@andrewbloom Funny thing about the B story is that it parallels what actually happened in California with gun control, except that instead of women, it was black people owning guns that freaked out people so much that gun control was signed into law in California, signed into law by then Gov. Ronald Reagan, and it was supported by the NRA.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-09-19T22:22:22Z
[8.5/10] Best of the season so far. I really enjoyed the A-story, of BoJack and Hollyhock visiting BoJack’s mom in her nursing home. There’s some real complex emotional stuff going on here, without the show laying it on too thick like it does on occasion. The fact that BoJack has such tremendous resentment for his mom, while Hollyhock just sees a sad old lady riddled with dementia, creates interesting inflection points between the two.
Plus, the fact that Mrs. Horseman can’t recognize her own son in the flesh (mistaking him for her maid, Henrietta) but sees him and even laughs at his antics on Horsin’ Around creates a really interesting conflict for BoJack, with hints that beneath her acerbic passive aggression, maybe she cares about him or at least notices him in some small way. On top of that, her distress at BoJack trying to do an episode as a stage play was gripping and uncomfortable in just the right way. Plus, I love the Hot Rod-esque reversal that BoJack wishes his mom was still mentally with it, not so that he could tell her loves her, but so he could tell her off.
The B-story is great too. There’s tremendous social satire in Diane’s story, which finds the intersection of feminism and the gun control debate. The notion of a traditionally left-wing issue like women feeling unsafe around and a traditionally right-wing issue like gun rights being blended together to halfway solve both problems creates some amusing and incisive social commentary. The twist that California only outlaws guns when a woman is responsible for a mass shooting is an amusing resolution.
To the same end, the recurring bit about the movie industry people getting constant google alerts about mass shootings and responding with the same monotone “thoughts and prayers” language is a very dark but also hilarious strain of humor. It’s always nice to have J.K. Simmons back in the fold, and their schtick about repurposing a gun violence movie as a female empowerment movie is another nice bit of satire, this time aimed at Hollywoo.
Overall, this is the first episode of the season where every facet of the show has been firing on all cylinders. Nice to see!