Netflix’s “Bojack Horseman” is one of the best television shows not on television. Netflix debuted the show’s fifth season last month, bringing out the usual puns, wordplay, visual gags, and soul-crushing moments of self-reflection. It’s an odd show. Did I mention it features a world populated by anthropomorphic animals and normal humans?
Getting down to the actual season itself, season five started out strong. It featured a lot of the social and political commentary that previous seasons sparsely doled out, done hilariously and efficiently. The same is true here, with the show addressing sexual harassment, the media cycle and the way in which men in Hollywood are not held accountable for their actions. During this, it begins to set up the pieces for the character arcs for the season while delivering gags one after the other.
After the first four or so episodes of the season however, with a few exceptions of unconventional storytelling moments that outshine other episodes, the show begins to feel a lot like its first season. The elements of greatness are there, but not always delivered upon.
When big reveals or emotional revelations happen, not enough time is spent showing the characters dealing with the consequences of their actions or grappling with what they’ve learned about themselves. As viewers, we aren’t given enough time to digest the emotional turmoil many of the characters face when the shoe finally drops for their respective arcs. Instead, we move on to the next subplot or episode instead of developing the ideas that are presented.
A large part of what was so great about the previous seasons of the show was the way that its characters had to face their actions and truly feel something based on events from previous episodes. Here, the further the season goes the more inconsequential each episode feels in the long run. This isn’t to say that this is always true, or the show becomes a bad experience, but the over-abundant punnery and wordplay instead of actual plotted out jokes become rote without the backing of consistent character development that only a Netflix series could provide.