BoJack Horseman Ending Explained: What Happens To Every Character

Here’s what happens in the ending of BoJack Horseman season 6, and with it the conclusion to the entire series, and what it all means. BoJack Horseman has been a staple of Netflix Originals since it launched back in 2014, and that it’s only just now coming to an end when so many other series were cancelled before makes it all the more remarkable. Created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the series has spent six seasons following the often painful life of its titular horse (played by Will Arnett) and his friends.

Fans knew that BoJack Horseman was ending heading into season 6, after Netflix made the decision to cancel the series. However, the streaming service did at least give the show’s writers enough time to properly plan out an ending. After the first part of season 6 debuted back in October 2019, the final eight episodes of BoJack Horseman released on January 31, 2020.

The ending of BoJack Horseman isn’t just the conclusion to his story, but to so many of the character arcs that Bob-Waksberg, Lisa Hanawalt, and the rest of the team have been developing over the course of six seasons. Although there are a number of different plots to juggle there, the likes of Diane Nguyen, Mr. Peanutbutter, Princess Carolyn, and Todd Chavez all get fitting send-offs too. Here’s the ending of BoJack Horseman explained.

What Happens In BoJack Horseman’s Ending

The entire back-half of BoJack Horseman season 6 plays as one long build towards its ending, with the most crucial moments coming towards the end of episode 14 (where BoJack gets drunk and high, and stumbles into the pool of his old house), and then playing out through episodes 15 and 16. Episode 15 deals with BoJack in what is essentially his own personal purgatory, surrounded by family and friends like Sarah Lynn, Herb Kazzaz, and his mother Beatrice, as they each move on into the afterlife. While the end of the episode teases that BoJack himself might die, episode 16 quickly reveals that he’s still alive. Instead of a death sentence he gets a prison one, but comes out on day release for Princess Carolyn’s wedding.

This allows BoJack Horseman‘s series finale to be a relatively quiet, unshowy affair. This is centered on the core relationships of the show, as BoJack interacts with each of the main characters, sharing heartfelt moments with all of them. While he may still see some of them again, it also feels like a goodbye in many ways as he watches fireworks with Todd, dances with PC, and talks on the roof with Diane. There’s no last-minute tragedy, the only fireworks here are those in the sky; instead, BoJack spends one more day with his friends, and then gets to go on with his life.

Why BoJack Doesn’t Die In The Pool, But Gets To Live

It’s long felt like BoJack Horseman would end not only with the character dying, but with him quite specifically dying in his swimming pool. It’s certainly been theorized by many a fan, and hinted at by the opening credits, which show BoJack submerged in that very body of water. In the end, BoJack Horseman gets to have its cake and eat it by seemingly killing off the horse in the swimming pool, showing us what seems like the point after his death, but then bringing him back for the finale (although he never actually died, he comes extremely close to it).

Looking at the opening credits, though, and while it’s easy to see the hints at death, it’s also easy to see the hints at life: BoJack is submerged in the pool, before his friends (Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter) appear before him, and then the final shot is not him drowning, but floating on top of the pool, alive and well. That suggests that, actually, Raphael Bob-Waksberg was always planning to let BoJack live, rather than incorporating a downer ending. And it makes sense, too (whether always the plan or not): BoJack is a show that speaks loudly about things like depression and substance abuse, and means a lot to viewers who might be depressed and/or addicts. What does it say about the ability for oneself to change, to find some light in the darkness, if after everything he’s been through BoJack Horseman ends up dead due to a bender? Instead, BoJack Horseman‘s ending is a far more life affirming one: life may be tough, there’ll be hurdles, but you can get through it.

At the same time, however, this message is also paired with one of reckoning. That’s something BoJack has been facing throughout season 6, as his past has caught up with him (and also reflected in season 6’s retooled opening credits). It spills out in explosive interviews and Hollywoo scandal, as we revisit BoJack’s worst deeds. The audience, as much as BoJack himself, is forced to confront the many awful things the protagonist has done, especially when it comes to abusing his power over the women in his life. In that sense, BoJack drowning after a night of booze and pills would almost be too easy; it’d feel tragic for him. By sending him to prison instead, BoJack actually has to face the consequences of what he’s done and all the people he has hurt. In light of #MeToo, when so few have yet to face any real ramifications, that becomes another much more powerful statement than merely killing BoJack off.

Why BoJack Ends With Him & Diane On The Rooftop (& What Their Conversation Means)

Driving home the core message of why BoJack wasn’t killed off is his conversation with Diane, which closes out the finale and, as such, the show. It’s very telling that, despite the series keeping the pair apart for much of this last season (and quite a bit before that, really), the final moments of BoJack Horseman come down to him and Diane – the show’s most important of all its relationships. The pair’s relationship has long been a difficult one, but also its truest: they’ve been supportive of each other, turned away from one another, but ultimately know the other better than just about anyone else. The connection between them runs deeper than any of the series’ romantic entanglements, which makes the final moments all the better (and harder).

With BoJack and Diane catching up, we learn that she’s married Guy and is moving to Houston. Although unspoken, the implication is quite clear that this may be the last time the two ever see each other. You can feel it in the awkward glances and shuffling as the series closes out; BoJack and Diane may not be a couple, but it’s like they’re breaking up. At the same time, though, it may be tinged with sadness but it isn’t sad. They both know they have to let go of the other; Diane has had her own battles with depression, and needs to be free to deal with them, and potentially has a shot at real happiness. As wonderfully animated in season 6, episode 10, much of that comes from Hollywoo and those close to her there; Houston, like Chicago, is a chance for a real fresh start for her, with someone who loves and will take care of her the way she’s always had to take care and be there for others.

For BoJack, he knows he has to stop hurting those around him and using them as a crutch, which reached its nadir when he left the voicemail for Diane before his “death”, with her thinking him dead for hours. This might be an ending for BoJack Horseman, but the conversation between Diane and BoJack speaks to letting go of the past, and moving to a brighter future.

Princess Carolyn Marries Judah And Launches A New Career

Another major figure in BoJack Horseman’s life is Princess Carolyn, his friend, and former manager and lover. Like Diane, theirs is one of the series’ most rewarding relationships, and it too gets a key payoff with their dance at the wedding. What that hammers home isn’t just what they mean to one another, though, but also just how Princess Carolyn has come out on top of everything, proving that she can have it all. She has a child, now she has a husband, but on top of that she has a promising new career ahead of her as she sets up a production company to focus on female-led films.

Being married to and working with Judah feels like the perfect ending for Princess Carolyn: one of the biggest themes of her storyline has been that she’s been married to her work, and thus unable to have a family. Now she is literally married to her work, and has made that into her family too. The relationship with Judah is surprising when it first arises in BoJack Horseman season 6, but it’s a truly fitting one for Princess Carolyn’s journey.

What Happens To Todd & Mr Peanutbutter In BoJack Horseman’s Finale

Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter don’t get quite as much to do in BoJack Horseman’s ending as Diane and Princess Carolyn, but that’s more indicative of where the story has taken them than being of lesser importance. Both have key moments with BoJack: Mr. Peanutbutter picks him up from prison; Todd watches the fireworks stop his shoulders on the beach. We’ve already seen what the pair are going to be doing; Todd has his daycare service that he runs in Princess Carolyn’s building, and is settling down with Maude. Mr. Peanutbutter has his restaurant, with lazy Susans, small plates, and pictures of his face on the menu. Pickles has gone off with Joey Pogo, but Mr. Peanutbutter seems ok with where his life is at, even returning what he thinks is the “D’ to Hollywoo, or rather, now Hollywoob.

The sense given by these scenes is that they’ll remain in BoJack’s life. Mr. Peanutbutter certainly will, whether BoJack wants him to or not. Like with PC and Diane, BoJack Horseman gives these characters happy endings that feel fitting to the journeys they’ve been on, but don’t need to be tightly wrapped up. Their lives will simply keep on, but they, like the titular horse, seem to be mostly ok, or at least doing their best.

What Was In Hollyhock’s Letter To BoJack?

If there’s a negative to how BoJack Horseman ends, it’s in the relationship between BoJack and his sister Hollyhock, and the lack of resolution for the pair. While BoJack starts season 6, part 2, teaching at Wesleyan University, where Hollyhock attends, she does her best to avoid him after learning of what happened with Penny and her friends on their prom night back in BoJack Horseman season 2. Hollyhock understandably shuts BoJack out, and he’s never able to find a way back in. He leaves her countless messages after returning back to Hollywoo, but never hears anything until he receives a letter from her. When he finally opens it, the contents clearer shatters him, sending him on one last downward spiral, but we never get to see what it was.

Hollyhock doesn’t appear again in BoJack Horseman, and while she’s presumably still attending the University, we don’t know if things will ever be resolved between her and BoJack. We can perhaps assume, then, that her letter was saying as much; drawing a line under their relationship, explaining what she knew of his actions, and that she no longer wanted to be a part of his life. On BoJack‘s end, if that is the case, then he at least respects Hollyhock’s wishes, a further example of him letting people go so as to not cause them any more pain, but it would have been nice to have seen more of their ending play out together.

The Meaning of the Song In BoJack Horseman’s Ending

As BoJack Horseman comes to an end, the show plays out with Catherine Feeny’s song “Mr. Blue”, which becomes a poignant capstone on his relationship with Diane, and our relationship with the show. The song speaks of a tumultuous yet loving relationship, when where they care for one another but it’s ultimately unhealthy. The lyrics, such as “I have to go now,” reference Diane’s move to Texas, and leaving BoJack and Hollywoo behind. It backs up just how important a decision that is for her own health and happiness.

At the same time, the lyrics also refer to BoJack’s own future, and how we have to leave him behind, but can now finally know that he’ll actually be alright. “Mr. Blue, Don’t hold your head so low that you can’t see the sky / Mr. Blue, It ain’t so long since you were flying high.” These lines feel as though they were written for BoJack, especially in this moment. He may have done terrible things, he may be in prison, he may be saying goodbye to some people close to him. But he can still look up and see that sky, see tomorrow, and know he can and will be better, that he’s put the work in, faced up to his actions, and really can change.

BoJack Horseman’s Ending Is A Message Of Hope

Given the show’s predilection for piling misery upon its eponymous equine, it wouldn’t have been too much of a surprise for it to go out on a low note, be it BoJack’s death or simply sending him on a spiral that confirms he can’t and/or won’t change. But that’s not the kind of show BoJack Horseman is, and its ending is all the more profound because it turns away from what could feasibly be easy decisions.

BoJack Horseman’s ending feels like a companion piece to Mad Men’s finale: two broken soul, bad man (or horse) protagonists whose journeys culminate with intimate conversations with the women closest to them, and a quiet moment that reflects just how much they’ve changed and grown. It isn’t, of course, 100% cut and dry for BoJack. An addict is always an addict; depression can return; bad patterns can re-emerge. But the ending suggests that those things won’t happen to him. In its ending, BoJack Horseman offers the one thing the show so often seemed to be withholding, from us and its horse hero: hope. That you can change, you can get better, you can be ok. Or, as Diane so eloquently puts it, summing up the thematics of the entire finale: “Life’s a b*tch, and you keep on living.” BoJack keeps on living. But now, he’ll actually have a life.

About The Author