- While BoJack obviously made a lot of improvements in this season, he's certainly not "fixed," he's just finally gotten over the hill of his previous issues. It seems more likely that Hollyhock, who was the Only Sane Man for most of season 4, will be that or the Audience Surrogate, occasionally checking in with the goings-on in Hollywoo and remarking how pointless all of the drama is.
- He could try, but realize that he isn't ready to deal with so many other people's problems when he's only just starting to recover from his own. Maybe he'll panic and almost relapse into his old habits because he's struggling so much, but ultimately find his footing again.
- Jossed. If anything, he gets less sane.
- Confirmed! On season six Mr.Peanutbutter is one of the few people who welcomes Bojack back into his life, while others establish more strict boundaries with him, he even offers Bojack staying in his home when bojack loses his.
- Alternatively, he'll get clingy and call her about everything, overwhelming her, and she'll eventually tell him to figure his issues out on his own for once. Since he doesn't want to lose her, he'll do just that.
- Maybe he'll start telling her adult details that are too heavy for an eighteen year old to deal with, like his sex life or work life, and she'll start feeling nervous about how she isn't capable of advising him on everything and tell him to keep some things to himself.
- While other characters do get a lot of focus, and a few get A Day in the Limelight, BoJack's issues are still as central as they usually are.
- If she gets a girl, she'll name her Ruthie.
- Confirmed! She ends the season adopting a baby porcupine daughter from a teen girl from North Carolina. She also encounters Ralph again, but refuses to get back together with him on the basis that she's subscribed to a new plan as a single mom.
- Her name being Ruthie is also confirmed in season 6.
- Considering how quickly their plans to get back together tend to dissolve, it's possible that they'll spend one or two episodes hyping themselves up about it, only for the whole thing to squitter to a halt when one or both of them realizes that it's a terrible idea, leaving them both let down.
- Jossed. Though interestingly, in season six, Princess Carolyn does get married for real, but it's to Judah.
- The later idea is already Jossed, as a Freeze-Frame Bonus when he picks up the sugar packet says that it's now a subsidiary of a "Family of Japanese conglomerates".
- The core idea, however, is confirmed. She dies in Season 5 and there's a whole episode dedicated to BoJack's eulogy.
- Jossed. In "Free Churro", he recounts spending time in the hospital with her in her final moments.
- Jossed. Diane does propose the idea while drunk, but she laughs it off. Their friendship does take a lot of other turns, though.
- If she didn't go after him for well over a year, then she probably isn't a dead set on her threat as she suggested she was. Plus, all that happened at the college was Penny seeing BoJack in a crowd, which is something she could convince Charlotte was a coincidence.
- It might be a stretch to call it a coincidence that the guy whom she believes tried to rape her daughter just happened to be at the same college as her. But again, if nothing happened after a year, she's probably not going to come after him.
- Jossed. When BoJack calls Kyle, he implies that Charlotte doesn't even care about BoJack that much anymore.
- Jossed. He gets in trouble near the end of the series, losing all his money and his home and almost drowning in his pool, but in the process loses all his friends. He does manage to return from prison and reconnect with some of his friends, though, albeit temporarily.
- In one episode, BoJack had also referred to "Disney Princess movies", though of course he didn't go into any details.
- Plus, a lot of the movie and shows we see in-universe which have humans playing non-human character just have the human actors wearing goofy fake heads, something that wouldn't be necessary if state-of-the-art animation technology was being utilized (although it would call into question the CGI BoJack used in Secretariat).
- There is a reference to Shrek in "The BoJack Horseman Show", though that could be explained away similarly to the Beauty and the Beast example, though it would probably take even more special effects.
- Jossed. In "Surprise!" Todd references Cameron Diaz's voice acting in Shrek.
- They do divorce but the song doesn't play.
- Furthermore, BoJack was watching the TV miniseries about Sarah Lynn's life and death, probably trying to hammer in his feelings of guilt and despair even more.
Charlotte might also think that BoJack would be willing to rat on her for kissing him, so they both feel it's best to just let it all stay in the past. That's why Penny didn't tell her mom that BoJack came to her school.
- This may be the case now that Kyle doesn't seem to notice any vengeful traits in her when BoJack calls undercover.
- Confirmed. When reporters track down Penny for information on Sarah Lynn, Charlotte is the one who doesn't want to reveal more details about what happened, even though Penny does.
- Beatrice is confirmed to be dead as of Season 5, with Bojack giving a eulogy for her funeral. However, it presumably took longer than a few days, as she spent time in the hospital first.
- Jossed. He never cries in front of people during the rest of the show.
- While it may have been Early-Installment Weirdness, Todd did get catfished by a Japanese woman in the first season, and has expressed romantic interest in the past, including with Emily. He may have simply been caught off-guard by Yolanda's approach.
- They break up in "Planned Obsolescence" because they're incompatible outside of asexuality.
- Alternatively, he might actually go into therapy to help deal with it as part of the journey.
- And Hollyhock will suggest it, as she seems to be the only person in BoJack's life who really has her shit together and, therefore, is able to think more clearly than any of his other friends.
- Pretty much confirmed, but it never acts like he got his happy ending. His substance abuse issues actually get worse if anything, but he does briefly try therapy (but refuses to call it such) and at the end of the season he checks into rehab with Diane's help.
- It's worth noting that, despite it's many socio-political stories about feminism, mental health and sexuality, race has rarely been discussed on this show. The worst we got was the guy hitting on Diane in "Thoughts and Prayers" who mistook her for Chinese, but even then he seemed to only be doing it because he was a Politically Incorrect Villain rather than a person in power who systematically devalues people of color. It's also hard to determine whether most of the writers themselves have much experience with racism themselves: creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg, who wrote most of the episodes, is white and there's not enough info on the other writers to determine of any of them are POC. The "animals as a race" analogy could be used as a way to discuss some of the broader aspects of racism within show business without the writers having to get their hands dirty with a topic they can only say so much about.
- Look, that's not a very strong reason to say they'll never acknowledge racism, especially since there's nothing to suggest that the creative team is exclusively white and privileged to the point that they couldn't consider it an option. This trope is white and an aspiring author and I've been encouraged by people who are my betters to acknowledge racism since it is a part of the world that deserves commentary.
- Sort of confirmed, but only as a blink-and-you'll-miss-it joke in a season six episode. The news ticker references a controversial casting choice to have a white zebra with black stripes play a black zebra with white stripes.
- That's a rather vague theory.
- Probably not. The actors who play BoJack and his family are mostly white. Context implies that the Horsemans and Sugarmans are ethnically "white". And in the 1940s, a rich white guy wouldn't be caught dead with marrying a black woman.
- Also, the series has shown that the concepts of race and ethnicity apply to animals as well as humans (see the Aryan and Latin gangs from the episode where Todd goes to prison).
- There's also the fact BoJack dresses as Crazy Eyes, a black woman, in a Halloween promo pic, complete with her hairstyle. Though cultural appropriation isn't really out of character for him either, and it could have been intended as a jab at Julianne Houghes going so far as Blackface in the same costume.
- Confirmed, mostly due to him relating to the character to almost dangerous amounts (and a blurred sense of reality due to substance abuse).
- How about "BroJack"?
- Jossed.
- Diane doesn't seem to acknowledge Hollyhock much as of Season 5.
- Or alternately: the complete gun ban in California will be struck down as being unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
- Or here's another idea; people who want guns to come back, spearheaded by a pastiche of the NRA called The National Guns Are More Important Than Anything Association. They eventually try to stage a violent coup over the state of California threatening to shoot unarmed bystanders while insisting the guns are the only thing that could bring peace and safety to the state due to having so many "Illegals" aka Latinos. But then it turns out to be woefully ineffectual since all of them are terrible shots and end up accidentally killing each other before they accomplish anything.
- Given the mass shooting in Las Vegas, it might not be a subject they want to tackle seriously. And having something that could even be construed as pro-gun could be seen as offensive to victims of mass shootings, unlike how "Thoughts and Prayers" satirized how people will do nothing to change such things.
- Actually, one of the biggest anti-gun arguments is that legislators deliberately avoid talking about guns after a mass shooting, usually using "too soon" as an excuse to sweep it under the rug. Knowing this show, they'll more than likely touch upon it should the gun discussion ever come back.
- Jossed, at least for Season 5.
Or BoJack will be openly resentful of Horsin' Around now that he's finally able to move on from the Glory Days and just get back to work. This will piss off some dedicated HA fans, seeing how easily-swayed the public is in this show.
- It still comes up a few times, most notably during the eulogy in "Free Churros" and more subtly as a Freudian Slip in the Philbert premiere where BoJack calls Flip "Herb."
- BoJack had a pretty good reason for running out: when that child star said she wanted to be famous, he freaked out, thinking he was going to create another Sarah Lynn. BoJack could easily spell this out to Bradley.BoJack: I'm sorry Bradley, I-Bradley: You're sorry! The execs were ready to cut me off without you! I spent time and energy into this project, and you bail? Why?!BoJack: Because, I-I-Bradley: Because, WHY?!BoJack: BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO CREATE ANOTHER SARAH LYNN! (crying)
- Jossed, Bradley never re-appears.
- Ralph and PC reconcile and Ralph is the sperm donor.
- BoJack offers to be the sperm donor out of gratitude for everything PC has done for him.
- Todd will do it because he's just that nice of a guy.
- Judah and PC will reconcile and he'll offer to donate as a peace offering for going over her head with Charlie Witherspoon.
- PC will decide to try to avoid awkwardness by selecting a donor from a sperm bank.
- Given the ridiculous nature of the show's humor, every single one of these options will end up happening. Each person, out loyalty and love for Princess Carolyn, will donate their sperm, only to learn that PC is already at the sperm bank. What will follow is a Heartwarming Moment as PC realizes how much she's cared for by all these people in her life. Then she decides to basically play three card monte with the samples, mixing them up and picking one at random so no one's feelings get hurt. The rest get donated back to the sperm bank.
- Her child will end up being a cat, which will allow it to remain ambiguous who the father is.
- None of this happens, and PC adopts the baby of a teenager in Eden, North Carolina.
- This could lead to an interesting discussion about the relationships between children of color and their adoptive Anglo parents.
- OP: Yup, that's the idea. Several Hollywood types do have adopted children of backgrounds different than their own (it's even a stereotype for some individuals), so Hollywoo could easily have a similar situation.
- Additionally, however Carolyn gets a child, sooner or later she'll have to realize just how difficult parenting can be, especially for a middle-aged career woman such as herself, who's totally inexperienced with raising children.
- Confirmed! She fails to convince at least two mothers to let her adopt their baby during the course of the season, until one of them, Sadie, calls her in the season finale, where Princess Carolyn adopts the baby. The baby is also a porcupine, and Princess Carolyn does struggle to deal with a baby who is constantly pricking her with needles.
- Especially due to all the real-life news stories of multiple Hollywood figures (executives, directors, actors) either getting busted for or admitting to sexually abusing women. If any real life Hollywood story was going to be Ripped from the Headlines for this show, it'd be that one. Plus, related to an earlier theory, nobody believed Hank was a predator because they didn't want him to be one. BoJack has a more negative reputation as a politically-incorrect has-been who drinks and does drugs, so the general public will be quicker to convict him because his personality fits the description of sexual predator. He'll be fired from Philbert immediately for no other reason than to pacify the people who already believe he's guilty.
- Now that Kevin Spacey has been fired from Netflix's flagship live-action show, House of Cards (US), after it was revealed that he sexually abused Anthony Rapp in the '80s, including this might be hitting too close to home or going full-on Biting-the-Hand Humor.
- It could also be a Call-Back to the end of season 1, where BoJack is begging Diane to tell him he's a good person. In this case, BoJack will be at a panel for Philbert and Diane, who at this point will be getting closer with BoJack and trusting him more and more, will be asking him from the audiences "BoJack, tell me you didn't do that. Tell me you're a good person." And he'd just sit there in utter silence, which would answer the question loud and clear.
- However, this also being a show that loves to drill the message that patriarchal values are ubiquitous into your head at any given moment, Penny might come forward and admit that he didn't do anything, she was the one who made advances on him and her mother had blown it out of proportion. This will confirm the common prejudice of misogynists that any woman who accuses a famous person of sexual harassment is Crying Wolf and the whole thing will be dropped, save for BoJack occasionally getting a dirty look from women.
- This is also a show with the message that your mistakes from your past will come back to haunt you at some point and will make it harder for you to grow as a person. Season 4 seemed to be BoJack wrapping up a lot of long-running issues (problems with his mother, patching things up with older friends, no longer clinging to his past, no longer running from his problems, etc.), but this is the one thing that hasn't come back to bite him yet. And it's a doozie, enough to take away everything he's worked so hard for, personally and professionally. That's why Charlotte hasn't come back yet: BoJack didn't have anything else to lose until now.
- Unless you mean this purely in a meta sense, how would Charlotte know about any of the personal details of BoJack's life in-universe. The only thing she would conceivably learn about is Philbert, not Hollyhock, Beatrice, or any of his emotional growth involving his friends. Unless she was spying on him in California (and his mother's family's summer cabin) from New Mexico...which is not very probable.
- It is meant in a purely meta sense. We're not talking about Charlotte waiting for the right moment to come back so much as the writers waiting for the right moment to bring her back.
- Okay, I concede. But they will need an in-universe reason for the time gap if they go in this direction.
- This is true.
- Unless you mean this purely in a meta sense, how would Charlotte know about any of the personal details of BoJack's life in-universe. The only thing she would conceivably learn about is Philbert, not Hollyhock, Beatrice, or any of his emotional growth involving his friends. Unless she was spying on him in California (and his mother's family's summer cabin) from New Mexico...which is not very probable.
- She never comes back. The incident haunts BoJack, and he calls her husband incognito to find out if she has any ulterior motives, but it seems she's moved past the incident, at least from Kyle's perspective.
- In season 6, reporters manage to track down Penny for information on Sarah Lynn's bender. However, while Penny does want to divulge more information about BoJack, Charlotte doesn't want her to do so lest she put herself and her family in the line of fire.
- A beloved family relative, like an aunt of Charlotte's or Kyle's, dies and she's either grieving that or helping Kyle grieve.
- Charlotte got pregnant with a third child, who she wants to have a normal life and be there for it (this would especially get in the way of the idea of her actually trying to kill BoJack, since she would likely go to jail if she was caught).
- Penny got pregnant at college with a guy she was seeing and Charlotte is supporting her daughter with the situation.
- Trip got a girl from his school pregnant and Charlotte has been dealing with the fallout of that.
- Kyle was horribly injured in a gruesome accident that has left him bedridden for the indefinite future and Charlotte has to support her entire family until he recovers.
- Charlotte was horribly injured in a gruesome accident, leaving her in a condition that kept her from doing anything at all outside of being treated in the hospital.
- Charlotte decided that it wasn't worth bringing media attention to her family, and having it most likely screw with their daily lives; especially after realizing that there are people like actors and politicians who've done much worse stuff than BoJack did (like actually succeeding at sleeping with somebody who's underage), who've gotten away with it and ended up being defended by people who quickly assume women who accuse them of these things of "just wanting fifteen minutes of fame" and begin to attack their character.
- This last point seems to be confirmed as of "Good Damage."
- Though knowing BoJack, he'd probably try to hook up with the actress who plays her, even if only for a brief one night stand.
- And then it turns out the actress's real name is Penny Lin (the different spelling from "Lynn" is intentional; she turns out to be Chinese-American culturally, even though her character is culturally white/Hispanic).
- He does hook up with his costar Gina Cazador (human actress of Hispanic descent), who plays Philbert's girlfriend Sassy Malone.
- Yes and no. It is badly written, and when Diane takes over the script, she writes a story based on what she knows of the New Mexico incident, which does upset BoJack.
- Jossed, the show is a success, but the WhatTimeIsItNow company decides to deal with a scandal involving Todd's Sex Bot for Emily that became CEO, and the show gets cancelled.
- Although the New Mexico incident does come back to haunt Bojack, it only goes so far as Diane learning about it, and she is the one who confronts Bojack over what exactly he did. Bojack does later make a phone call to Charlotte's husband when he's (wrongly) paranoid that Charlotte may be plotting her revenge, though nothing has come out of that for now.
- Confirmed. She phones him in the middle of Season 6 assuming he's responsible for Paige and Max grilling Penny about Sarah Lynn, sternly tells him to leave them alone, and that's the last we see of her and her family.
- Other than one Instagram image of them enjoying Super Bowl Sunday together, this doesn't seem to have happened.
- Arguably, "Stupid Piece of S*it" showed that he already knows this, as evidenced by him lying to Hollyhock about how you eventually outgrow the negative voice in the back of your head. And as Todd blasts him for in "It's You," BoJack's biggest problem is that he uses these vices as an excuse to do something wrong, then feel sorry for himself about it. The real lesson for that would be "Take responsibility for your vices, don't use them as excuse" (or, more positively, "You might not 'get over' your problems, but you can be a responsible person despite them").
- Not even "almost" sinks into his vices; he gets (barely) better regarding alcohol due to his own system of moderation, but he gets addicted to painkillers, which has dire consequences for his work and loved ones.
- Perhaps one way or another, she'll learn to forgive and/or make peace with BoJack, even if they still won't be friends again.
- Jossed. This isn't part of Season 5.
- In "Horse Majeur", BoJack mentioned an uncle to Diane who used to show him porn mags as a way of bonding. Since Beatrice only had CrackerJack as a brother, it's implied he was related to Butterscotch. Plus, he's never confirmed as dead. Maybe he visits BoJack or he visits him and we get a better glimpse of who Butterscotch used to be.
- We do get slightly more information on him in season 5, namely how he died and a flashback to BoJack's childhood, but still nothing before he met Beatrice.
- As of the series' end, we never learn more about Butterscotch before he met Beatrice.
- He does try to wean himself off drugs, but gets addicted to painkillers soon afterwards so he barely has time to show any withdrawal symptoms.
- He will give a Precision F-Strike to himself:BoJack: "Fuck it. If you want this, then go ahead and do it."
- Potentially, this could lead to Charlotte sparing BoJack. Even if she doesn't fully forgive BoJack, she may not have it in her heart to go after someone who understands they did something horrible.
- As for the Precision F-Strike, it seems that the first time he did it, something positive came about, in that case he was able to make peace with his abusive childhood by saying "Fuck you, mom!" out loud, even if it wasn't to his mother's face. The f bomb is supposed to be people giving up on BoJack because of his vices. BoJack saying the f word himself is him abandoning his vices (in this case, running from the responsibilities of his action).
- Well, if you meant Season Five, this is Jossed.
- She also never pursues him, instead just calling him to tell him to leave her family alone after reporters try to get details out of Penny.
- Jossed, though abusive men of their sort is a theme of the season.
- Jossed. Hollyhock does show up for an episode, but her fathers don't appear and it's more about BoJack's drug addiction.
- Jossed.
- Jossed.
- Jossed.
- Jossed.
- The Hollywood executives and big shots who tolerate bad behavior for their own purposes and are willing to throw away accused celebrities like damaged goods only when it is convenient for them, even those who haven't even been convicted of anything.
- The MRA-types and other misogynistic creeps who make disgusting remarks toward accusers.
- The self-centered harpies who make such accusations for money or 15 minutes of fame, and feminist Antifa types who use such stories for their own political gain.
- Since when is Antifa associated with exploiting rape cases? What even is a "feminist Antifa type"?
- A media that embraces sensationalism more than truth.
- The celebrities and their often half-hearted and self-serving apologies.
- If the writers are smart, they'll depict all of these sides the same way they depict BoJack himself- in a nuanced and three-dimensional manner that acknowledges the things that happen to people that make them think in these assorted ways and at the very least admit to their basic humanity, but still not allow them off the hook for their behaviors.
- Parts are confirmed. The New Mexico story does come back, but BoJack only tells Diane and it never reaches the press. They do briefly cover sexual harassment suits with Vance Waggoner and Henry Fondle, but BoJack himself never faces one.
- We're still made to feel sympathy for BoJack even after "Escape From L.A.", an episode that many people stopped watching the show after seeing, as, for a lot of people, sex with a minor, especially under the presented circumstances, is not something you can come back from and still be seen as sympathetic, and understandably so. Maybe they will apply it to a non-BoJack predator, as this troper thinks it would be a useful test of the prejudices of both the writers and the audience to apply the three-dimensionality of the five main characters to a type of character typically only viewed through the black-and-white filter of partisan politics.
- Confirmed. The only cases of sexual harassment in Season 5 that reach the press are that of perpetually abusive actor Vance Waggoner and of Todd's Sexbot-turned-CEO Henry Fondle. BoJack's case is discussed a lot but only between BoJack and Diane.
- Some GirlCroosh employees will try to sabotage it, since a writer for the site getting divorced after writing a very prominent, well known article would look bad for the site. But their antics upset Stefani due to it causing Diane more grief and hurting her productivity and fires them.
- Diane realizes Mister Peanutbutter would just end up with someone else due to his need for attention. This causes her to try to delay the divorce until she can find his ideal companion herself and setting them up.
- They keep going to "divorce lawyers" who are really various kooky eccentrics who do things like "divorce" the hair from their heads by giving them haircuts, "divorce" their house's roof from the house by elevating it on poles, or "divorce" them from the United States by destroying all their citizenship records and having them deported to other countries where they don't even speak the language.
- If the two were to lose their US citizenship and get deported for some bizarre reason, Peanutbutter would (presumably) be sent back to Canada (he was born there so there would be no big confusion, unless he arrived in Quebec), while Diane would (presumably) be shipped off to Vietnam (cue massive culture shock, and her inability to understand the language).
- It could still work with Mr. Peanutbutter, albeit in a goofier way; he has completely lost his ability to understand Canadian slang and terms, causing him to panic.
- Interestingly enough, an episode from Season 5 confirms that Diane will visit her ancestral homeland of Vietnam, though obviously of her own free will.
- If the two were to lose their US citizenship and get deported for some bizarre reason, Peanutbutter would (presumably) be sent back to Canada (he was born there so there would be no big confusion, unless he arrived in Quebec), while Diane would (presumably) be shipped off to Vietnam (cue massive culture shock, and her inability to understand the language).
- The legal divorce process goes fine. It's their feelings for each other that are the problem...
Becca will return in a future episode and will see Todd again, recognizing him, and be grateful for saving her life. Becca will end up being a major catalyst towards Todd's eventual happiness.
- Jossed.
- Maybe, but they already tried that one in season 3; they eventually just stopped going. Another possibility is during divorce: PB and Diane try to remember How We Got Here and flashback to their first dates. Knowing this show, it's more likely they're truly done, though. At least as of now.
- Jossed. They divorce by episode one.
- Another possibility is Diane visiting him to find out what's really her problem with relationships.
- Jossed.
- Not a full-fledged episode, but "The Showstopper" has a musical number happen during BoJack's dreams.
- Jossed. Charlotte's interactions with BoJack after New Mexico are limited to a single phone call telling him off.
Picture this:
His friends don't find out until later, but they have different reactions: Todd doesn't know how to approach BJ, PC believes him, but
- Um, okay, this wasn't even a completed theory but Jossed. BoJack only has consensual sex throughout the season and the closest we get to the topic of rape is Henry Fondle the virgin sex robot getting fired for sexual harassment and Todd having to kill him in a field and the offscreen actions of a stand-in for Mel Gibson.
- Confirmed. We see flashbacks of her youth in "The Amelia Earhart Story".
- Jossed. She goes to Wesleyan.
- He almost chokes Gina to death in "The Show Stoppers" while he's strung out on painkillers.
- Assuming that all deer are related? That sounds kinda racist.