This post contains spoilers for BoJack Horseman Season 4.
It was a terrible day topped by the most severe personnel decision a manager can make, but Princess Carolyn made it anyway. She had no choice and no possible recourse. Her most trusted employee, Judah Mannowdog, had withheld information from her after going behind her back to tell Charlie Witherspoon that she had no plans to sell the company. Judah did this without consulting her, and it blew up in her face. In her words: “You lied to me, and you made me look like an idiot!”
As crushing as the episode “Ruthie” was for Princess Carolyn—filled with disappointment, heartbreak, embarrassment, another miscarriage, and an ugly, alcohol-fueled bender—the firing of Judah felt it could have capped the episode with a sufficient emotional gut punch. Throughout BoJack, Princess Carolyn projects an image of staying on top of everything, powering through a successful career with the ease of a seasoned professional and a naturally-talented people person and motoring through her work with unnatural skill. As with all of BoJack Horseman’s lead characters, that surface-level interpretation is a falsehood propagated by Princess Carolyn’s own insecurities. In reality, she, a proud manager, needed Judah Mannowdog to manage her: he scheduled all of her appointments, doted on her when she was trying to get pregnant, and showed up for work every day with a clockwork rare in any industry—let alone one hindered by the kind of traffic you’d deal with in Los Angeles.
Until he fucked up. Until he fucked up bad. Until, when attempting to explain and cover his sorry ass, he (condescendingly) tried to tell her he was only “trying to protect” her. Then he said this:
“Princess Carolyn, I understand you’re upset, and perhaps you’re emotional—”
“No,” Princess Carolyn interrupts. “If I can’t trust you, then I can’t work with you. You’re fired.”
And she was right to do so. As messy and complicated and heartbreaking as “Ruthie” was, there was no way that Princess Carolyn could move forward with Vim without making a drastic change. It sucks, and it obviously contributed to her climactic breakdown, but it was necessary. The tragedy is that—to some degree—Princess Carolyn needed someone like Judah, or her dreams of building a family with Ralph, to hold her together. She can’t do it all alone, and she says as much to BoJack in the season’s final episode. Her final conversation with BoJack in that episode, titled “What Time Is It Right Now,” locks in perfectly as a coda to the events of “Ruthie,” and comes after Princess Carolyn has asked him to cover her sorry ass for a fuck-up that, for once, she caused, and which she’s been agonizing over for several episodes. Their exchange is built on brief, clipped sentences. At the end of an emotional roller coaster of a season, it’s perfect.
Princess Carolyn: I screwed up. I’m sorry. I promised you’d do this show. I don’t know why. I just—I needed something.
BoJack: I’ll do it.
Princess Carolyn: What?
BoJack: You want me to do it, I’ll do it. God knows you’ve done enough for me.
Princess Carolyn: [Sobs.]
BoJack: What’s wrong? I said I’d do it!
Princess Carolyn: It’s…just…really hard to need people.
BoJack: Yeah, but…
Princess Carolyn: Yeah. Thank you.
Princess Carolyn was right to get rid of Judah. No manager should put up with employees who aren’t straight with them—especially when it affects relationships outside the company. But the blowback of canning Judah taught her the value of a reliable deputy. In some ways, it was the smartest decision she made in “Ruthie.” Here’s hoping she finds someone perfect next season.
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