For an animated show about anthropomorphic animals, BoJack Horseman can get pretty serious and downright depressing at times. The show’s writers strike a perfect balance between outlandish comedy and bleak moments of realism, often ending episodes on incredibly somber notes and sometimes leaving viewers feeling gut-punched.
The most gloomy BoJack moments usually come out of nowhere and show up at the end of an episode right before a screen goes to black leaving viewers with a mix of complex emotions. So, here are the 10 saddest episode endings of BoJack Horseman.
The View From Halfway Down
This episode provided some of the most chilling moments of the show’s run from Secretariat’s poem to Sarah Lynn’s reprise of “Don’t Stop Dancing”. After everyone else preformed and it’s BoJack’s turn to step into the abyss, he runs away to call Diane for help, begging her to save him to which she responds that she can’t.
After hearing the empty voice on the other end of the line, he comes to the realization that he’s facedown in his pool and that no one is coming to save him. He asks Diane if he can stay on the phone with her and proceeds to ask her about her day before the goo engulfs him and the episode ends with the show’s theme replaced by the sound of a heartbeat flatlining.
Downer Ending
During a Q&A at a ghostwriting event, BoJack confronts Diane and begs her to tell him that he’s a good person. He tells her that he didn’t care about other people’s opinions of him, only hers since she knows him the best. Clearly caught off guard she says nothing, unable to give him the answer he wants and the two stare at each other in silence.
The quiet only interrupted by a man who exclaims “Hey, aren’t you the horse from Horsin’ Around?” before hard cutting to the show’s credits. Deep down everyone wants to be seen as a good person by those around them so to see BoJack directly ask if he is and have to deal with the reality that he might not be is hard.
That’s Too Much Man
When the episode starts Sarah Lynn is about to celebrate her ninth month of sobriety. However, that changes when she gets a call from BoJack and the two go on a bender. Nearing the end of it, Sarah Lynn has an existential breakdown, stating that everyone is doomed. To make her feel better, BoJack takes them to the planetarium.
They watch peacefully, only their silhouettes being seen against the planetarium’s display of the galaxy. Sarah Lynn announces her desire to be an architect, something she previously expressed. BoJack proceeds to explain to Sarah Lynn that the past doesn’t matter and that all that does are the moments they share. He calls her name, but she doesn’t respond.
Escape From LA
After Charolette demands he leave for almost having sex with Penny, we watch BoJack make the long trek back to LA while an extended version of the show’s opening theme plays. He sits on his boat, the “Espace from LA” named after what brought him to New Mexico in the first place.
He returns back to his house to find an equally lost Diane remarking “You’re still here”. Seeing BoJack end right back up at the place he was so desperate to leave and burning yet another bridge and positive relationship to the ground in the span of 30 minutes makes this such a difficult watch.
Time’s Arrow
This episode focuses on Beatrice Horseman’s past with her mentally reliving the situations as if they were occurring in the present. The most touching moment comes when BoJack brings her to her new room. He begins to leave when his mother seemingly remembers him. She appears scared and asks where she is so he explains that this would be where she lives now.
Beatrice, still unsure, asks BoJack again. After hesitating, he tells her that she’s home with family and describes the beautiful setting to her. The more BoJack describes, the more Beatrice believes she’s there. Instead of going with his initially planned string of insults, BoJack chooses to give his mother, a woman who was abusive to him all his life, a moment of peace and happiness.
That Went Well
After agreeing to help Ethan with his new show and then abruptly leaving after a meeting a young girl that reminded him of Sarah Lynn. We see BoJack drive off into the desert, leaving California behind. At one point Bojack presses on the gas so that he’s driving at full speed and takes his hands off the wheel with the intention of committing suicide.
He closes his eyes and starts to swerve to the other side of the road. His eyes shoot open as he skids to a stop to look at something that caught his eye. He gets out of his car and looks at the horizon to see a group of wild horses running across the desert, providing a small sense of hope.
Ruthie
We follow Princess Carolyn as she struggles to get through a difficult day seemingly being told by one of her descendants in the future. As the story goes on and her day worsens, her great-great-granddaughter keeps guaranteeing us that the story has a happy ending. She discovers that Judah lied to her, her necklace is worthless, she had a miscarriage and breaks up with Ralph. Finally reaching the point where she breaks down in tears and goes back to her office.
BoJack calls her and begins to talk about his own terrible day. Princess Carolyn then explains to him that whenever she has a bad day she likes to imagine that her future descendant is talking about her and how everything worked out. BoJack reminds her that it’s fake and she responds “yea but makes her feel better”. The episode ends, leaving the audience feeling empty that the happy ending that we were promised wouldn’t come.
Say Anything
This was another difficult episode for Princess Carolyn. She loses clients and a project to her rival and BoJack leaves his commercial shoot. After much difficulty and hard work, she is able to get BoJack a new role as well as the project back.
She calls BoJack to let him know about the job opportunity. He answers, mentally distracted, saying he doesn’t care and that “Nothing matters”, before ending to call. Laura comes in to ask if she would be heading out soon to which Princess Carolyn responds “Where else would I go?” as she stares out the window before for a moment before the alarm on her phone goes off wishing her a happy fortieth birthday, the only time anyone in the episode does so.
It’s You
The final scene between BoJack and Todd starts off humorous but changes as Todd confronts BoJack, telling him that he has to take accountability for his actions and strive to be better.
What makes this such a sad moment is that Todd is usually a passive and optimistic character so seeing him stand up to BoJack as someone who’s clearly been hurt by him is difficult. Todd who’s mostly used for the comedic elements of the show being forced to tell BoJack that the source of his problems isn’t his childhood or his addictions but that it’s simply himself makes the statement even more powerful.
Nice While It Lasted
BoJack’s finale contains a very emotional goodbye between BoJack and Diane. As they sit on the roof, Diane utters a beautiful quote about people that help you become who you are before saying she was glad to know BoJack. He responds that it would be funny if that was the last night they ever talked, receiving a saddened look from Diane indicating to him and the audience that it would be.
They sit in silence and look at the stars with Catherine Feeny’s “Mr. Blue”, a song the show’s creator fought to have for the finale, playing in the background. What makes this so bittersweet is that it represents not only the closing of the relationship of BoJack and Diane but also our relationship with them as characters.
