So, I just finished this half of the season.
I like how the penultimate episode seems like a good stopping point. Bojack seems to have finally gotten over his addictions and is planning on starting a new life for himself as a teacher. The main cast ends on a much better note then when they started, and everyone seems to be happy for once.
And the actual mid-season finale shows up and focuses on the people Bojack has hurt over the years. We see that a lot of them, while managing to do as well as they can, are still traumatized or suffering from his actions. The fact that Bojack doesn't show up (or even hear his name at all) keeps the focus on them as the episode builds to the point where all of his misdeeds will be spilled all out at once. This half had some hard-hitting moments, but nothing will prepare us for what's coming. This is going to hurt... a lot.
Edited by chasemaddigan on Oct 25th 2019 at 1:56:26 PM
One one hand, there's no way they're focusing on Kelsey, Gina and now Penny without there being some serious shit hitting the fan next (half-)season
On the other, this is now a universe where billionaires can literally get away with murder, so who's to say how much of tangible consequences Bojack will face, if any?
BoJack's gone through some serious (and admittedly self-inflicted) hell to get to where he is right now, so if that ends up being the case, I'm going to be sore AF.
There needs to be SOME payoff at the end. It can't be all for nothing. Not when it's the last season.
Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Oct 26th 2019 at 1:05:14 PM
I just realized that if Bojack does face legal consequences for what he's done, his friends might not be safe either. Diane knew about what Bojack did in New Mexico and his role in Sarah Lynn's death, and Princess Caroline and Mr. Peanutbutter helped cover-up Bojack strangling Gina. There could be a legal argument that would exonerate them, but their careers could be put on the line for helping out Bojack.
Man, the finale might be more devastating then we initially thought.
Shit will definitely hit the fan, but I'm still expecting some measure of hope for the ending. At this point, going full downer would feel... kind of the easy route, both narrative-wise and morality-wise, for me. (Going full-happy ending would too, but I don't think anybody's afraid of that :P) But we'll see, in the end it's all in the execution.
That said, really solid first half, though there were no standout episodes for me. The first one was probably my favorite. And this opening is the best thing ever.
Having a Downer Ending, IMO, works better for shorter stuff like books and movies. If you go on for a long time then it has a large risk of feeling unsatisfying. Not saying you can never do it with longer stuff but for something like Bojack, with its specific themes and philosophy, I think it would kinda invalidate everything the show's built in these last several years. It has to have some measure of hope.
Edited by Draghinazzo on Oct 26th 2019 at 5:16:12 AM
Few more thoughts:
Man I'm surprised at how long it took for me to place that Adam Conover was the voice of Doctor Champ
also, is anyone else worried that thanks to her trauma with Bojack last season, Gina... may be turning into her own version of Bojack?
Also, when both her agent and Kelsey chose not to go further in and dismiss her at the surface level of "being difficult to work with"... oof
@Joe
I really don't want to see Bojack dragged through the mud, either. But I think it has to happen.
The writers also have to be careful to make sure the audience doesn't see the people Bojack hurt as villains for trying to tell their story. Because I feel like a lot of the audience is going to rush to Bojack's defense.
I think he'll still have Diane as a friend, because she already knows about this stuff, and I don't think she'll drop him because of the media.
I like the foreboding drone that plays whenever Penny is brought up. You know this is going to come back to haunt Bojack.
Edited by SilentColossus on Oct 26th 2019 at 7:36:45 AM
It would be a nice Bookends if Bojack decided to come clean with everything by writing another autobiography, this time really written by himself. It would be better for him to come out with everything on his own terms, rather than living with the constant guilt and the fear that the press will out him in a sensationalist, Hollywooesque way.

Princess Carolyn's Mom is (was?) also MIA but look what good that did her.