This post contains spoilers for Bojack Horseman Season 3.

“In the great grand scheme of things, we’re just tiny specs that will one day be forgotten. So it doesn’t matter what we did in the past, or how we’ll be remembered. The only thing that matters is now, right now. This spectacular moment. This one spectacular moment we are sharing together.” – Bojack Horseman

In the second to last episode of Bojack Horseman’s third season, the titular Bojack is silhouetted amidst stars and space. He is in the Griffith Observatory’s Planetarium, and is listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson narrate the story of the universe. Sitting next to Bojack is Sarah-Lynn, former child-star of Horsin’ Around who traversed the downwards spiral that oh so many child stars take. The visit to the Planetarium is the culmination of their month-long bender of alcohol and hard drugs, and reflects that maybe, at the end of the road, things are going to be ok.

When Bojack tells Sarah-Lynn that “the only thing that matters is now,” it is undoubtedly one of the most tender moments of the entire series. Their faces are concealed by shadow but the grandeur of the universe envelopes them, reminding them of just how insignificant their problems really are.

Yet, the moment is instantly shattered, as Sarah Lynn is silent to Bojack’s reflection.

“Sarah Lynn? Sarah Lynn?” He asks, to no avail. She’s dead.

Purpose and Happiness

The third season of Bojack Horseman was released on Netflix early Friday morning, and I had promptly watched it all by Saturday night. For an animated show set in an often-silly world in which humans and animals co-exist seamlessly, the emotional themes continue to be far more poignant than one might expect.

When we were first introduced to Bojack Horseman, he was a washed-up, out-of-work actor, lounging in his multi-million dollar Beverly Hills mansion and drinking himself to sleep each night. At first, it is easy to embrace Bojack as a brutally honest has-been, and to root for him to get his life back together, and moreover, to do the right thing. Over the course of the first two seasons, Bojack manages to find himself on a seemingly upward trajectory – but only from an outside perspective. Through our intimate glance into the life of a celebrity, we know that Bojack remains Bojack, regardless of the events and people that attempt to mold him otherwise. Perhaps he is more empathetic, more perceptive of his flaws and wrongdoings, but he continues to make erroneous choices at every turn and hurt those that he loves. And he is more alone than ever.

Bojack Horseman’s daunting questions continue to pervade through the third season, hovering over each and every character through their struggles and successes. As I watch, I wonder what is the purpose of life, and how can one find happiness? These two concepts are inherently interwoven, and impose upon Bojack an existential crisis. If he is perpetually depressed, then what good is there in searching for meaning? If no purpose ever satisfies him, will he ever truly be happy?

Don’t You Stop Running

In a flashback in season two, we see famous track star Secretariat (yes, the equivalent of a racehorse in the Bojack-Universe) answering a fan letter on a talk show in 1973. The author of the letter is a nine year old Bojack Horseman, who innocently implores, “how do you not be sad?” Secretariat, confident and compelling, responds with a determined message:



“When I was your age, I got sad – a lot. I didn’t come from such a great home, but, one day I started running and that seemed to make sense, so then I just kept running. Bojack, when you get sad, you run. Straight ahead. And you keep running forward, no matter what. There are people in your life who are going to try to hold you back, slow you down, but you don’t let them. Don’t you stop running, and don’t you ever look behind you, there’s nothing for you behind you – all that exists is what’s ahead.”

In many regards, this message is transformed into Bojack’s lifelong dogma. The only way to rid yourself of sadness is by running from your problems, by leaving your concerns in the dirt as you sprint off to where things will be better.

Yet, the fact that Bojack took those words to heart is largely the source of his ruinous behavior. Bojack lives wildly, ignoring the consequences of the actions he takes and in the process ruining his few friendships. He blames those around him for his misdeeds, and he “fetishizes his sadness,” putting it on display for all to see.

Todd confronts Bojack about his behavior in episode 10 of season three. The two have grown distant over the second half of the season, with each pursuing independent goals and spending more time apart. And when Todd learns that Bojack had unceremoniously slept with his old childhood friend Emily, he has had enough. There are no excuses left for Bojack, nowhere to run.

“Bojack, just stop. You are all the things that are wrong with you. It’s not the alcohol, or the drugs, or any of the shitty things that happened to you in your career, or when you were a kid. It’s you.”

Looking for Stardom

While Bojack is evidently running away from his friends, family, and himself, he is undoubtedly running toward something – not just to distract him but to make him happy. His search for happiness is manifested through the arduous quest of winning an Academy Award. Similar to Ricky Gervais’ show Extras, Bojack makes effort to find happiness through doing ‘meaningful’ work, a.k.a. highbrow artistic films, rather than low quality sitcoms. Bojack wants to be remembered, and whether it’s to satisfy his audiences or his own ego is really up to interpretation. Bojack’s journey to the A-List began in season two, during which he began filming the movie that he hoped would make him be remembered forever – Secretariat. Bojack had always dreamed of playing the superstar, his childhood hero, his inspiration, on the silver screen; perhaps it would put him at ease.

However, Bojack’s quest is complicated by the fact that he isn’t even in the movie. At the culmination of season two, Bojack fled to New Mexico for six months and never finished shooting his part. The Bojack in the movie is CGI. Bojack knows he doesn’t deserve any awards, especially not an Oscar – yet he’s grasping for it anyways, desperately hoping it will provide him with some semblance of joy.

Thus, as we watch an always-upbeat Mr. Peanutbutter read the list of nominees, Bojack stares wistfully even after learning that he has been nominated for Best Actor. Regardless of the fact that the his nomination isn’t even real, the crushing sentiment that pervades Bojack is genuine. “I feel nothing,” he says. He isn’t surprised. Deep down, part of him knew that this wouldn’t make him happy.

A Fruitless Search for Meaning

Bojack is not alone in his struggle. The rest of the cast of Bojack Horseman face similar dilemmas regarding their purpose and happiness. Princess Carolyn’s fledgling agency is only making her more miserable, and their ‘star’ client Bojack doesn’t help ease the burden. Diane is posting on social media for celebrities, a far cry from her previous career of high-stakes journalism, and is trying to figure out who the “real” Diane is. Even Mr. Peanutbutter and Todd search for their next big idea after J.D. Salinger decides it is time for Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities; What do they know? Do they know things? Let’s find out! to come to an end. Each narrative serves to compliment Bojack’s story by revealing the ways in which the characters are lost in a vast world, subsumed by family and relationship issues which they push them away for their careers and innovations.

Like Bojack, it seems that they all are running, to some extent. They look forward, wanting to be better, do better, live better. To be the best agent. To find the real me. To start the next big thing. They run from the past, from the status-quo, and seek to change it to something better.

It’s only when the characters stand still, even for a moment, that they end up finding the happiness that they were looking for. When they stand still, they confront their problems face to face. When Princess Carolyn takes a break from work, she connects with Ralph Stilton, a bright and thoughtful mouse who treats her with a sense of respect that she has long been lacking. When Todd sells his company, he finally sits down to have a genuine conversation with Emily, and is able to contemplate his own sexuality in a way which he hadn’t before. By pushing career and goals aside, they gain a sense of perspective on the world. Through freeing themselves of their desire to find purpose in life, they are able to find happiness.

Only After You Give Up Everything

This message is most overtly reflected than through the subtle story arc of Cuddly Whiskers, an old friend of Bojack who had helped produce and write the short-lived The Bojack Horseman Show. Like Bojack, Cuddly Whiskers used to strive for artistic glory, and The Bojack Horseman Show was originally intended as an avant-garde endeavour like none before. Within the 2007 flashbacks, it is evident that his ambition in the industry was unmatched; but after The Bojack Horseman Show devolved into idiocy and quickly crashed and burned, his spirit was crushed as well. When Bojack reconciles with Cuddly Whiskers in the present day, he is a changed hamster. In many ways, he is a vision of Bojack-Future.

Bojack and Cuddly Whiskers, once counterparts on the same road, are now traveling on divergent paths. In their quests for oscars, for stardom, for everlasting glory, for happiness, they both found themselves empty and confused. They ran from their problems, but got lost along the way.

Cuddly Whiskers recounts, sadly, “I remember when I won my Oscar, standing up on the stage, looking at the statue, and I thought, this is supposed to be the happiest moment of my life – and I never felt more miserable.”

Yet, while Bojack cemented his reclusiveness and nostalgic-point-of-view in the aftermath of The Bojack Horseman Show, Cuddly Whiskers retained and redirected his ambition. He “dedicated himself to helping others,” and transformed his home “into a halfway house for troubled addicts.” Although he disappeared from his house without warning to seek alone time in his Ojai cabin, he nonetheless has found his own happiness in a broader sense. He’s not running away to escape his problems; he’s running to think, to reflect, to meditate in solace away from distraction.

He remarks, “Only after you give up everything, can you begin to find a way to be happy.”

The nuance in his message is far reaching. Perhaps even after his change of direction, even after giving up everything, Cuddly Whiskers is still not happy- but he has at least taken the first steps.

So, when Bojack is sitting in the planetarium, sitting next to Sarah Lynn, contemplating his place in the universe – that’s the first time that Bojack is on the path to happiness. Because he’s given up his aspirations for an Oscar. Because he’s given up his unhealthy friendships and relationships. Because he’s given up looking to the past and trying to undo his mistakes. Because he’s not reaching for the stars. He’s simply appreciating them.