The show’s topped itself. Here’s a spoiler-free review of the Netflix crown jewel’s fourth season, which again defies cartoon convention

If for any reason you were concerned that BoJack Horseman’s latest season wouldn’t live up to the promise, critical acclaim, and emotional maturity of its first three seasons, you can rest easy. The fourth season of Netflix’s smartest-written show is just as harsh, just as funny, just as visually ambitious, and just as crushingly forlorn as its predecessors.

Season 4 picks up where Season 3 left off, with BoJack Horseman missing and Diane Nguyen dealing with the chaos of her husband Mr. Peanutbutter’s campaign for the governorship of California. Todd Chavez and Princess Carolyn deal with life after BoJack in their own ways—Todd by enriching his personal life and Carolyn by juggling both her relationship with her desire for a family and her business.

That’s the groundwork, and there’s genuinely no reason to spoil BoJack Horseman beyond that, but there’s plenty in this season to discuss. Here are a few spoiler-free reasons to get pumped for the next set of episodes dropping on September 8.

The animation looks better than ever

Last year may have given us “Fish Out of Water”—a tour de force stunner of a bottle episode that stuck BoJack underwater and incapable of speaking—which turned out to be one of the year’s best episodes of television. No single episode this season rises to that very-particular artistic challenge, but the whole is arguably better off for it. This year, what the BoJack team helmed by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Lisa Hanawalt drop in our laps instead are smaller, character-building bursts of wildly different animatic sequences, spread throughout the season. The result of that effort is startling. This is a season lousy with unforgettable action sequences, quietly dark scenes layered with the series’ trademark shadow and light work, and experiments with its form.

It remains raucously, darkly funny

BoJack’s greatest feat might be its ability to balance sensitive treatments of intense trauma, mental health issues, addiction, and a host of other very heavy concepts with almost nonstop laughs. This season is no different, and even features guest stars like RuPaul Charles, Aparna Nancherla, Vincent D’Onofrio, Zach Braff, and Felicity Huffman, plus a lot more.

This season’s approach will hit harder

Again, without getting into specific spoilers, Season 4 does more to explore the concept of family than any other season. That emphasis thrusts our characters through several emotional wood chippers that feel uniquely painful but also more relatable than ever before.

BoJack Horseman’s fourth season premieres on Netflix on September 8, 2017. The Dot and Line will accompany its release with a week of dedicated coverage.

Coming soon.

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