Watching the final episode of Bojack Horseman left me staring blankly at my iPad screen, feeling isolated. No explanations, no proper closure, and no real resolution—only lingering questions without answers. It mirrored the dull unpredictability of everyday life.
Now, I find myself compelled to break down, analyze, and reflect on the finale, trying to replace uncertainty with my interpretation. That is why this piece exists—a personal attempt to understand Bojack Horseman’s conclusion by explaining it to myself.
Unanswered questions and quiet goodbyes define the ending (Photo: BoJack Horseman/ShadowMachine and Tornante Company)Hollyhock’s Letter and Its Silent Message
The contents of Hollyhock’s letter remain a complete mystery. However, one can assume it carried a simple but definitive message: “Bojack, stay away.” Every action Hollyhock took afterward—ignoring his calls, changing her number, and cutting him off—suggests she made a firm decision to remove him from her life.
For a long time, she had been the person keeping Bojack from spiraling, yet after receiving the letter, he immediately relapses. This forms a crucial theme in his final conversation with Diane: the people we hold dear may choose to leave, yet their impact on us does not fade.
Accepting Hollyhock’s decision becomes part of Bojack’s journey, even though unresolved emotions remain, especially regarding their father.
The Choice to Portray Butterscotch Horseman as Secretariat
A moment of genuine conversation finally plays out between Bojack and Butterscotch/Secretariat as they step outside for a smoke. For the first time, there is honesty between them. Butterscotch had always craved the admiration of his wife and son but masked his vulnerabilities behind walls of pride and detachment.
His failure to bridge this emotional gap with his family left Bojack with deep regrets—if only such a conversation had happened while his father was alive.
Despite Butterscotch’s absence from Bojack’s past mansion dreams, he now appears, but in the form of Secretariat. Secretariat, to young Bojack, represented the kind of adult he aspired to become—a role model.
The first cigarette Bojack ever smoked was an attempt to imitate Secretariat, and in this dreamlike encounter, they finally share one. Beneath this interaction lies an unspoken fear—the terrifying possibility that Bojack has, in many ways, become the very man he once resented.
“You are Secretariat.” The secretariat is his father. He has become his father.
The Meaning Behind the Meal at the Mansion
The guests in the manor are consuming the very things that caused their demise. Herb, for instance, is eating peanuts—the same allergy that eventually ended his life, despite surviving cancer. Corduroy, who met his fate attempting The Funky Spiderman, has a plate of lemons in front of him.
The weight of regret echoes in a dreamlike farewell (Photo: BoJack Horseman/ShadowMachine and Tornante Company)And Bojack? He drinks water from the pool, grimacing at its chlorine taste, and takes pills—both of which were responsible for his near-fatal incident in his swimming pool. The realization of this connection comes to him too late.
By the time he fully grasps what is happening, the abyss has already consumed everything, leaving only the sound of Diane’s voice—the final face the audience sees before the show fades to black.
Bojack and Diane’s Last Conversation at Princess Carolyn’s Wedding
Conclusion of Emptiness takes center stage in the last interaction. The conclusion of Bojack Horseman lacks the kind of structured, TV-friendly closure often expected in finales. Instead, it leaves things open-ended, and unresolved. Some may argue that this is frustrating, that it robs viewers of a satisfying conclusion—
But that argument misses the point. The entire foundation of the show is reflected in that final moment. The uncomfortable, silent, anti-climactic nature of their last conversation is intentional. Bojack and Diane sit together, yet there is nothing left to say.
After everything they have endured, words are useless. And so, the show ends just as real-life conversations often do—awkward, unresolved, and filled with an uneasy quiet. A silence that, in its way, feels complete.
