BoJack Horseman season 6 episode 14 review: It’s a classic Todd shenanigan!

BoJack Horseman’s “Angela” finds BoJack hitting his latest rock bottom while Todd, Diane, Mr. Peanutbutter, and Princess Carolyn continue to find meaning elsewhere.

The previous episode of BoJack Horseman found BoJack falling off the wagon after a disastrous interview disclosing the truth of his involvement with Sarah Lynn, along with several other of his misedeeds.

Ultimately, “Angela” serves as a preliminary to the finale, continuing to tie up loose ends for all of the characters outside of BoJack while pushing him further and further toward the edge.

First, Princess Carolyn receives an offer from Lenny Turtletaub to spearhead his new female-focused studio, but after hitting creative walls all day, decides to do it on her own (with Judah, of course). In one of the sweeter and more earnest moments of the series, she asks Judah, who has come back early from a gig to help her work more, to play her a song as she types, and he sing-tells her he loves her.

It’s a little shocking and unexpected, but also makes perfect sense with his complete and utter devotion to her. And the animation on Princess Carolyn’s face combined with Amy Sedaris’s “hmm” creates a pitch perfect response.

Next, Diane is finally launching her Ivy Tran book when she gets a call from Guy that his ex-wife is moving to Houston, which means Sonny will be going there, too. Diane, more confident than she’s ever been in any relationship we’ve seen her thus far, simply tells him they’ll move to Houston, too.

It’s nice to see Diane so settled and happy, even as she’s still finding her footing. Near the end of her signing, she sees a cardboard cutout of Mr. Peanutbutter advertising for his new memoir (much to her dismay) and gives him a call.

The call allows for them to both finally have closure and resolution in a sequence that conveys what it’s like for people to learn how to find themselves as individuals both inside and outside of relationships.

As a writer, Diane is often given some of the most beautiful dialogue on the show, and Alison Brie always delivers it thoughtfully and with precision. When Mr. Peanutbutter asks Diane what it’s like to be her now she responds:

"“Your whole life is full of these pieces that don’t quite fit, but at some point you start to think it’s you. You’re the piece that doesn’t quite fit.”"

It’s a brilliant piece of writing that will be sorely missed from BoJack Horseman and once again conveys the strangeness of being better and trying. When you’ve been “off” for so long, alignment can feel just as strange. But eventually, you get used to it.

The shot of Diane talking on the phone is also one of the most stunning of the season, and perhaps of the series, using vivid purples and blues to paint the lake at sunrise.

Easily, the comedic high point of the episode (as always) is the resolution we get from Todd and his family. When he and Modd go to have dinner at his parents’ house, only to find that his mom is “too sick” to come to dinner, Todd resorts to a Classic Todd Shenanigan which can only mean one thing…

Cue Character Actress (and massive criminal) Margo Martindale! 

This is one of the most amazing runs on this show, so insane that even the most ardent BoJack fans can’t really describe it. But it’s also quite possibly the most delightful.

Even as the show’s more comic characters (Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter) become weighed down with the emotional toll of their stories, the writers have been able to excellently deploy Margo Martindale time and time again. It’s not necessarily inventive each time, but it’s always enjoyable.

This time, Todd convinces Margo to stage a fake hostage situation so that his mom will have to rescue him, but the stress of the situation gives his mom a panic attack and lands her in the hospital. Thankfully, though, they’re alone in a room together and finally allowed to confront their issues.

While there is resolution, I still feel like Todd’s storyline ultimately got shortchanged this season and this backstory with his family in particular is something that would have been so so great to have seen much earlier in the series. But I’m still glad we had it at all.

And if nothing else, it gave us Margo Martindale’s day in court in which her sentencing was stopped by none other than Nicole Holofcener so they could make a movie together. There is no other show that will be able to both make fun of and appreciate Hollywood in the same way anytime soon.

But onto the eponymous talking horse. “Angela” gives us the return of Angela Diaz (Anjelica Huston) along with one last triumphant ’90s flashback firmly set in the ’90s which discloses her firing BoJack’s friend and mentor, Herb, because he was gay.

Fast forward to the present day, and Angela calls BoJack on the set of his Bad Santa unicorn movie, inviting him to a mysterious meeting at her mansion. BoJack arrives with his water bottle of vodka in tow to learn that he’s going to be edited out of Horsin’ Around.

Angela shows him a closet full of unsold merch, including new anniversary blu-rays, and keeps guilting him about Sarah Lynn and the fact that no one will be able to see her talent because of his interview.

Finally, Angela tells BoJack they’re going to buy him out so he won’t earn any future royalties, telling him to do it for Sarah Lynn. Horsin’ Around was always the one thing BoJack had to cling to, but desperate for money, and any hope of redemption, it’s gone.

Needless to say, this is BoJack’s latest, and perhaps final, rock bottom as Angela fixes him a drink and they reminisce. BoJack plays the sad, drunken clown for a while until Angela lets slip that she coerced BoJack into getting Herb fired and thinking it was his idea.

BoJack, of course, takes the moment to blame everything on her and takes her car (and some blu-rays) and goes to his house–except it’s not his anymore, so he’s breaking and entering.

Thankfully, or maybe not?, the new occupants are gone as BoJack steals vodka from their freezer and pills from their medicine cabinet. In a drunken stupor, BoJack puts on the blu-ray to watch his original audition and see the beginning at the end.

What did you think of BoJack Horseman’s “Angela”? Sound off in the comments below.