BoJack Horseman (TV Series) Escape from L.A. (2015) User Reviews

Crazy, depressing, and genius

[ZeiderSlaton · 10/10 · 27 September 2015]

Without a doubt, this is the best episode of Bojack Horseman yet. This is the episode that will shock the audience, and this is the episode that drives home some of the worst parts of Bojack. It shows his bad side, his vulnerable side, and what one can only assume is his rock bottom.

Of course, like any other episode, there are some very funny parts. Like usual, there are some great, smart jokes. It is also visually beautiful, which isn't rare in this show but it's always appreciated. This is also a great emotional episode, as it shows many of Bojack's problems and deep emotions before the big, bad moment even happens.

A shot at redemption...

[jasperglynn · 10/10 · 6 August 2016]

I started watching BoJack Horseman yesterday. I'm just starting season 3 tomorrow morning. At first the series was shaky, VERY much so. Then it truly sunk into my skin and hasn't let go. It found it's defining trick as being a funny comedy (which at first it wouldn't seem) while containing a morally questionable hero in a dark, depressing and eye-opening drama which exists outside of the rather short bursts of comedy story arcs. This episode really hit me as a true standout in television, so much so that I set up an IMDb account and I'm up past midnight reviewing it. My heart hasn't stopped pumping since I watched it and it's not an episode I will forget. BoJack's story he created in his mind about Charlotte's life with him was wrong, but he can't accept that so thinks staying around her will make it true. It's truly saddening to me to see him like this as only when Charlotte telling him bluntly, they talked shortly then separated for 30 years, he sees his misinterpretation of the situation. That idea stuck a more personal chord with me and helped me see an error in my interpretation of my own situation, but I digress. Then comes Penny, the competent yet insecure teenage daughter of Charlotte. Penny is so used to being seen as a child she thinks more of BoJack since he treats her as an adult. It's a more believable teenage role than I'd expected, and portrayed perfectly. She's as compelling as BoJack and he finds comfort in the vulnerability they share. This is where the morals step in. BoJack begins as a father figure to Penny, as he faces the same problems she faces. BoJack sees his interpretation of Charlotte in her. He is taking advantage of her, and you really don't want him to. She believe he likes her for her, yet he sees her mother. She's 17 and he's in his 50's. Age difference is fine but maturity wise, not so much. She can't see the real reason and won't accept it. Right at the end of the episode Charlotte and BoJack are talking, and he makes a move on her. It ruins everything for her relationship with him, and in-turn, for everyone else. Then BoJack tries to fill the missing gap of Charlotte by taking advantage of Penny. It's uncomfortable and you want to hate BoJack while also feeling sorry for him since you know he's insecure. But you also know he's doing the wrong thing and hurting someone to make himself feel better. It's tragic. I felt horrible and still do. Yet I think I'm still going to watch it again tomorrow. You have to see this episode. Now I should really talk about the rest of the episode. The animation is top-notch as per usual. The jokes hit their targets yet obviously become sparse in distribution for the second half. The voice cast is also great with the stand out performances of Charlotte and Penny with BoJack really nailing the character. All in all, It's without a doubt the best of BoJack and may be one of my favorite episodes of television ever. Trust me, I watch a lot of television so I have a good idea. I have no life. Please kill me.

The Best Episode of BoJack Horseman

[BadgerStorm4345 · 10/10 · 30 September 2020]

This episode follows Bojack's "Escape from L.A." he tries to find happiness with an old co-worker, Charlotte, in New Mexico but soon finds out that she has a family. BoJack befriends the family but grows too close to the daughter. After rejecting the daughter's advances he makes advances on Charlotte, and when that fails he gets caught about to sleep with the daughter. BoJack's escape from everything he hates in his life turned into another major problem and another life that he ruined. This episode is genius.

Maybe the best netflix show by far

[matiasbockerman · 10/10 · 31 January 2020]

For intance Daredevil, Punisher, Narcos, HOC, Hounting of the hill house. And Bojack Horseman. Those are - in my opinion - best netflix original out there. I have been avoiding to watch this so for a quite some time. Eventually I finally watched first episode And now about 30 hours later here I am, stunned how great drama season two episode eleven was. Jokes all along are well written And very well executed by voiceactors/actresses. Characters are deep, easy To understand, very familiar like: this, And magnificent opening theme, visuals, acting, And espcially original script achieves a lot. This is without a doubt maybe one of the best tv show out there.

what COULD HAVE happen????

[mohammadsharifashna · 10/10 · 29 October 2020]

Look, English is not my motherlanguage and I have to go to all kind of courses and classes to understand what an English person say. By the time I learned this grammar tip that COULD/SHOULD + HAVE means regret I really didnt get it. After watching this hell of an episode, I just could say I learned it. the time Bojack was explaining to Charlotte what he missed through years because of not choosing that life was heartbreaking and I, with the most ridiculous reasons, wanted Charlotte to get cut up in the moment and make it with Bojack. But as Bojack said: you will never get a happy ending, by far I consider this episode the most hope breaking of all time

We can't escape from our old-life mistakes!

[mohammadsaeedlotfi · 10/10 · 20 October 2021]

This episode is an important stage in Bojack's life. During his time away from Charlotte, he only imagined a good life with Charlotte, and this kept him away from her for years. But life is more complicated than we think. Sometimes opportunities do not allow us to fantasize and they change quickly. Bojack now knows very well that at his age ,he cannot escape from his mistakes. As he could not escape from L. A!

Dangerous Territory

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 17 April 2021]

Bojack goes to see the woman he loves and finds out she is married with a family. He becomes part of the family. He gains their trust, hoping to rekindle his romance. But the daughter takes a shine to him and this leads to some really inappropriate behavior. This is where his messed up lifestyle crosses over and we see him as a sick character, wallowing in depression and depravity.

My Favorite Episode of Television... Ever

[colinw-84344 · 10/10 · 10 September 2018]

Escape From L.A is simply a work of art. It's an episode the entirety of this season has been leading up to and it certainly doesn't disappoint. Bojack has always been amazing when it comes to blending comedy and drama and 2x11 is in my opinion the best example of this.

If I could rewatch an episode for the first time again it would be this one.

Shocking!

[aidricalamea · 10/10 · 24 March 2022]

BoJack was very irresponsible from the beginning of this episode. The prom and the scene on the rock show BoJack and Penny's romance starting already, and it gave me chills. The soundtrack emphasizes this. Finding out that Charlotte had a family was great. The scene were BoJack comes onto Charlotte was upsetting. The Scene with him and Penny on the ship was devastating and shocking. I can't Love BoJack in the way I used to, even if he did some bad things. I can emphasize with him, but I can't love him. The humour was all satisfactory. Overall an amazing and shocking episode, that turned this show into a drama, and questioned its main character - 10/10.

brace yourself....

[sirtrung2004 · 10/10 · 22 September 2020]

For the feels train, this episode hit me like a truck!

Flawless episode.

[ovexteam · 10/10 · 15 July 2022]

Bojack "escapes from la" to New Mexico to try and escape himself and his bad actions, but leaves with the guilt of one of the worst mistakes of his life. The scene where Bojack returns to La is a masterpiece btw and not just visually. Bojack is heading back to the "tar pit" which he cannot escape from because it's apart of him. The theme song playing over that scene really shows how he cannot outrun himself or, in charlottes words, "It doesn't matter where you are or what you do. You can't escape you" This episode was the first masterpiece this show has produced in a long list of many.

Dangers of Hype

[jammale-1 · 7/10 · 1 December 2015]

I went into this episode with a lot of high hopes, given the great things I'd heard about it from reviews and aggregators. The episode is... OK, to my mind. The first 10-15 minutes are not particularly funny, with the exception of the intro. But this is really only buildup to what happens in the last ten minutes, which is I believe what everyone focuses on.

The episode telegraphs its shocking event early on, hoping we will go "oh please no" through the episode. But there is no real tension to my mind - the writers of Bojack Horseman always take the harshest/worst option and knowing that robs the episode of the tension I've heard so many describe. It's going to happen so there's no surprise and no payoff. It's expertly bleak and dark and it shows the worst of our protagonist, but it doesn't make it the classic I'd heard that it was.

I think Bojack nails it when the dark, depressing stuff comes out of nowhere - compare this episode to The Telescope, Downer Ending, Brand New Couch, Hank After Dark, Yes And or even Let's Find Out (which to my mind are the best episodes of the show and superior compared to this).

All of these episodes do something dark, to varying levels, but it's unexpected or surprising and it's more expertly mixed with comedy, and that's where the emotional depth kicks in. I think, however, that the writers become more predictable when they try to set up something so obviously in this way and this episode, sadly, did not work for me for that reason.

This episode is in the "emotional powerhouse" slot that Downer Ending was in and the show's season 2 F-bomb appears here, unsurprisingly given which character used it last season and who uses it this season (mild spoilers ahead).

At the risk of being meta, this made the episode more predictable in terms of where it was going and robbed the usage of the F word of its power. When Herb says it in Season 1, I was astounded. Hearing Charlotte say it in this season was not surprising because I expected it from a character close to Bojack from the past, like Herb was. It's copying a previous trope, which is a bit unimpressive.

That said, this episode is really well made and artful and it's amazing to see animated TV go to the places it goes to - so this still gets a 7. But it shows the dangers of hype: I watched this episode expecting something sensational, and I was disappointed.

Something artificial about the ending

[sandersw-22885 · 3/10 · 30 March 2019]

I wasn't aware of the hype surrounding this episode; I only just started watching this series recently. With the exception of this episode, the series has been rather enjoyable.

Bojack rebuffs Penny's advances twice; then all of a sudden we cut to a scene where they appear to be in a compromising position. Whatever happened between those scenes: it feels so artificial because it appears to be dark for the sake of needing something dark for the end of the season.

It was otherwise oddly predictable when we saw Charlotte head over to his boat. Of course it was going to happen. Cue the eye-roll.

Predictable, artificial, and probably the worst episode of this otherwise excellent television series.

A daring masterpiece!

[and_mikkelsen · 10/10 · 27 January 2024]

I am simply speechless about this episode! I never thought this show would get so good and complex, going into territorry that only a few shows would ever dare to do!

This episode changed my perspective on BoJack qnd i can never look at him the same way again! This is incredible writting!

In an attempt to escape L. A, BoJack believes he can find true harpiness, but no matter where you go... you cant escape YOU!

The events that udfold are simple schocking and heartbraking as BoJack makes the biggest mistake yet! Charlotte's words were a gut-punch you will never forget!

This was the story of a flawed character.. who could not escape his own mistakes!

you can't escape everything

[shwhwhtbbfxjis · 10/10 · 11 July 2022]

This episode is the beginning of the end, this is something bojack does that follows him all the way to the end of the show, this ruins so much for him and destroys many of his relationships later on.

Strong episode that creates some very uncomfortable tension and has good character development

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 9 February 2024]

Looking to escape his life, Bojack visits old friend Charlotte in New Mexico.

The plot is fairly easy to predict but I will not spoil it by mentioning any details. It is another BoJack centred episode focussed on his failed aspirations and resulting behaviour. Some of the scenes ring quite true and I recognise aspects of it from life experiences.

I find the tone quite tense, dark and unpinned with a sense of impending dread. Littered throughout though are moments of humour that work pretty well. If you looking mostly for comedy this is not that type of plot. The themes feel like a follow up to the first season episode 'Downer Ending'.

It is one of the strongest episodes of the first few seasons, but I find it slightly overrated, probably due to the shock value of certain moments for some viewers. This is all a matter of personal taste though and I appreciate others might feel different.

9

[Edvis-1997 · 9/10 · 12 July 2019]

BoJack is doing what he is used to. Nothing new but it makes this episode good.