WARNING: Spoilers for ‘Bojack Horseman’ Season 5 Ahead!
Last night I got the opportunity to head to the Paley Center in Beverly Hills for special preview of the first episode of Netflix’s ‘Bojack Horseman’ Season 5, followed by a panel with the cast and crew (which I, of course, jumped at the opportunity to do as I love that show and relished the opportunity to get some insight into the creatives behind the fan-favorite series).
The episode itself (which was released widely on Netflix at midnight I believe) was, not surprisingly, excellent launching a brand new season of Bojack featuring our hero starring in a brand new show thanks to Princess Caroline. She convinces him to actually try and have a positive attitude in the new show, meaning we have the potential to see a whole different side of Bojack this season as he attempts to have a little bit of character development and not just being the negative, self-destructive horse’s ass he usually is (pun INtended). Meanwhile, Diane has a new haircut (which of course is a huge deal for a lot of the show’s fans) and, apparently, she and Mr. Peanutbutter filed for divorce after Season 4 as we see them signing said papers during the premiere while Princess Caroline is officially moving forward with her adoption plans. All with puns, jokes, insanity, and all the fun you expect from ‘Bojack Horseman!’ (I say because that description makes this sound like a very depressing show).
Following the screening we had Ben Travers (of Indiewire) come out to host a panel which included series creator/ Executive Producer Raphael Bob-Waksberg, production designer Lisa Hanwait, supervising director Mike Hollingsworth, producer and voice-actor Aaron Paul (Todd), Alison Bri (Diane), and Paul F. Tompkins (Mr. Peanutbutter). They discussed everything from fans complaining that Season 4 ended on TOO happy a note, Diane’s new hair and how happy Lisa was to get to design a new look for Diane (and how self-conscious Alison and Lisa are about the length of Diane’s neck), the happy-go-lucky nature of Todd, and how Aaron Paul has connected with the asexual community because Todd has become one of the first openly asexual characters on TV, and the awkwardness of getting a divorce on TV while Paul and Alison talked about the nature of Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter’s relationship.
According to Bob-Waksberg when speaking/ joking about the relative happiness of the characters this season:
“A lot of the characters spend some time being NOT happy this season… is that a spoiler?'”
It was a very fun evening topped off by the series giving out copies of the brand new ‘Bojack Horseman’ coffee-table book, which I happily placed within my own home when I got back. I am very excited to check out the rest of the season which premiered today on Netflix!
