A Horse With a Name
The Dot and Line presents a week dedicated to ‘BoJack Horseman’
This post does not contain spoilers for BoJack Horseman Season 4.
As of the wee small hours of this morning, BoJack Horseman is back on Netflix for a fourth season, and it’s a good one. If you’ve ardently followed the show in its first three years, the fourth will not disappoint. Once again, the trials that irritate, enliven, and emotionally destroy the characters of this show are as chaotic and gut-wrenching as ever. Their interactions are also more rife with meaning, pain, humor, and as much of the human condition as you can pack into a cartoon about a middle-aged horse living in a Hollywood knockoff.
Appropriately, we’re breaking down all of it on The Dot and Line this week, with a package that will run for eight days (or more!) — from Friday 9/8 to Friday 9/15 (or later, maybe!) — called A Horse With a Name. It’s a reference to an especially well-placed musical cue in episode 2 of Season 4, as well as BoJack’s journey throughout the season as he grapples with the ghosts of the past who share his own name and blood. This week we‘ll discuss our equine protagonist and his supporting cast every day with a series of analyses, essays, interviews, jokes, poems, and a lot more. BoJack’s relationship with a new character, the asexual awakening of an old friend, and the agony of a forgotten past are all up for grabs this week, as well as anything that could destabilize Mr. Peanutbutter’s gubernatorial run. We encourage you to follow along and respond to our coverage in the comments or by shooting us an email at thedotandline@gmail.com.
Below we’ll provide a running list of the stories we publish this week. We’ll add to it every day and identify each story by whether or not it includes spoilers or not.
An essay that answers the “why” of ‘BoJack’
[No spoilers.] John Maher didn’t watch BoJack for years, until he finally did.
A review of Season 4
[No spoilers.] Eric Vilas-Boas watched it all. And it’s amazing.
A look at the show’s terrific, unique treatment of asexuality
[Spoilers.] Sammy Nickalls breaks down a character with one of the most compelling arcs of the season.
A detailed look at the show’s treatment of depression and addiction
[No spoilers.] Rebecca Hiscott dives headfirst into the show’s “poison.”
An essay that breaks down the season’s most shocking scene
[Spoilers.] Sammy Nickalls discusses a sequence straight out of a horror film.
A look at this season’s best joke
[Spoilers.] katie van brunt picks apart that great Princess Carolyn moment.
A creative advice column for Princess Carolyn
[Spoilers.] Dr. Scratchansniff of Animaniacs helps out BoJack’s frisky feline.
An analysis of the newest character on ‘BoJack Horseman’
[Spoilers.] Sammy Nickalls explains what we would have liked to see from Hollyhock.
A look at Diane Nguyen’s professionalism
[Spoilers.] Eric Vilas-Boas interprets Diane’s journalism.
An essay exploring the roots of BoJack’s trauma
[Spoilers.] Amelia Kidd breaks down how BoJack Horseman’s portrait of a damaged family.
A read on the painful unconditional love of Mr. Peanutbutter
[Spoilers.] John Maher lays out why BoJack Horseman’s best dog is far more complicated than he lets on.
An argument against Judah Mannowdog
[Spoilers.] Eric Vilas-Boas dresses down the guy who was “trying to protect” Princess Carolyn.
An exclusive sit-down with an assistant director of ‘BoJack’
[Spoilers.] Eric Vilas-Boas talks about how season four compares to previous seasons of BoJack Horseman with James Bowman, who worked on several episodes.
A poem for BoJack Horseman
[No spoilers.] John Maher wraps things up a few short verses.
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