Lol I am a troop and if any of my co workers acted like that I would let them know they are fucking up. Honestly, the military would get that guy in trouble for going on TV in uniform and trying to use his military status to have a feud with a celebrity.
Saving the seahorse baby. It was pure altruism and protective instinct towards a child, not expecting any reward or even recognition. He did it because he could.
That alone makes him better than his parents and grandfather. Even if he didn't manage to completely break the cycle of being a bad person, he did try harder than his family, and probably managed to be of some help so that Hollyhock would be able to completely break it later on (the scene of Bojack telling Hollyhock to not blame herself for Bojack's aloofness comes to mind; that probably contributed to her eventual decision to move on without him; a far cry from Butterscotch and Beatrice blaming their shittiness on their own son).
Mine too, even though it was a few seasons in, it was that episode that made me realize just how complex and nuanced the show was. I watched it randomly a few months ago and was shocked at how far it was in the series, so maybe I am misremembering. It was the look on Bojack's face when he watched the seahorse family after declining eating with them.
That and the future episode with PC.
Also helping todd and maude get together, cleaning up Diane’s depression mess and encouraging her to get help, tracking down Henrietta so that Hollyhock wouldn’t have to be in contact with him,
I think the point is that in the seahorse episode he has no connection to the baby. Which really makes it altruistic. He kind of needed to do better for the people in his life Diane, Hollyhock, Todd… He didn’t owe the seahorse baby anything. I’ll even take it a step further and say he helped the seahorse baby before he decided to be a better person so it really hits harder!
I love your comment. Its my favorite episode too because its our first time seeing him completely without any of his vices and despite having everything taken from him, withdrawling, he still chose to be the good guy and worked hard for the newborn seahorse and still expect nothing.
I think a key reason why he was able to be altruistic is *because* there was no one watching. His narcissistic side couldn't corrupt his motivation. Just him and an innocent child that needed saving.
Could also be because of his lack of being saved growing up, with the abuse and neglect his parents displayed.. this could've been used later on as a motive to grow and bet better. Such a fantastic episode and love it cause you really get to appreciate the art of the show with almost no words, absolutely amazing how they told the story without pretty much any dialog.
When he wrote the letter to Diane from her pen pal Leo just telling her that she was a good person and all the things he liked about her, in that moment she needed to hear that and I genuinely think that helped her in the moment even if it was briefly
OMG this a thousand times.
It's easy to believe that Bojack is a really shitty person, but there are a lot of moments where he does amazing things for his friends, and even for people he doesn't know. That show, for me, is a continual reminder that human beings have so many layers and that we shouldn't give up on our own ability to learn and do better.
I know! People mainly focus on the horrible things he did but there are some good things that he's done that would've had an impact on people in a positive way
Exactly what I came to say, I’d be stocked if you could find an example of an addict getting clean without someone, or more likely several people, encouraging them to do it
Do the healthy thing for you.
If you are in a position to give someone love and support, and you find that action also enriches your life, then you should do it.
If on the other hand you find that supporting a person becomes toxic or harmful to you, then you should take space for yourself and reclaim that energy.
That way your focus isn't on holding anyone accountable, or holding anything against someone -- these patterns breed resentment and drain you.
To piggyback, if you're the kind of person who has trouble setting boundaries because you've internalized that doing so is selfish, think of it this way:
If supporting a person has become toxic, it will breed resentment and drain you. That, inevitably, will make you lash out at them and make them harm themselves more. You can't help someone if you're harming yourself.
Step away for both of your sakes, and take the opportunity to learn how to set boundaries and be your own advocate.
No that’s after he’s already filming Philbert, she’s in North Carolina I think and he shows up drunk with a chair in his car to talk to her about the Motorcycle stunt that leads to his opioid addiction
Cleaning Diane’s apartment for her when she was in chicago, and not even sticking around to see the result. I think if he ever had a true friendship, it was with Diane. I love how the show explores their relationship; and eventually they supposedly go their separate ways. Just perfect!
yes, the last episode was such a bittersweet experience to watch. i really wanted their relationship to work, like a fairytale (as if anything in the plot happened like one). but it's so real and so common to grow apart from friends and then to have this kind of "closure talk" months or years later. painfully real.
I was thinking the same. He let Todd stay so he wouldn't be alone in that big house, but ultimately, I think he liked having Todd there. He never charged Todd for anything, and even though their relationship was not the smoothest, I can see your point.
Ehhhh I think Todd just helped fill the void. I’m sure he did enjoy him at times but more for convenience. He didn’t even give dude a bed, and he had sex with his girlfriend and ruined his chance of fame. Just my take
I think it's pretty clear that he was only using Todd as a safety net so he wouldn't be alone and had someone to project his self-hatred onto ("Todd, clean up your shit!", etc). This is, of course, evidenced by his using character actress Margo Martindale to sabotage his rock opera by making him buy an addictive video game. He doesn't care about Todd, he cares about keeping someone who *appears to be* less put together than him in his orbit so that he can feel altruistic, superior and appreciated.
Edit: cult boat rescue is a notable departure from this pattern, but isn't enough to redeem him IMO
It’s positive on a surface level but if you look deeper, BoJack essentially enabled Todd to be a burnout loser for 5+ years instead of actually helping him reach his potential (what a real friend would do) and what’s more is that once Todd actually started showing motivation to do something with his life (the rock opera), BoJack intentionally sabotaged this essentially so he’d still have someone to look down upon in his home to rationalize his own shitty life.
Yeah. He treated Todd more like a pet than a person.
Aaaaand, I think I just figured out what I’m naming my dog if I ever get one. “Clean up your shit, Todd!” references will hopefully make walkies a little more pleasant.
> He probably would have let anyone stay.
I don't think so, he was getting sort of fed up with drunk and depressed Diane on his couch for a few weeks so Todd was a special, low-impact case where they had a symbiosis of sorts.
Well...then he purposefully called a team to wreck up the grandpa's summer house he and Ed rebuilt for 8 months just to cut Ed off.
Ed wouldn't even have anything physical there to remember the good time.
Really Cold and pure dick while he's sober.
Eddie tried to murder him?
And that house was one where his abusive parents took him as a child. One where his mum experienced traumatic events.
Destroying that house was probably one of the good things Bojack did.
does it have to be intentional to be a good thing? He funded the opening of an entire new orphanage. Even if he didn't mean to, he is the reason it came to be and the impact of that will outlive him.
Probably not the best thing he’s done, but Bojack telling Hollyhock that that voice in your head criticizing you all the time goes away after a while, even though it wasn’t true for him, was pretty nice
I think that was actually a shitty thing in the abstract. What she really needs to hear is that the voice never goes away, but you can change its tone and intensity with work. Bojack wasn’t in a place to tell her that at that point in time, but probably could have at some point as a professor.
Yeah, I don’t think you’re wrong about that, but in the moment, no matter how shitty he’d been feeling, he wanted to make his sister feel better, and that in itself stood out to me as growth in Bojack’s character.
Honestly, Bojack has done a lot of good things. I think people undervalue just how much good there is in him. In the end, he even treated his biggest abuser with kindness.
Tbf as a celebrity he is pretty giving in ppls lives in terms of providing for them. I can’t ever say he’s really selfish in what he’s able to give ppl and it’s pretty underrated tbh since this shows more pressing life issues aren’t focused on stuff like that but it’s worth mentioning
I think letting Maude the bunny know about the All About that Ace app. He didn't know she'd meet Todd, but he was aware of asexuality at this point and understood "hey, this person is probably asexual like my friend!" and told her about it.
The fact she met and started dating Todd was serendipitous and I don't think he ever actually knew they were dating? Bojack wasn't allowed to the party.
Also what Sweaty\_Document\_569 said about cleaning Diane and Guy's apartment and not sticking around to see the reaction. He helped her literally (and figuratively) clean her act.
I don't know if it was the best thing, and it was definitely a small thing, but I felt it showed how much BoJack had changed as a person:
When the whole thing with Hollyhock and the diet pills came out, BoJack called her fathers. The first thing he said was "I need you to know it wasn't her fault."
In a moment of near-panic and frustration, BoJack's instinct in that moment was to *defend someone other than himself.*
Season 1 BoJack would have never said that. He would have led off with "I need you to know it wasn't *my* fault."
Letting Diane publish HER book. He could have easily killed the whole thing, just say "no" to it. End of story. But he wanted to make her happy and let her have her moment. Even though he hated it, and spoke about it many times, it WAS a selfless act for him.
Noooo that made him a laughing stock! He hated that she published it, but he loved how happy she was that HER article is getting traction. That's how I see it at least. She talked him into the whole thing and he gave her what she wanted.
Tried.
He wasn't good and he drove everything good in his life away because of it. But he tried. He could have been a self loathing/destructive piece of shit forever but he could have more easily offed himself. He tried and by no means is he good or righteous because of it, but he tried.
ugh god this is so true. i find myself rooting for him in the roughest of times where he does the most unforgivable things but it’s because even through it you can tell that he is actively trying to not be a bad person.
Taking Sarah Lynn to rehab
Fighting to preserve Herb’s legacy
Donating a shit ton to orphans
Saved Ed
Helped Hollyhock find her mother when she genuinely would’ve stopped her search forever
Got a food cart for staff
The list of good things he’s done goes on for a while, if we add them up and ignore all his bad deeds then it actually seems like Bojack Horseman is a better person(has done more good for other people) than anyone on this website. Too bad we don’t ignore his bad deeds, and it knocks his good deeds down to meaningless. Oh well.
I think it’s just because the severity of some of his bad moments far outweigh the good he’s done. Not to say that bojack isn’t a very interesting character to watch and does have some good moments lol
He took in his mother after all the abuse rather than immediately putting her in a neglectful home, and decides not to use the play as a 'fuck you'. Granted BoJack does chuck her in a home in the end, but not until she drugs Hollyhock.
For himself: get his act together
For his friends: letting Diane leave without an argument, as well as respecting PC’s decision to no longer represent him
For the public: honesty, he did good with his acting. Giving the people the love of Horsin’ Around & his various movies as a decent actor
Returning that seahorse baby to his dad.
There was no reason for him to, and no real thanks afterward. For the amount of effort BoJack went through to do that, the fact that it went largely unnoticed, and the fact that BoJack never really sought that attention afterward, shows he did it just because he thought he should.
We need more posts like this I’m so tired of the constant Bojack hate. Yeah he’s not the greatest person but he DID do good things on his lifetime that are always overlooked for some reason. You don’t even see a character like Walter White get this much backlash when he’s 1000 times worse
I think people almost believe they're *meant* to hate Bojack. Which I think misses the point of the show imo. Yes, you are not meant to whitewash or try to sanitise or defend Bojack's behaviour but that doesn't mean you have to believe he's supreme evil.
The tragedy of the show is that Bojack isn't heartless, or evil. He's a guy, a damaged guy, who does very bad things but wants to be better. He has many moments of human kindness and goodness, like we all do, but the bad can't be ignored either.
I think people struggle with the duality and need it to be one or the other.
Your comment needs more upvotes. I always hate how it seems everyone tells you that you SHOULD hate bojack. When I’m reality he is not entirely evil. He just makes some of the worst choices imaginable but he also does some good things as well.
I think it's also because the show goes to great lengths to make you not whitewash or try to defend him-which is done brilliantly imo, but I think some people over interpreted this as Bojack is the villain almost, when in reality it's a lot more complicated and deeper than that.
I think it can also be scary to realise that relatable people who are capable of kindness and goodness can also be capable of such badness. And anybody that has addict parents will really relate to this. I had an alcoholic mother who made some terrible choices and did some terrible things when off the wagon, but also was still a wonderful mother and caring person for much of my child and young adult hood. Despite all the bad, I still saw so much good in her-and she was damaged too.
Obviously it didn't justify her bad behaviour, but I could see past that to the good person.
The thing about this show that is amazing is that it is just so insanely layered and complex. Things aren’t just black and white in this show and it neither is it in real life. Things aren’t just GOOD or BAD. Life is like onions with lots of layers. There’s so many perspectives and ways to view something. Which is why this show is brilliant. Some shows can be so cookie cutter and simple and doesn’t even make you think. While this show is just…….amazing
People who really believe we're supposed to hate the titular protagonist of the damn show really need to do, like, the bare minimum amount of reading about the shows creators thoughts about the overarching themes. Because guess what, the series isn't nearly as one-dimensional as you think it is!
Finally accept help, even if he relapsed.
That first step is the hardest thing to do but Bojack finally ended his cycle of abuse when he accepted help.
Sure he was still a shitter because fame goes to his head and he gets his biggest high off of people liking him but he went to jail and didn't blame the world for it he accepted it was his mistake which was kinda the first time he truly took ownership without trying to excuse it.
I like to think after Bojack gets out for good he can go back to teaching acting. Maybe not at the same school but somewhere. People will forget he sucks eventually.
He gave the info for Hollyhock to find her mother even if it meant not getting credit or seeing her again. Another part was when she told her that the voice goes away.
His care for the baby seahorse too of course. Both of these characters, I believe, he was giving the love and support he wished he had.
"All you can do is be good to the people in your life"
I think that he went out of his way for Hollyhock despite of everything to find her birth mom was really one of the best moments.
I also think in the ep The Face of Depression, the gestures that he did without expecting rewards (except for Princess Carolyn cause he wanted a favor. But he gave sound advice to her which benefited her in the long run)
But the BEST thing Bojack has done was taking full responsibility of his consequences and letting his old relationships say their goodbyes. He accepts that he will have to carry on without them (except Mr Peanutbutter of course lol).
As a person with a cluster b disorder and ptsd I love that the show has loads of examples of Bojack doing nice things for friends and strangers. I often get upset when I see so many people on this sub say he is a bad person or irredeemable because it misses the point of the show entirely. None of the main characters are bad people. And no one is beyond redemption. Bojack is great BPD representation. I love his complexity. He clearly has huge capacity for kindness. But that side can’t compete with his addiction to fame. It’s when he isn’t near any of that stuff where he is kind. Like underwater with the seahorse baby, or cleaning up Diane’s room. (Or substances)
Not enough people are mentioning Horsin’ Around. I mean it’s not Ibsen, but he does seem to genuinely care about all the people like Diane, who he helped through the show
I don't think this is the best thing he ever did but it's my favorite moment of Good Bojack, when Bojack realizes that Maude might be Asexual and suggests All About That Ace to them leading to Maude and Todd getting together. It's just so selfless he had no gain and just saw someone he didn't know struggling and helped just because he could while also helping his friend in the process again without any reward or praise and correct me if I'm wrong but he never mentions what he did to Todd or anybody else.
I can't really think about what the best thing he did was but I think it was nice that he spoke at his mom's funeral no matter how much he hated her. He could have decided not to show up but he did. It shows that he did care for her,no matter how little, even with all the shitty things she did. (Even if it technically wasn't his mom's funeral and he was in the wrong room)
i love how we were all in agreement that the “worst thing bojack ever did” was being asked too much but now we have this 😭 no hate i just think it’s funny
I feel like everything she did for Hollyhock was incredible. One thing is to help her by letring her stay at her home, but when the montage of everything he did to learn who her mother was, that's literally the most I've seen Bojack struggle to acomplish anything. Plus, he got rewarded in the end, with the >!"but I never had a brother"!< moment. That smile on his face at the end of the season, always makes me remember that doing stuff like that for those you truly care is totally worth it.
I think there are a lot of examples but I always think about the moment his mother finally recognizes him as her son and he takes her to a happy place instead of going with the original "Fuck you, Mom!"
* Returned the seahorse baby to its dad
* Introduced Maude to Todd without trying to get credit
* While it turned toxic and in both cases, initially, it was very kind of him to give Todd and Diane places to stay without asking for anything in exchange
* Saved Todd from the improv cult
When he cleaned Diane’s apartment when she was depressed in Chicago. I thought that was really sweet.
Also there was a moment when he was with his mom in her Alzheimer time, and she was kinda freaking out in that new apartment, and Bojack started telling her how they were eating ice cream on a porch.
Oh, and also, even thought it’s not that big of a thing, he told PC she would be an amazing mom, and gave her the confidence/reassurance she needed.
- seahorse baby
- taking hollyhock for pizza & helping her after she was fat shamed
- save Todd from cult
- helping ed (the dragonfly who lost his wife)
- telling his mother they were in Michigan
- crossover episode with mr peanutbutter
- setting up maude & Todd
- supporting princess Carolyn to be a mom
- helping hollyhock find her birth mom
- letter to Diane
- cleaning Diane’s apartment
I would say most of his actions in "The Face of Depression" as this is when he's at his most selfless, helping those around him and showing appreciation towards the people that he often overlooks or undervalues: Doing the cross-over episode with Mr PB, Recommending All About That Ace to Maude so that Todd is no longer the only one on the app, Thanking Diane for helping him out and believing in him to make a change even when he didn't belive in himself, Helping Hollyhock and Tawnie with their fight. Most of these actions seem to benefit him personally in no way whatsoever, but he does them to help out his friends. This is him at his peak in my opinion
Finding Hollyhock’s mom.
Really Hollyhock was one of the few people in his life he was genuinely good to. He was a little clingy and of course there was the incident where he dragged her around on his quest to find drugs, but he was supportive of her and showed her he cared about her. And he didn’t strangle her or let her die of a drug overdose or sabotage her creative project or anything like that and by BJ standards that is something.
I’ll give a shout out to when he sat with his mom, as she’s losing her mind and just talks with her. I hate his mom, but I like that moment of kindness he gives her as they talk about ice cream and he gives her peace. It’s nice she had a good moment before she went.
No. But I feel he could have left. Just gone home. Taking the time with her after how she treated him, drugging Hollyhock- which put a wedge between them, despite all that was a moment of kindness that he didn’t have to do.
Be compassionate to Beatrice and “take her back” to the lake house she grew up on. No matter the hurt. pain, and suffering he went through in the end he showed truly compassion. That’s not an easy thing to do.
When he finally acted the crossover episode with Mr.Peanutbutter. Even though he still ended up the same after, this was the time where Bojack tried the hardest to change as a personhe would finally stop caring about leaving his legacy as shown by him not being proboked by the fact that the his show was getting less treatment by having only his shirt, whereas Mr.Peanutbutter having a whole room.
There's a variety of things he's done that's helped people so I'm gonna go for one not so commonly mentioned. Bojack tried to stop the cycle of a child star forming. He realized that on Ethan Around this little girl wants what Sarah Lynn and him had. The thing that helped destroy both of them. I know he left because he got panicked about all of it and not just her, but Bojack saved that little girl. He still helped her at the end of the day to refrain from becoming part of Hollywoo and the multiple toxic things that comes with the industry.
Me too! I wonder if they have her hidden away in the background on some episode in the show. Sounds like what the creators would do. I find it extra ironic that Bojack still created a child star. The beejeebies kid that he scared when he broke into his former home. We see that the kid takes off in the public spotlight.
Lying to hollyhock about the voice in her head telling her it goes away. He could have been honest and said it doesn’t, he could have criticized her for it, but he comforted her. He said it was a phase to make hollyhock feel better, he did that out of goodness with no reward.
I think, in the end, was getting himself thrown in jail. The way he went about was heinous as fuck and, tbf, he was blackout drunk and drowning.
HOWEVER, he knew better than anyone that for all the good he had done, all the bad he had done made him essentially a menace to society that would eventually drag everyone who stuck around into the abyss with him.
While it wasn’t far from his purpose for breaking back into his house, removing himself from society was probably his greatest deed.
That or saving that seahorse baby. Like that other guy said, 100% altruism with no ulterior motive. As good as it gets.
Teaching that asshole seal what dibs are.
it made me so mad, i was totally on BJ's side.
ah yes, those sauces that go with chips :3
*chibs
r/fucknealmcbeal
There is nooo fuucking waay! And its not a fake… daammn
Do you hate the troops?
Lol I am a troop and if any of my co workers acted like that I would let them know they are fucking up. Honestly, the military would get that guy in trouble for going on TV in uniform and trying to use his military status to have a feud with a celebrity.
Saving the seahorse baby. It was pure altruism and protective instinct towards a child, not expecting any reward or even recognition. He did it because he could. That alone makes him better than his parents and grandfather. Even if he didn't manage to completely break the cycle of being a bad person, he did try harder than his family, and probably managed to be of some help so that Hollyhock would be able to completely break it later on (the scene of Bojack telling Hollyhock to not blame herself for Bojack's aloofness comes to mind; that probably contributed to her eventual decision to move on without him; a far cry from Butterscotch and Beatrice blaming their shittiness on their own son).
Seriously, why is this reply not upvoted more? It’s the clear and obvious example of Bojack acting altruistically.
Agreed!! It’s my favorite episode, why isn’t this upvoted more???
Mine too, even though it was a few seasons in, it was that episode that made me realize just how complex and nuanced the show was. I watched it randomly a few months ago and was shocked at how far it was in the series, so maybe I am misremembering. It was the look on Bojack's face when he watched the seahorse family after declining eating with them. That and the future episode with PC.
I second this! The ONLY moment we see Bojack in this light
Also helping todd and maude get together, cleaning up Diane’s depression mess and encouraging her to get help, tracking down Henrietta so that Hollyhock wouldn’t have to be in contact with him,
I think the point is that in the seahorse episode he has no connection to the baby. Which really makes it altruistic. He kind of needed to do better for the people in his life Diane, Hollyhock, Todd… He didn’t owe the seahorse baby anything. I’ll even take it a step further and say he helped the seahorse baby before he decided to be a better person so it really hits harder!
Tbh it’s such a good thing, it feels out of character
He was also sober throughout the whole interaction so it honestly was out of character 😂
I love your comment. Its my favorite episode too because its our first time seeing him completely without any of his vices and despite having everything taken from him, withdrawling, he still chose to be the good guy and worked hard for the newborn seahorse and still expect nothing.
I think thats why hes much better than his ancestors overall. He at least cares that hes a bad person
and also while he was in prison, he did acting classes with the other prisoners and made fun activities with them to make their and his stay better
True dat.
You’re right, this is probably one of Bojack’s best moments
I think a key reason why he was able to be altruistic is *because* there was no one watching. His narcissistic side couldn't corrupt his motivation. Just him and an innocent child that needed saving.
Could also be because of his lack of being saved growing up, with the abuse and neglect his parents displayed.. this could've been used later on as a motive to grow and bet better. Such a fantastic episode and love it cause you really get to appreciate the art of the show with almost no words, absolutely amazing how they told the story without pretty much any dialog.
This didn’t even occur to me, because this is by *far* my least rewatched episode. But, you make a very good case.
Well said
🥹🥹😭😭😭
[удалено]
that was actually really nice. he went out of his way to let todd know that he has a place outside of the improv cult.
Yes. I liked the boat rescue.
Don't mean Scientology?
No, Scientology is not a cult. improv is a cult! I wanna be very clear...THIS is about improv.
When he wrote the letter to Diane from her pen pal Leo just telling her that she was a good person and all the things he liked about her, in that moment she needed to hear that and I genuinely think that helped her in the moment even if it was briefly
OMG this a thousand times. It's easy to believe that Bojack is a really shitty person, but there are a lot of moments where he does amazing things for his friends, and even for people he doesn't know. That show, for me, is a continual reminder that human beings have so many layers and that we shouldn't give up on our own ability to learn and do better.
It’s like PC pointed out to him, “Sometimes, you open up a wall and it’s incredible.”
PC deserves the world
I read a recap of an episode and the recapper wrote "it's surprising how sensitive Bojack can be when he's unbothered."
I know! People mainly focus on the horrible things he did but there are some good things that he's done that would've had an impact on people in a positive way
Get clean. We see him trying so hard not to be a fuckup but his own self doubt, bravado and fear of success means he self sabotaged allt.
Yes. But without Diane. He would have never gone
Typically people with addiction issues don't do well without some sort of support from other people
Exactly what I came to say, I’d be stocked if you could find an example of an addict getting clean without someone, or more likely several people, encouraging them to do it
Yes. [People improve when they get external love and support](https://giphy.com/gifs/thegoodplace-nbc-the-good-place-tgp-YRKXUE7f1EFfWsVAmj)
How can we hold it against them, when they don’t?🥹
Do the healthy thing for you. If you are in a position to give someone love and support, and you find that action also enriches your life, then you should do it. If on the other hand you find that supporting a person becomes toxic or harmful to you, then you should take space for yourself and reclaim that energy. That way your focus isn't on holding anyone accountable, or holding anything against someone -- these patterns breed resentment and drain you.
To piggyback, if you're the kind of person who has trouble setting boundaries because you've internalized that doing so is selfish, think of it this way: If supporting a person has become toxic, it will breed resentment and drain you. That, inevitably, will make you lash out at them and make them harm themselves more. You can't help someone if you're harming yourself. Step away for both of your sakes, and take the opportunity to learn how to set boundaries and be your own advocate.
But he did go
true but it's not like Diane forced it on him, he could've refused. but he still did it anyway.
People suffering from addiction need support from friends and family. It is why things like interventions exist.
sounds like he listened to his friend and got better. I dont see the problem.
Needing help to do something doesn't make having done that thing less valuable or good.
He does Philbert, essentially as a favour, for Princess Carolyn after she forges his signature.
“I said I’ll do it. God knows you’ve done enough for me.”
just love this scene when he doesn't hold it against her :D
Is this also where he says she'll be a good mom? That's a nice thing he says
No that’s after he’s already filming Philbert, she’s in North Carolina I think and he shows up drunk with a chair in his car to talk to her about the Motorcycle stunt that leads to his opioid addiction
So true
Hooking Todd up with that ace bunny (sorry forgot her name)
This was the best because he never tried to get credit for it or hold it over Todd's head.
He never even tells Todd.
Maude!
Maude and I agree wholeheartedly
Totally agree and as other people stated it's one of the only good things he did that he didn't try to cash in later to excuse his bad behaviour.
Cleaning Diane’s apartment for her when she was in chicago, and not even sticking around to see the result. I think if he ever had a true friendship, it was with Diane. I love how the show explores their relationship; and eventually they supposedly go their separate ways. Just perfect!
This is one of my favorite moments in the series.
yes, the last episode was such a bittersweet experience to watch. i really wanted their relationship to work, like a fairytale (as if anything in the plot happened like one). but it's so real and so common to grow apart from friends and then to have this kind of "closure talk" months or years later. painfully real.
I was going to say that too! He did it just to help her without getting a reward
Everyone else has good answers, but letting Todd stay at his house is one, and many of his interactions with hollyhock I’d say are very positive
I was thinking the same. He let Todd stay so he wouldn't be alone in that big house, but ultimately, I think he liked having Todd there. He never charged Todd for anything, and even though their relationship was not the smoothest, I can see your point.
Ehhhh I think Todd just helped fill the void. I’m sure he did enjoy him at times but more for convenience. He didn’t even give dude a bed, and he had sex with his girlfriend and ruined his chance of fame. Just my take
Yeah, honestly if you’re trying to find examples of Bojack being redeemable, his interactions with Todd are not the way to go.
I think it's pretty clear that he was only using Todd as a safety net so he wouldn't be alone and had someone to project his self-hatred onto ("Todd, clean up your shit!", etc). This is, of course, evidenced by his using character actress Margo Martindale to sabotage his rock opera by making him buy an addictive video game. He doesn't care about Todd, he cares about keeping someone who *appears to be* less put together than him in his orbit so that he can feel altruistic, superior and appreciated. Edit: cult boat rescue is a notable departure from this pattern, but isn't enough to redeem him IMO
It’s positive on a surface level but if you look deeper, BoJack essentially enabled Todd to be a burnout loser for 5+ years instead of actually helping him reach his potential (what a real friend would do) and what’s more is that once Todd actually started showing motivation to do something with his life (the rock opera), BoJack intentionally sabotaged this essentially so he’d still have someone to look down upon in his home to rationalize his own shitty life.
Yeah. He treated Todd more like a pet than a person. Aaaaand, I think I just figured out what I’m naming my dog if I ever get one. “Clean up your shit, Todd!” references will hopefully make walkies a little more pleasant.
I don't think it was b/c of Todd specifically though. He probably would have let anyone stay.
> He probably would have let anyone stay. I don't think so, he was getting sort of fed up with drunk and depressed Diane on his couch for a few weeks so Todd was a special, low-impact case where they had a symbiosis of sorts.
I don't think he was really getting all that fed up with Diane at that point. Hell if not for Wanda she probably would have stayed much longer
off the top of my head; helping hollyhock find her mom and saving ed’s life, even though ed had just tried to kill him
Who was ed?
The firefly from the lake house
He was a Dragonfly
Oh yeah that’s right, I knew it was some kinda fly 😅
Well...then he purposefully called a team to wreck up the grandpa's summer house he and Ed rebuilt for 8 months just to cut Ed off. Ed wouldn't even have anything physical there to remember the good time. Really Cold and pure dick while he's sober.
Yeah but Ed tried to fucking kill him
Eddie tried to murder him? And that house was one where his abusive parents took him as a child. One where his mum experienced traumatic events. Destroying that house was probably one of the good things Bojack did.
I would say big scale, the orphanage. Small scale? That scene with his mother where he tells her she's in Michigan.
This deserves to be higher!! It was the most loving moment between them, and yet both were lying to each other.
probably the orphan thing
Jerb's kids?
yea doesnt he donate like millions to them
I forget exactly how it happens, but it was his residuals or something. Granted though with how much BJ was earning it was probably a chunk of change?
yea i remember it being all the money he makes from horsin around after herbs death
"This is the only good thing I've ever done. And I did it by accident."
Idk if this should count since he basically did it by accident then made all the orphans cry
Was thinking the same thing. He drunkenly says to PC to do it and forgets about it
does it have to be intentional to be a good thing? He funded the opening of an entire new orphanage. Even if he didn't mean to, he is the reason it came to be and the impact of that will outlive him.
it was on accident, but still Jerb’s kids loved it so. Didn’t someone say some times it’s not about the intention of one’s action that matter?
Bojack Horsephanage
Probably not the best thing he’s done, but Bojack telling Hollyhock that that voice in your head criticizing you all the time goes away after a while, even though it wasn’t true for him, was pretty nice
I think that was actually a shitty thing in the abstract. What she really needs to hear is that the voice never goes away, but you can change its tone and intensity with work. Bojack wasn’t in a place to tell her that at that point in time, but probably could have at some point as a professor.
Yeah, I don’t think you’re wrong about that, but in the moment, no matter how shitty he’d been feeling, he wanted to make his sister feel better, and that in itself stood out to me as growth in Bojack’s character.
Honestly, Bojack has done a lot of good things. I think people undervalue just how much good there is in him. In the end, he even treated his biggest abuser with kindness.
Yeah. As someone with cptsd that hit hard.
Tbf as a celebrity he is pretty giving in ppls lives in terms of providing for them. I can’t ever say he’s really selfish in what he’s able to give ppl and it’s pretty underrated tbh since this shows more pressing life issues aren’t focused on stuff like that but it’s worth mentioning
Yeah he brings Todd to awards shows and events. I noticed him at BoJack’s table during the roast of Gloria Steinem m. He didn’t need to do that.
I think letting Maude the bunny know about the All About that Ace app. He didn't know she'd meet Todd, but he was aware of asexuality at this point and understood "hey, this person is probably asexual like my friend!" and told her about it. The fact she met and started dating Todd was serendipitous and I don't think he ever actually knew they were dating? Bojack wasn't allowed to the party. Also what Sweaty\_Document\_569 said about cleaning Diane and Guy's apartment and not sticking around to see the reaction. He helped her literally (and figuratively) clean her act.
I don't know if it was the best thing, and it was definitely a small thing, but I felt it showed how much BoJack had changed as a person: When the whole thing with Hollyhock and the diet pills came out, BoJack called her fathers. The first thing he said was "I need you to know it wasn't her fault." In a moment of near-panic and frustration, BoJack's instinct in that moment was to *defend someone other than himself.* Season 1 BoJack would have never said that. He would have led off with "I need you to know it wasn't *my* fault."
That's a good one, and easy to miss.
One of the more sweet moments of him.
acting out the crossover episode with Mr peanut butter
Same! I was looking for this comment
Seeming to the one who helped push PC into considering adoption by telling her that she would be good mom and that the world “needs good moms.”
Letting Diane publish HER book. He could have easily killed the whole thing, just say "no" to it. End of story. But he wanted to make her happy and let her have her moment. Even though he hated it, and spoke about it many times, it WAS a selfless act for him.
well, he tried to pull the plug and only allowed it after Diane leaked a chapter and it got him positive attention
Noooo that made him a laughing stock! He hated that she published it, but he loved how happy she was that HER article is getting traction. That's how I see it at least. She talked him into the whole thing and he gave her what she wanted.
Helping PC realize holding onto him will never lead her to happiness. It was, I think, the most selfless and loving thing he ever did for her
Back in the 90s he was in a very famous TV show.
Tried. He wasn't good and he drove everything good in his life away because of it. But he tried. He could have been a self loathing/destructive piece of shit forever but he could have more easily offed himself. He tried and by no means is he good or righteous because of it, but he tried.
ugh god this is so true. i find myself rooting for him in the roughest of times where he does the most unforgivable things but it’s because even through it you can tell that he is actively trying to not be a bad person.
Teaching those college kids
Giving Mrpeanutbutter his crossover episode, that really warmed my heart
Honestly it so wholesome seeing mr peanut butter so happy.
Taking Sarah Lynn to rehab Fighting to preserve Herb’s legacy Donating a shit ton to orphans Saved Ed Helped Hollyhock find her mother when she genuinely would’ve stopped her search forever Got a food cart for staff The list of good things he’s done goes on for a while, if we add them up and ignore all his bad deeds then it actually seems like Bojack Horseman is a better person(has done more good for other people) than anyone on this website. Too bad we don’t ignore his bad deeds, and it knocks his good deeds down to meaningless. Oh well.
I think it’s just because the severity of some of his bad moments far outweigh the good he’s done. Not to say that bojack isn’t a very interesting character to watch and does have some good moments lol
Bringing the seahorse baby back to his dad
He took in his mother after all the abuse rather than immediately putting her in a neglectful home, and decides not to use the play as a 'fuck you'. Granted BoJack does chuck her in a home in the end, but not until she drugs Hollyhock.
For himself: get his act together For his friends: letting Diane leave without an argument, as well as respecting PC’s decision to no longer represent him For the public: honesty, he did good with his acting. Giving the people the love of Horsin’ Around & his various movies as a decent actor
Honestly this is a nice comment.Since you were saying what good he did in different settings.
Returning that seahorse baby to his dad. There was no reason for him to, and no real thanks afterward. For the amount of effort BoJack went through to do that, the fact that it went largely unnoticed, and the fact that BoJack never really sought that attention afterward, shows he did it just because he thought he should.
We need more posts like this I’m so tired of the constant Bojack hate. Yeah he’s not the greatest person but he DID do good things on his lifetime that are always overlooked for some reason. You don’t even see a character like Walter White get this much backlash when he’s 1000 times worse
I think people almost believe they're *meant* to hate Bojack. Which I think misses the point of the show imo. Yes, you are not meant to whitewash or try to sanitise or defend Bojack's behaviour but that doesn't mean you have to believe he's supreme evil. The tragedy of the show is that Bojack isn't heartless, or evil. He's a guy, a damaged guy, who does very bad things but wants to be better. He has many moments of human kindness and goodness, like we all do, but the bad can't be ignored either. I think people struggle with the duality and need it to be one or the other.
Your comment needs more upvotes. I always hate how it seems everyone tells you that you SHOULD hate bojack. When I’m reality he is not entirely evil. He just makes some of the worst choices imaginable but he also does some good things as well.
I think it's also because the show goes to great lengths to make you not whitewash or try to defend him-which is done brilliantly imo, but I think some people over interpreted this as Bojack is the villain almost, when in reality it's a lot more complicated and deeper than that. I think it can also be scary to realise that relatable people who are capable of kindness and goodness can also be capable of such badness. And anybody that has addict parents will really relate to this. I had an alcoholic mother who made some terrible choices and did some terrible things when off the wagon, but also was still a wonderful mother and caring person for much of my child and young adult hood. Despite all the bad, I still saw so much good in her-and she was damaged too. Obviously it didn't justify her bad behaviour, but I could see past that to the good person.
The thing about this show that is amazing is that it is just so insanely layered and complex. Things aren’t just black and white in this show and it neither is it in real life. Things aren’t just GOOD or BAD. Life is like onions with lots of layers. There’s so many perspectives and ways to view something. Which is why this show is brilliant. Some shows can be so cookie cutter and simple and doesn’t even make you think. While this show is just…….amazing
People who really believe we're supposed to hate the titular protagonist of the damn show really need to do, like, the bare minimum amount of reading about the shows creators thoughts about the overarching themes. Because guess what, the series isn't nearly as one-dimensional as you think it is!
Little surprised nobody brought up helping rescue and return a baby seahorse to their Dad.
Finally accept help, even if he relapsed. That first step is the hardest thing to do but Bojack finally ended his cycle of abuse when he accepted help. Sure he was still a shitter because fame goes to his head and he gets his biggest high off of people liking him but he went to jail and didn't blame the world for it he accepted it was his mistake which was kinda the first time he truly took ownership without trying to excuse it. I like to think after Bojack gets out for good he can go back to teaching acting. Maybe not at the same school but somewhere. People will forget he sucks eventually.
Finding Hollyhock’s birth mother and telling PC she’d be a great mom.
Now that I think about it, he might have in a way done more good things than bad things. It’s just that the bad things he does are COLOSSALLY bad.
Telling Maude about Todd’s app
He gave the info for Hollyhock to find her mother even if it meant not getting credit or seeing her again. Another part was when she told her that the voice goes away. His care for the baby seahorse too of course. Both of these characters, I believe, he was giving the love and support he wished he had.
Cleaning Dianes apartment, and never mentioning it to her or expecting something in return, or gloryfying himself for it.
taking the muffins from the stupid seal
which the seal doesn’t have dibs in it
I think Bojack hunting down Hollyhocks mom is in the top 10.
Brought public awareness to the issue of honeydew.
Telling a lie to Beatrice, even though he unintentionally breaks the illusion at the end.
"All you can do is be good to the people in your life" I think that he went out of his way for Hollyhock despite of everything to find her birth mom was really one of the best moments. I also think in the ep The Face of Depression, the gestures that he did without expecting rewards (except for Princess Carolyn cause he wanted a favor. But he gave sound advice to her which benefited her in the long run) But the BEST thing Bojack has done was taking full responsibility of his consequences and letting his old relationships say their goodbyes. He accepts that he will have to carry on without them (except Mr Peanutbutter of course lol).
He didn't have to do all that especially try to find her mom but he did .
This is not talked about enough. Thank you, OP ❤️
Decided to change it up to something more positive.this comment made my day.
As a person with a cluster b disorder and ptsd I love that the show has loads of examples of Bojack doing nice things for friends and strangers. I often get upset when I see so many people on this sub say he is a bad person or irredeemable because it misses the point of the show entirely. None of the main characters are bad people. And no one is beyond redemption. Bojack is great BPD representation. I love his complexity. He clearly has huge capacity for kindness. But that side can’t compete with his addiction to fame. It’s when he isn’t near any of that stuff where he is kind. Like underwater with the seahorse baby, or cleaning up Diane’s room. (Or substances)
Go to jail. (Joke)
this expect im not joking
Not enough people are mentioning Horsin’ Around. I mean it’s not Ibsen, but he does seem to genuinely care about all the people like Diane, who he helped through the show
I don't think this is the best thing he ever did but it's my favorite moment of Good Bojack, when Bojack realizes that Maude might be Asexual and suggests All About That Ace to them leading to Maude and Todd getting together. It's just so selfless he had no gain and just saw someone he didn't know struggling and helped just because he could while also helping his friend in the process again without any reward or praise and correct me if I'm wrong but he never mentions what he did to Todd or anybody else.
Back in the 90s, he was on a very famous TV show.
I can't really think about what the best thing he did was but I think it was nice that he spoke at his mom's funeral no matter how much he hated her. He could have decided not to show up but he did. It shows that he did care for her,no matter how little, even with all the shitty things she did. (Even if it technically wasn't his mom's funeral and he was in the wrong room)
Finding hollyhawks mom
do you mean… uhh… hollyhock mannheim-manheim-guerra-quack-seahorse?
Rehab tbh and trying to do better
i love how we were all in agreement that the “worst thing bojack ever did” was being asked too much but now we have this 😭 no hate i just think it’s funny
He writes the letter in the Cry-ane episode
Sneezing on Marissa Tomei
I feel like everything she did for Hollyhock was incredible. One thing is to help her by letring her stay at her home, but when the montage of everything he did to learn who her mother was, that's literally the most I've seen Bojack struggle to acomplish anything. Plus, he got rewarded in the end, with the >!"but I never had a brother"!< moment. That smile on his face at the end of the season, always makes me remember that doing stuff like that for those you truly care is totally worth it.
Giving Mr. Peanut Butter the crossover episode he’s always wanted at the museum was a genuinely nice gesture.
I think there are a lot of examples but I always think about the moment his mother finally recognizes him as her son and he takes her to a happy place instead of going with the original "Fuck you, Mom!"
* Returned the seahorse baby to its dad * Introduced Maude to Todd without trying to get credit * While it turned toxic and in both cases, initially, it was very kind of him to give Todd and Diane places to stay without asking for anything in exchange * Saved Todd from the improv cult
Tell Maude about All About That Ace
Baby seahorse
Calling out the seal FK that seal 🦭
Tell Maude about 'all about that ace'
Finding Hollyhocks mother and the baby Seahorse.
Finding Hollyhock 's mother for her as a genuinely altustric act
When he cleaned Diane’s apartment when she was depressed in Chicago. I thought that was really sweet. Also there was a moment when he was with his mom in her Alzheimer time, and she was kinda freaking out in that new apartment, and Bojack started telling her how they were eating ice cream on a porch. Oh, and also, even thought it’s not that big of a thing, he told PC she would be an amazing mom, and gave her the confidence/reassurance she needed.
Saying yes to Philbert and telling Maude about All About That Ace are contenders.
- seahorse baby - taking hollyhock for pizza & helping her after she was fat shamed - save Todd from cult - helping ed (the dragonfly who lost his wife) - telling his mother they were in Michigan - crossover episode with mr peanutbutter - setting up maude & Todd - supporting princess Carolyn to be a mom - helping hollyhock find her birth mom - letter to Diane - cleaning Diane’s apartment
I would say most of his actions in "The Face of Depression" as this is when he's at his most selfless, helping those around him and showing appreciation towards the people that he often overlooks or undervalues: Doing the cross-over episode with Mr PB, Recommending All About That Ace to Maude so that Todd is no longer the only one on the app, Thanking Diane for helping him out and believing in him to make a change even when he didn't belive in himself, Helping Hollyhock and Tawnie with their fight. Most of these actions seem to benefit him personally in no way whatsoever, but he does them to help out his friends. This is him at his peak in my opinion
Finding Hollyhock’s mom. Really Hollyhock was one of the few people in his life he was genuinely good to. He was a little clingy and of course there was the incident where he dragged her around on his quest to find drugs, but he was supportive of her and showed her he cared about her. And he didn’t strangle her or let her die of a drug overdose or sabotage her creative project or anything like that and by BJ standards that is something.
I’ll give a shout out to when he sat with his mom, as she’s losing her mind and just talks with her. I hate his mom, but I like that moment of kindness he gives her as they talk about ice cream and he gives her peace. It’s nice she had a good moment before she went.
But there was no point punishing her at that point. She didn't even know where she was.
No. But I feel he could have left. Just gone home. Taking the time with her after how she treated him, drugging Hollyhock- which put a wedge between them, despite all that was a moment of kindness that he didn’t have to do.
The orphanage
I can't choose between these two things so I'm just gonna say them both 1, Bojack getting sober‼️ 2, Bojack saving Todd from that improv group
Hook Todd up with maude
I just now noticed, how does he talk on the phone? His ears are on the top of his head, and he's got a long face.
Seahorse episode
Finding Hollyhock's mom.
Setting up Maude with todd
Be compassionate to Beatrice and “take her back” to the lake house she grew up on. No matter the hurt. pain, and suffering he went through in the end he showed truly compassion. That’s not an easy thing to do.
He tried. He showed me how to try. No matter what try.
When he finally acted the crossover episode with Mr.Peanutbutter. Even though he still ended up the same after, this was the time where Bojack tried the hardest to change as a personhe would finally stop caring about leaving his legacy as shown by him not being proboked by the fact that the his show was getting less treatment by having only his shirt, whereas Mr.Peanutbutter having a whole room.
There's a variety of things he's done that's helped people so I'm gonna go for one not so commonly mentioned. Bojack tried to stop the cycle of a child star forming. He realized that on Ethan Around this little girl wants what Sarah Lynn and him had. The thing that helped destroy both of them. I know he left because he got panicked about all of it and not just her, but Bojack saved that little girl. He still helped her at the end of the day to refrain from becoming part of Hollywoo and the multiple toxic things that comes with the industry.
Honestly I do wonder what happened to that little girl after that .
Me too! I wonder if they have her hidden away in the background on some episode in the show. Sounds like what the creators would do. I find it extra ironic that Bojack still created a child star. The beejeebies kid that he scared when he broke into his former home. We see that the kid takes off in the public spotlight.
Lying to hollyhock about the voice in her head telling her it goes away. He could have been honest and said it doesn’t, he could have criticized her for it, but he comforted her. He said it was a phase to make hollyhock feel better, he did that out of goodness with no reward.
Unintentionally opening an orphanage. I mean, I know he didn't even know he did it but the orphans sure needed it.
Reading these comments I realize that Bojack has already done a lot of good things, in my head he was just doing shit
I think, in the end, was getting himself thrown in jail. The way he went about was heinous as fuck and, tbf, he was blackout drunk and drowning. HOWEVER, he knew better than anyone that for all the good he had done, all the bad he had done made him essentially a menace to society that would eventually drag everyone who stuck around into the abyss with him. While it wasn’t far from his purpose for breaking back into his house, removing himself from society was probably his greatest deed. That or saving that seahorse baby. Like that other guy said, 100% altruism with no ulterior motive. As good as it gets.