6x01 A Horse Walks into a Rehab

[9.0/10] One of my biggest complaints about the early seasons of BoJack is that its psychology was too simple. It would try to draw a direct line from point A event in BoJack’s past to point B problem in BoJack’s present to try to account for some bit of bad behavior or mental pathology, when the truth is that most of our problems’ causes or more complicated than that.

How encouraging it is, then, to witness the evolution of this show’s take on that sort of cause and effect about what ails BoJack, to an episode like “A Horse Walks into Rehab”, which not only resists oversimplification when trying to account for alcoholism, but which weaves a tapestry of events that led him to this point into a larger frame story about trying to get clean and remember why you’re doing it.

The four vignettes we see to set the stage for the origins of BoJack’s drinking go back in time, tracing each event and unpacking them to make his present state seem more like an accumulation of sad moments and bad reinforcement than some straightforward explanation. He was too nervous to pull off a big scene on his show until an assistant gave him a little extra “juice,” and he’s suddenly pursuing the supermodel he was too nervous to convincingly kiss moments ago. He’s awkward at a party as a teenager, but then one beer later, he’s not only the life of the party, but being cruel to people who were kind to him.

He walks in on his dad cheating on his mom, and has what’s manipulatively framed as a father/son bonding experienced turned into a way for his dad to use guilt and a form of abuse to keep BoJack from spilling the beans. And another sad family celebration of a broken home leaves a tiny BoJack imitating his parents and trying to get that warm feeling of home any way he can. None is the sum total of why BoJack tries to numb himself with substances. Instead, each are a piece of the puzzle.

But we also get to see the endpoint of that, something we’re reminded of in the opening flashback to the night of Sara Lynn’s death, the moment when BoJack hit rock bottom. What’s so striking isn’t just that gut punch to start the show’s final season, but also the way his guilt and resolve not to repeat those mistakes is conveyed visually.

Those cuts to key moments in BoJack’s development as a drinker end with dissolves, the acid realizations boring back into his conscious thoughts. The opening montage starts as a humorous sequence of BoJack not really trying at rehab, only to see Sara Lynn’s picture on the clerk’s selfie wall, and be reminded of why he’s doing this, redoubling his efforts to take this seriously. And when he looks at the bottle he sneaks in, or other hints of his temptation and addiction, he sees the stars of the planetarium, a psychological reminder of what this vice has cost him, and the people unlucky enough to endure it with him.

Despite all that, “A Horse Walks into a Rehab” is a thoroughly funny episode! It finds a deft way to check in on the rest of the cast in a quick but funny ways, that delivers one of the show’s trademark wordplay parades and an amusing interlude about Diane’s phone number of all things. The layered swerves of BoJack and fellow rehab-mate Jameson dealing with their issues inside her dad’s giant movie memorabilia room is a real treat. (“The glass from The Graduate!” had me in stitches.) And even small bits like the idea of a gritty, Zack Snyder-helmed Mario reboot or the title card “Two Jamesons later” are eminently laugh-worthy.

Still, what keeps the episode from feeling indulgent is the story it tells in the present to connect with the past. BoJack’s efforts to keep Jameson from relapsing is a nice echo of his relationship with Sara Lynn, one where he’s working out his own demons but trying to keep the past from repeating. That’s a nice way to dramatize both his guilt and his growth, while letting the difficulties of getting better be channeled and shared by another personality who can act as a foil rather than giving BoJack the whole of the spotlight.

The reveal that Jameson is not merely some BoJack-like young adult with neglectful parents and slim chances to grow up healthy, but rather someone with a supportive dad who’s made some hard life choices, helps drive that home, for BoJack and the audience. It’s a story that portends a season-long theme of taking responsibility for your actions, even when they’re shaped by events and decisions that, if not fully forced on you, were also not fully in control. It’s that difficult line -- between responsibility and an understanding of other forces at work, that makes recovery so hard, and this exploration of it so compelling.

It’s the kind of complex, multi-causal storytelling that is a far cry from the simplicity the show started with. What led BoJack here is not just bad parents or a bottle. What might save him from is not just the memory of Sara Lynn. It’s also the decisions that he made, the people that he’s hurt, the number of friends and confidantes who still gather in his wake, and the possibilities he sees for something better on the other side.

What made BoJack horseman an alcoholic, what makes him the person he is today, is a cocktail of past and present, of kindness and cruelty, of regret and resolve. As BoJack Horseman embarks on its final season, it doesn't shy away from the layers of that, which BoJack starts to finally peel away here, however painful that may be. The person who shows up on the other end may not be the healthy person BoJack aspires to be -- there’s still an acid tongue that comes out when BoJack’s told to stop deflecting -- but with that understanding from him, and from the series, that the road to get here wasn’t simple or easy and that the road to recovery won’t be either, he and the show that bears his name may close things out as a more mature, understanding, complex creature than either began as.