History NightmareFuel / BojackHorseman

-->--'''Creator/HenryWinkler''' about Herb's death, "Still Broken". Pretty good summation of the show's PrimalFear.

* Diane's well-meaning-but-ill-conceived humanitarian misadventure in {{war| is hell}}-torn [[{{Ruritania}} Cordovia]]; there's a good reason that Mr. Peanutbutter was so alarmed by her decision to travel ''there'' of all places. [[WideEyedIdealist Hoping she could make a difference in the world]], [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the harsh reality of the situation soon sets in]]. After being informed that [[TheWoobie the poor little orphan boy]] she befriended [[DeathOfAChild was killed in a bombing]], and her host [[LackOfEmpathy reacting to it with indifference]], she immediately leaves for a flight back to Los Angeles.

** Not to mention rabies is fatal, and yet [[WhatTheHellHero no one is trying to help the clown dentists]] before they all eventually die alone and unmourned in the woods. Bear in mind one of them actually saved Todd and Yolanda, yet he's probably going to die too. [[CatchPhrase That's too much, man]]!

-->'''Charlotte:''' '''[[RejectedApology DON'T.]]''' Don't you ''dare.'' If you are not out of my driveway in the next thirty minutes, I am calling the police. And if you ''ever'' try to contact ''me'' or ''my family'' again, I will '''[[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] KILL you.'''

* When Joseph not so subtly threatens to have Beatrice lobotomized like her mother, the background is nothing but fire, essentially being Hell. Joseph turns his body slightly so that it faces the audience and his ears actually resemble ''horns.'' This may not even have been intentional on the animators part, but it certainly makes Joseph look that much more evil.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Oh shit, I'm still tripping."]]

* [=BoJack=] explaining to young Sarah Lynn about the scary truths of show business comes across as very sinister, especially as [=BoJack=] grows more unhinged and angry as if he is ''threatening'' the little girl. It's gets worse when you realize that it's this advice that led to Sarah eventually becoming the train-wreck that she is as an adult. The fact that she looks absolutely terrified when [=BoJack=] finishes telling her all this really hammers it in:

* When Charlotte castigates Bojack, the camera angle makes it look like she's also speaking to the ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou viewer.]]''

** The way Beatrice with a devilish look admits she put in Holly's coffee an "old family secret" (a.k.a. weight loss pills)and the way she casually tells Bojack she did it, so Hollyhock would take them in the future on her own to make herself skinner, are unsettling. It almost looks like she never had dementia in the first place, and that it was just an excuse to make everyone's life even more miserable because of her toxicity.

* Once instance of Bojack's perception of reality being distorted is when he begins to hear a woman's voice singing, [[SdrawkcabSpeech except it's backwards]]. If one were to reverse the audio, they'll find out that it's Gina's voice, singing "Life's is an never-ending show, my friend", taken directly from the infamous "Don't Stop Dancing" dream sequence.

** [=BoJack=] places one final call to "Diane" before being swallowed up by the slime. It's a bit eerie to hear her voice so calm and pleasant, yet hollow, in the midst of Bojack's apparent final moments.

* It's very easy to miss the beeping of the heart monitor at the end of the previous episode (which signifies that Bojack is still alive) and go into this episode thinking that he actually died. The beginning of this episode, which features a grungy song and JitterCam around the chaos of Bojack's former living room, is disturbing to watch with this in mind - especially as you see his apparently dead body seconds later.

* While it's played for [[BlackComedy dark satire]] and [[FridgeHorror isn't actually shown on-screen]], there's the in-universe news media's constant stories about the numerous recent massacres by spree-shooters in the United States. It's a rather [[{{Anvilicious}} grim reminder]] of a [[TruthInTelevision horrific real-life phenomenon]]. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement Regardless of whether or not one agrees with this episode's mixed messages about gun politics]]. Even by that standard it's dark; there are at least half a dozen in the course of a single day.

While ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' has never been the kind of show that goes out of its way to scare the audience, it has had [[NightmareFuel its fair share of scares]]. Given that the series is more than willing to show the darker side of celebrity and the desire to be remembered, a lot of scares come [[AdultFear from]] [[AnyoneCanDie more]] [[AllForNothing existential]] [[YouCantFightFate places]].

* Quite a lot of AdultFear from Charlotte's point of view, when she suddenly discovers her teen daughter Penny almost about to sleep with [=BoJack=]. She's now mad as all hell, and orders him to leave her home. Imagine your adult friend who you begin to see as a friend to not only you but your whole family and then he tries to sleep with your daughter.

* The parents of young Todd lookalike are AdultFear -- they see a strange man talking and hugging their son, but recognize him as a famous person. Even though they wonder if he's a pedophile, that doesn't stop either of them from attempting to use their son as a way to make a name for themselves. Of course, since the audience is well aware that [=BoJack=] isn't like that, it's fine on that part, but still...

* AdultFear for anyone who has been in this situation like Diane -- imagine you're walking somewhere either with a friend or alone, at night. Then you start getting harassed by a larger guy who uses some cheesy pick-up line or just plain offensive dialogue that he sees as "cute". And when you made it clear you're not interested and the same guy gets angry and starts to advance on you, threatening you with sexual assault.

* The cold open, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou including the "A Netflix Original Series" card at the very start]], is from a distorted, blurry perspective, with muffled audio and disjointed shots of [=BoJack=], Tina, Hollyhock, and Beatrice playing cards. The audience isn't exactly clear what's going on until it's made clear Hollyhock is having some sort of episode, and she stumbles to the bathroom, where she quickly replies to one of her dads' texts a happy selfie with the TitleDrop as her caption before passing out. We're kept in the dark about her condition for over ''ten minutes'', until it's revealed she overdosed on appetite suppressants Beatrice had been mindlessly slipping into her coffee without anyone knowing. Her being a teenager makes this a pretty horrible AdultFear.

* While it isn't the kind of extreme, short term trauma of other events of the series, [=BoJack=] getting out of prison for a day and ending the night with Diane, someone who was his best friend and closest confidant for the better part of a decade, telling him they'll never talk to each other again. There's a definite sense of AdultFear in the idea that a relationship like that can just dissolve into nothing.

'''[=BoJack=]:''' Well, those boobs and jerkwads are the best friends you'll ever have. Without them, you're nothing. Remember that. Your family will never understand you, your lovers will leave you or try to change you, but your fans, you be good to them and they'll be good to you. The most important thing is, you gotta give the people what they want, even if it kills you, even if it empties you out until there's nothing left to empty. No matter what happens, no matter how much it hurts, you don't stop dancing, and you don't stop smiling, and you give those people what they '''''want!'''''.\\

** In what may be an accidental animation error, during the opening for the first half of season 6, when Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter look down at BoJack in the pool, Mr. Peanutbutter's face does not move at all, giving him the look of a very unnerving thousand-yard stare.

* This episode is a counterpart to the above mentioned "Stupid Piece of Sh*t" in that it employs DerangedAnimation to convey serious depression, this time representing Diane's thoughts as she works on her memoir. She sees herself and the figures in her life as scraggly incomplete scribbles, words on the page running together, and eventually all of the figures in her life grow monstrous and begin to overtake her.

* The [[WhamEpisode shocking revelation]] that Sarah Lynn was [[NotQuiteDead only barely still alive in the planetarium]], right when [=BoJack=] had thought she died in his arms after [[PleaseWakeUp calling out to her several times]]. That's not the terrifying part. The actual terrifying part is what happened next: ''[[EtTuBrute [=BoJack=] abandoned Sarah Lynn]]''. He failed to call for help until seventeen minutes had passed, and by then it was already too late for her. [=BoJack=] saw Sarah Lynn as a surrogate daughter, and he confessed in the interview that he had also loved her, and yet in the end [[ItsAllAboutMe he cared more about covering his tracks that night, instead of doing everything he can to get help for Sarah Lynn right away]].

* This entire episode is about [=BoJack=] trying to reconnect with his family and loved ones ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg as well as Zach Braff and Corduroy Jackson-Jackson]]), even though they're all dead. He's aware that it's all a dream that he thinks he can wake up from, but they all decide to put on a show, and [=BoJack=] has no choice but to watch.
** Sarah Lynn's performance is a reprise of Gina's song from a season prior, albeit with a more modern flair, and as she wraps up her performance, a door appears on the stage. [[NothingIsScarier It is pitch black beyond the door]], her singing slows down to a [[MadnessMantra droning chant]], and she take a deep breath before letting herself fall backwards into the nothingness. What's worse is that mantra ("Don't stop dancing") is what [=BoJack=] told her when she was little. [=BoJack=] knows that her inability to slow down and eventual death were all his fault.

** In a moment of BlackComedy, Zach Braff is pushed and roller blades slowly backwards into the void, seemingly powerless to control himself, yet he just spouts the show's signature tongue twisters all the while.
** Secretariat recites a poem about what it was like ''jumping off a bridge'', talking about [[TitleDrop the view from halfway down]] during the fall, and all the while, the spotlight keeps shining on the door as it inches closer to Secretariat, as if it's taunting him. Worse still is that as Secretariat continues reading, he starts to sound more panicked and scared, then eventually falls backwards into it, and it's just very hard to watch, ''[[RealitySubtext especially]]'' [[RealitySubtext for viewers who have been suicidal in the past]].

** It what may be an accidental animation error, during the opening for the first half of season 6, when Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter look down at BoJack in the pool, Mr. Peanutbutter's face does not move at all, giving him the look of a very unnerving thousand-yard stare.

* Diane's well-meaning-but-ill-conceived humanitarian misadventure in {{war| is hell}}-torn [[{{Ruritania}} Cordovia]]; there's a good reason that Mr. Peanutbutter was so alarmed by her decision to travel ''there'' of all places. [[WideEyedIdealist Hoping she could make a difference in the world]], [[RealityEnsues the harsh reality of the situation soon sets in]]. After being informed that [[TheWoobie the poor little orphan boy]] she befriended [[DeathOfAChild was killed in a bombing]], and her host [[LackOfEmpathy reacting to it with indifference]], she immediately leaves for a flight back to Los Angeles.

* The aftermath of [=BoJack=]'s second interview. Everything he (and the audience) feared becomes reality. He is [[HatedByAll loathed almost universally]] and can't even leave the house to go to a Drive-Thru without people glaring, yelling, or throwing milkshakes at him.