BoJack Horseman continues to one of the best TV shows, animated or not, on any network. Season 3 was intense with a gripping finale so the stakes were very high going into Season 4.

I like and need to be rather vague when discussing Bojack. It’s a complicated and mature (in the best adult way, not cursing, sex, nudity) story that you need to watch to grab onto what this show throws down. Bojack’s world can get very dark and skipping the nuances does a disservice to the writing and performances.

Season 3 got down in the dumps at the end. Some really awful stuff happens to BoJack that sends him into a spiral. He tries to flee his problems and the last scenes are intense. There’s a glimmer of hope at the very end that could have been a series finale or season finale. We got more, so here we are.

Season 4 starts without BoJack. Everyone in Hollywoo is grinding forward in his absence. Mr. Peanutbutter gets into politics, Diane is holding on for dear life as the political hysteria (it’s nuts) push into her personal space as she struggles to write for a website. Princess Carolyn is strutting her stuff trying to keep her agency and relationship with Ralph and Todd keeps plugging along trying to be himself while helping everyone around him in any way he can.

Bojack gets into some wacky spaces, dysfunction being a paramount theme. The main theme of this season is family. The relationships you have with those who do and do not share your blood. Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane go through some really trying stuff and end up somewhere new. A girl named Hollyhock shows up claiming to be Bojack’s daughter and that throws BoJack for a loop. A guy who can barely help himself has a new responsibility show up and he doesn’t know what to do. Then his ailing mother comes into the picture, they’ve had a strained relationship, to say the least, and he doesn’t know what to do. Todd isn’t sure what kind of relationship he wants and Princess Carolyn knows what relationship she wants but nature keeps getting in her way.

BoJack Horseman covers a lot of ground. Depression, anger, anxiety, sexuality, self-sabotage, self-medication, what does it mean to be happy, and it’s all wrapped up in the Los Angeles environment.

As you can tell, I adore this show. BoJack is the main character, but the show doesn’t necessarily hinge on him. He can be taken out of the spotlight and it’s fine. All the “B” plotlines are so rich that the world building outside (alongside, really) of BoJack makes the show completely enthralling. I love all the characters and that’s incredible. The fact that this show can get so funny pushes it over the edge for me.

If you don’t watch this show, start as soon as you can. And from the beginning! That’s very important. Season 4 shows a lot of growth for the entire cast and it ends on a much different note than Season 3.

Season 5 has been greenlit. I’ll be there the day it hits.