Hello and welcome to a TV Recap series about our favorite half man/half horse 90's celebrity BoJack Horseman. Please join as I delve into the second season of the Netflix cartoon that takes on Hollywoo and discover what it takes to be famous while dealing with your deadbeat friends and traumatic past. While there's guaranteed to be hilarity, will there be as much brilliance as the first season? Let's quit Horsin' Around and just get on with it. Come for the recaps, stay for the jokes and dissections of each episode's best moments. It's the right thing to do. So join me every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the latest and greatest.
"There's no meaning in death.
That's why it's so terrifying."
- Henry Winkler
Plot:
Everyone mourns the loss of Herb Kazzaz (Stanley Tucci). As the cast of Horsin' Around gets back together, they discover that they still have issues. However, they find that Herb has his own story of how the story was taken away from him. As a result, they go on a mission to find the lost manuscript and determine that Henry Winkler killed him. When that doesn't pan out, Winkler admits that he didn't publish the manuscript to protect his legacy. Meanwhile, Todd (Aaron Paul) imagines that he has taken on a new identity and is suddenly cool. While at the funeral, Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris) tells stories about Herb that causes Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins) to egg her on with more ridiculous and personal stories.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Flashback
Herb Kazzaz's story is told from behind the scenes of Horsin' Around. He starts out as a supportive creative and eventually devolves to his demise of rectal cancer. Along the way, the cast of the show share their own personal stories of what Herb meant to them. In some cases, it was support. For others, it was the request to get his book published. Yet it all ends with BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett) and Herb deciding to get drunk while on the set of The Love Boat, realizing that while things would go downhill later, they would be fine then.
Secondary Character MVP:
Henry Winkler
Much like most of these secondary characters that pop up, they seem to be playing the familiar roles. In the past 15 years, Winkler has been game to play almost every fictionalized version of himself. There's no problem with that, as he has managed to find a career post-Fonz (which makes his jokes about being known for a brief cameo on a crime show funnier). However, what starts off as a shameless self-promoter type, he evolves to be more integral to the plot and inevitably delivers the reveals that make the episode work overall. He may be playing the Winkler that we all know, but he's still really good at it.
Best Joke
In an episode that doesn't have too many standout jokes, there's a lot of weight on the shoulders of Todd to deliver the laughs. While it is great to see the Squiirt machine have two I's, it is inevitably the dimwitted nature of Todd that wins out. He is convinced that this movie prop will make him cool. So while the "wise janitor" tries to tell him otherwise, he falls for it and goes into his own hallucinatory state.
Overall Thoughts
While I don't think that this is the strongest episode of the season, it is one of the few that is rooted in the show's continuity. I am sure that newbies will be able to enjoy it, but the dark humor and tragedy that plagues the end of season one emphasizes the characters in this episode. Even then, it's just an entertaining mystery episode full of rich flashbacks and comical moments that play into the show's strengths. It also seems nice that even if the show is very scathing, it still has a heart that makes the ending sort of beautiful. I do wonder if the show will feel more mature this season, or if this is just one of those odd episodes that have more sentiments than laughs.
Comments
Post a Comment