BOJACK HORSEMAN - THE VIEW FROM HALFWAY DOWN: What Is the Purpose of Life?
NetflixCONTENT WARNING: The following article describes and discusses the theme of suicide.
The year 2020 will leave its mark in the history books for a variety of reasons, one of which will be the conclusion of one of Netflix's arguably most powerful and well-crafted shows: Bojack Horseman. What started as a seemingly innocent enough raunchy adult comedy following washed-up celebrity, Bojack Horseman (Will Arnett), as he traverses his life in the fictionalised Hollywoo – a version of Hollywood filled with anthropomorphic animals and zany adventures around every corner – the show had shown its true colours by the conclusion of its sixth and final season, proving to be one of the most thoughtful and devastating shows in recent memory. Whether it was looking at the lasting effects of alcoholism, the inability to make things up to a friend who you have hurt, how childhood abuse can haunt you into adulthood, the continual struggle to find happiness and purpose, or any other variety of incredibly heavy themes, Bojack Horseman, for all of its wacky comedy, was brutally honest regarding the darkest depths of the human experience. This is seen nowhere better than the show's penultimate episode The View from Halfway Down. Directed by Amy Winfrey and written by Alison Tafel, The View from Halfway Down has largely been considered one of the best episodes not just of the show but also of the year – for good reason.
Bojack Horseman has never been a show to hide from unique ideas when it comes to its storytelling or writing. From the almost entirely dialogue-free Fish Out of Water to the single 26-minute monologue that took up the episode Free Churro, the show has to great effect been able to push the typical narrative structures and ideas one would expect from such shows and The View from Halfway Down is no exception. Throwing the viewer disorientingly headfirst into a strange and unexplainable get-together between Bojack and various characters from the show who have died and meant something to the titular character, the episode immediately plays with the expectations of the audience. In a trick that has been used multiple times in the show up to this point, The View from Halfway Down starts as a confusing follow-up to the emotional conclusion of the previous episode Angela. Bojack had hit rock bottom: breaking into his own house and watching a DVD-extra of him getting offered the role in the 80's sitcom Horsin' Around – the show where Bojack found his fame and brief glimmer of happiness – only to have the DVD end leaving Bojack alone looking at a reflection of his destroyed self. It is a jarring choice to have such a powerful emotional moment be led up by what at first seems like an irrelevant and goofy dream but, as fans of the show could probably predict, the darker underbelly of the situation is then slowly revealed.
More than nearly any other episode of the show, The View from Halfway Down feels free to have real ramifications due to its proximity to the series finale. Whilst Bojack Horseman has never been shy to give every character consequences for their actions that are irreversible and hard-hitting, being so close to the end for the first time it truly feels like anything could happen. Once it is revealed that Bojack is in a form of purgatory with his real-life body laying at the bottom of his old pool, there is no guarantee for the audience that this isn't the end for the character. It had been a long-running theory that the show was going to end with Bojack committing suicide and doing this through drowning in his pool – the pool he falls in during the show's opening theme song at the start of every episode – is perfectly poetic and fitting thematically to truly be the end of this character. The audience truly feels like they are spending their last moments with Bojack and it isn't until the very end of the credits where a flatline turns into the sound of heartbeats when it is revealed the character will continue into the next episode. While the stakes within The View from Halfway Down are undeniable and on a first viewing the episode feels shocking because of the realistic threat of death, its overall thesis both on life and death is what elevates it to be the best piece of television to come from 2020.
At the soul of Bojack Horseman is one question: what is happiness? The entire show, through every twist and turn, has examined this question from nearly all sides. Though it has failed to come to a single clean conclusion, as there isn't one and that overall is the main purpose of the show. The View from Halfway Down is haunting due to the brutal honesty of its response to this question or, rather, its view on asking the question at all. By putting various characters from Bojack's life together over a dinner and talent show in their journey between life and death, the episode makes it clear that ultimately pondering this question is meaningless. The characters who join Bojack within the episode fight about their purpose in life. Whereas his uncle Crackerjack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), who died in combat, is praised for his sacrifice, some of his peers question the true worthiness of Bojack's comedian friend Herb Kazzaz's (Stanley Tucci) charity work as a sacrifice considering Herb gained pleasure from it. At the same time, Sarah Lynn (Kristen Schaal), who went on to be a pop star after starring with Bojack on Horsin' Around as a child, is defensive of the joy and inspiration she brought to others when performing, even if it wasn't charity work. These characters bicker and debate over how much their life meant but, ultimately, the show decides that this is trivial and ultimately pointless. No matter what these characters did, no matter how many people they helped, no matter the morals behind their actions, they have ended up in the same place.
There was no purpose to their lives, there was nothing they could do to change their ending. The thematic weight of The View from Halfway Down largely lies in the helpless fight against death. Humans have a funny way of convincing themselves that there is some deeper meaning, that there is some ultimate purpose to life but there isn't – at least according to Bojack Horseman. Every character, no matter if they want to or not, has to accept death. They can't run or fight it, they have to go through the door into an eternal void of nothingness. Even Bojack within the episode has to accept that there is nothing he can do to delay the inevitable. He can make the process as easy and painless as possible, but he can't stop it. Yet this forced acceptance of death doesn't make the act of living any less inspiring or worthwhile. Arguably one of the most jaw-dropping scenes of the entire show comes from The View from Halfway Down; Secretariat (Will Arnett), who in the world of the show killed himself after a doping scandal, reads a poem before entering the door. It recalls his perspective as he jumped off the bridge taking his own life, about how he wishes he would have seen the view from halfway down and chose to live instead of dying.
Every character has accepted death in their own way, but that is in no way a rejection of life. The View from Halfway Down doesn't trivialise life but rather the distractions within it. Rather than wasting one's life concerned about a fictionalised image or trying to live up to standards that ultimately mean nothing, one should fight for love and true happiness. Largely, this is the catalyst for Bojack's pain throughout the entire show. He chose a life of fame and wealth when continually it is seen that he dreams of a quiet life with a woman he loves and a family to care for. Much like the rest of Bojack Horseman, the show doesn't claim this to be an easy goal to accomplish and feels incredibly empathetic to the distractions that life offers.
Ultimately, for most, this path to true happiness will remain a dream to look back on and regret, but if there is any solace found within the show, it is that it doesn't matter. Finding true happiness in life doesn't give a different result to someone who made the most of their time on earth. Everyone ends up at death's door afraid and forced to accept what is to come even if they don't want to. Everyone eventually sees the view from halfway down, and that is ok. This inevitable result is not depressing or scary, but rather comforting and rewarding. This is an ambitious and moving take that most pieces of media would fail to capture without sounding pretentious or inauthentic but Bojack Horseman nails it, adding yet another addition to an already legendary show when it comes to emotional takeaways and messages.
