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BoJack will become The Heart or the Only Sane Man for his more dysfunctional peers
Between Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter's inevitable divorce, Princess Carolyn still unsolved issues with her motherhood and Todd not being that great as a heart, BoJack will start becoming someone people rely on for comfort, since he has been in the darkest places out of everyone else.
  • 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.

BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter will become closer.
Whether or not it's enough to warrant a possible romantic connection, I don't know, but Mr. Peanutbutter will seek BoJack for comfort and guidance, seeing as he is used to a kind of sadness that Mr. Peanutbutter will be forced to face as he sees his third marriage(and apparently his happiest one) fall apart due to irreconcilable differences.
  • 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.
Hollyhock will become BoJack's confidant.
Every now and then, he will try to call her to check on how things are doing and she'll be mostly there to snark him, but also to give him helpful advice and sometimes guide him in the right path.
  • 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.

BoJack's issues will take a bit of a backseat and the season will focus more on Diane, Mr. Peanutbutter and Princess Carolyn.
Seeing as the three of them were left in a way bigger cliffhanger than him.
  • 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.

Season 5 will have PC's subplot surrounding her attempts to adopt a kid.
It might possibly end with her getting back together with Ralph, as their breakup was primarily due to P.C.'s refusal to consider adoption.
  • 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.

BoJack and Princess Carolyn will eventually be in a Marriage of Convenience.
Between the baby seahorse and Hollyhock, BoJack has come a long way in overcoming his fears of fatherhood and may finally be ready to have a part in it. And although he doesn’t feel anything for PC anymore, his new, more selfless attitude would recognize it’s a chance to make both of them happy. Single individuals usually have a much harder time adopting than couples do, so PC’s odds of getting a baby via adoption would be greatly increased with BoJack on her side.
  • 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.

Beatrice will finally pass away.
BoJack will have to deal with the trauma that comes with losing a parent, even one as awful as Beatrice, and be forced to do some introspection. Then he'll have to deal with the fact that he's suddenly the sole heir to the Sugarman Sugarcube Company. It won't end well...
  • 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.

BoJack isn't going to see his mother again before she dies.
He'll either just want to leave well-enough alone and not risk his bad feeling about her coming back at the worst possible time or she'll die before he even gets the chance.
  • Jossed. In "Free Churro", he recounts spending time in the hospital with her in her final moments.

BoJack and Diane will hook up in Season 5.
After all, she said that he was "the only thing that makes sense" to her, and there has been some Ship Tease with them from the beginning. Most of all, she's divorcing Mr. Peanutbutter, meaning she's single. However, she'll want to jump into a relationship with him too quickly before she has a time to grieve and the whole thing will implode in both their faces (maybe they're not compatible as a couple, maybe their sex isn't as good). Meanwhile, Mr. Peanutbutter will try and fail to be Amicable Exes with Diane, and her relationship with BoJack will drive a wedge between their friendship, which looked as if it was finally starting to take off in "Stupid Piece of Shit".
  • Jossed. Diane does propose the idea while drunk, but she laughs it off. Their friendship does take a lot of other turns, though.

Or, BoJack will be in a love triangle (love square?) with Diane, Princess Caroline and... Mr. Peanutbutter.
They all have their reasons. However, instead of it being a wacky misunderstanding, it'll be BoJack being forced to choose between which three of his best friends he wants to make happy. Also, one of the two men in the situation will propose an orgy a'la Chasing Amy.

Re-hashing a previous theory, things are going to get progressively better for BoJack... and then Charlotte will come back and rob BoJack of everything that made him happy.
He'll be on a successful TV show, he has a good circle of friends, it looks like he's finally comfortable with himself. Then, the one loose end that hasn't been tied up will come back: negative press will get BoJack fired from his show and he'll be taken to court on charges of statutory rape.
  • 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.

Charlotte will hunt BoJack down and try to shoot him dead, but..
...since all firearms are banned from the state of California, she'll be arrested, forcing a now-reformed BoJack to plead her innocence. Charlotte will begrudgingly thank him for not pressing charges, but she still doesn't want him coming anywhere near her of her family.
  • Jossed. When BoJack calls Kyle, he implies that Charlotte doesn't even care about BoJack that much anymore.

In a future episode, perhaps the last, BoJack will be in huge trouble and all of his friends will come to his aide.
It'll bookend the show. The first episode has him asking if people like him, and the last one will answer: yes, but only because he earned it.
  • 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.

Animated movies and shows don't exist in this show's universe.
Despite taking place in The New '10s when animated feature films are a hot commodity, we never hear about celebrities doing voiceovers or see any ads for whatever this world’s equivalent of animated features are, and we never hear about any actor getting an offer to do a voice for an animated project. The words “cartoon” and "animation" are never even spoken on-screen. Diane does mention Beauty and the Beast, but this world's version could have been live action with lots of special effects and an animal character in heavy prosthetics. Plus, it would make sense in a World of Funny Animals that character animation wouldn't exactly give people something they already couldn't see otherwise.
  • 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.

Alternatively, animated movies and shows do exist, and someone will mention doing one as a project at some point.
And there would probably be some sort of potshot at the animation industry in the form of Self-Deprecation or Biting-the-Hand Humor.

A future episode will use the song "Distractions" by Zero 7 to play over Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter divorcing.
It feels like it would be an appropriate song, since the lyrics are about a woman distracting herself from the fact that she's not in love with her male partner. It's also the kind of jazzy music that this show seems to like using, despite being close to twenty years old as of this writing.
  • They do divorce but the song doesn't play.

BoJack was trying to freeze to death at his old summer home.
He was still suicidal from the incident at the end of "That Went Well", but he wanted to die somewhere more meaningful to him rather than just crash his car.
  • 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 isn't going to come after BoJack.
Penny probably explained to her mom once they calmed down that BoJack wasn't trying to make any advances on her and Charlotte took her word for it, but still wasn't willing to trust BoJack after he freeloaded off her family for a month, then caused a bunch of drama before he left. Penny also probably took the rap for her friend getting drunk (chances are she was traumatized about everything from that evening, not just the thing with BoJack).

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.

Sarah Lynn's death prevented the word from getting out about BoJack visiting Penny's school.
We see a lot of students taking photos of him once they recognize him and Sarah Lynn, but her tragic death occurs mere hours after, so even if the story was trending at all, it'd have been immediately overshadowed.

Beatrice died a couple of days after the events of "Time's Arrow".
That whole episode was her life flashing before her eyes.
  • 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.

BoJack will re-learn how to cry in front of other people, then won't be able to stop.
Whatever ends up triggering it will ultimately be uncorking fifty years of repressed sadness, and the result is BoJack will be sobbing uncontrollably for days of even weeks as he gets it all out of his system.
  • Jossed. He never cries in front of people during the rest of the show.

BoJack moved Beatrice to a better room after the events of "Time's Arrow".

Todd and Yolanda will try to date but not work out.
Maybe Todd will end up being aromantic as well (since he was kind of reluctant when Yolanda asked him out and never seemed to show real romantic connection even after learning he could) or they will just learn they don't mesh well as a romantic pair. Maybe it will be a lesson that both being asexual doesn't automatically make them compatible in every regard.
  • 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.

Season 5 will zero-in on BoJack’s depression, now that he has seemingly gotten his happy ending.
After at least somewhat coming to terms with his mother and finally having a family member who cares for him in Hollyhock, BoJack finally got the closest thing to a happy ending he could have hoped for… except that clinical depression isn’t something that can just be cured by positive experiences and, by his own admission, Raphael Bob Waksburg doesn’t believe in happy endings. The fact that BoJack’s life has turned so dramatically but he’s still chemically imbalanced and still feels sad would be something new and major for him to overcome. Not the mention the fact that the show has spent a lot of time on accurately depicting depression and this is the next big myth it could defy: Clinical depression isn’t just sadness and it isn’t something positive experiences can just make go away.
  • 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.

Hollywood’s whitewashing controversies will be addressed through the lens of the show’s World of Funny Animals
Hollywoo has had an odd track record with casting in various productions we’ve seen so far. With the exception of BoJack’s own roles, every "horse" in a film has been played by a person in a horse hat: Wallace Shawn and Paul Giamatti have both played BoJack himself, a little human girl played a horse in Ethan Around, and even Secretariet was originally going to be played by Andrew Garfield. There may or may not be other cases of animal characters played by humans beyond these examples, and we could see a faction of moviegoers growing sick of the trend in Hollywoo just as they are in real life.
  • 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.

The non-human creatures were once slaves in the BoJack universe.
As the phrase "Look a gift horse in the mouth" is a thing in-universe and wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

There will be an entire episode dedicated to world-building.
  • That's a rather vague theory.

In a humanized alternate universe, BoJack is black.
BoJack resembles a bay colored horse. The skin color of those horses under their coats? Black. Honey Sugarman, his grandmother who was lobotomized, also resembles a bay horse. One of the most influential figures in the field of lobotomy, Dr. Walter Freeman, believed that African-Americans, particularly African-American women, were the best candidates for this practice. Considering that he performed over 3,000 lobotomies, it's very likely that he could have been the one Beatrice got stuck with.
  • 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.

BoJack's performance in Philbert is going to be excellent.
It's implied at the end of "What Time Is It Right Now?" that the script for Philbert isn't very good and is nothing more than your typical schlocky crime show. However, BoJack's only success as a performer was in a schlocky TV show. He failed at experimental comedy and couldn't transition into drama, so him being in broad, light entertainment would be perfect casting, because that's the only kind of performing he's good at.
  • Confirmed, mostly due to him relating to the character to almost dangerous amounts (and a blurred sense of reality due to substance abuse).

BoJack and Hollyhock will start calling one another by affectionate nicknames.
If they stay in contact throughout the series and bond as siblings, it'd make sense if they eventually start calling each other nicknames. For example, BoJack might caller her "Hol-Hol" and Hollyhock will call him "Bro."
  • Jossed.

BoJack's relationship with Hollyhock with affect Diane.
BoJack will be telling Diane all about how great it is to have a little sister, but it'll only make her remember how much her brothers mistreated her. She'll either be jealous of Hollyhock or it'll make her like BoJack more because he's a much better brother than her's ever were, despite only just recently discovering he had a little sister.
  • Diane doesn't seem to acknowledge Hollyhock much as of Season 5.

The anti-gun legislation in "Thoughts And Prayers" is going to have a massive payoff in a much later episode.
The whole thing felt really rushed and shoehorned into the episode, but maybe it was actually laying the seeds for something big that will take two more seasons to build up to, surprising the viewers who all but completely forgot about it by that point.

Horsin' Around is either going to be repeatedly dismissed or won't come up at all in Season 5.
Season 4 seemed to be BoJack finally letting go of the last of his past: his failed dream project it behind him, he's made peace with his mother and he destroyed his summer home so as not to run back to Nostalgia Filter when things are bleak. And in general, he's not running from his problems any more. He no longer feels it necessary to hold on to his past because he has a pretty good present and a decent-looking future. Here, he'll finally realize that his legacy as a '90s sitcom star is best left in the past.

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."

Piggybacking off of some earlier theories, if Philbert is successful...
...everyone will start going up to BoJack saying "Hey, aren't you the horse from Philbert?"

BoJack will eventually have to confront Bradley Hitler-Smith.
Panic attack or not, BoJack had been trying to help Bradley get Ethan Around off the ground for a year, then just ran out of it and isolated himself for a year, meaning that Bradley couldn't get in touch with him to ask him what happened. It's not hard to imagine that he'd be pretty unhappy with BoJack if and when they see each other again and BoJack will have to accept the responsibility of yet another relationship he's screwed up.
  • 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.

Diane will surrogate for Princess Carolyn.
Diane will finally realize that PC is having trouble getting pregnant, and that's why she was so mad about Diane having an abortion. After Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter either divorce or separate, she'll feel like she has to do something to make up for how complacent she got during her marriage. The possibilities for fathers could be a WMG of its own:
  • 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.

Princess Carolyn's attempts to adopt will be a tricky endeavor.
She will eventually get a kid, but it will take a long time, possibly until the very end of Season 5. There could also be some potential drama what who her adopted child ends up being. It could be revealed that she ideally wanted a cat, only to end up with a reptile, bird, or crustacean of a breed/species she's never encountered before, or even known existed (which would be especially effective if they went with a seldom seen species), and struggle to identify with the child as a result and debate having the kid's native culture play a part in his/her life. They could pull this off with a human too.
  • 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.

Charlotte will return in Season 5...
But she won't try to kill BoJack. Instead, she will go to GirlCroosh and tell Diane about what happened in New Mexico. Diane will get severe Hank Hippopopalous flashbacks, and after confronting BoJack, she will drop the season's f-bomb, followed by publishing an article detailing the incident. This will force BoJack to confront the media about what he did.
  • 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.
  • 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.

There's a reason Charlotte hasn't appeared again yet.
The only reason Charlotte would have to go after BoJack in any fashion would be due to learning he had showed up at Penny's college, but nothing has happened after well over a year since then. The best way to rationalize this is by assuming two options; either she wasn't fully committed to her threat to BoJack (likely because she doesn't wholeheartedly want to kill anybody, even if she hates them) or she has something much bigger to deal with in her own life, one that would take up her time and be more of a priority than any of the stuff everyone seems to believe she would want to do, if not causing her to just want to avoid tackling the issue again altogether for the benefit of her family. But what could that thing be. Possibilities include...
  • 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."

Philbert isn't actually badly written, BoJack just noticed an element in it that he realizes will be annoying and/or aggravating for him.
It turns out that Philbert has a girlfriend... a female golden retriever whose name is Dianna Caroline Chavez, whose character is originally from the fictional town of Wanda, New Mexico.
  • 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.

Philbert will be So Okay, It's Average
It won't be a big hit, but it won't be a complete failure either. The website will eventually make more critically lauded shows and quietly cancel Philbert, but the show helps him break into more TV work.
  • 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.

Charlotte's confrontation of BoJack won't be any worse than a slap on the wrist.
Think about it, that's the ultimate subversion! Here's this weight that's sat on both the audience's and (presumably) BoJack's chests for what will be two years once Season 5 premieres. A lot of viewers are anticipating some hoopla that destroy's BoJack's life for good, but it'll probably just be Charlotte giving BoJack a phone call asking him to explain himself, to which he'll explain that he just wanted to apologize to Penny. Charlotte will say "This is your last warning, BoJack: stay way from my daughter." CLICK. The end. The lesson will be that it's better to tell the truth, even if it's not an excuse, than it is to make up an excuse that's flowery and sounds better.
  • 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.

BoJack will bond with Hollyhock's fathers.
They all seem like the kind of people who'd rag on celebrities and mainstream culture, and BoJack is not only full of contempt for Hollywoo but actually has dirt on celebrities that he'd readily share. Maybe Hollyhock will convince them to invite him to dinner where they all share gossip and get closer as a result. Of course, BoJack being BoJack (and her fathers being rather finicky) will lead to some kind of mishap to undo it all.
  • Other than one Instagram image of them enjoying Super Bowl Sunday together, this doesn't seem to have happened.

BoJack will (almost) sink back into his vices while making Philbert.
One the themes of BoJack Horseman is that happy endings are impossible. Season 4 showed BoJack was capable of growing as a person. But he may inevitably backslide while making Philbert, as his stress and anxiety bubble back up to the surface. BoJack will learn the harsh lesson that vices don't just go away, that it is a never-ending struggle that will last his entire life.
  • 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.

Charlotte will appear seeking revenge, but learn An Aesop about revenge.
Charlotte may come back for revenge, but she'll realize her desire to hurt BoJack will hurt her more than help her.
  • 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.

We'll learn more about Butterscotch's early life.
Perhaps BoJack will visit a relative from his father's side of the family for one reason or another, as a frame story for some flashbacks.
  • 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.

Related to an above theory, BoJack will try to quit alcohol and drugs in a noble effort to quit his old vices for good, now that he sees the benefit of trying to better himself...
...And then go through horrible withdrawal from trying to quit multiple illicit substances at the same time.
  • 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.

If Charlotte does return, BoJack will accept whatever she has in store for him.
BoJack doesn't blame her for threatening to kill him after what he himself did, especially with everything that came next. So even though things are currently looking up for him, he might also be ready for the worst if she does come back for him. Whatever happens, he'll be continuing to finally put others before himself.
  • 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.

Hank Hippopopalous and Ritchie Osbourne will reappear in season five
Just look at the massive amount of reports of past sexual misconduct making rounds in the world of Hollywoo now, there's not a chance of these two past characters wouldn't make at least a mention of being outed. Really, it could take up an entire season's story arc bringing in back most anyone from the past four seasons to be involved with the sexual abuse scandals, especially BoJack for Penny and Sara Lynne alone.
  • Jossed, though abusive men of their sort is a theme of the season.

Hollyhock and her fathers will get A Day in the Limelight.
We could see more about Hollyhock's insecurities that were hinted at in Season 4 but limited by BoJack's perspective, as well as the dynamic in their family and how healthy it really is, and if that even really matters to Hollyhock's mental health.
  • Jossed. Hollyhock does show up for an episode, but her fathers don't appear and it's more about BoJack's drug addiction.

BoJack and Princess Carolyn will almost get back together during the production of Philbert but ultimately keep themselves apart.
BoJack and Princess Carolyn no longer working together somewhat kept their relationship in check, but now they're back together with Princess Carolyn in a position of control, which may bring back feelings of their twisted relationship. But in a more interesting and ironic twist...
  • Jossed.

Princess Carolyn will become dependent on BoJack.
She notes how "It's so hard to need people" in the season finale in reference to BoJack. She has started pulling herself together, but still stuck in an alcoholic slump without a reliable assistant like Judah. If her plans for adoption fall through, she might start clinging to BoJack, perhaps keeping him on the production of Philbert longer than necessary, or even try to start their sexual relationship again. BoJack will have to step up and turn her down again.
  • Jossed.

Diane and Princess Carolyn will hook up.
Diane is fresh from a divorce and Princess Carolyn from a breakup, and it would be nice after Todd to see LGBT main characters (or at least characters testing their sexuality on their own accord, not as a forced kiss like in "Let's Find Out").
  • Jossed.

We will eventually see the "Mr. Peanutbutter's House" cast in the present day.
Maybe they could be a Foil to how screwed up the "Horsin' Around" cast ended up being, much like Mr. Peanutbutter is a foil to BoJack. They may also have some inside details on Mr. Peanutbutter in the 90's. Maybe they can react to the "Zoes and Zeldas" meme (probably considering it a Discredited Meme since it's all they're really famous for.)
  • Jossed.

The next Story Arc will involve BoJack's incident with Penny, and explore all sides of a sexual harassment suit
With all the stories about Hollywood celebs being revealed to be sexual predators, I can imagine Charlotte, pissed off that BoJack nearly sleeping with her daughter, will drag BoJack through the mud with a sexual harassment suit. It will satirize all sides of such accusations:
  • 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.

If they do tackle sexual harassment, they will not use BoJack as the accused
Because the writing staff of the show doesn't seem like they would want people to feel sympathy for a sexual predator.
  • 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.

Mister Peanutbutter and Diane's attempts to divorce will be challenged by an outside factor
Some ideas:

Becca will return, and will be reintegrated into society and eternally grateful to Todd
It was shown that Becca did receive a dose of hormones to render her a stupid, non-sapient animal. However, near the end of the episode "Chickens", she did utter Todd's name, implying that she was due for another dose to complete the process because the treatment was wearing off. Due to being rescued by BoJack's connections and the actions of Todd, Diane, and Irving, Becca was able to overcome the hormone treatment and (eventually) become smart enough to join society as a person instead of livestock.

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.

Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane will go through marriage counseling in Season 5.
It seems unlikely that they won't at least try to save the marriage, so they'll go to marriage counseling. This will give the show more of a chance to explore their relationship, characters, and backstories.
  • 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.

Diane will get in contact with Wayne.
Wayne was her first boyfriend in Hollywoo and the only one besides BoJack who thought Diane dating Mr. Peanutbutter was a mistake. Maybe during the divorce process, Diane will try to get in touch with him to restart the relationship.
  • Another possibility is Diane visiting him to find out what's really her problem with relationships.
  • Jossed.

There will be a Musical Episode.
Just to fuck with the tone some more.
  • Not a full-fledged episode, but "The Showstopper" has a musical number happen during BoJack's dreams.

There will be a showdown between Bojack and Charlotte in a future season.
Bojack and Charlotte will have a duel, and battle to the death. But Bojack will beat her and prepares to kill her, then Charlotte would orders Bojack to finish her off just as he always wanted (Or she thinks). But Bojack will show mercy, and orders Charlotte to get out in anger. Charlotte will leave Bojack for good, but she will regret dueling with him.
  • Jossed. Charlotte's interactions with BoJack after New Mexico are limited to a single phone call telling him off.

There will be an episode focused on Male Rape.
No, not Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male. We're talking about women raping men and the twisted culture that all but forces someone to "get over it". Most men don't report them because they can't even admit it to themselves and even then, they know few would believe them. Hell, there's even a weird argot to explain such cases. Rather than just taking a simplistic approach, the episode could tackle it from both sides's opinions (men and women). It'd be interesting to get an actual depiction of this problem.

Picture this:

BoJack, drunk as a skunk, returns home. It's dark, so he turns on the lights. There's a woman waiting in the living room. How she got there, BJ doesn't know. Used to crazy fans, he tells her to get out. She stays there. He tries to talk to her. She doesn't care. He finally asks her what does she want. She wants to have sex with the BoJack Horseman. He doesn't want to, so he insists on telling her to go home. She says she'll have sex with him and tries seducing him. He just wants to go to bed. She approaches him and tries to kiss him. BJ, headache on hand, loses his patience and rejects her again. She gets furious and asks why "someone like him" would turn down free sex from someone like her. BJ just tells her he won't do it, he's tired and she better get out, miracles happen, he says. He grabs her to rush her out the door. She's stronger than she looks. Both struggle, with BJ at disadvantage because he's, y'know, drunk. He gets dizzy and she takes advantage of this by striking his ears and punching his stomach, losing his balance and falling to the ground. BJ panics, but before he can do anything, he passes out.

He wakes up mid-haze to see the woman on top of him. They're on his bed, lights off. He can't move or speak clearly. The woman, seeing him awake, holds him still by pressing him with her arm. BJ is suffocating, but she doesn't seem to notice. He feels the lacerations, but he can't scream. He passes out again.

He wakes up. His head and body hurt. He's naked. His crotch hurts. The woman is gone. He stumbles to the kitchen and pours some cereal. He has breakfast calmly, as if nothing was wrong. This....doesn't feel right.

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

There will be an episode centered around Princess Carolyn's backstory.
A clip from a Netflix commercial shows a few snippets from Season 5, one of which being Princess Carolyn walking into the house of what appears to be a fat drunk cat. We know her mother was an alcoholic, so this could be her mother or at least another family member. Perhaps we'll get to know more about PC's family as she continues trying to expand her own, maybe asking a family member to be a surrogate, or maybe she just needs information that's in her house (like a birth certificate) and has to navigate her annoying family members.
  • Confirmed. We see flashbacks of her youth in "The Amelia Earhart Story".

Hollyhock will end up going to the same college as Penny.
Because, y'know, Bojack needs to open that wound again.
  • Jossed. She goes to Wesleyan.

Bojack will commit manslaughter, be it intentional or not.
Some reviews from Season 5 mention him doing something particularly horrible, while others mention an episode where he gives a very long eulogy at someone's funeral. While he's already indirectly caused Sarah Lynn's death, actual murder would probably be one of the few terrible things he hasn't done.
  • He almost chokes Gina to death in "The Show Stoppers" while he's strung out on painkillers.

Charlotte will hear about Penny seeing Bojack again and come for him.
...But the deer Bojack ran over in "After the Party" will return, turning out to be a relative of hers, and talk her down.

One of Princess Carolyn's miscarriages was from BoJack himself.
We know she had five in total, including the two we see in Season 4, and the first one as shown in "The Amelia Earhart Story", with the other two seeming to be up to the viewer's imagination. However, it is highly likely that at least one of the two were from BoJack, considering how they used to have an on-and-off-again relationship, it's not impossible that PC got pregnant judging by how much they've had sex. It's just that the miscarriage happened before PC could even tell him, besides BoJack constantly goes back and forth on if he even wants kids (memorably in a Cutaway Gag in the first episode). And PC probably didn't tell him even after the fact to avoid typical BoJack existentialism... or BoJack just didn't care. It's not a perfect theory I know, but not impossible.

Joseph Sugarman was German-American.
His family name was originally Zuckermann, but his dad changed it to Sugarman in 1917 because of World War I-era anti-German sentiment.

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