Welcome to What Horse Is He Right Now Dot Com, a collection of stories by The Dot and Line about BoJack Horseman Season 5.
In just about one week, BoJack Horseman, Netflix’s crazy-good show about an alcoholic horse, his fast-talking social circle, and the depraved Hollywoo analogue he lives in, will return for its fifth season on September 14, 2018. In case you were concerned the show couldn’t possibly top itself again after Season 4, we’ve got some good news: it’s as good as ever, and the ways it is good are even more relevant than they were in the beginning of fall 2017. In this post, we’ll try to explain how—without spoiling a single thing.
It’s more socially aware than ever
One of BoJack Horseman’s strongest selling points—in every season—has been its canny ability to weave the shenanigans of literal human-sized animals in an alternate reality of Hollywood (also known as Hollywoo) into a narrative with Something To Say About The World We Live In. Previous topics mined include identity politics, addiction, child abuse, sexual assault, intergenerational trauma, and the very concept of power and who is allowed to wield it. And oh yeah: crippling depression. None of that goes away in Season 5. And more impressively, none of it gets sidelined, either. BoJack may have ended Season 4 on a positive note, but he’s not redeemed. The implications of that are real, and in this season, as the star of his own show Philbert, BoJack will have to confront them in ways he never has before.
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Emotionally, the show is as raw as ever
And as darkly ironic as ever. The same balance of morbid humor, cringe-worthy decision making, and relentless puns, in-jokes, and visual gags you know and love is there. It also makes more use of long-form gags and callbacks. Put it this way: if you liked The Animaniacs’ “Chicken Boo” skits, you’ll get a kick out of one of the season’s longest-running jokes.
It continues to prioritize representation on-screen
Don’t expect last year’s focus on Todd Chavez, an asexual icon, to go away. His identity and relationship with Yolanda are still very much in play story-wise, and the writing of the show treats them with the candor and humanity that it needs. (Also laugh-out-loud humor. It is Todd, after all.) And this season’s approach toward diversity, identity politics, and representation won’t stop with Todd, either.
It’s trippier and way more ambitious
BoJack Horseman, The Dot and Line has reported before, is not an easy show to produce and animate. Several of the show’s most memorable episodes play with storytelling structure, dive into the inner monologues of its characters, or do away with dialogue entirely. Season 5 is no different: multiple episodes eschew typical storytelling convention entirely, and the animation and art choices behind them look as gorgeously surreal as ever. BoJack’s dream sequences and flashbacks have never looked bad, but this season gives him triggers we haven’t seen yet, and the visual tools the show uses to portray them are new and often dizzying.
We’ll be on it
Last year, The Dot and Line covered the fourth season of BoJack Horseman with the editorial collection “A Horse With a Name.” This year we’ll do the same with “WhatHorseIsHeRightNow.com,” a week of stories guest-edited by Sammy Nickalls. This is the first time a guest editor has ever taken charge of The Dot and Line, and we’re really excited for it. As one character puts it in the show’s latest trailer: “This is going to be a sensational season of television.”
BoJack Horseman’s fifth season premieres on Netflix on September 14, 2018.
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