“Hollywood’s a real pretty town that’s smack on top of all that black tar. By the time you realize you’re sinking, it’s too late.” – Charlotte

This episode wasn’t as emotionally devastating as I thought it was going to be.

Good.

I had already watched a character maybe die from illness in their own home while surrounded by the main characters on a different show and, while that one was a more peaceful kinda-death than BoJack Horseman seems capable of doing, I don’t want to go through that again any time soon. Although, admittedly, I can’t tell if Herb did die in this episode or if Diane was just trying to ease the tension with a joke about Herb’s inevitable funeral. Regardless, I didn’t notice it, so it didn’t affect me.

Herb is an interesting character, not in that I find his character interesting but that I find his grudge particularly interesting.

At first, I assumed the betrayal that kept being danced around was BoJack stealing Herb’s then-girlfriend, Charlotte. Because, this is BoJack Horseman and nearly every other problem BoJack has encountered so far has been because of some romantic or sexual relationship gone awry for any number of reasons.

Then I guessed that BoJack would stab Herb in the back by sweeping the Horsin’ Around gig from under him. Thankfully, that was quickly debunked. But it goes to show just how terrible a person BoJack is for me to immediately be jumping to these types of conclusions and not once think, “BoJack would never do that.”

So, when it turned out that the big horrible thing was BoJack not standing by Herb’s side by quitting the show when the executives canned Herb for being gay (or rather, for being publicly outed as gay, because the 90s was not a utopia lest we forget), I didn’t, and still don’t, know how to feel.

On the one hand, I can understand BoJack’s hesitance and eventual decision. He’s young. He was a decent comedian (for the times) but also bartended at the same time to make ends meet before getting the lead for Horsin’ Around. His desired future is seemingly standing within arm’s reach if he lets Herb go, whereas following Herb would lead down a risky road full of uncertainty. There’s a reason people fall into routines, even if those routines aren’t good for them — the uncertainty of the unknown is terrifying.

On the other hand, Herb was BoJack’s best friend. Herb was the one who got BoJack his big break; they met because Herb wanted to help BoJack with his comedy routine. Just dumping not only your best friend but the one who got you where you are today when they need you the most is pretty terrible.

And what makes the whole situation worse is that BoJack didn’t even get what he left Herb for. The only claim to fame and riches BoJack has is that sitcom Horsin’ Around. He’s not the big movie star he wanted to be but a lonely, toxic individual who’s just going to end up driving everyone away at some point. Compare this to Herb, who has done work to help others and has met a president in the last couple decades.

It’s very possible that BoJack would’ve turned out better if he had stayed by Herb.

It’s also very possible that BoJack would’ve turned out the same as well, because so many of BoJack’s current flaws were in him when he was younger: his egotism, his mean-spiritedness, and his cowardice, to name a few.

Charlotte is right when she calls young BoJack a coward. The middle-aged BoJack that we see now is mostly ruled by his fears (the rest of himself is ruled by his narcissism).

He’s utterly terrified of being alone, so he sabotages Todd’s chance to become independent.

He’s terrified that he isn’t as good of a person as he thinks he is, so he clings to anyone who gives him a modicum of praise, just like he did with Princess Carolyn last episode.

He’s most likely afraid of failure, which is why he never got around to properly writing his autobiography.

Despite what he says, he very much cares what people think of him and is afraid of spilling his darker actions on paper for all to see.

And he’s paralyzed by his fear of the unknown, which is why he never truly changes.

This episode had a lot of good quotes that I wanted to put at the top of this page, but I ultimately went with Charlotte’s take on Hollywood being built on top of tar pits. It was going to be Herb’s “The Reason You Suck” Speech to BoJack at the end of the episode, then it was going to be Herb’s refusal of BoJack’s apology. But, in writing this, I ended up not really talking about how no one is owed forgiveness no matter how sorry they are and I found Charlotte’s words to fit better with the topic of my rambling.

Charlotte’s quote doesn’t just apply to Hollywood but also to people, to media, to fandoms, to businesses. Anything that people can put on a pedestal applies. How many times are we going to hear about someone’s dream job becoming their worst nightmare? How many times are we going to be shocked that a business is doing something unethical when we know that that’s what businesses do and have been doing for centuries? How many times are people going to get fooled by a pretty face?

Lots of great things are built on top of toxic substances that’ll pull you down if you’re not careful.

I hope Charlotte comes back. I hope if Charlotte comes back it won’t be attached to anything terrible, I say knowing that it will because this show isn’t nice.

Luckily, there are characters like Todd who provide great comic relief to prevent this show from getting too emotionally destructive. I don’t know how he does it, but Todd is like a magnetic for weird and exciting events and I am loving it. I hope they didn’t leave him face-down on Herb’s lawn.

Speaking of love, BoJack does what I was afraid he’d do with Diane at the very end of the episode, and dang it, I don’t feel like dealing with romance drama right now. I’m only mentioning this scene because it mirrors BoJack’s and Herb’s own earlier accidental kiss brought upon by emotions running high. I have no doubt that this will only bring doom to BoJack and Diane’s friendship, if not directly, then it will be the starting point.

Episode 7 Episode 9