Rick and Morty isn’t on this week, but I still wanted to have something for you guys to read on this fine Monday. So, I pondered what other filthy, adult animated shows are out there, and it hit me, a new season of Bojack Horseman is out on Netflix on September 8th, so what better time to talk about my picks for my five favourite episodes from one of my favourite TV shows out there right now? This will contain spoilers for the episodes I talk about, which come from all 3 current seasons. So before reading, I suggest you get watching since Bojack is a really amazing show.

5: Prickly Muffin (S1E3)

This is one of the first episodes in the show that actually sets the tone, how the characters will take these moral developments, but then it will all backfire. We encounter the character of Sarah Lynn for the first time here, she played Bojack’s on screen daughter in Horsin Around and has since gone a little bit off the rails. Throughout the episode we see Bojack go through a weird parallel of the stages of grief with the realisation of what Sarah Lynn has become, and when, by the end, he tries to reach out and help her drug problem, she throws it back in his face and his entire development is undone, pushing him back deeper into a depression, which becomes a running theme throughout.

4: Fish Out of Water (S3E4)

This episode is basically art. Throughout the episode, there are very few lines of dialogue, all of which happen in the opening and the ending, because Bojack during the press for his movie Secretariat, heads underwater, and cannot speak thanks to his helmet. This leads to a beautifully soundtracked episode that feels like something we have never seen on the show before, with Bojack still being Bojack, but muted, which creates a really interesting dynamic and despite the lack of words, we still see Bojack grow as a character and the relationships he has, continuing to grow. Plus, we see a whole society in the world of the show that has never even been shown properly before, so for world building, this is solid.

3: Let’s Find Out (S2E8)

For the most part, this episode is just pure stupid fun, but it opens up room for a lot of characters to have progression in their moral arcs, most notably Todd. The episode shows the proceedings of the first ever episode of Mr Peanutbutter’s TV game show, Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities, What do they Know? Do they Know Things? Let’s Find Out! In which Bojack competes against Daniel Radcliffe for money for charity. However, the moral progression just goes to hell at the end of the episode when, just to spite Radcliffe, Bojack answers a question wrong, causing five hundred thousand dollars to be burnt. The entire episode is honestly one of the most fun episodes of the show, plus with an amazing guest star, it just works. And it works very very well.

2: Escape from LA (S2E11)

This is one of the darkest episodes ever. Bojack leaves LA to pursue a former friend, Charlotte, whom we have seen him show romantic feelings for before. However, when he gets there, she has a family. For a while, Bojack remains respectful of this, until near the end, when, after taking Charlotte’s daughter, Penny to prom, he ends up first trying to seduce Charlotte and after failing, he accepts the advances of the daughter and comes close to having sex with her. This is the moment that Bojack seems to realise that he is the toxic person in his life, despite characters reminding him of the fact throughout, this moment sees him realise he screwed up. Yet, we barely see him do anything to atone for it, however, the acceptance of the fact is a key moment for the character.

One: That’s Too Much, Man! (S3E11)

I know I said that the last episode was one of the darkest, this is the darkest. I notice a trend with the 11th episode of each season going waayy dark. This is the episode where Bojack hits rock bottom. He failed to be nominated for an Oscar, which was his goal all season, his friends have left him, and everything is going wrong, so he goes to the one person who will always facilitate his problems, Sarah Lynn. This leads to the pair going on a drug fuelled adventure, punctuated by Bojack’s regular blackouts. We see Bojack growing a lot as a character here, and understanding the darkness inside him. But the real kicker comes right at the end of the episode, and is reaffirmed in the opening to episode 12, Sarah Lynn died. We haven’t seen Bojack take too much responsibility for this but, at least in episode 12, we do see it has had consequences. And this feeling seems to be what will be a driving force in season 4.

Thanks for reading, guys. Did you agree with my picks of episodes? Tell me down in the comments below or on Twitter @G33kP0p. Next week we will be back to the regular Rick and Morty reviews, possibly at a slightly later time, but you’ll still get them every Monday. For more like this, remember to keep it G33k!