My relationship with the source is a very new and fresh one. I didn’t start watching the show until the beginning half of the final season came out. The reality is, everyone told me I should have watched it ever since the second season. And they were a hundred percent right. Not only so that I would have been more aware of the show earlier, but to binge this show, is to know sadness at an accelerated rate.

Before we get into very briefly talking about the new episodes, let’s backtrack and talk about the show for those who haven’t watched it because it’s a cartoon. Bojack Horseman used to be on a very popular family-like sitcom and he was famous. And then he sort of became a has-been. He wasn’t as popular, and he got into drugs and alcohol and substance abuse. All the while maintaining – or trying to maintain – relationships with Todd (best friend and roommate), Princess Carolyn (Agent), Diane (eventual best friend and ghostwriter) and Mr. Peanutbutter, a dog who follows in Bojack’s shoes and has a nearly identical show but stays in the spotlight because he’s super positive. Mr. Peanutbutter is a yellow Lab, so it logistically, it all adds up. 

I’m going to avoid plot details so that you may enjoy (or endure rather) the final 8 episodes. The reality is like some of television latest final seasons or episodes, it’s about the fall out rather than the revelations. And yes, there are a few shockers left, but it’s more about how Bojack tries to adapt and changes, but will he ever?

What may have started as a funny show about Hollywood, ends with us watching Bojack make mistakes that we wish he didn’t. And frankly, it makes for great television that knows exactly how to make your heart shatter a little bit. There’s a bit of us in Bojack – or at least there’s a lot of me in him. I once read that the more specific a story is, the more universal it becomes. And maybe the same goes when you make a show about animals living in Hollywoo become a stand-in for our own addictions and how we handle depression. The highs and the lows, at extreme levels all for both our entertainment but also so we can learn a few things about ourselves and life.

In reality, the emotions and fears in the final eight episodes are super elevated and appropriate. There’s a finality to it all that is actually terrifying. We’re never truly sure where things are going to go next, and it scares you just like it scares Bojack. While I think it’s fair to say that nobody who follows the show can outright say that they love all of Bojack – but just like his friends, we need to support him to the best of our and their abilities while we still can.

I felt empty when the show ended. Even though I only started watching the show sometime in November, I feel like I lost something crucial to my identity. Something with moments that are too precise and scary. But please understand, it was because even though I wasn’t there consistently throughout the show, I knew it was special and meant something to so many.

Or maybe there’s no real point to what happens. Sometimes art doesn’t need a point. Sometimes we put so much of ourselves into the things we watch and love that it becomes a place where we don’t know how to separate it from us. Sometimes, because of pop culture, we are expected for series finale’s and our own lives to tie everything up with a neat bow, and for us to drive off into the sunset happily. It makes sense that Bojack chooses not to tie everything up. There are still things left for the viewer to never find out, but that’s life. We are attempting to just be happy, but for some of us, it’s harder to stay happy. We have our highs and lows and all we know how to do is stay in familiar places hoping for happiness.  And I hope that these characters can finally find a form of serenity in silence, even it lasts for just a moment.