and she quits Philbert.
• "Ancient History": Hollyhock is coming to stay with BoJack for a night. She's still understandably traumatized about the fact that Beatrice was poisoning her coffee for months, though BoJack reassures her that Beatrice is dead and can't hurt her anymore.
  You'd Expect: Since it's only for a night that BoJack would arrange for Hollyhock to stay in a nice hotel with her favorite junk food or an Airbnb. His house right now is pretty traumatizing for her. What's more, he can spoil her rotten and ensure that the relationship doesn't have the baggage from the previous year.
  Instead: BoJack reassures her that everything is in the past and that she will be perfectly safe in her home.
  The Result: Hollyhock has a Freak Out when she finds prescription opioids in her brother's Philbert costume, which he's wearing, and flushes them down the sink, ranting that he's going to poison her the way that Beatrice did. BoJack gives her a What the Hell, Hero? because he has a herniated disc and they're really hard to get from a pharmacy. They spend the rest of the journey trying to get the drugs for him, during which it's revealed that he's gone from needing them to deal with pain to needing them to stave off the pains of withdrawal when they run from the cops after asking for a dealer. Hollyhock becomes disappointed in BoJack because she thought that he was getting better for her, and switching from vodka to opioids is not a good sign, and he says that her overdose isn't as bad as the pain that he had suffered.
  Fortunately: BoJack does apologize to her, and the visit ends on better terms than it would have.
• "Head In The Clouds" onwards to the end of season 5: Todd made a sexbot for Emily in an attempt to rekindle their relationship. Henry Fondle is an achievement on Todd levels, but obviously malfunctioning and made of spare parts. Also, per his programming, he has been hitting on everyone that has entered Princess Carolyn's apartment, which has been making Todd feel uncomfortable. He is ace, and doesn't understand why people want sex.
  You'd Expect: Todd would either dismantle Henry Fondle, before he's too attached, or use his connections with whattimeisitrightnow.com to hire an engineering consultant and figure out how to get better control over him. Henry Fondle may or may not be sentient, but he is inappropriate for many social situations. Not to mention that he is poorly made, to the point where he'll spray lubricant everywhere.
  Instead: He takes Henry Fondle to work when the robot uses his prerecorded messages to communicate that he wants to stay with Todd, just as the latter is tossing Henry into the trash can. Then when he has to go to several meetings, he has to leave Henry Fondle in the office, without putting a Restraining Bolt on him.
  The Result: Henry Fondle wanders through the various offices, until he reaches the company's CEO. The CEO mistakes Henry Fondle's sex talk for demanding his job...and gives it to him because the CEO likes the robot's so-called chutzpah and has been wanting to take some time off from work. Todd tries to advise against this, as his "Son" rises through the ranks, but he's powerless to stop the chaos that follows. What's more, in the end he has to put down Henry Fondle with a Taser, and Henry Fondle uses his programming to say, "Father, I love you" before shutting down.
• "The Show Stopper": One scene of Philbert requires Bojack to pretend to choke Gina. Due to her breaking up with him before filming and being under the haze of prescription drugs, Bojack starts strangling her for real. The crew realizes something is wrong as Gina starts struggling for air.
  You'd Expect: They would cut the film, rescue Gina and make sure there is no evidence. One scandal will derail the whole show.
  Instead: The director Flip orders the camera to keep rolling. Several crewmembers also videotape what is happening with their phones.
  The Result: Mr. Peanutbutter has to pull a Let's Get Dangerous! moment and pull Bojack off Gina, making it an Embarrassing Rescue for everyone involved. Gina is traumatized by the event, as detailed below, and cuts off all ties with Bojack. Quite predictably, footage of the event starts leaking towards the Internet that threatens the show's future. While the scandal gets squelched, partly owing to Gina refusing to press charges, Henry Fondle's touchy-feely nature derails it anyway. If the crew hadn't kept filming, then there would be no evidence in the first place and they could have focused on Henry Fondle and keeping him quiet. And to make matters worse, the scandal ostensibly leaks when Bojack's other misdeeds are aired.

Season Six

• Thanks to events in Season Five, Gina ends up with PTSD after Bojack chokes her for real when they're filming Philbert. She cuts ties with him but tells him that if the story ever gets out, she'll be known as the girl he choked and doesn't want that. He reluctantly respects her wishes because he feels terrible.
  You'd Expect: Gina would do what Bojack and Diane are doing and get therapy. She can afford it, and the confidentiality clause is important.
  Instead: She deals with it on her own.
  The Result: Gina has a Freak Out while filming another movie, causing directors to label her as a diva.
  Fortunately: Kelsey, who was also hurt by Bojack, sees her potential and puts Gina in a superheroine movie as the lead.
• "Good Damage": Paige and Max are following the trail about Sarah Lynn's death. After talking to a few Penny Carsons, they track down the Penny that knows something about what happened. She's waiting tables at a diner.
  You'd Expect: They would ask her if they can talk when her shift is done. Then, rather than cornering her, they could persuade her to come clean with everything that she knows. Penny later discusses with her mother that maybe telling her story would do more good, rather than be regret about her youth.
  Instead: While she's taking their orders, Paige grills Penny about if she knows a Sarah Lynn, and pounces when Penny asks if this has something to do with BoJack.
  The Result: They cause Penny to run off her shift early while having a panic attack, and she goes back to their family home. Charlotte goes Mama Bear when Paige and Max storm into the house, shooing them outside before Penny can give more than a few lines of information. In the end, they don't need Penny's story to build their case that BoJack was responsible for Sarah Lynn's death, but still!
• One that occurs towards the end of the series, starting with "The Kidney Stays in The Picture" and onward. Todd has been estranged from his mother and stepfather, owing to a videogame addiction causing them to kick him out of the house. He admits that they had a point; he has long since kicked the habit and become a Jack of All Trades in Hollywoo, earning millions at a time without trying. In seasons five and six, he becomes President of Sales at whattimeisitrightnow.com, and later the head of a daycare business at VIM. This means that he has achieved career goals.
  You'd Expect: That when Todd has learned the Tough Love that led to his parents kicking him out, that they would have reached out to him on the phone, to maybe clear the air and handle ten years' worth of silence. From what Todd said otherwise, they were Good Parents that did their best to help him.
  Instead: Both of Todd's parents stay away from him. His stepfather comes to ask him for help in donating a kidney that his mother needs, and Todd despite himself agrees because he doesn't want his mother to die. Then they start to argue during a Zany Scheme to get the kidney back from the Whitewhale Corporation, since Todd sold his kidney to them to make finger puppets.
  The Result: While Todd goes Never My Fault about how his behavior might have led to the ultimatum his parents delivered, he points out that they haven't talked for ten years. There is a difference between Tough Love and not even performing basic decency to inquire if he was okay or not, since he got involved with two different mafias and delivered a conductor's baby during a sea adventure. While Mr. Chavez admits that he went too far— especially since Todd was able to get by due to being white — Todd's mother takes a little longer to come around. Namely, she refuses to see him because she feels embarrassed and like an Ungrateful Bitch that she cut him off, and he still donated his kidney for her. Todd has to engage in another Zany Scheme that puts her in the hospital for them to reconcile.
• "Xerox Of A Xerox":
  • There is a retroactive one. BoJack was with Sarah Lynn the night that she died, and she fell unconscious while seeing a planetarium show with him. She overdosed on a strain of heroin called horse, named for Bojack.
    You'd Expect: Bojack would know paramedics have a Don't Ask policy and he would have avoided any trouble since Sarah Lynn was an adult and she made her choices. Thus, call 911 fast and tell them what happened. If there's an issue with the cops, he can lie and say he didn't know Sarah Lynn was doing heroin.
    Instead: He spends twenty minutes constructing an alibi so that no one knows he was with Sarah Lynn or responsible for her overdose before calling the paramedics. He makes up a story for the cops and Sarah Lynn's family that she called him for help.
    The Result: Since the human body can go for ten minutes without oxygen while unconscious, Bojack effectively killed Sarah Lynn when there was a chance to save her, and he knows it. Come season 6, a pair of opportunistic journalists uncover all the holes in the story just as Bojack has effectively quit that lifestyle and reveal to the world that he was responsible. Goodbye professor job, and goodbye relationship with his little sister.
  • Related to this, Bojack has to do an interview for damage control. He manages to appear truly sorry for Sarah Lynn's death, which he is, and the important info about him being directly responsible is not publicly revealed. Then Biscuits wants to do another interview, which seems fishy. Princess Carolyn advises BoJack that it seems to be a trap and not do it, because the going is good now and her client has dodged a bullet.
    You'd Expect: BoJack, with all of his Character Development, would Know When to Fold 'Em, listen to his manager, and let this interview air.
    Instead: He does interview two.
    The Result: Biscuits reveals she knows that the horse let Sarah Lynn remain unconscious for seventeen minutes thanks to Paige Sinclar, and paints him as a predator due to his multiple relationships with women. Princess Carolyn goes Oh, Crap!, Disappointed in You, and This Is Gonna Suck when the recording finishes, while BoJack is forced to confront his worst mistakes. She gently warns BoJack his life will come crashing down in three hours because of this mistake and goes to take care of her adopted baby. Sure enough, she's proven right.
  • "The Horny Unicorn" and "Angela": BoJack, to put it mildly, is not doing well. He got outed for his part in Sarah Lynn's death as well as his many relationships with women, and as a result lose his job, home, and finances. His old friend group has slowly distanced themselves from him out of disappointment at his regression, with Princess Carolyn bluntly saying that if BoJack had listened to her advice to do one interview, he wouldn't be in this mess. Everyone hates his guts except for Mr. Peanutbutter, who takes him in, and Vance Waggoner, who becomes his second AA sponsor. Vance is a bad influence but genuinely cares about getting the horse back on his feet and giving him a film role.
    You'd Expect: Someone to realize that the horse is in a bad mental state and should be on a Suicide Watch. Mr. Peanutbutter once saved BoJack from drowning in his own swimming pool, and has been comforting him about how his life is now in disarray. Vance also doesn't seem to want anyone dead.
    Instead: They leave him to his own devices.
    The Result: The events in "Angela" happen, and BoJack nearly drowns himself while high on drugs. When he does call for help, it's to Diane, the one person who couldn't reach him in time even if it hadn't gone to voicemail.
  • It's revealed that Angela, the executive who told Bojack to throw Herb under the bus, was bluffing. If he had agreed to stand up for Herb, she would have been forced to back down.
    You'd Expect: Angela to keep this to herself.
    Instead: She tells Bojack, who has been drinking after she persuaded him to sign away his rights to Horsin Around in exchange for a lump sum he desperately needs.
    The Result: Bojack in a drunken rage manhandles her and threatens to burn the contract in her fireplace, ranting about how she ruined his life. She barely manages to turn his words around on him and save herself. Plus, she' knows that she is responsible for Bojack trying to drown himself shortly after.
• The people in Mr. Peanutbutter's party are stuck in the underground. When Woodchuck appears, he is able to settle the people, especially Jessica Biel, who has gone Ax-Crazy and wants to resort to cannibalism as soon as possible and creates a working community in the underground.
  You'd Expect: Everyone to see that their situation is grim and focus on their work to keep everyone alive and satisfied as long as they can.
  Instead: BoJack tries to take more food than what was given him, and Katrina takes this opportunity to put Mr. Peanutbutter on the control again, so as him to not lose popularity, despite she knowing that he is unfit to rule and within a day, Jessica takes over and places Fire as their new god, demanding human sacrifices for others to feed on their flesh as Mr. Peanutbutter ended all their food in a day by offering everybody a feast to uphold his popularity.

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