"Oh my god, is that life? You're there, you do your thing, and then people forget."
"I do know this: everybody deserves to be loved."
— Mr. Peanutbutter
A look at BoJack's Inner Monologue as he deals with having both Hollyhock and Beatrice living with him. In the meantime, Princess Carolyn is forced to team up with her former partner-turned-rival Rutabaga Rabbitowitz to set up a sham marriage between Todd and Courtney Portnoy.
Tropes:
- Analogy Backfire: Todd compares marriage to a Tootsie pop, and a Marriage of Convenience to a Tootsie pop without the Tootsie roll. When Rutabaga comments that a lollipop is still pretty good by itself, Todd lampshades that it's not a good analogy.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Among the garbage Felicity Huffman deals with as BoJack's neighbor: "lit cigarettes, beer bottles, scripts where the lead actor is female, and regurgitated cotton candy."
- Art Shift: BoJack's Inner Monologue is depicted through crude, child-like drawings (courtesy of Anne Walker Farrell
, drawing her inspiration from 60's UPA cartoons). - Big "NO!": Beatrice screams one when BoJack throws the doll over the balcony.
- Blatant Lies: Hollyhock relates to BoJack that sometimes she has a voice in her head that tells her she's terrible. She asks him if that's just a teenage angst thing that will go away when she grows up and BoJack hesitantly assures her it will, even though we've spent the entire episode listening in on his inner voice.
- Berserk Button: BoJack doesn't respond well to hearing Hollyhock call Beatrice a good mom.
- Companion Cube: Beatrice keeps mumbling about a baby so Hollyhock gets her a baby horse doll to placate her and she treats it like it's alive. Even BoJack starts referring to "Doll" as if that is its name instead of what it is.
- Damned by Faint Praise: To Mr. Peanutbutter, Felicity Huffman is a "beloved actress of film and television", while BoJack has "also appeared in film and television".
- The Dog Bites Back: Still angry at his mother for a lifetime of abuse and now even angrier that she's too demented to remember him or for everyone to see how cruel she could be, BoJack finally reaches his Rage Breaking Point and throws Beatrice's doll over the edge of his deck, convincing her that he killed it.
- Family Versus Career: In the evening, Rutabaga turns off 'work mode' and goes home to his wife and kids despite Princess Carolyn's protests. He comments that she would be a bad mother because of her focus on work, which clearly hurts her feelings until Judah comforts her.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: We are shown a greater insight into BoJack's mind than in any other episode, with his train of thought on almost continually and frequent Art Shift cuts to what he's visualizing inside his mind.
- Furry Reminder: Wanting to get Doll back, BoJack enlists Mr. Peanutbutter's aid to have him track Doll by scent.
- His Own Worst Enemy: Really put on highlight here as it seems BoJack's mind is incapable of thinking about anything without eventually turning it into an attack on himself.BoJack: Woah, is it night suddenly? Suddenly sundown. Suddenly Sooze-town! What was that show? "Suddenly Sooze-town"? Brooke Shields? Something? Show was on for 5 years and now nobody - Oh my god is that life? You're there, you do your thing and then people forget! "Forget it Jake, it's Sooze-Town" Is that me? Am I the Suddenly Sooze-Town of people??
- Imagine Spot: BoJack has numerous throughout the episode.
- Judgment of Solomon: In an attempt to compromise between Felicity Huffman and BoJack, Mr. Peanutbutter suggests cutting the doll in half. Both reject this.
- My Greatest Failure: The inner monologue makes clear that he's worried he'll do something to Hollyhock that will become this. Given that means it would top what happened with Herb and Penny, and unseat Sarah Lynn's death to become the title-holder, he probably has good reason to be worried.
- Opening Shout-Out: When BoJack tells himself that he's going to destroy Hollyhock, he imagines her falling backwards into his pool as he does in the opening.
- Pet the Dog: In a rare instance of genuine empathy, Mr. Peanutbutter reassures BoJack that he deserves to be loved, whether he believes it or not.
- Person as Verb: BoJack confides in Mr. Peanutbutter that he worries he'll "Bojack things" with Hollyhock. To Mr. Peanutbutter, that means be the Life of the Party; to BoJack himself, that means he'll screw it up and make Hollyhock hate him.
- Publicity Stunt Relationship: After her starlet client Courtney starts being seen as a priss, Princess Carolyn gets the idea to have her date and eventually marry PC's bum friend Todd. The idea is that Courtney will be seen as down-to-earth for being willing to date a loser nobody. However, not only does Todd become a model thanks to this newfound exposure, he also decides not to go through with the relationship.
- Shout-Out: Suddenly Susan (the title of which BoJack can't remember) features in the monologue.
- Sidetracked by the Analogy: As seen above, BoJack acknowledges that it's suddenly night time, which trails off into remembering an old sitcom, which then trails off into more self-hatred.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Judah somehow suddenly appears in the shot, scaring both Princess Carolyn and Rutabaga.
- Sweet Tooth: After his inner monologue tells him to get out of bed and get some breakfast, BoJack starts eating from a package of Oreos."These are cookies. This is not breakfast."
- Title Drop: The very first line of the episode is BoJack's inner monologue telling himself this.
- Wham Line: All episode long, we see BoJack's mental voice constantly berating and degrading him about how useless he is, and how he's right to hate himself. At the end of the episode, Hollyhock is asking about why BoJack just goes and disappears. BoJack tries to console her, but then Hollyhock has this to say.Hollyhock: Sometimes I have this tiny voice in the back of my head that goes, like, "Hey, everyone hates you! And they're not wrong to feel that way!"
Bojack: I know what you mean.
Hollyhock: That voice, the one that tells you you're worthless and stupid and ugly?
Bojack: Yeah?
Hollyhock: It goes away, right? It's just, like, a dumb teenage-girl thing, but then it goes away?
Bojack: ...yeah. - What the Hell, Hero?: BoJack takes Doll from Beatrice and throws it out the window, traumatizing her, to which all Hollyhock can say is a disappointed "Why did you do that?".
