BoJack Horseman: A Top Animated Season in TV History

Published Nov 10, 2026, 10:30 AM EST

Rachel (she/her) is a freelancer and contributer to Polygon. A writer from the time she could pick up a pen, she also works on short fiction. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her cats Carla and Thorin Oakenshield but is a Midwesterner at heart. She is also a tried and true emo kid and the epitome of "it was never a phase, Mom," but with a dual affinity for dad rock.

Those are, of course, all live-action television shows that have achieved that status. It's rare for an animated series to be able to join those shows, but one Netflix series managed to do that.

BoJack Horseman follows BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett), a washed-up former television star living in Los Angeles. He's a man clothed in misery and contempt, and each season sees him burrowing further into his self-destructive behavior while pushing away everybody around him, from roommate Todd Chavez (Aaron Paul) to Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris).

By season four, BoJack Horseman had hit its stride. The characters were all developed and central enough to begin exploring more about their pasts, and after a devastating season three finale, it was clear that they still had a lot more to offer. As season four began, and BoJack escapes California, it is far from the new beginning or the true escape that he hoped for.

Season four explores BoJack's family history

BoJack Horseman and Beatrice in her room at the clinic.Netflix

BoJack satirizes Hollywood as much as it explores the damage that it causes. Beyond the glittering gold of Hollywoo is the oppressive weight of BoJack's past, which previous seasons suggested partially explains how he turned out. His mother, Beatrice (Wendie Malick), is initially portrayed as a neglectful and abusive parent. But what season four shows us is that she's the product of trauma just as much as BoJack is, proving that everything in BoJack's life is cyclical.

In season four, episode two, "The Old Sugarman Place," BoJack goes to the Michigan house his grandparents lived in. It's the show's first introduction to BoJack's extended family: Joseph (Matthew Broderick), Beatrice's father, Honey (Jane Krakowski), her sister, and Crackerjack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), her brother. And while viewers already know about Beatrice's treatment of BoJack, this season gives a much broader scope of how familial dynamics can shape a person.

Part of the writing genius of the show is that flawed characters are allowed to remain flawed, rather than it being expected that they're forgiven once viewers find out about their traumatic pasts. Beatrice and BoJack remain exactly as they were before this season. As with real life examples, victims are often turned into abusers themselves. The problem isn't something that can be fixed — easily, if ever.

BoJack Horseman is a show with several highly-rated episodes throughout its run, and all for very good reason. But the penultimate episode of season four, "Time's Arrow," is what helps to elevate this season just slightly above season five. The central theme of depression in season four is a multi-layered exploration of just how it affects people differently, and how devastating those effects can be, not just for them but for their loved ones as well.