BoJack Horseman: 10 Hardest-Hitting Moments From “The View From Halfway Down”

Netflix recently released the final episodes of BoJack Horseman, and fans were pleased with how this near-perfect series came to its conclusion. In the penultimate episode, “The View From Halfway Down,” BoJack finds himself in a recurring dream where he attends a dinner party with all the skeletons in his closet.

Later, he discovers that he’s not dreaming. Instead, he’s drowning in the backyard pool of his old house, and he’s about to die. The episode is filled with harrowing, heartbreaking, or otherwise shocking scenes. So, here are the 10 hardest-hitting moments from the BoJack Horseman episode “The View From Halfway Down.”

10 Sarah Lynn Desperately Searches For Meaning In Her Life

Sarah Lynn’s arc is arguably the show’s most tragic, because she never did anything wrong. She’s a victim of circumstance. She was pushed into the spotlight at an early age, only ever knew a life of fame, and was driven to alcohol and drugs by her overbearing mother and irresponsible adult co-workers.

During the dinner scene in “The View From Halfway Down,” Sarah Lynn desperately tries to find meaning in her life. The other guests tell her that her music and her role on Horsin’ Around didn’t make a difference, but the way she sees it, if that’s the case, then all her suffering was for nothing.

9 Beatrice’s Dance

In “Free Churro,” during BoJack’s eulogy for his mother, he explains that she used to throw parties and she’d always do a dance at the end. Although BoJack’s father Butterscotch hated the parties, he’d always come out to see Beatrice dance.

BoJack also watched them and said that it was always “so beautiful and sad.” In a chilling moment from “The View From Halfway Down,” Beatrice dances through the door and beyond the grave.

8 BoJack Remembers That Diane Didn’t Answer The Phone

When he comes to terms with his near-death experience, BoJack doesn’t think he could be dying, because he remembers getting out of the pool to call Diane. As he flees from the deathly black goo, he picks up the landline and tries to speak to Diane.

He hears her voice, but she reminds him that her phone went to voicemail, and then he got back in the pool. The following episode, series finale “Nice While It Lasted,” reveals the drunken voicemails that Diane woke up to, making this moment retroactively even more hard-hitting.

7 “A Talented Charmer And A Stupid Piece Of S***.”

This is how Herb introduces BoJack to the stage: “The star of Horsin’ Around and The BoJack Horseman Show! Philbert! Secretariat! The upcoming Horny Unicorn! Son of Butterscotch and Beatrice! Husband to no one! Father to none, that we know of! Standup comedian, actor, crippling alcoholic! A talented charmer and a stupid piece of sh*t.”

The last expression comes from the season 4 episode “Stupid Piece of Sh*t,” which dealt with BoJack’s depression in a heartbreakingly realistic way.

6 The Black Sludge Chases BoJack Through The House

When BoJack is expected to come up on stage and give the final performance before stepping into the great beyond and accepting his fate, he panics and realizes he’s not ready to go.

So, he starts running back through the house to get away from the black sludge that consumed all his friends. The sludge chases him through the house, engulfing everything, and the visual style of the episode takes a very trippy, very disturbing turn.

5 Sarah Lynn Sings “Don’t Stop Dancing ‘Til The Curtains Fall”

Sarah Lynn is the first performer to go up when the dinner guests all convene before the stage. She performs “Don’t Stop Dancing ‘Til the Curtains Fall,” a haunting, Judy Garland-esque ballad that Gina previously sang during one of BoJack’s painkiller-induced hallucinations in season 5.

Sarah Lynn’s rendition is really tragic in the context of her life as a child star who died way too young.

4 BoJack Realizes He’s Dying

When BoJack steps out onto the balcony to have a cigarette with Secretariat, they share an entirely imagined father-son bonding experience that BoJack will never get to enjoy with his own father. BoJack mentions waking up and Secretariat says, “You’re still not getting it.”

He gestures over the balcony and BoJack takes a peek, only to see himself drowning in his old pool. This had been foreshadowed for years, from the existential painting on BoJack’s wall to the incident at his unearned Oscar nomination party.

3 Secretariat Reads The Titular Poem

The title of this episode refers to a poem read by Secretariat midway through the dinner guests’ impromptu talent show. In the world of BoJack Horseman, Secretariat committed suicide by jumping off a bridge following a betting scandal. And in the poem, he expresses regret over that decision.

It’s a really moving piece of writing, with the final lines remaining etched in viewers’ minds: “Before I leaped, I should’ve seen the view from halfway down/ I really should’ve thought about the view from halfway down/ I wish I could’ve known about the view from halfway down.” Will Arnett’s pained delivery of the reading is spectacular.

2 “Oh, BoJack, No. There Is No Other Side. This Is It.”

Above all else, “The View From Halfway Down” is a sobering reflection on the inevitability of death. One by one, BoJack’s dead loved ones and acquaintances perform for him on a stage, before stepping through a door into a pitch-black void.

When only BoJack and Herb remain, the latter tells his old friend, “See you on the other side,” and Herb hauntingly replies, “Oh, BoJack, no. There is no other side. This is it.” The way Herb accepts it contrasts chillingly with the look of horror on BoJack’s face.

1 The Final Moments

The final moments of “The View From Halfway Down” are by far the episode’s hardest-hitting. It was tough to just skip to the next episode. It left viewers needing a couple of minutes to process what they’d just seen.

As BoJack fails to outrun the black sludge and it begins to consume him, he asks the imaginary Diane if he can stay on the phone with her, and asks about her day. Instead of a song playing over the credits, we just hear the sound of a life support machine flatlining.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
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Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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