Honestly, it’s the jogger at the end. That’s the moment everyone remembers. He tells BoJack that it gets easier, but you have to do it every day. That’s the hard part. It’s such a simple, almost cliché piece of advice, but in the context of Season 2 BoJack Horseman, it feels like a heavy weight being lifted and dropped at the same time.
By the time the second season rolled around in 2015, the show had already shed its skin as a "funny animal cartoon" and revealed its true, messy self. If the first season was about BoJack trying to matter again, the second season is about the terrifying realization that even when you get what you want, you’re still the same person who wanted it.
BoJack gets the role of a lifetime. He’s Secretariat. He’s got the money, the house, the fame, and a brand-new girlfriend who doesn't even know his baggage. And he still can't stop sabotaging himself. It's brutal. It's funny. It's mostly just sad because it feels so real.
The Mirage of the Fresh Start
We’ve all done it. We tell ourselves that if we just get that one promotion, or lose those ten pounds, or move to a new city, our brains will finally stop being jerks to us. BoJack buys into this hook, line, and sinker. He starts the season with a "Brand New Attitude." He’s listening to motivational tapes. He’s being positive.
It lasts about ten minutes.
The core conflict of Season 2 BoJack Horseman is the tension between the persona BoJack wants to project and the deep-seated rot he’s convinced is at his center. You see this most clearly in his relationship with Wanda Pierce, voiced by Lisa Kudrow. Wanda is great. She’s an executive who’s been in a coma for thirty years, meaning she has no idea BoJack is a washed-up sitcom star with a history of being a nightmare. To her, he’s just a funny, charming guy.
He loves that. Who wouldn't? But the show demonstrates that you can't outrun yourself. As the season progresses, his insecurity starts leaking through the cracks. He can't handle the fact that she doesn't love him "the right way," or that she has a life outside of him. The "rose-colored glasses" line she delivers toward the end of their relationship—noting that when you wear them, all the red flags just look like flags—is probably one of the most quoted lines in television history for a reason. It cuts deep.
The Secretariat Problem
Working on the Secretariat movie should have been his crowning achievement. Instead, it’s a bureaucratic nightmare. This is where the show’s satire of Hollywood (or "Hollywoo") really finds its teeth.
BoJack wants to give a raw, emotional performance. He wants to be a "serious actor." But the director, Kelsey Jannings, is constantly fighting against a studio system that wants things to be shiny and safe. When BoJack and Kelsey finally bond over a shared sense of professional loneliness, the show offers a glimmer of hope. Maybe art can save him?
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Nope.
Kelsey gets fired. The studio replaces her with a hack who uses a digital version of BoJack to finish the movie. His actual performance doesn't even matter. This realization—that his "dream" is being manufactured without his soul being involved—sends him spiraling. It leads him straight to New Mexico.
The New Mexico Incident: A Point of No Return
If you want to talk about Season 2 BoJack Horseman, you have to talk about "Escape from L.A."
It is, without a doubt, one of the most uncomfortable episodes of television ever produced. BoJack flees his life in Los Angeles to visit Charlotte, a deer he knew decades ago. In his head, Charlotte is "the one who got away." He thinks if he can just go back to that fork in the road and take the other path, he can be happy.
But Charlotte has a life. She has a husband. She has kids. She’s moved on. BoJack lingers there for months, trying to insert himself into a family that doesn't belong to him. He tries to be a mentor to her daughter, Penny, which leads to a sequence of events so dark it permanently changed how the audience viewed the protagonist.
When BoJack is caught in a compromising position with Penny, the fantasy of the "good BoJack" is shattered. Charlotte’s warning to him—"If you ever look at me or my family again, I will kill you"—is the coldest moment in the series up to that point. It proves that BoJack isn't just a "sad horse." He's a dangerous one. He brings his chaos into the lives of people who were doing just fine without him.
Princess Carolyn and the Grind
While BoJack is busy ruining his life in the desert, the supporting cast is doing some heavy lifting back in L.A.
Princess Carolyn’s arc in Season 2 is particularly poignant. She’s trying to build something of her own after being sidelined by her agency. Her relationship with "Vincent Adultman" continues to be a hilarious bit of absurdism—three kids in a trench coat pretending to be a business executive—but it also highlights her desperation. She wants to be taken care of so badly that she’s willing to ignore the fact that her boyfriend is literally three children.
When she eventually realizes she has to "get her shit together" (a recurring theme), it’s a moment of empowerment, but a lonely one. She is the ultimate fixer, yet she can’t fix the hole in her own life.
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Why This Season Hits Differently in 2026
Looking back at this season now, it feels even more relevant than it did a decade ago. We live in an era of "curated" lives. Social media allows everyone to do exactly what BoJack tried to do with his motivational tapes: project a version of happiness that doesn't exist.
The show’s exploration of depression isn't just about feeling sad. It’s about the boredom of it. It’s about the way depression makes you selfish. BoJack is so consumed by his own pain that he rarely notices the pain he inflicts on others. Season 2 forces the audience to stop "rooting" for him in a traditional way and start looking at the wreckage he leaves behind.
- The Humor: Even with the darkness, Season 2 is incredibly funny. The "Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities: What Do They Know? Do They Know Things?? Let's Find Out!" sequence is a masterpiece of comedic writing.
- The Guest Stars: From Lisa Kudrow to Amy Sedaris (as a series regular), the voice acting is top-tier.
- The Visuals: The art style evolved significantly in the second year. Background gags became more intricate, and the dream sequences became more surreal.
Taking Action: How to Process the BoJack Effect
Watching Season 2 BoJack Horseman can leave you feeling a bit raw. It’s a lot to take in. If you’re re-watching or seeing it for the first time, don't just binge it and move on.
- Acknowledge the Red Flags: Use Wanda's "rose-colored glasses" analogy as a tool for self-reflection. Are there situations in your life where you're ignoring the obvious because you want things to work?
- Understand the "Secretariat" Trap: Realize that external achievements—promotions, accolades, buying a boat—won't fix internal problems. They are temporary distractions.
- Watch "Let's Find Out" (Episode 8): If the New Mexico arc gets too heavy, go back and watch the game show episode. It’s a perfect distillation of the show’s ability to mix high-stakes character drama with absolute absurdity.
- Listen to the Jogger: If you’re trying to change a habit or start something new, remember the ending. It doesn't get easier because the task gets lighter; it gets easier because you get stronger. But you have to show up every day.
The legacy of this season is its refusal to give easy answers. BoJack doesn't get better by the end of the finale. He just gets another chance to try. In a world of sitcoms that wrap everything up in a neat bow, that honesty is why we’re still talking about this show. It’s messy, it’s problematic, and it’s deeply, uncomfortably human. Even if the main character is a horse.
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Stop looking for the "New Mexico" in your life—that place you think will solve everything. It doesn't exist. You're already where you are. The only way out is through, and the only way through is one day at a time. It's the hard part, but it's the only part that actually works.