BoJack Hates the Troops

"BoJack Hates the Troops" is the second episode of the first season of the American animated television series BoJack Horseman. Written by series creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg and directed by J.C. Gonzalez, it was released on Netflix in the United States on August 22, 2014, along with the rest of season one. The episode includes guest appearances by Rachel Bloom, Judy Greer, Wendie Malick, and Minae Noji.

"BoJack Hates the Troops"
BoJack Horseman episode
BoJack (right) overhears Pam (left) mocking him while on the phone with her friend.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 2
Directed by	J.C. Gonzalez
Written by	Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Production code	102[1]
Original release date	August 22, 2014 (2014-08-22)[1]
Running time	25 minutes
Guest appearances
Rachel Bloom as Laura Judy Greer as Pam Wendie Malick as Beatrice Horseman Minae Noji as Ayako
Episode chronology
List of episodes

In the episode, BoJack starts an altercation with a war veteran over muffins in a grocery store. The story follows BoJack's attempts to repair his reputation following public backlash over the incident.

"BoJack Hates the Troops" was conceived early in the series' development. A version of the episode was developed as a pilot presentation before the show was picked up by Netflix. Will Arnett, the voice of BoJack, has said that he was convinced to join the series after reading the script.

The episode has received mixed reviews, being labeled the best episode of the season by some critics and the worst by others. Its premise has been compared to that of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld.

Plot

In the cold open, BoJack is mocked by women in a bar who recognize him from the 1990s sitcom Horsin' Around. He confronts one of them, and they have a one-night stand. He wakes up to find his roommate Todd eating his last Toaster Strudel, so he goes to the supermarket to buy more.

At the market, BoJack and a seal named Neal McBeal fight over a box of muffins. Later, Diane, the ghostwriter of BoJack's memoir, questions him about his childhood. They are interrupted by news coverage of the supermarket on MSNBSea; the anchor reveals McBeal is a Navy SEAL on leave from Afghanistan and rebukes BoJack for "stealing" food from a war veteran.

BoJack calls the station to defend himself, but makes things worse by arguing with McBeal and making self-deprecating remarks. In a follow-up interview, BoJack generalizes that "a lot of the troops are jerks"; this is taken out of context to fuel the story that he "hates the troops". BoJack's house is mobbed by angry protestors and news reporters, who prioritize the story over a White House briefing.

BoJack resolves to hide at Diane's house, where he stonewalls her about his relationship with his father. BoJack's agent, Princess Carolyn, arranges a meeting with McBeal, setting BoJack up to give him new muffins as an apology. BoJack reluctantly agrees to let Diane's fiancé, Mr. Peanutbutter, host the meeting on the pilot episode for his new reality show.

During the meeting, Todd hands BoJack a bag of stale hamburger buns instead of muffins. BoJack pivots, calling the stale buns a metaphor for mistreated veterans, and McBeal appreciates the gesture. BoJack finally opens up to Diane about his traumatic memory of his parents.

Production

Will Arnett provides the voice for the titular BoJack Horseman.

"BoJack Hates the Troops" was conceived after series creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg pitched BoJack Horseman to The Tornante Company. According to Bob-Waksberg, the company asked for a script to help them "get [more into] the world"; in response, he came up with several episode ideas, and created a ten-minute pilot presentation called "BoJack Supports the Troops!".^[2]

The pilot version differed from the final episode in several ways; notably, the Navy SEAL was a greyhound rather than a seal, and the news station was Fox News rather than a parody of MSNBC. The pilot version also had a different narrative conclusion. The final opening sequence at the bar was taken from Bob-Waksberg's original series pitch.^[3]

Bob-Waksberg shared the pilot script with Will Arnett, who recalls "immediately laughing" upon reading it. Arnett asked his agent to schedule an audition for the series and would later go on to provide the voice of BoJack.^[2][4] When Netflix eventually picked up the series, Bob-Waksberg based the first episode on his original pilot pitch, developing "BoJack Hates the Troops" as episode two.^[4]

According to Bob-Waksberg, the first recording for the episode was between him, the producers, Mike Hollingsworth, and "probably" Michael Eisner. He recalls that Amy Sedaris recorded her lines via phone call. Bob-Waksberg noted that he was conscious about having guest stars early on as he wanted the series to stand on its own.^[2]

The episode premiered on Netflix, along with the rest of season one, on August 22, 2014.^[5] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 30, 2019, in the BoJack Horseman: Seasons One & Two – Collector's Edition set.^[6]

Reception

The episode was met with mild reviews upon release. Kevin Zawacki of Paste Magazine labeled it a satire of "reality television and dangers of jingoism". While calling it ambitious and "funny at times", Zawacki also critiqued it as feeling "largely passé" and reliant on overused rhetoric; he ultimately rated the episode 7.2/10.^[7] Willa Paskin of Slate called it one of the season's more engaging episodes, praising its ability to "raise the point without haranguing its audience".^[8]

Les Chappell of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C+, commending its willingness to address "hot-button issues" like supporting the military early in the series, but criticizing it for not taking a clear stance. He compared the episode to sitcoms Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, which also feature protagonists who tend to exacerbate problems due to their stubborn nature.^[9]

Overall rankings of the episode are more polarizing. Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek called it the worst episode of season one: "not awful", but lacking the melancholy tone that underlines the rest of the series.^[10] Collider was more favorable, with Liam Gaughan calling it the best episode of season one but similarly acknowledging that it fails to foreshadow the series' darker tone.^[11] In Slant's overall ranking of the series, Rob Humanick placed the episode last but praised it for laying a strong foundation for future plotlines.^[12]

Themes and analysis

"BoJack Hates The Troops” is the first instance of BoJack Horseman approaching territory beyond simple Hollywood satire... It’s interesting to view this early effort as a first step in that direction before the writers were sharp and bold enough to tackle the hard topics."

Les Chappell, The A.V. Club

Christopher Hooton of The Independent describes the general tone of season one as "in part a commentary on the systematic character assassination of spiraling Hollywood stars". He compares BoJack to Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan, highlighting BoJack being misquoted in the media and "failing to set the record straight" with his memoir as examples.^[13] In a review of a later episode, Les Chappell points to this episode as the series' first step into discussing "deeper controversies".^[14]

Daniel Pinto of the Stony Brook Press points to "BoJack Hates the Troops" as evidence of BoJack being "nihilistic, yet highly conscientious" of his public image, a throughline of his early characterization. He highlights that BoJack's selfishness in this episode sets up a later episode where a character refuses to forgive BoJack for similar behavior in the past.^[15]

BoJack's colloquial use of the singular "troop", typically used in the plural form "troops", has been described as "[striking] a certain comedic note". Kayla Libbe of InsideHook cites an Atlantic op-ed by John McWorter to claim that the use of the word "troops" raises an ethical issue, being more impersonal than terms like "soldier" or "marine", and serving to distance these individuals from the "grievously dangerous conditions" they often work under.^[16]

See also

• Support our troops
• 24-hour news cycle