'Bojack Horseman' Season 6 Episode 7: Fresh out of rehab, Bojack finally learns to love himself in 'The Art of Making Amends'
Spoiler Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Season 6 of Bojack Horseman
Season 6 of ‘Bojack Horseman’ sees the titular character on an extended stint at rehab. From the very first episode, we see that rehab appears to have quite a positive effect on Bojack (Will Arnett). However, one cannot be in rehab forever, and after his six-month stay, Bojack eventually returns to the outside world.
His homecoming is painful as everything in his house reminds him of the mistakes he’s made and the people he’s hurt. He comes home bearing the weight of his most recent mess—he caused his rehab therapist, Dr. Champ, to relapse into alcoholism, ruining his career.
“I want you to remember what you did to me,” says Dr. Champ, as Bojack leaves behind yet another life in ruins despite his best intentions.
“I remember everything,” replies a somber Bojack. “I’m sober now.”
In episode 7, ‘The Face of Depression’, Bojack learns about making amends to the people he’s hurt. It is an essential part of the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous: “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” The wording there is important—while Bojack Horseman has attempted to make amends in the past, he has not been able to do so without messing things up and causing further harm. He has always made his apologies about himself.
In an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, he finds himself face-to-face with his old hairdresser, Sharonna, whom he got fired to take the fall for one of his own mistakes.
Coming away from rehab with a more honest look at himself, Bojack appears to have gained a certain amount of humility. As he spends the episode flying from city to city, catching up with his friends and family, he opens up to Diane and admits that, for the first time, he believes he can change.
When he visits Hollyhock and witnesses her fight with a friend, he realizes that he’s never properly apologized to someone, because he never believed he was worth forgiving—but even if he wanted forgiveness, people need to know he’s sorry before they can move on, and forgive.
With all this on his mind, he finally makes a genuine, heartfelt apology to Sharonna, who, in turn, forgives him.
It is the most hopeful that ‘Bojack Horseman’ has been in a long while.
Although the show is known for its dark storylines revolving around mental health, this final season may actually leave Bojack in a better place.
We don’t get to find that out, however, until part two of Season 6 releases on January 31.
Part 1 of ‘Bojack Horseman’ Season 6 is streaming on Netflix.