BoJack Horseman season 6 episode 5 review: BoJack takes one step forward

The fifth episode of BoJack Horseman’s final season explores the push and pull of addiction.

When we last left off with BoJack, he was saying goodbye to Diane during a tense fight between Mr. Peanutbutter and Pickles. The fifth episode picks up with a flashback to Horsin’ Around-era BoJack as he relays the story of meeting the new show runner who replaced Herb Kazazz to his therapist, Dr. Champ. Dr. Champ interrupts him to say he’s heard the story before and that it’s time for BoJack to go home.

While it was initially a six week stay, BoJack has been in rehab for six months now, and Dr. Champ assures him he’s ready, exploiting BoJack’s greatest weakness by telling him he’s special and will succeed on the outside.

A reinvigorated BoJack packs his things to leave therapy when he stumbles across the flying paparazzi of Hollywoo. Assuming they want his picture, a faux-shy BoJack says they can get one shot, but they tell him they’re waiting for someone else.

In a hilarious flashbang montage of echoing, repeated words, BoJack realizes he’s been booted out of therapy so that the new celebrity, Joey Pogo, can have his fancy room.

An enraged BoJack runs back up the hill outside where Dr. Champ does his therapy, and wheezes out a classic BoJack Horseman zinger, “BoHo go bye-bye for JoJo Pogo. That’s a no-go, bro.”

Meanwhile, Diane seems happy enough in Chicago with Guy but is doing a fantastic job procrastinating on her new writing project. When she calls Princess Carolyn for advice about whether to sell the book before she writes it, another procrastination effort, Princess Carolyn sells it and puts her on a hard six month deadline.

The dread is evident in Diane’s eyes, and when Guy comes home later to check on her, she says everything is going so well she doesn’t want him to see yet. But all she has typed is a repeated “I AM TERRIBLE” over and over again.

Much like BoJack, it’s when Diane tries the hardest to be happiest that the cracks in her facade are most evident. Diane notes she has never done a project that’s focused on herself, and this self-critical lens will undoubtedly be a tough pill to swallow for the highly moral writer who is used to looking outward.

Speaking of Princess Carolyn, she and Mr. Peanutbutter are hard at work on their new “Birthday Dad” television show, but Mr. Peanutbutter’s reputation has tanked around town thanks to word getting out about him cheating on Pickles.

Though the two are working on it (Pickles is trying to sleep with someone she has an emotional connection with in order to make it even), Princess Carolyn is concerned about his image and creates a SAD DOG meme to make him more empathetic. (Honestly, what would Hollywoo do without Princess Carolyn?)

Princess Carolyn’s plan succeeds when Joey Pogo (voiced by Hillary Swank!), who was too busy for rehab anyway, drives through the set and almost hits Mr. Peanutbutter. Princess Carolyn jumps in to take control of the narrative and suggest that Mr. Peanutbutter was attempting suicide and jumped out in front of Joey Pogo’s car, because he’s such a sad dog.

Sympathy for mental illness being the one thing people can get behind, the tide quickly changes for an uncomfortable Mr. Peanutbutter.

Back at Pastiches, BoJack’s outrage over being replaced in rehab is, of course, thinly veiled fear of leaving the safety of rehab. Dr. Champ reminds BoJack of the great support system he has.

Perhaps the most vulnerable we’ve ever seen him, BoJack calls Todd to tell him he’s leaving rehab and needs help. Of course, Todd being Todd, he is Ruthie’s full time nanny now, but also has a whole crazy venture going on in which he’s hired twelve assistants to manage his very simple life.

In his place, Todd sends an assistant, Casey (voiced by the wonderful Lana Condor), to help BoJack. While packing up his things, Casey finds Jameson’s bottle of vodka that BoJack kept. Thinking it’s water, Casey asks for a drink, and BoJack snatches it away.

In a moment of anger and defensiveness, we learn that BoJack kept the bottle as a reminder. The planetarium sky has become a motif for BoJack’s ultimate rock bottom: the night Sarah Lynn died.

Seeing the sky superimposed on the bottle, a flashback tells us that Sarah Lynn first drank on the set of Horsin’ Around after finding alcohol in BoJack’s dressing room. An angry BoJack almost takes a drink, but instead chucks the bottle out the window — just as a water bottle delivery arrives at Pastiches.

In a frenzy, BoJack runs downstairs to find the bottle and try to prevent anyone from drinking anything, but it’s too late. Dr. Champ has downed the entire bottle of vodka in one gulp.

The push and pull of BoJack Horseman can be hard to watch. Just when BoJack is close to being happy or getting better, he makes a decision that hurts someone else and undoes everything around him.

But this push and pull is an important narrative in the story of addiction for those who attempt to get sober and stay clean. The episode closes with a desperate Dr. Champ begging BoJack to stay, and the audience wondering whether BoJack can ever move forward.

BoJack Horseman’s final season is currently streaming on Netflix.