Plus, I developed a kind of rubric to rate the episodes. I was thinking about the things that mattered to me in an episode, and I broke it down into a few categories: the A-Story (character development, plot), the B-Story if applicable, humor, and angst. Bonus points for anything really special.
Because of this somewhat methodical rating of episodes, I am going to go out on a limb and call them the Best episodes, rather than just my favorites. But, you know. It's all subjective.
12. Stop the Presses
- A-Story: 7/10
This is one of those sorta-filler episodes where not much happens, but it's made interesting by the writing.
- Humor: 7/10
The concept of the episode lends much of the humor. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but more... ironic-funny. Which, as you probably know by now, I love.
- Angst: 5/10
This episode is pretty Angst-Lite, compared to the rest of this list, but there are some good somber moments. "Are you afraid of being known and knowing others?"
11. After the Party
- A-Story: 7/10
Three couples get in fights. I love this set-up for an episode, and each of the scenes is good.
- B-Story: 3/5
Todd "B-Story" Chavez, at it again, helping phones fall in love.
- Humor: 6/10
"Women on the wall: An exploration of gender in text and media, Barbara Krueger and Jenny Holzer in conversation with Helen Molesworth." And I love the mulch joke! I wish that was a joke you could practically tell in real life! However, the Vincent Adultman scenes aren't as funny as his other scenes.
- Angst: 7/10
10. Ruthie
- A-Story: 8/10
This episode contains much of what happens to Princess Carolyn in season 4, so a lot happens.
- B-Story: 2/5
The saving grace of this B-Story is that it's very self aware -- "Bojack and Diane, what are they up to?" -- and it takes up little screen time. But it's not that interesting, and ends up being inconsequential to the plot of the season.
- Humor: 7/10
The "Miss Carrie" joke is one of the funniest of the season, but the future-humor doesn't totally land for me.
- Angst: 8/10
If we're being honest, I'm more upset about PC firing Judah than about her breaking up with Ralph. But that doesn't mean I don't care about Ralph, it's just a statement on how much I love Judah. I'm very, very upset about Judah.
9. That's Too Much, Man!
- A-Story: 8/10
This is an integral episode to the rest of the series, and it follows up on previous events. I feel like I should put this episode higher up on the list, but. I'm not going to. I have to live my truth.
- Humor: 6/10
There isn't a lot of humor in this episode, although I'll give a shout out to: "What's the old phrase? Beer before liquor, don't do heroin?" and "Audiences hate meta jokes! When will comedy writers learn?"
- Angst: 8/10
8. Let's Find Out
- A-Story: 8/10
This is a more or less bottle-episode, and not much happens that has a lasting impact on the characters. Bojack and Mr. Peanutbutter's relationship isn't changed forever -- in fact, they never discuss this again, which is weird. That being said, this self-contained episode is one of my favorites, and I've found it to be the best episode to introduce the show, since the pilot is kinda... eh.
- B-Story: 2/5
I wish the Todd/pen/mouse-girl storyline was 50% shorter. But J.D. Salinger is hilarious, so, it's not too bad.
- Humor: 10/10
This is one of the funniest episodes. 10/10. The absurd premise (J.D. Salinger emerges from his faked death to create celebrity game show) doesn't disappoint.
- Angst: 6/10
7. Fish Out of Water
- A-Story: 9/10
The main thrust of the episode is Bojack running into Kelsey and trying (and failing) to apologize to her. The more I think about this episode, the more I love it. I'm a very auditory person, so the first time I watched the episode, I had a hard time focusing. But I appreciate this episode more and more each time I watch it.
- B-Story: 3/5
This may be a mis-use of the term, but I'm considering the seahorse baby section of the episode as the B-Story. I like that it contributes to the running theme of "Bojack wants a family" but it's not as compelling to me as the main story.
- Humor: 7/10
Do you like visual puns? Boy, do I have an episode for you. The last few seconds of the episode are gold.
- Angst: 6/10
The episode is effective for what it tries to do, and the theme of "failing to communicate" is a frustrating one that everyone can relate to.
- Bonus: +2
Of course, two bonus points for creative writing, great animation, and the sound editing for the underwater world.
6. Stupid Piece of Sh*t
- A-Story: 9/10
A pretty simple, day-in-the-life plot serves as the vessel for the main point of the episode: character development for Bojack, and for his relationship with Hollyhock.
- B-Story: 1/5
I'm just not invested in Todd's season 4 storyline. It wasn't that interesting, and it eats up a lot of this episode. However, it's a blessing to see Princess Carolyn and Rutabaga interact.
- Humor: 9/10
Bojack's internal monologue is as funny as it is cruel. Specific shout-out to the "Nice arm" line...
- Angst: 9/10
The end of the episode! *clutches chest*
- Bonus: +1
A bonus point for a) the fun new animation style representing Bojack's thoughts and b) the creative narrative structure of exploring Bojack's internal life.
5. It's You
- A-Story: 9/10
Bojack's life falls apart before his eyes! He pushes Diane away, his dreams die, Ana leaves him, Todd rejects him. This is a huge turning point, not only in season 3, but in the series as a whole.
- B-Story: 4/5
Mr. Peanutbutter and Todd's shenanigans are well-contained, relevant, and entertaining. A point knocked off for how long the phone-chase sequence goes on...
- Humor: 7/10
There's some spot-on dark humor ("There's going to be plenty of people around when I kill myself!") and some silly humor as well -- pause and read Mr. Peanutbutter and Todd's Oscars nominations board sometime.
- Angst: 10/10
I love the opening fight between Diane and Bojack, and the final scene between Todd and Bojack seals the deal. It's probably the most angst-ridden scene of the entire series, and it cuts me to my core.
4. The Telescope
- A-Story: 10/10
Tight writing, great flashback sequence. This is the first Great episode of the series, and proved the show's potential.
- B-Story: 4/5
The saving grace is that the scenes between Todd and the "bling ring" girls are very short. I bet it takes no more than 3 minutes of screen time. Plus, it's decently funny -- "Did you hear that? He's letting his guard down!" One of the funniest moments of the episode is when Todd gets left behind at Herb's house, laying face-down in the grass.
- Humor: 7/10
The trademark dark humor is present throughout. Even the things that are not necessarily funny (Herb bluntly saying "I don't forgive you"; Bojack and Herb physically wrestling) can get a laugh. And I want to give a shout-out to the line "Some people prefer the later years!" because it's... so funny.
- Angst: 9/10
Man... It's getting hard to articulate myself in the top 5. Herb says some important things, and I have feelings about it.
3. Best Thing That Ever Happened
- A-Story: 10/10
This is my surprise pick of the top 3, even the top 5. This episode is so, so good. We needed a Princess Carolyn/Bojack catharsis, and this episode delivers. Their two decades of history feels real.
- Humor: 8/10
This episode has really successful humor. Shout-out to: the stereotypical Italian chef; the food critic; the valet dog; the business woman/donkey and her son; and the waiter who's very nonchalant about his terrible burns, and comes back to get his jacket. The comedic timing in the final scene alone is 3 of the points.
- Angst: 9/10
Hoo, boy. This episode is so heartbreaking, and there's a major gut-punch at the end.
2. Escape From L.A.
- A-Story: 9/10
This episode follows up on Bojacks' dreams of another life in another place, and in doing so, introduces a theme of the series: "You're the tarpit." The events of this episode cast a huge shadow over the rest of the series. There's a little meandering when Bojack goes to prom, but it's a tight episode.
- Humor: 3/5
"Kyle and the Kids" is a bop, but Pete Repeat is dragging the score down. But the episode doesn't aim for a lot of humor, so I'm only scoring it out of 5 total.
- Angst: 10/10
Yeah, I don't have to explain this to y'all.
- Bonus: +1
This bonus point is solely for last few minutes of the episode, and the palpable tension when Bojack leaves his door open, and Charlotte follows the balloon up to the boat...
1. Time's Arrow
- A-Story: 10/10
It's not just character development for Beatrice -- this episode is integral to the over-arching season plot of finding Hollyhock's mom. It's a fantastically written episode.
- Humor: 3/5
This episode is pretty serious as a whole; I'm scoring this out of only 5 points because I don't want to fault the episode for something it wasn't trying to achieve. However, there are some great darkly humorous moments. ("You'd better be worth all this"/"Well, you're not"; and "It will be nice to have something that always reminds me of this conversation")
- Angst: 10/10
Uh, yeah. It hurts. The last third of the episode is pretty brutal: Beatrice tells Henrietta "Don't do what I did"; the "womanly emotions" montage; and finally, in the present day, Beatrice recognizes Bojack, and they lie to each other in one last, small gesture of kindness.
- Bonus: +2
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