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Mirren goes regalAfter decades of heartbreak, Princess Carolyn, right, is still there for BoJackBoJack Horseman sounded kind oF
silly at first: A cartoon about a washed-
up ’90s sitcom star who also happens
to be a horse? Who asked for that? And
sure enough, during its first season,
mixed reviews reflected both a slow
start and a widespread frustration with
creator Raphael Bob- Waksberg’s seem-
ingly slight premise.
But five years later, with the first
half of its two-part final season com-
ing to Netflix on Oct. 25, BoJack may
be the most important—and beloved—
animated series since The Simpsons. A
believably depressed substance abuser
with a habit of hurting the people who
care the most about him, BoJack (voiced
by Will Arnett) became a poster boy for a
mid-2010s movement for raw yet realis-
tic and empathetic portraits of mental ill-
ness on television. Though he’s certainly
a descendent of Don Draper and Tony
Soprano, he also embodies a critique of
the way those prestige dramas romanti-
cize their rich, moody antiheroes.
By now, the show’s commentary on
the 21st century entertainment industry
has extended far beyond BoJack. Drawn
in witty detail by production designer
Lisa Hanawalt, its setting is a surreal,
satirical Los Angeles where humans andREVIEW
BoJack floats toward the finish lineanthropomorphic animals walk shoul-
der to shoulder. And it thrives on an
ensemble of BoJack’s friends and col-
leagues, each a multidimensional per-
son trying to survive in a brutal city:
his agent, a cat named Princess Caro-
lyn (Amy Sedaris), leans in far enough
to fall. Intelligent, self- righteous Diane
Nguyen (Alison Brie) chases success as
a journalist to hide from her emotions.
Benign slacker Todd Chavez (Aaron
Paul) seems incapable of establishing
a grownup life. Even BoJack’s peppy
canine rival Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F.
Tompkins) struggles to maintain ro-
mantic relationships.
These characters come to the fore,
one by one, in the masterly eight-
episode first half of Season 6. (A sec-
ond batch of eight arrives Jan. 20.) As
BoJack hides at rehab, afraid to leave
and risk hurting people, Diane and Car-
olyn’s efforts to temper their ambition
with love are especially poignant. Moti-
vated or lazy, manic or depressive, what
everyone in this world shares is rest-
lessness. It’s no wonder that a jarringly
photo -realistic night-sky background
becomes the season’s defining motif. In
BoJack Horseman’s Hollywood, every
star is floating in a private abyss. —J.b.REVIEW
Catherine,
not so greatWell-behaved women may
seldom make history, but
Catherine the Great certainly
did. After usurping her
husband’s throne in 1762, the
Russian Empress modernized
her adoptive homeland while
greatly expanding its territory.
As the most powerful woman
in the world—and a sovereign
with no intention of sharing
that influence with a second
husband—she also collected
male lovers as if they were
couture gowns. One affair, with
the ambitious field marshal
Grigory Potemkin, fed both her
political and carnal passions.
Their relationship begged
to be dramatized, and a
decision to cast the ageless
siren Dame Helen Mirren as
the 18th century’s sauciest
autocrat seemed to bode
well for HBO’s Catherine
the Great. Yet the four-part
Sky co-production, airing on
Mondays, never lives up to
its name. A British cast with
English accents can’t capture
the all-important cultural
clashes within a Russian
court where a German-born
monarch speaks French with
her courtiers. Though its lovely
sets and costumes may satisfy
diehard fans of period drama,
the show never settles on a
tone, toggling abruptly from stiff
dialogue and boilerplate battles
to frothy scenes of sex and
intrigue. Not even the divine
Mirren, an executive producer,
MRS. FLETCHER, CATHERINE THE GREAT: HBO; BOJACK HORSEMAN: NETFLIXis operating at full charm. ÑJ.B.