issue 31 // volume 42

   

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You are the Horseman

> BoJack Horseman season 3 review

Adam Tatelman
Arts Editor

 

hat creator Raphael Bob-

Waksberg was able to
sell a series whose comedic
through-line is the vapidity of
show biz and celebrity culture
is gleeful madness in itself,
even disregarding his choice to
pitch it as an animated comedy
about a drunken, has-been TV
star searching for acceptance,
who also happens to be a horse.
Show me anyone who foretold
that particular hard sell would
be not only a critical success but
one of the most life-affirming
shows on the air and Ill show
you one boldfaced liar, provided
you have a mirror handy.

Having finally escaped
obscurity by starring in a
biopic about famous race horse
Secretariat, BoJack (Will Arnett)
is thrust into the arena of
Hollywood’s award show media
circus. Gunning for an Oscar
with the help of Ana (Angela
Bassett), his ruthless publicist-
cum-kingmaker, BoJack seems
to finally have the adoration
he so desires. Yet his old, self-
destructive habits lurk outside
the spotlight, ready to part him
from his fleeting success.

If the first season’s main
theme was validation and the
second’s was the desire to fix

the past, this time it is the fear

of success. BoJack’s friends all
want him to succeed, but there’s
an unspoken certainty that he'll
always be his own worst enemy.
The question isn’t whether BoJack
will sabotage himself, but how
badly. His own awareness of this
habit just makes the waiting game
that much more excruciating.

If anyone ever doubted that
BoJack Horseman is the blackest
of comedies, season three takes
that misconception behind the
shed and puts both barrels into
its skull. This show takes on
everything from abortion and
messed-up child stars to hardcore
drugs and atrocious animal
sight gags. The show knows
that self-reflection can bring no
change without action, and that
in a world desperately trying to
imitate the saccharine image
of life offered by mainstream
TV, horrendous outcomes can
arise from good intent. But
rather than wallow like its
protagonist does, it chooses to
laugh in the face of futility.

The absurdity of BoJack
Horseman is its greatest charm.
After all, this is a world where
male seahorses can give birth on
the seabus right before clocking
in at the freshwater taffy factory.
But all the rapid-fire sight gags
in the world would be nothing
if the show weren't willing to
eschew typical Family Guy-esque

cutaway humor in favor of long
comedic arcs that arise from the
characters’ relationships and
their immediacy to the plot.

The show is bleak, but never
nihilistic; it merely refuses to
wrap things up all neat and tidy
like a good little sitcom. BoJack
himself may or may not actually
change for the better, but the
possibility alone is enough to
keep us watching. Ironically,
this is best expressed in the
fourth episode, “Under the Sea,”
which riffs on BoJack’s inability
to communicate honestly by
telling the story without spoken
dialogue. It’s a tour-de-force
by the show’s animators, and
it makes the season’s too-
ambiguous ending seem out
of place by comparison.

BoJack Horseman holds
up a mirror to a generation
that’s fallen on its face. We of
the new millennium have tried
desperately to find meaning
in our existence by criticizing
ourselves into oblivion, indulging
every excess while taking joy
in nothing, gorging ourselves
on high-calorie pop-culture
to try and fill a nameless void
that no amount of sex, booze,
and validation will ever be
enough to make full. Like it or
not, we are BoJack Horseman.
Whether or not we can change
comes down to what we do.

Netflix original

arts // no. 9

Photo via www.stantec.com

 

brings nostalgia
and scares

> ‘Stranger Things’ TV series review

Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

 

CCCI

ver expanding its content,

Netflix’s newest original
series is Stranger Things, a
supernatural drama set in
1983. The series follows the
disappearance of 12-year-
old Will Beyers from a small
town in Indiana. Add in the
boys’ relatives and their own
personal demons, a mysterious
government conspiracy, and
a little girl with some very
mysterious abilities, and you
have a recipe for chaos.

The show takes
inspirations from many ’80s
pop culture icons, and contains
references to films like Stand
by Me, E.T., and The Goonies.
There’s also the “small town
with very odd happenings” plot
that’s grown ever popular in
recent years, with shows like
the early ’90s Twin Peaks or
Hemlock Grove, another Netflix
original. Big fans of the era
and/or those who remember
it will greatly appreciate
the attention to detail. If it
wasn't for the sharpness and
clarity of the footage, you’d
swear it really was filmed
in 1983. Even the fonts used
are the same ones used in
Stephen King’s 80s work.

Stranger Things contains
several character plot arcs, and
some of them work better than
others. Much of the plot follows
a group of kids, all friends of
the boy who went missing.
Although the child actors were
spot-on in their roles (they even
swear an appropriate amount),

I found their segments tedious
and almost unwatchable.
Other arcs include those of
teenagers with their own
drama who get caught up in
paranormal happenings, the
show-stealing Winona Ryder as
Will’s frazzled single mother,
and the mysterious young girls.

Some of the arcs seem to
be there purely for drama and
don’t go anywhere interesting;
nevertheless, they are acted
well and all drive the story
one way or the other.

Special, exceptional
praise must be given to the
show’s soundtrack. It’s a
mixture of ’80s hits (“Should
1 Stay or Should I Go”
features heavily) and original
’80s-style electronic music that
complements the show’s tone/
story very well. The music is
one of the best parts of the
series, and it’s very noteworthy
for a non-network program
with a fairly low budget.

The actual supernatural
content—the less you
know about it going in, the
better—makes up only about
a third of the actual events.
The rest is driven by the as-
mentioned character drama
and establishing plot. It unfolds
nicely, especially towards the
end, leading one to wonder
what’s in store for season two.

At only eight episodes,
Stranger Things is a quick
watch and easy to get
into. Anyone who enjoys
supernatural mysteries will
have fun with it. A solid
soundtrack, performance,
and frights help prop up
this show, even when it
fails in other areas.