BoJack Horseman introduced a wide variety of characters over the course of six seasons. BoJack (Will Arnett) and the people around him faced issues such as substance abuse, depression, eating disorders and broken hearts. These weren’t the healthiest characters Netflix came up with. BoJack Horseman was always a narrative about how life is a constant cycle of nice moments and terrible mistakes mixed with one another. In the middle of an animated television series centered around depressed individuals, there were always some characters who had worse luck than the others. These were truly the ones who defined BoJack’s personal life.
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Taking a look at BoJack’s closest friends, it’s almost too easy to pinpoint the moments where it all went wrong. These mistakes weren’t enough reason for BoJack’s relatives and friends to move away from him at first. Through his constant negative behavior and lack of regret, BoJack pushed away everyone who cared about him. The animated series was never afraid of depicting very dark moments throughout its run. Out of everything that happened in BoJack Horseman, these are the characters who deserved better than anyone, when all was said and done.
1) Sarah Lynn
Sarah Lynn (Kristen Schaal) was introduced as someone who had worked with BoJack during the Horsin’ Around years. After playing her father on television for so long, Sarah Lynn couldn’t help but see BoJack as a father figure in her personal life. Unfortunately, the entertainment industry wasn’t kind to the young girl. Sarah Lynn grew up with substance abuse issues, and no one was present in her life to truly help her. This was partly thanks to BoJack’s negative influence during her formative years. The unpredictable behavior and addiction problems led to a dangerous lifestyle for Sarah Lynn.
As if that wasn’t enough, BoJack manipulated Sarah Lynn into sleeping with him when the young woman needed help. The actor didn’t hesitate in getting intimate with the person he had known back when she was only a small child. That wasn’t the worst part of the entire affair. When Sarah Lynn appeared to be in a healthier point in her life, BoJack brought her back to her destructive behaviors. The substance abuse situation led to Sarah Lynn’s premature death. BoJack was a witness to how the girl who grew up under his watch lost her life. Sarah Lynn’s story was probably the most tragic narrative of the entire series.
2) Beatrice Horseman
Ever since she was a little girl, Beatrice Horseman (Wendie Malick) wasn’t allowed to be happy. She had to see her mother turned into a ghost of herself due to a dangerous lobotomy. Her older brother, Crackerjack Sugarman (Lin-Manuel Miranda) was killed in the war. Beatrice quickly learned that she could only rely on herself to get what she wanted. A dark bitterness grew inside her over the course of her life, and it was very evident when it was her turn to raise BoJack. Beatrice’s marriage was also one of the main motives behind her unhappy situation. Over the course of decades, BoJack’s mother felt that her dreams didn’t matter. Tragically, if her dreams didn’t matter, then everyone else’s were meant to be treated as garbage, too.
One of the most acclaimed episodes of BoJack Horseman, “Time’s Arrow”, explores the entire life of Beatrice Horseman. Her background doesn’t justify her toxic behavior towards her son and Hollyhock (Aparna Nancherla), but after this episode, it was easy for audiences to understand why Beatrice grew up to be such a despicable character. In reality, she didn’t deserve any of the constant and multiple tragedies that took place over the course of her life. Maybe BoJack could’ve had a better childhood if his mother had been healthier. Even then, the conditions that threw Beatrice’s life away continued to have ramifications decades after they happened.
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3) Princess Carolyn
Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris) was the only one of these characters who had a happy ending. After working as BoJack’s agent for years, she finally found someone she could fall in love with. Sadly, Princess Carolyn spent many years in a toxic relationship with BoJack himself. When the relationship didn’t work, Princess Carolyn decided to stay in BoJack’s life as his friend and agent. But that wasn’t enough for her. It was evident how Princess Carolyn still hoped that BoJack would somehow change his behavior one day, leading to a healthier relationship between the two.
Princess Carolyn lost so many years of her career and personal life while trying to chase a version of BoJack Horseman that simply didn’t exist. By working as BoJack’s agent, she was constantly losing potential partners because she had to spend time finding projects for an actor nobody wanted to work with. Instead of actively looking for a healthy partner who could improve her life, Princess Carolyn wasted many years waiting for BoJack to notice her. Thankfully, everything worked out for the character by the time the series came to a close. Regardless of where she stood at the end, Princess Carolyn could’ve had a much better life if she had walked away from BoJack Horseman from the start.
BoJack Horseman is now available for streaming on Netflix.
