BoJack Horseman has come to an end after six seasons on Netflix, and its conclusion was strongly hinted at by the show’s opening credits sequence. Created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, alongside a team including animator Lisa Hanawalt (who’d go on to create the sadly short-lived Tuca & Bertie for the streaming service), BoJack Horseman launched on Netflix back in 2014. While initially receiving mixed reviews, the series won over critics and audiences alike with its stunning animation, hilarious gags, satirizing of Hollywood, and approach to serious issues.
BoJack Horseman’s ending, coming after a two-part, supersized final season, was an enforced one after Netflix decided to cancel the series, but no less fitting because of that. The writers had time to craft a proper conclusion, which ultimately finds a ray of hope for BoJack. Rather than killing him off or sending him on another downward spiral, BoJack Horseman opts to suggest that its titular protagonist can and indeed is changing for the better, although not without going to the brink of death first.
Such an ending isn’t only perfect and true to the story, characters, and themes of BoJack Horseman, but it’s also one that was established by the series’ wonderful opening credits. The title sequence for BoJack has long been a key part of the show, but the ending makes it doubly-so. The credits include BoJack underwater, seemingly drowning in his own swimming pool, which led to the popular fan theory that the show would kill him off in that way. It almost does so, by having him get drunk and high and fall into the pool, ostensibly being dead in season 6, episode 15. However, the credits go further than that and continue beyond him being underwater, which BoJack Horseman ultimately does as well.
Following on from the shot of BoJack underwater, we see two of his closest friends - Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter - looking down at him from above. After that, the credits close out with BoJack floating on top of the pool, shades on, staring up at the sun that shines down upon him. This too is reflected in BoJack Horseman’s ending. After drowning - and visiting his own personal purgatory - BoJack’s time there ends with a phone call to Diane - she doesn’t answer, but nonetheless she is who he reaches out to before he dies, except, of course, that he lives. When the series finale picks up, BoJack goes to prison, but is let out on day release and is then collected by Mr. Peanutbutter. Following this are heartfelt interactions with the rest of his friends, each of whom has a part to play in saving BoJack and showing that he can change. It ends with a hopeful note of BoJack; the sun may not be shining, but the same implication is clear that he can look up to the sky. It’s even echoed in the song that plays in the show’s ending, with the lyrics: “Don’t hold your head so low that you can’t see the sky.”
Of course, BoJack Horseman season 6 also re-designed the opening credits to take a trip through memory lane, featuring key figures from his life such as Sarah-Lynn, Beatrice, and Herb Kazzaz. BoJack comes face-to-face with these in episode 15, but perhaps more importantly is that, by the ending, he has finally faced a reckoning for the many terrible things he did to the people in his life. The retooled opening credits suggested his past catching up with him and consequences that must be faced, and they’re delivered in BoJack Horseman’s ending, alongside that message of hope.
Next: BoJack Horseman Ending Explained: What Happens To Every Character
