Bojack Horseman Episodes 4 and 5

I used to be a fan of the most ridiculous and absurd running gags, whether it was Kenny's perennial "death" in South Park or Peter's addiction to the "Bird" song in family guy. But I have matured. If nothing's changing, I ain't having. I may still laugh at the basic slapstick humor, but I begin to feel jaded after a little while. This sensation aptly describes where I stand after the 4th episode of  BojackHorseman, which, in many ways, simply rehashes the plot line of the third episode.

As we've seen with his permissive indulgence of Samantha, Bojack has attachment problems. He spends most of the episode assisting Todd's aspirations to rock opera glory, to disprove Diane's assertion that Bojack worries about being alone if Todd (having found gainful employment) departs. At the end, however, he betrays Todd and Diane by conspiring to place an addictive video game (that had been Todd's undoing in high school) on the discount shelf of a 7-eleven at the moment when Todd and Bojack make a "snack run" the night before a session with investors (Todd ends up snatching the game and playing the whole night--when he was supposed to be writing a final song and practicing).

Bojack's artificially sudden change of character at the beginning of the show along with the expected relapse seem trite. Together with Bojack's impulsiveness, alcoholism and obstreperousness, his relapse makes it ever more difficult to like him as a character.

Several articles have recently been written tying the 90s-oughts asshole style humor, as embodied by South Park, to the rise of the alt-right. I wouldn't go that far in describing the effects of Bojack Horseman, but it definitely fits the mold of a show that entertains through mischevious provocation.

There was a time in my life when I could laugh at that sort of shit. But I have matured and gained a better grasp of my own person and positionality in society (as an asian-american male).

In the remaining 4 episodes of the first season (and 4 seasons following that), I hope that Bojack Horseman can do the same.