"That's Too Much, Man!" is the eleventh and penultimate episode of the
third season of the American animated television series ''
BoJack Horseman
''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animated black comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron Paul. Set primarily in ...
''. It was directed by J.C. Gonzalez and written by Elijah Aron and
Jordan Young.
The episode was released in the United States, along with the rest of season three, via
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
on July 22, 2016.
Plot
Having been
sober
In cryptography, SOBER is a family of stream ciphers initially designed by Greg Rose of QUALCOMM Australia starting in 1997. The name is a contrived acronym for ''S''eventeen ''O''ctet ''B''yte ''E''nabled ''R''egister. Initially the cipher was ...
for 9 months,
Sarah Lynn
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pi ...
wakes up to a calm and positive life.
BoJack calls Sarah Lynn for an invitation to a drinking party, and Sarah Lynn quickly accepts, opens a bottle of vodka, and ends her 9-month sobriety. At night, having drunk excessive amounts of alcohol with Sarah Lynn, BoJack begins to experience
blackouts.
Throughout the blackouts, the pair watch old episodes of ''Horsin' Around'', visit an
AA meeting where BoJack confesses
his attempt to sleep with
Penny
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
, and visit the houses of
Mr. Peanutbutter
''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. The series stars Will Arnett as the title character, BoJack Horseman. The supporting cast includes Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron ...
,
Diane
Diane may refer to:
People
*Diane (given name)
Film
* ''Diane'' (1929 film), a German silent film
* ''Diane'' (1956 film), a historical drama film starring Lana Turner
* ''Diane'' (2017 film), a mystery film directed by Michael Mongillo
* ''D ...
,
Princess Carolyn
''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. The series stars Will Arnett as the title character, BoJack Horseman. The supporting cast includes Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron ...
, and
Ana Spanakopita to make amends. While visiting Ana, BoJack experiences multiple blackouts while trying to hear a story about her lifeguard experience. After experiencing a two-week blackout, BoJack hears the story, in which Ana explains that she became a lifeguard after almost drowning, but was told by her instructor that there are people in this world one should not attempt saving, as they will pull you down in the long run.
After another blackout, BoJack is seen driving to
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
with Sarah Lynn to make amends with Penny. The pair find Penny at a library and follow her to a school party, where they are caught by Penny when BoJack drunkenly trips over a group of boys. Scared, Penny distressedly tells the pair to leave. Driving home, Sarah Lynn finds
the ''BoJack'' heroin BoJack had been given earlier that year. At home, the pair decide to snort the ''BoJack'' heroin, like "sophisticated adults", rather than inject it.
Now high, BoJack experiences a
flashback to 2007, in which his former boss, Cuddlywhiskers, told him that ''The BoJack Horseman Show'' was gaining bad ratings and that they should cast Sarah Lynn as a guest star. In the present, Sarah Lynn learns that she has won
the Oscar
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Original Song
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
. This saddens her, as she doesn't like who she is, so BoJack finally agrees to visit the
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is an observatory in Los Angeles, California on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the s ...
with Sarah. Inside the building, Bojack nihilistically declares that seeing how "in the great, grand scheme of things, we're just tiny specks that will one day be forgotten", it is pointless to worry about one's mistakes in the past, or how one will be remembered. Listening to this, Sarah Lynn succumbs to a
heroin overdose
An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to respiratory depression, a lethal condition that c ...
. BoJack nudges her shoulder and calls her name multiple times.
Reception
Critical response
The episode received widespread acclaim from critics. Les Chappell, writing for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...
'', gave the episode an A. He praised the development of BoJack's character, and the show's movement from a comedy to a drama, stating that "BoJack Horseman wants to believe that his life is a sitcom... but BoJack Horseman isn't even close to being a sitcom. For all its bright colors, absurd images, and a plethora of puns, it's a show whose path is littered with broken things, a dark and uncompromising world more on par with prestige cable dramas." Jenny Jaffe, writing for ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...
'', gave the episode a rating of 5 out of 5 stars, lauding the ending of the episode, stating that "It is hard to imagine another show putting its characters through quite as much as BoJack
assuffered over the past three seasons. More impressive is how the writers allow those choices to influence the way each character does or doesn't grow. 'That's Too Much, Man!' goes a step further still. If you thought BoJack's Oscar campaign might serve as the crux as the season, you severely underestimated just how dark this show can get." Sarah Manuszak, writing for ''
The Bull & Bear
''The Bull & Bear'' is a student-run magazine at McGill University. Founded in 2003, the magazine was initially conceived as a platform for the voice of students in the Desautels Faculty of Management. In 2012, the magazine widened its scope t ...
'', praised Sarah Lynn's character development, stating that "Until her death, Sarah Lynn did not get the chance to live her own life." Valerie Ettenhofer, writing for ''
Film School Rejects
Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry news, and feature commentary. It was founded by Neil Miller in February 2006.
The site was nominated for Best News Blog by '' Total Film'' magazine and na ...
'', noted that this episode was the "Tragic Centerpiece of ''
BoJack Horseman
''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animated black comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron Paul. Set primarily in ...
''".
Accolades
For her performance as Sarah Lynn in the episode,
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on '' Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on ' ...
received a nomination at the
69th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2016 until May 31, 2017, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 17, 2017 at the M ...
for
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.
References
External links
"That's Too Much, Man!"on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
*
{{BoJack Horseman
BoJack Horseman episodes
2016 American television episodes
Netflix original television series episodes