History TearJerker / BojackHorseman

* Mr. Peanutbutter ends up reading a lot of hate mail directed towards Diane and gets steadily more depressed because of all the terrible things people are saying about her, which culminates in their fighting over her having no ''personal'' stake in any of it, but is being targeted by others [[ShootTheMessenger due to bringing it up]]. The episode ends with Diane deciding to give up on exposing Hank and waiting for her flight to Cordovia looking miserable... and a random guy tells her "Smile!". The perfect depressingly realistic cap to an [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped appropriately Anvilicious episode]].

** The saddest part of the trailer has to be Bojack [[TheAlcoholic trying to regulate his drinking]] while filming his new show, with lines drawn on a bottle of vodka for how much he's allowed to drink that particular day. Any recovering alcoholic will tell you that just because you regulate your drinking (or at least act like you can) [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped doesn't mean you don't have a problem]].

* The brief shots of Wanda going to sleep on her mother's couch, starting to cry, and then perking up at the sound of the doorbell...only to find it's a pizza deliveryman.

** After spending the whole episode (intensely) working out their problems, Princess Carolyn, feeling like she truly understands her friend, [[AintTooProudToBeg practically begs him]] to rehire her as his agent, telling him that him firing her will cost her the company. But he's made up his mind, have gives her a blunt no. Her reaction is devastating. And the episode just ends there.

* The altered opening has [=BoJack=] walking through a completely empty home. His actions have finally alienated everyone from his life. The fact he asks Sarah Lynn to party despite knowing it will end her sobriety (which he previously insisted she continue) shows just how lonely and desperate for a friend he is.

--> '''Sarah Lynn:''' [[FamousLastWords I wanna be]] [[HiddenDepths an architect.]]

* The reason for the title - a girl at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant gave him a [[TitleDrop free churro]] after having ''burst into tears'' upon hearing that his mother had died. At the end of the episode, after some MoodWhiplash about the ''actual'' meaning of Beatrice's FamousLastWords, he comes to this realization.

** In addition, [[TheReveal everybody (including the audience) learns one detail about Sarah Lynn's death]] that he'd never before made clear: ''[[MoralEventHorizon she wasn't dead yet, and he waited]] '''[[MoralEventHorizon seventeen minutes]]''' [[MoralEventHorizon to call for help because he was too concerned with making a good alibi.]]'' It's said that if he'd called the paramedics earlier, they could have saved her. Even after a night where he admitted to truly loving Sarah Lynn, he threw away the chance to save her life so he could cover his ass.

** It's also notable that [=BoJack's=] parents were arguing in the background, so Bojack listened harder to what Secretariat said. He internalized his message as 'Never Look Back', leading him to never look back on his problems and try to fix them, instead moving onto the next distraction.

* It starts off on a low note, showing a young [=BoJack=] [[CallBack watching Secretariat answer his letter on TV]]... while his parents fight in the kitchen loudly enough that he can't hear Secretariat's response to his question of what to do when he is sad.

** The fact that [=BoJack=]'s parents were arguing while he was watching this segment on TV and completely missed the advice he was given. This could have changed his life and helped him be a happier person, since he spends his whole life reflecting on the past instead of looking to the future.

* After a ''brutal'' BaitAndSwitch, where Sarah Lynn appears to have died in their motel room, she and [=BoJack=] finally go to her favorite place, the planetarium... where she does die, cuddled up to who is unfortunately the closest thing to a father figure she's ever had.

** Finally it flashes back to him being a very young child, lying alone after his parents, now dead asleep, had some sort of party. He sneaks a drink of vodka, then curls up next to his sleeping mother.

* Diane's little rant to Princess Carolyn about the ''Ivy Tran'' story she wrote. Though it's clear a part of her wants to write it over her memoirs, to the point where Princess Carolyn could tell she was having fun writing it, Diane's still hesitant. Because then it means that the lasting damage caused by her AbusiveParents means nothing, that she got nothing out of it. This is a rather unfortunate truth; people have bad childhoods, shitting things happen, and it's generally meaningless.

[[folder: Horsin' Around]]
* During the Christmas special, the Horse tries to convince Sabrina that Santa Clause is real and will give you what you want if you're good. Sabrina then asks if Santa can bring her parents back. The Horse goes OhCrap. Sabrina appropriately goes into HeroicBSOD when on Christmas Day she gets a letter supposedly from her parents and says that's not the same.

* The finale as a whole had a fair few lines that could be interpreted as LeaningOnTheFourthWall about the show itself ending, including [=BoJack=] and Todd's conversation about whether [[WordOfGod what the artist put into the art]] or [[DeathOfTheAuthor what the audience gets out of it]] that matters?

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bojack_crying.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You were born broken, that's your birthright.[...][softreturn]You're [=BoJack=] Horseman. There's no cure for that."'']]

* [=BoJack=] combines Secretariat and Butterscotch in his mind, and the result is an odd combination: while he's physically presented as Secretariat, the voice is Butterscotch, and the character is able to switch between the both of them as far as thoughts and failed dreams. As a result of Secretariat's amiability, Butterscotch is able to communicate to his son, for the first and final time, that he truly loved him, ''and'' Beatrice, but ultimately knows that [[HateSink who he was as a person]] meant that he would never be able to credibly claim so, he was ''terrified'' of [[RealMenHateAffection of showing that kind of vulnerability]], and was convinced it would have been pointless to attempt it. Whether you interpret it as Butterscotch posthumously reaching out to his son, or an excuse of [=BoJack=]'s admittedly confused desire to be connected to the parents he was terrified of, they're both tragic.

[[folder:Meta]]

* The sheer number of people who have said that [=BoJack=]'s relationship with his AbusiveParents reminds them too much of their own parents, especially the arc of [=BoJack=]'s confused emotions when dealing with his bitch of a mother going through dementia and later coping with her death. It's a sad reminder of just [[RealityIsUnrealistic how common some of the more absurd-sounding aspects of abuse really are]].

''[=BoJack=] Horseman'' has been praised for breaking the mold of traditional {{Animated Shock Comed|y}}ies... by breaking all of our hearts. Whether it be through exploring the nihilistic toxic tar-pit that is Hollywood, or the nearly identical eponymous horse, there's no shortage of moments that'll (figuratively) rip your heart out. Needless to say, there is a reason it inspired the term "sadcom."

''[=BoJack=] Horseman'' has been praised for breaking the mold of traditional {{Animated Shock Comed|y}}ies... by breaking all of our hearts. Whether it be through exploring the nihilistic toxic tar-pit that is Hollywoo, or the nearly identical eponymous horse, there's no shortage of moments that'll (figuratively) rip your heart out. Needless to say, there is a reason it inspired the term "sadcom."

* This episode reveals that not only was [=CrackerJack=]'s death devastating, setting of cycles of abuse for generations, but it was unnecessary. He ''volunteered'' for the army for a desire to serve his country, and was completely unqualified for it; his only confirmed kills in combat were from a friendly fire accident, and he never helped free a single person. Though it should be noted all of this is taking place in BoJack's mind, who ne er met Crackerjack, so this information can be debatable.

''[=BoJack=] Horseman'' has been praised for breaking the mold of [[AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark animated comedies for adults]]... by breaking all of our hearts. Whether it be through exploring the nihilistic toxic tar-pit that is Hollywoo, or the nearly identical eponymous horse, there's no shortage of moments that'll (figuratively) rip your heart out. Needless to say, there is a reason it inspired the term "sadcom."

* This episode reveals that not only was [=CrackerJack=]'s death devastating, setting of cycles of abuse for generations, but it was unnecessary. He ''volunteered'' for the army for a desire to serve his country, and was completely unqualified for it; his only confirmed kills in combat were from a friendly fire accident, and he never helped free a single person.
* [=BoJack-] seems to have realized that what he did to Sarah Lynn was awful. Before she starts her show, he tries to apologize. Sarah Lynn shuts him up and says it's not his time to talk.
* The meals everyone is having at the dinner inside [=BoJack=]'s mind is the last thing they ate before dying. Not a meal necessarily, just the last thing they ate. Corderoy's is the lemon he had in his mouth when he accidentally hanged himself, Herb's is the peanuts that killed him, [=CrackerJack=]'s is an army c-ration, Beatrix's is a nursing home meal on plastic plate, and Sarah Lynn is a fast food meal from her and [=BoJack=]'s final binge. And [=BoJack=]'s is of course chlorinated pool water and a plate full of drugs.

* Beatrice finally gets a backstory explaining how she grew up to be such a cold abusive person. Her loving family crumbled after her brother Crackerjack was shot down in World War II, causing her mother to lose her sense of joy and become reckless, even letting a very young Beatrice drive their car and almost get them killed. Her father, [[RealMenHateAffection unable and unwilling to learn how to deal with a woman's emotions,]] gets her mother a lobotomy that leaves her barely functional. The mother then tells Beatrice to never love anybody as much as she loved Crackerjack.

-->'''Beatrice''': You know, I was beautiful before I got pregnant with you.\\

* Charlotte's hatred of [=BoJack=] by the end of the episode is absolutely heartbreaking, especially remembering the Maine hallucination in "Downer Ending". Consider that [=BoJack=] is implied to still love her- and the implications that [=BoJack=] was about to sleep with Penny not out of some selfish or disgusting act of no self-control, but rather an attempt by [=BoJack=]'s subconscious to sabotage his relationship with Charlotte for good. WordOfGod says he did this because he has the mental capacity of a teenager and, therefore, can't fully register that what he's doing as wrong.

* Copernicus may be a cult leader but he does make a few good points as to why would Todd would ever go and be friends with [=BoJack=]. Which he, sadly, is right -- Who ''would'' [=BoJack=] for a friend or, in Todd's case, take him back as a friend. Most of Todd and [=BoJack=]'s relationship consisted of the horse being emotionally abusive to Todd, not to mention intentionally ruining his Rock Opera out of fear that ''[[ItsAllAboutMe [=BoJack=]]]'' would be all alone.

* The shift in POV to Princess Carolyn adds several layers to what the series has amounted so far. It also cements the show's CerebusSyndrome. ''Why?'' Well, as everyone bares witness to the relationship she and [=BoJack=] share, this time from her perspective, what initially appears like a comical [[OnAgainOffAgainBoyfriend on-again-off-again]] work & pleasure arrangement becomes a rather chilling tale of co-dependency and hurt.
** Princess Carolyn's bitter speech about how often does she have to be there for [=BoJack=] when he crashes and burns despite more often than not really getting anything in return. To drive the point home, during the FailureMontage in which [=BoJack=] gets into all sorts of pickles, he keeps repeating about how this is a blessing in disguise, "the best thing that ever happened" and how it has made him realize what's really important: his relationship with Princess Carolyn. He keeps saying this as he continues messing up. [[HereWeGoAgain Over]]. [[AesopAmnesia And over]]. [[MotiveDecay AND OVER]]. ''[[YouKeepTellingYourselfThat AND OVER]]''.