A few weeks ago I was sitting on my couch, credits rolling on the BoJack Horseman season 4 finale. As I watched the names scroll by and ignored the Netflix recommendation on what to watch next I came to a realization. One that even as I write about it now I’m unsure how to feel about. I realized that BoJack Horseman made me feel terrible. It’s not an easy feeling to describe. I know I laughed and enjoyed the ride but when it was over it left me feeling a little sad, morose or maybe even a little depressed. Let me put it this way, it’s like getting on a ride at a theme-park, having a blast, but as you walk off the ride, you get sick. You know you had fun, but you also know it was the ride that made you ill. To make matters worse, you find out that the theme-park intentionally designed it to make you sick and that it’s all “part of the experience”. How upset can you really be after having so much fun? I’m conflicted.

As I continued to sit staring blankly at the screen, pondering my existential crisis I came to another realization. This wasn’t something reserved for just BoJack, but another one of my favourite cartoons as well: Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty. Both shows are arguably the smartest and funniest shows on television right now and they’ve been exploring some deep themes. Self-loathing, loveless marriage, drug and alcohol abuse, depression and dementia are just a few of the many heavy ideas that these shows touch on. It’s all sprinkled in between moments of hilarious absurdity, but it’s clear that it’s become a core part of each series. It’s designed to be “part of the experience”.

