1 Brutal Bojack Horseman Season 1 Episode Put The Show On Its Dark Path – Armessa Movie News

Summary

• “The Telescope” episode of Bojack Horseman was a turning point for the show, showcasing its unique blend of dark storyline and flawed characters.
• Bojack Horseman’s early episodes suffered from mean-spiritedness and cutaway gags, making it appear like a ripoff of Family Guy.
• The episode revealed that Bojack’s betrayal of his former friend Herb set the course for his self-destructive behavior and inability to learn from his mistakes.

Despite Bojack Horseman being considered one of the best cartoons of the 2010s, it wasn’t until the eighth episode of its first season, “The Telescope,” that the show finally figured out what it was. Beforehand, Bojack Horseman was not considered bad, but it hadn’t done much of anything to make itself stand out compared to other adult cartoons. That all changed when “The Telescope” was released, which provided the blueprint for what makes Bojack Horseman recognized as one of Netflix’s best original TV shows.

While it isn’t Bojack Horseman‘s best episode, it was the show’s first episode that proved what made it special. Leading up to “The Telescope,” Bojack Horseman appeared to be a show all about a has-been celebrity desperately trying to reclaim the glory days he had back in the 90s. Once “The Telescope” aired, however, the episode set the course for the dark journey ahead for the titular character.

Why Bojack Horseman Stumbled Out Of the Gate

Because it didn’t start too great, Bojack Horseman‘s first season is considered the weakest of the six that were released on Netflix. The show’s problems, in the beginning, can be attributed to Bojack knowingly being an ass to everyone while being proud of it too. The show also relied on cutaway gags quite a bit in its first few episodes. Bojack’s mean-spiritedness as a character, combined with how the show executed its comedy, made it feel like a Family Guy ripoff in the beginning. While not bad early on, its biggest sin was not proving to be anything special to start.

Before “The Telescope” aired, Bojack Horseman‘s earlier episodes clued viewers into the extent of Bojack’s sinister and self-destructive ways, like sabotaging Todd’s rock opera to keep him from moving out. The show also sent some deep messages, like Bojack telling Diane that she shouldn’t seek closure from her family because of how toxic they are. Bojack Horseman showed signs of improvement over the course of its first seven episodes, but “The Telescope” proved to be the moment the show demonstrated why it was special.

How Bojack Horseman Season 1’s “The Telescope” Changed Everything

While Bojack Horseman had been slowly improving as a show, “The Telescope” was the show’s first golden episode because it was the first to fully humanize Bojack while also making it clear that he’s genuinely an awful person. The episode details Bojack’s backstory on who he was before he got famous, how fame changed him for the worse, and how stabbing his former friend Herb Kazzazz in the back all those years ago still affected him.

The episode revealed that Herb was the reason Bojack got famous. Being the showrunner of Horsin’ Around, Herb gave Bojack his big break when he demanded his best friend be the show’s lead. However, once Herb was outed in Hollywood for being gay – a major no-no in the nineties – Bojack was left with a choice (or so he thought): either stick up for his best friend or keep his celebrity status. Bojack chose the latter. While betraying Herb proved to be one of the times in which Bojack showed he was the true villain of Bojack Horseman, his motive to do so was understandable because, like anyone else, he desired fame.

Bojack always thought choosing not to have Herb’s back was why his former best friend held a grudge 20 years later, but upon trying to get Herb’s forgiveness, he realized that wasn’t why Herb hated his guts. After Herb refused to forgive him, he explained that his resentment towards Bojack stemmed from Bojack cutting off all ties when Herb needed him the most – which Herb didn’t think would happen – and didn’t bother to contact him until he conveniently discovered that Herb was dying. More importantly, Bojack didn’t apologize for Herb’s sake. He apologized in hopes of ridding himself of his guilt for what he did.

For that reason, Herb’s feelings were more than justified. Just because Bojack returned to his life to make amends doesn’t absolve him of how badly he hurt Herb all those years ago. Better yet, Bojack could have done what he did to Herb and still could have tried to keep in touch with him regardless. Better yet, even if Herb chose not to forgive Bojack, Bojack could have accepted that and still tried to rekindle their friendship before Herb’s death. Bojack refusing to do that proved that visiting Herb was all about his ego.

That is why “The Telescope” stands as the moment that Bojack Horseman made itself stand out. While Bojack’s heart may have been in the right place, and it was brave of him to talk to Herb again all those years later, his choice to cut Herb out of his life and then lash out when Herb didn’t forgive him showed both how horrible of a person he is and how human he is at the same time for the first time.

Bojack Never Learned From His Mistake With Herb

Because Bojack both grew up on television and starred in the most innocent, family-friendly sitcom in Horsin’ Around, where all conflicts are wrapped up in 22 minutes, he expected Herb to forgive him partially because that’s how it typically goes in a sitcom. But reality would manifest itself in the ugliest of ways. Especially since, on top of refusing to forgive Bojack, Herb called out his former friend for who he truly is.

After getting into a tussle over a telescope, the last thing Herb says to Bojack is, You know what your problem is? You want to think of yourself as the good guy! Well, I know you better than anyone, and I can tell you that you’re not! In fact, you’d probably sleep a lot better at night if you just admitted to yourself that you’re a selfish, g****** coward who takes whatever he wants and doesn’t give a s*** about who he hurts! That’s you! That’s Bojack Horseman!

Herb proved to be on the money about Bojack shortly after that. During their drive home, Bojack forcefully kisses Diane, who is engaged to Bojack’s rival, Mr. Peanutbutter. By nonconsensually kissing Diane, Bojack shows both his selfishness and his self-destructiveness through his lack of respect for Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter’s relationship. Even if it didn’t ruin their relationship in the end, it still proved to be one of the worst things Bojack had ever done in the show.

Bojack refusing to accept the reality of the situation and then indulging his self-destructive ways once he did became a running theme throughout the show. When Diane’s tell-all biography book about Bojack bruises his ego, he initially fires her despite the book being exactly what he wanted. When Bojack travels down to New Mexico to go see Charlotte, the one who got away, not only does she reject him, but he nearly sleeps with her teenage daughter Penny. When Bojack has alienated everyone in season 3, he goes on a long bender with Sarah Lynn, which ends with her death.

Even when Bojack started getting better as a person, he still couldn’t help himself. Even while making amends with everyone, his self-destructive ways came out again when he was confronted with everything he had done, particularly letting Sarah Lynn die to cover his tracks. Doing so led to an attempted suicide instead of accepting the public turning on him. Bojack earnestly tried to get better, but had a hard time realizing that getting better would lead to more obstacles and would revert back to self-sabotage.

The Lasting Impact Of “The Telescope”

There were much harsher episodes throughout the course of Bojack Horseman. In fact, despite how horribly things ended between Herb and Bojack in “The Telescope,” it’s still not considered one of Bojack Horseman‘s saddest episode endings. However, the show made it clear that Bojack’s decision to choose fame over his friendship with Herb set the course for every bad choice he made from there on out.

To achieve his dream of success in Hollywoo, Bojack would go on to repress his conscience, leading to bad choice after bad choice. It was only after his heyday was over that Bojack even tried to better himself as a person. While portraying his depression makes Bojack one of the TV characters who accurately portray mental illness, which is why viewers relate so well to him, Bojack also had to confront the demons he created after betraying Herb back in the nineties to keep his fame.

And the worst part was he learned that it was all for nothing in the end. After Bojack was “canceled” for what he had done, he discovered from TV executive Angela Diaz that when she convinced him to turn his back on Herb, it was all a bluff, meaning Bojack threatening to walk to keep Herb on the show would have worked. Because Bojack always wondered how his life would have turned out had he stood up for Herb then, it shatters him knowing that it actually was an option. But it didn’t matter because Bojack would never get a do-over.

Bojack’s arc in the show was his understanding that life doesn’t give anyone do-overs. Bojack could only live with his choices, whether he liked them or not. In the end, Bojack Horseman showed that though Bojack truly was capable of changing for the better, it also made it a point that he had to face the consequences for his choices, which all started when he fruitlessly tried to patch things up on “The Telescope.”