There is a point where boarding school is a kindness.

that "THANK YOUUUUU?" terrified me for some reason. butterscotch really thought that his child owes him something for the bare minimum that he does as a father

I love how Butterscotch's ears are always back how angry horses are, such a nice detail to really bring the untrustworthy & angry vibes to the forefront.

The scene where Butterscotch is essentially using Bojack as a therapist in the car really hits home to me. Being the eldest or only child, you become a substitute partner and therapist for one or both of your parents a lot of the time. And it absolutely fucks you up as you get older

Manipulating Bojack to keep the affair quiet by getting him drunk is horrifying.

His parents only appreciate each other when they realise they both blame bojack for their miserable lives. How sad is that?

2:07 A lot of people complain this scene goes on for way too long, but like- that’s the whole point? You are supposed to feel what Bojack is feeling. This uncomfortable feeling of hearing something you don’t deserve to hear. But while in a moving car, you can’t just get up and leave. And Bojack can’t exactly tell his father to knock it off, because knowing his father, he’d say something even more unpleasant than what he is going on about. You are supposed to feel as if you are moving through mud. Not only is it unpleasant to get through, but it’s long and takes forever, as you wonder to yourself when it’ll just end already.

I honestly wish we got to see Butterscotch’s backstory. The way he described “singing songs like my daddy was my mommy while gazing longingly at a tangled string of pearls” and “Pearls are for ladies.” made it sound like he learned a lesson like that the hard way.

Notice how as Bojack got older, he stopped talking back to his parents when they were bullying him? He spoke back to his father when he gave him the card, earning him a slap. He learned that they continued to berate him until they were tired, so he just shuts down and tries to distract himself with the window in order to minimise the pain he feels. That's how a lot of abused children cope with their parents. They stay silent and keep acting as their parent's verbal punching bag until they are tired enough to leave them alone. Stay quiet and hope that they get bored of hurting you. This show gets scarily real sometimes, a cartoon about anthropomorphic animals is realer than most

I should sue the show for showing my dad without permission

*“Pearls are for ladies, Bojack. Pearls are for ladies.”* Did Butterscotch want pearls at one point but his dad scolded him for it? Is there a cycle of domestic abuse we don’t know about?

It took me a moment to realize that in the moment where Bojack and His Dad are driving home from soccer practice that Beatrice went to see a /dollhouse/ with her friends. One of Beatrice’s most traumatzing memories is her dolly being burned by Joseph Sugarman, her father. She wasn't crying in the bedroom for attention, she was crying over the memories, feelings, and trauma she endured. If Butterscotch had the gaul to attempt anything that wasn't selfish, he would've consoled her.

Bojack sitting in the car quiet while his dad complains and complains is the biggest mood

Bojack's dad picking him from soccer practice and ranting obsessively during the car ride is one of the best scenes of this show.

What cuts me about the Horseman's is how...smart and funny they all are. Its watching so much potential for light, levity, and warmth but the spiraling sadness and cycles of abuse suck it all all up. It eats it like a dark vacuum

The "Pearls are for ladies" piece is just a really poignant reminder that he also internalized his own traumatic experience, just like we're shown for the rest of the characters. Great way to give a character some implied depth without wasting time

The part where they’re in a car, that was so realistic to the point of it being funny. My dad would blabber on, and I would just sit there like that. Then after talking so badly about my mom, he’d go on sympathizing like “she’s doing the best she can.” Meanwhile, me not saying a word.

I think us not knowing about Butterscotch's past is just evidence of how little he ever opened up to Bojack, unlike Beatrice who would shove her trauma down his throat whenever she could, so he was almost fully aware of why Beatrice was the way she was, but not why Butterscotch was the way he was. I also just realized "scotch" is in Butterscotch's name frICK. Sweet but subtle.

I can’t help but want to protect the younger Bojack. He grows up to do horrible things and hurt people but this version of him is still innocent and just wants genuine affection.

I actually found it interesting that Butterscotch is actually a shitty and lazy writer. He worked a lower class job for the sake of his book despite not having actually gotten anywhere with it. When he caved and worked at the Sugarman company, he blamed becoming middle class for his writers block. And here we see that he finds all sorts of reasons on “why he can’t write” like having to pick up Bojack despite having the rest of the day. There’s also this part that I just caught now about how he had a single sentence last for pages. I think it was in Free Churro that Bojack revealed when his dad finally came out with his one book, it was ripped to shreds. It’s interesting that being forced into a middle class life or having to become a husband and father wasn’t actually in the way of his book but he’s just a shitty guy that blamed everything around him and couldn’t even take criticism.

The most impressive thing Butterscotch Horseman accomplished was making Beatrice look like a better parent by comparison.

0:59 It's pretty sad that the only times Butterscotch is ever "nice" to his son is when he's trying to keep his attention away from something else

I think the fact that Will Arnett voices both Bojack and Butterscotch says alot. Because, even though Bojack is definetly nicer than Butterscotch, they're not THAT different at the end of the day.

What a great father. Bojack was so privileged to have such loving parents in such a stable relationship

"You're actually very lucky" ....the gaslighting.

I love that he spent years working on his novel and it’s just completely terrible, to the point where it has run on sentences that last for several pages

I have never seen a better representative for a dysfunctional father than this show with talking horses. Down to the long unresponded obsessive ranting, the telling you have it lucky, the belittling, and the constant demand of thanks

young bojack was so cute lmfao I want to pet him

The play 'A Doll's House' by Ibsen that Butterscotch mentioned Beatrice had seen and that gave her ideas, is about a woman who realises that all her life she's been treated like a doll - first by her father and then by her husband. Both men have no regard for her desires or needs, she is trapped by the expectations of society that lay out who she has to be. Desperate for control over her own life, she leaves her husband and kids. This is really interesting when you look at Beatrice's upbringing and relationship with Butterscotch. Also, she later comments that 'Horsing Around' "wasn't Ibsen", hurting BoJack's feelings.

God, this is the stuff that makes you understand why they opted to do this show with animals instead of people. My dad used to tell me stories of his father, and I think this is probably the closest glimpse of the kind of emotional abuse he put him through. Makes me realize how fortune I wam that my dad never turned out like Bojack when he easily could have.

I really wish we got to know more about Butterscotch's past like we did with Beatrice. That "pearls are for ladies" line hints at something deep within him.

i like how butterscotches early scenes all have a more comical tone (such as the line "that's some shoddy craftsmenship son" with trombone music in the background) but each scene becomes more depressing and real than the last. it's the perfect demostration of how the show itself has evolved.

“You made the mistake of making your mother.” Yeah, because he definitely had control of that.

We know why Beatrice is the way she is because of her childhood, and I wish we could've seen Butterscotch's childhood as well.

I realise the scene where Bojack wakes up after drinking the whiskey could just be because Butterscotch got him drunk, but it's scary to think his dad drugged his drink, and begs the question as to what Butterscotch is doing with those kinds of drugs in the first place?

“You can’t rely on other people, Bojack.” “Promise me you’ll never love anyone as much as I loved crackerjack.” Yikes.

The scene where Butterscotch gets child BoJack drunk to blackmail him into not telling Beatrice about his cheating is next level disgusting. The manipulation and gaslighting... I hate that scene and I hate Butterscotch for doing that. I feel like he never grew up, he was a perpetual narcissistic child.

It's better to not have a father than have this kind of father.

That's the scariest part. It's like you don't want to piss your dad off more and then he freaks out on you with unnecessary anger coming out of his mouth...it makes you feel worse than normal. It feels like you did a crime than a real crime. So heartbreaking.

It hurts how broken and innocent bojacks voice sounded when he was small...

It is funny how many “Butterscotch type parents” will never even watch or know about this show and realize the damage they do to their children... Edit: I didn't realize how relateable this comment was, it is sad to know that tho...

Butterscotch is one of the few characters where you never really knew what he wanted, you never knew if he cared about Bojack and you never really know anything about his past. I think that's pretty interesting..but it's definitely sad that Bojack and Butterscotch act the same and react the same in almost every situation.

It's scary after realizing Bojack had flinched for his first drink as a toddler but was obviously used to it when his dad roofied him.. If he was a good father which the show obviously didn't want to intend he would've noticed, I fucking love this show man.

The part where he goes on about how lucky Bojack is, and then pressures him with a “THANK YOUUUUUU” really hits close to home, especially how Bojack kept leaning away as he did so. It’s so common for parents to say how lucky their children are and not realise, in truth, that the things that make the kid so lucky and fortunate ( “loving” parents, food on the table, etc) is actually the bare minimum, and in actuality, the kid’s going through a traumatic ass childhood

2:50 I love the detail that Butterscotch (who thinks very highly of his own writing) wrote a run-on sentence that went for pages and was proud of it. It just further shows his lack of self awareness and liking to hear himself talk

It's bad how surprising it was to hear butterscotch say "No.. it's not her fault.. she's doing the best she can" 3:58

Just a fun fact: Butterscotch wasn't lying when he told Beatrice her marking resembled his mother's, as Hollyhock was born with that marking as well.

I just wanna say everyone's voice in this show is so soothing

4:20 the fact that Bojack could handle his father's rant, but the moment he starts going on about women and Beatrice and tries to open up to Bojack is when Bojack can't look him in the eyes

I remember being 15 and telling my siblings that they couldn't rely on their parents to look after them. Because I was trying to look after them, and I knew it wouldn't be enough. My words were true, but it's a different kind of resonance to hear myself in Butterscotch...

I think that butterscotch was treated as a child the same as how he treated bojack, it would explain why bojack would act similar to him later on in his life, maybe if bojack did actually have a child he would treat them as he was and make an endless loop of shitty parenting and childhood trauma

3:59 Oh god this look. This look that Bojack gives his dad when he finally shows just a hint of humility. It's that moment where you think it's going to be like in the movies. This is where they realize they should do better, this is where they realize they have to make changes. This is the moment that they will finally change. And then they don't.

That car scene really got to me. My dad rambled like that, talking to me about adult problems I shouldn't be able to understand and basically telling me "life is hell you only escape when you die- if you're lucky". Only when he was drunk, though, which was often, on top of the verbal abuse. But one thing I can say about my Dad: He wasn't Butterscotch. My dad had his flaws, but I'm truly grateful for him. The bad moments like these honestly were really rare (and growing rarer, since he stopped drinking and started taking medication), and I know he loves me, and always has. My Dad stayed when my deadbeat POS mom left. My dad worked 2-3 jobs just to make sure me and my sister never went without, *and* had everything we wanted, on top of that. My dad learned how to cook to feed us good, homemade meals. My dad woke up early to make us breakfast and get us ready for school when we were too young to do it ourselves. And my dad never, ever hit me or insulted me directly. And on top of it all: My dad was not his own dad. My grandfather was way worse. Is my dad perfect? No. Never was. But he most certainly wasn't Butterscotch.

"Immaginary friends were invented by communists" best sentence ever

I know at the end of the day Bojack is responsible for his own actions, but you can't help but also blame his parents for their endless abuse towards him his entire childhood. If you're familiar with psychology and sociology, lots of research suggests that we are very much the products of our environment. When the only parental figures you ever knew were Butterscotch and Beatrice Horseman, can you really blame Bojack for turning out the way he did?

When Butterscotch said the "pearls are for queers" it sounded like something his own parents might have beaten into his head. I imagine when he was a kid he might have been interested in his mother's pearls and his father caught him and gave him hell cuz pearls are for ladies and queers and now he is bitter about it, telling the same to his own son

Dude made a sandwich. What a legend.

3:54 The fact he blamed Bojack for having Beatrice as his mother... then says it isn’t her fault, still pinning it on him... that’s disgusting

2:13 - I had WAY too many of these moments with my father, where I'd be too young to understand his cynicism, but I knew how uncomfortable it was. He'd complain about my Mom's side of the family, how I needed to be more of a man and join the Army like he did, how my best friend Andrew was burning in Hell after committing suicide. But the most painful moment was when I was 15. We were on our way to a birthday dinner, Dad asked what I wanted to be, and I told him I wanted to be an actor. He snickered, and I will never forget what he said and how much it stunned me into silence for the rest of the day: "You're not good looking enough to be an actor, you'll end up playing perverts or killers like that guy on Armageddon, and that's all you'll ever be." He was talking about Steve Buscemi -- an accomplished actor/director/former NY fireman -- but Dad only ever saw him as the "pervert from Armageddon". I didn't speak to him for the rest of the day, and he didn't pick up on it, or even ask if I was okay....that was the day I began hating myself....that was the same year I willingly took drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. I NEVER forgot that, and of course, he doesn't remember it when I bring it up. But it was one of the most painful things I'd ever heard....and I had WAY too many moments, trapped in a truck -- wishing I could jump out....and he wasn't even a drunk. Just a broken, lonely man, who didn't know how to be a father because his own parents weren't emotionally available. I'm content to leave him alone, in his house -- JUST the way he clearly always wanted, and I will do everything in my power to avoid being like him. If I ever have children, I will love them unconditionally and guide them without hurting their self esteem or abusing them....or making them feel ashamed for being born. TL;DR - That scene set off my PTSD

Butterscotch had honestly the best “FU” from life itself. He truly believed himself to be destined writing the great book about the struggling life of the working class and to be forever remember. And what happens? His book is shit, he dies in the most hilarious way possible, few people were obligated to go to his funeral, and his son becomes famous than he’ll ever be. Part of me hopes that he realizes the latter. His son, despite all the abuse he gave, became more memorable than he ever was. And it eats him inside. At the end “fuck you dad”

His definitely just like my dad except for the part he’s talking to his own son

2:18 gave me very very uncomfortable flashbacks. My stepdad was like that. Never hit me or anything just so damn toxic. You don’t talk to kids about that kind of shit. During every rant I felt like I was being held prisoner in that station wagon.

I always thought it was interesting how they never did a deep dive into Butterscotch's backstory like they did with Beatrice considering how much of an impact he had on Bojack growing up. Thinking about it a little more, I wonder if it's to reflect the fact that he never truly mattered. His big dream was to write the next great American novel and get the praise he believed he deserved because of his own perceived genius. Even when the beat's generation, the one he believed he belonged to, had ended fifty years before he published his novel, he still believed he deserved to be recognized as one of the greats. But even when he did finally publish his life's work, nobody read it and he died unceremoniously defending it from a man he wasn't even sure read it. He never got the recognition he deserved and never left any kind of legacy behind. Even Bojack acknowledges this when he says a free churro would at least be something he got out of being Butterscotch's son. Butterscotch's personal struggle in life to me was that he felt insigificant in a world that passed him by and forgot about him. It's as if he came into this world, did nothing of value, and died with nothing left behind of him. Even his own son replaces him in him in his head with Secretariat as a father-figure so he didn't even have that. Giving Butterscotch his own episode would have made him something to the audience at least, but again, he doesn't even get that.

3:59 I love the expression change on young BJ. He looked surprised when his father showed a softer side of him. This is probably the first time he’s shown this to his son and not continually shit talking her but trying to emphasize with her. But then when his father continues to blabber, he either A, finds it messed up that this is the first time this happened Or B, is sad he continued to be harsh

I like how Bojack and Butterscoch’s voice sound so similar, referencing Bojack’s fear of becoming like his father. Nice call from the director. Edit: I was wrong, stop liking this. It’s biology not some obscure art. Edit: Maybe I was wrong twice. The tragedy could be in the inevitably of his biology.

THAAAANKK YOOOOOUUU?!?!?

I love how this show is written like it was originally a book.

The fact that he got bojack drunk to cover up and make bojack feel bad about his dads affair..and saying “I think your mom would be disappointed in you..” is a straight up manipulation tactic..making it seem like they both messed up is so heartbreaking.. The amount of emotional abuse and gaslighting is unbelievable..it really comes to light in bojack later in life it looks like..considering his poor choices and constant need for substances..

"Pearls are for ladies" Yeah the writers absolutely had a backstory planned for him and that line definitely had significance why he's the way he is. How many times have lines come back and just mean some shit? Like, "BoJack Kills" and then Sarah Lynn overdosing on heroin named Bojack. Just because Bojack called her to go on a drug binge when she went sober

The line "Pearls are for ladies." Gave me repressed over compensation vibes from a deeply shattered man...horse

I wonder how how his dad treated him. That ‘pearls are for women’ sounded like he was repeating it to remind himself.

i noticed when butterscotch and beatrice are passed out in the living room, bojack chose to cuddle up next to beatrice. i think bojack knew that she had to have some level of love for him. or that she was safer than butterscotch. i’ve seen beatrice display much more humanity than butterscotch ever did. i think the only reason beatrice tried so hard to prove she didn’t love bojack was because her mother told her to never love anyone as much as she loved crackerjack. but beatrice did love bojack, and that made her also resent him for breaking her mother’s promise. or it scared her and made her feel that she would lose the people she loved most just for loving them, so she tried her best not to love him so she wouldnt lose him. as for butterscotch… i really wish we got his backstory because it is completely impossible for me to sympathize with him. him and beatrice’s dad are probably the worst characters (as in evil, still written very well)

3:05 I always wondered why Butterscotch even bothered picking up Bojack in the first place. At first I thought it was just because he felt obligated to since Beatrice was holed up in the room. Like trying to make himself more of “the victim” by doing something below the husband status. But he seems to have some awareness of Bojack as a person. Even realizing that Bojack wasn’t home and that he would be too meek to try and walk home himself. Since he was obedient enough to wait for god knows how long for one of his parents to arrive. I assume other parents probably offered to drive him but he declined. So perhaps he felt a bit bad for Bojack being left behind? I feel like Butterscotch tries to be the hero and do things the gentleman’s way because that’s who he wants to be. But in the end he just isn’t that type of person and thus suffers through his own failures.

It's weird how Butterscotch has these tiny moments where he realizes he's a total dick, but immediately goes back to being one. "No, no... it's not her fault. She's doing the best she can. Sometimes, we need to realize that yourself is the only person you can depend on." That was actually weirdly wise for him.

This show helped me realize my parents aren't that great.

The way I could talk about anything and my dad would turn it into a negative lecture. It’s so weird that my dad talked me to like a grown man as a little girl, I had to unlearn many things. My own hubby tells me not to talk to him like that (when I would talk to him how my dad talks to me) I would get so angry at him. He’s a man he should be able to take it? I was a little girl and I had to take it…..are you telling me grown men can’t even deal with the abuse my father put me through as a little girl? That if a grown man can’t take it, how was I, a little girl expected too. Really fucks me up, it’s thanks to my hubby that I learned to say sorry, being the family scapegoat I started to refuse it. My parents made me less then a shell of a person and my hubby helps to teach me how to feel and be human. ❤ I don’t really even think I’m a person. I don’t feel like one.

I died at the abortion joke when it cuts to Bojack just standing there. 😂😢

Butterscotch is so awful yet simultaneously fascinating

i think the reason we don't know anything about butterscotch's past is to show that some people are literally just bad people

The car rant is too relatable. Just sitting there uncomfortably while your dad rants to you & eventually directs his anger at you even though the rant wasn't even originally about you just because he needs an outlet 😐 Ah, memories

I can totaly relate with the car scene. I'am still glad, my father was very nice, compared to someone like Butterscotch. But they were many moments, when sudenly , and out of nowhere, he made me the victim of his anger and frustration, and he stardet to blame and insult me, for things I wasn't responsible for.

"You're actually very lucky" triggered me into the next century

Both his mother and father deserve something words can't describe.

I just realized how terrible Bojack waving frantically for Butterscotch while waiting at school alone after soccer practice was. My dad did the same, he would always be so late everyone was gone. I'd sit out there for an hour or more to the point once where a security guard checked up on me. Sometimes my dad would also drive by and circle around. I'd do the same thing, wave frantically and stand next to the road because I was afraid he'd forget about me. I could have ridden the bus home or even walked, it was not much more than a mile. But he would get angry and say it was unsafe and I was ungrateful for not appreciating him taking time out of his day and spending gas to pick me up.

I can’t believe parents like this exist

Will Arnett saying “ daddy wouldn’t like that would he “

The monologue from Bojack's father is so well-written and acted that I wasn't even noticing how Bojack was constantly staring out the window or down at his lap, and visibly flinched at the sudden loud noises of the aggressive honking and the father raising his voice. That right there is what we learn when we grow up in an unstable and violent home, disassociate to shut out all the white noise of 24/7 emotional damage surrounding you, and don't rock the boat unless you want to be threatened with physical violence. And I actually love my parents, but I can't lie and say I don't see a bit of them in these characters. The worst of them.

It's poignant that, "Free Churro" begins with the car monologue from Butterscotch with the young Bojack not actively listening, but still witnessing his father's utter disdain for his wife as well as his all-around misogyny. The rest of the episode is the funeral monologue from Bojack, also ranting about Beatrice. Bojack's definitely not the same or nearly as bad as his father, but it's clear he still internalized a lot of his delusions and dysfunctions because of the male role model he had. They share a tendency to complain endlessly, to view themselves as eternal victims, a lack of true understanding for women, and a general sense of self-centered self-loathing.

Okay, so it's obviously terrible he was cheating on his wife, but the implication is that he drugged Bojack to keep quiet, right? Why did he have roofies??? Ugh, I knew he was bad but I don't like the implication of that.

“Pearls are for Ladies” ya know somebody probably told him that when he tried to wear pearls );

*Coax it out of my sheath* Welp, that answered a lot of anatomy questions about this show.

“YOU GO ROUND THE HORN THE WAY GOD INTENDED!”

Guys this is so sad. This kids life is so dysfunctional because of his parents. They don't care enough to even try to get their shit together for this kid. Atleast they give it to him straight though.

“You can’t depend anyone, sooner or later you need to learn no one will take care of you.” -Butterscotch Horseman

Lmao this brings back precious moments. Getting yelled at for shit you don’t even understand

Bojacks many quick reactions to his fathers twisted ‘dad talk’ had me dying

He’s an icon. Father of the decade award

Golden rule of parenting- if your kid is happy seeing you, you are doing something right.

Bojack ended up being a more successful version of his father and mother. It’s tragic for six seasons that he never realizes that.

The first time i watched this show years ago i literally cried on scenes like this cause i got that type of father (alcohol addicted abusive aggressive and manipulating man, who gave me exactly that kind of speeches about himself, how nobody is as good as him and that other are idiots that didn’t see it) The part where he says that Bojack should be grateful for that kind of “lessons”was the scene that made me cry a lot and i am in my 20s.