The View from Halfway Down is the fifteenth episode of Season 6 of the Netflix original series BoJack Horseman, and the 75th episode overall. It premiered with the rest of Part 2 of Season 6 on January 31, 2020.
Synopsis
BoJack reconnects with faces from his past.
Plot
In BoJack’s dream, he arrived at his mother’s house with twelve-year-old Sarah Lynn with a plant in hand as a gift. Beatrice invited them in and Beatrice announces BoJack’s arrival as Sarah Lynn runs into the living room. BoJack gives his mother the plant and she sarcastically thanks him. She puts the plant on the table as black tar starts dripping on the plant from the ceiling. Beatrice tells BoJack that he arrived just in time as a bird had flown in through the window and they’re having trouble getting her out of the house.
In the living room, the other dinner party guests are other people who have predeceased BoJack; Herb Kazzaz, Corduroy Jackson Jackson, and Crackerjack Sugarman. The other guests including Sarah Lynn are chasing around the bird trying to get her out of the house, seemingly having fun while doing it.
Beatrice’s butler tells her someone is on the phone for her, and BoJack is surprised that Zach Braff is her butler. BoJack tries to explain to Beatrice who Zach Braff is but she simply asks “You mean my butler?” When Beatrice takes the phone call in the kitchen she tells BoJack to help with the bird. BoJack has a brief conversation with Herb who expresses joy at the fact BoJack came to the party. BoJack tells Herb that he kept having a recurring dream about having a dinner party with everyone who had died so he decided to do it for real.
He then has a brief but pleasant interaction with his uncle Crackerjack who tries to help BoJack hit the bird with a pillow until she flies off and Crackerjack moves on. BoJack then has an awkward interaction with Corduroy who asks him if he was still weirded out because the last time he saw Corduroy was when he was “...naked, hanging from [my] iPhone charger, holding a lemon, with a very erect penis despite being deceased in [my] trailer for over an hour." When BoJack answers “Yep," Corduroy tells BoJack that he needs to get over it. When Corduroy tries wrapping a rope that he’s holding around his neck, BoJack stops him and Corduroy stops, stating that he forgot where he was for a second.
Sarah Lynn runs up to BoJack with a poker asking if it will help get the bird out of the house. BoJack starts chasing the bird around the living room while the others watch and cheer him on. BoJack chases the bird into the kitchen and she flies out of the window and everyone except Beatrice celebrates. Beatrice informs the group that her husband is going to be late and they are going to start dinner without him. Crackerjack asks if he’s going to be in time for the showcase, and Beatrice says “He better be” and she leads them into the dining room.
Everyone is in the dining room and BoJack is sitting at the head of the table. Everyone is going around the table talking about the best and worst moments of their lives. Sarah Lynn, who has aged up to her eighteen-year-old self, says the best moment of her life was being asked for her autograph for the first time and since she was so little she didn’t know how to write her name so she just drew a squiggly line. While she’s talking, BoJack is given water. As Sarah Lynn describes giving autographs as being more of a chore after the first time, the house starts to rumble and BoJack notices black tar forming a pool on the ceiling. When trying to stand up asking what the black tar is, Zach Braff sits BoJack back down and serves him a plate of pills.
Crackerjack says his best moment was when he enlisted in the army. As Crackerjack continues to talk, Beatrice asks BoJack if he’s ready to sing “The Lollipop Song” in the showcase, and BoJack tells Beatrice that he never makes it to the showcase. Crackerjack continues, saying he didn’t know that enlisting in the army would lead to the two worst moments of his life. Corduroy is surprised by this, saying that he didn’t know that they can pick two worst moments, while Herb tells Corduroy that it’s a conversation, not an assignment.
Corduroy then goes on to say that he has three worst moments of his life that he wants to share and Herb tells him that’s way too many. Zach Braff continues to serve everyone their dinners. Sarah Lynn is given a hamburger and fries, Herb is given peanuts, Corduroy, a lemon, Crackerjack, food rations, and Beatrice low-grade cafeteria food.
Crackerjack goes on to reveal that the two worst parts of his life were having to say goodbye to his mother and watching his general get shot in the face before that very same bullet hit Crackerjack in the head subsequently killing him, and Crackerjack moves his hair to reveal a bullet hole in his forehead. Herb tells Crackerjack that at least his death was instantaneous as Herb recalls the loud drips of his IV from when he had cancer. Suddenly the black tar on the ceiling starts dripping down on BoJack’s head.
When asked about the best and worst parts of his life, BoJack says the worst part of his life was right before he found himself at the dinner party since he went to Angela Diaz’s house. He interrupts himself by taking a drink of water but he spits it out asking if anybody else has water that tastes like chlorine and asks Zach Braff for different water. Corduroy asks Crackerjack if he believes his death meant something since it was for a greater cause. Crackerjack says that question is too big for someone like him to answer, while Beatrice tells Corduroy that Crackerjack’s death did mean something saying that her brother gave the ultimate sacrifice. BoJack says that when people valorize the idea of sacrifice, loss and suffering people tend to internalize the idea that being happy is selfish but sacrifice doesn’t mean anything.
Sarah Lynn, who has aged up to her thirty-one-year-old self, says that sacrifice does mean something. BoJack says that sacrifice in the service of something greater might mean something but questions what’s the good in sacrifice in and of itself. Sarah Lynn says that there is a lot of good to come from sacrifice, saying that she sacrificed a lot and she was “freaking awesome." Beatrice questions what did Sarah Lynn ever sacrifice and Sarah Lynn said she gave her whole life. Beatrice dismisses Sarah Lynn saying that she died in a hedonistic bender. Sarah Lynn clarifies that she’s not talking about her death but she’s talking about her life, saying that she gave her whole life.
Herb says that if they talk about everyone’s whole life then they are going to be at the table all night trying to steer the conversation back to the original point. Sarah Lynn says that the worst part of her life was the 2007 “Sexually Confident Virgin Tour." She goes on to explain that her manager had leaked nude pictures of her on the Internet to get more tour dates added and her mom pointed out every carb she ever ate, but it gave millions of fans a show they won’t ever forget. As Sarah Lynn continues to talk, the black tar continues to drip on BoJack’s head. Corduroy tells Sarah Lynn that her exploits as a pop star were just a high she chased, saying that it doesn’t compare to Crackerjack’s time in the military, the comparison making Crackerjack visibly uncomfortable. Sarah Lynn turns to Herb hoping that he would back her up. Herb says that he used to believe that the work he did and the joy he brought meant something, saying that he was so close to winning an Emmy before he lost it all.
As the black tar continues to drip, BoJack asks if anyone is noticing the leak. Beatrice says that they’ll get a bucket but since the tar is falling on BoJack he’s going to have to hold the bucket. Herb continues, saying that when he got fired from Horsin’ Around he was able to become his true authentic self being out of the closet as a gay man in the 90s. Sarah Lynn questions what does being authentic has to do with anything. Herb then explains that when he was not hiding behind a façade he was able to be at peace with himself which is when he decided to get into philanthropy.
When Corduroy asked if he could ask Herb something, Herb pokes fun at the fact that Corduroy is asking Herb if he can ask him a question and BoJack jumps in much to the annoyance of everyone except Crackerjack. Corduroy asks if Herb really got pleasure out of his charity work, and Herb says his philanthropy dwarfed every other joy in his life. Corduroy then goes on to say that it doesn’t count then since he got pleasure out of it then it wasn’t a selfless act, and good deeds are only good if it’s selfless.
As Corduroy talks, Sarah Lynn continues drinking her soda while BoJack plays with the pills on his plate. Herb asks who made that rule up saying that he helped people also going on to ask who cares if it made him feel good. Corduroy then goes on to say that feeling good is inherently selfish. Corduroy then goes on to mention Christ before being interrupted by Beatrice who tells him that she doesn’t appreciate the talk of religion in her house. Corduroy continues, saying that he was constantly trying to feel good and always looking for maximum pleasure, and that was one of the worst parts of his life.
As the tar continues to drip on his head, BoJack says that for him, discovering Corduroy in his trailer was one of the top five worst moments of his life. Sarah Lynn goes on to state that she helped a lot of people and she wasn’t a bad person. Sarah Lynn goes on to accuse everyone of accusing her of being a bad person with their charity work, being authentic and killing Nazis.
Crackerjack clarifies that he never actually killed a Nazi and all of his kills were friendly fire much to everyone’s shock. He goes on to say he never liberated any camps either and he reveals that he doesn’t actually know what he did during his time in the military. Just then, Zach Braff hands BoJack a bucket to hold over his head to catch the drips of tar and he also informs Beatrice that her husband has arrived much to BoJack’s shock who claims that his father has never made it to dinner before. Sarah Lynn then asks the group if anyone has ever had a song of theirs played in outer space saying that her hit single “No, No, No (No Means Yes)” made its way to Mars. She goes on to say that it has to mean something since she will be remembered.
Just then, Beatrice‘s husband walks in. Although Beatrice was married to Butterscotch Horseman, her husband takes the form of BoJack’s childhood hero Secretariat. Beatrice passive aggressively tells Secretariat that he didn’t miss anything and she asks him why shouldn’t they just bend themselves to his schedule. Secretariat gets annoyed saying that he had already apologized for being late and that he had been running. Secretariat and Beatrice get into a brief argument before settling back into their seats. Secretariat is presented with two sunny side up eggs, coffee and alcohol.
Herb tells Secretariat that they’re playing the best part/the worst part. Herb says that the best part of his life was doing work in Machu Picchu. He confesses that after he was fired off of Horsin’ Around he thought about killing himself much to BoJack’s dismay. Herb says that he didn’t because the Knicks were having a good season and he wanted to see how the year ended for them. BoJack is surprised, asking Herb what he would’ve done had the Knicks not been having a good season and Herb says he would’ve just switched to baseball. Secretariat admonishes Herb for his lack of follow-through, saying that Herb wasn’t serious about killing himself. Herb goes on to say that he was glad that he didn’t and that when he was in Machu Picchu he realized that there was so much more he could be doing with his life.
Secretariat cuts in and says that the worst part of his life was on August 22, 1973, when he was banned from racing ever again. He goes on to explain that racing was the only thing that made sense to him and since he was no longer allowed to do that he was nobody. As Secretariat talks, BoJack starts eating his pills but ends up spitting them out. Secretariat says that his best part was committing suicide by jumping off off the bridge, going on to explain that it was his choice and he got to go out on his own terms and there are not many people that can say that.
As Secretariat continues by admiring the view while he was standing on the bridge moments before he jumped, BoJack spits black tar out onto the table much to everyone’s amusement. He says it must’ve come from swimming earlier. As he tries to remember when he went swimming, Secretariat tells BoJack not to think about it and asks him what the best part of his life was. BoJack says the best part of his life was when he took a teaching job at Wesleyan University in the drama department and he helped a student work through a scene he was having trouble with. BoJack goes on to explain that the reason that moment was special to him is it felt good to help someone do something, and he liked it because it reminded him of when he was younger and first starting out in the acting business. BoJack tells Herb that it also reminded him of when he and Herb were going to comedy clubs doing stand up and that might’ve been the best time of his life. As dinner concludes Beatrice asks if they’re ready to start the show.
Everyone leaves for the theater in the other room, and BoJack says goodbye to everyone. When Sarah Lynn asks if BoJack is coming, BoJack tells Sarah Lynn that this is the part in the dream where he normally wakes up. Sarah Lynn follows the others into the theater saying that maybe BoJack would be able to come to the showcase next time. Zach Braff reaches over and grabs BoJack’s plate before walking off. Much to BoJack’s confusion he’s still in the dream and hasn’t woken up yet.
As BoJack has not woken up from the dream yet he decides to go to the showcase which is hosted by Herb. Herb introduces the opening act which is Sarah Lynn. Before her performance, Sarah Lynn decides to dedicate her performance to BoJack. When the Spotlight shifts to BoJack he proceeds to apologize for everything that happened to Sarah Lynn but she interrupts him before going back to the piano to start her song. Sarah Lynn starts to play Don’t Stop Dancing ‘Til The Curtains Call which quickly transitions into a song to the theme of her song Prickly Muffin. Towards the end, the song transitions back to Don’t Stop Dancing ‘Til The Curtain Call. Suddenly a door frame appears and Sarah Lynn walks towards it. As she finishes the song the door opens revealing nothing but darkness.
As she repeats the last two lines of the song twice more “Don’t stop dancing," she holds her breath and falls backward into the darkness behind the door frame and vanishes completely. BoJack runs to the door looking for Sarah Lynn but she’s gone and Herb introduces Corduroy’s aerial act. While Corduroy performs his piece, BoJack tries to ask Herb where does the door lead and Herb tells him that he should sit down and he’ll get a chance to perform. Before they can finish the conversation, Corduroy swings himself into the door frame and disappears into the darkness. BoJack sits back down next to Secretariat and Herb introduces Zach Braff. Shortly thereafter, BoJack leaves with Secretariat to smoke.
BoJack and Secretariat walk outside onto a bridge, the same bridge Secretariat jumped off of when he committed suicide. BoJack asks Secretariat what is behind the door and Secretariat ignores the question entirely and expresses annoyance towards Herb, saying that he doesn’t believe that Herb truly found peace when he was in Machu Picchu. BoJack says that he believes Herb but Secretariat assures BoJack that every single person in the theater would go back and live their lives over if they could. He says that peace is someone trying to convince themselves that life has meaning or purpose, and if you do everything the right way then there’s a parting gift at the end.
Secretariat goes on to explain that all that time that the others spent trying to make a name for themselves or do good deeds in the world, landed them in the same place as him as he did none of that stuff. BoJack tells Secretariat that he was the fastest runner in the world and he was an inspiration to millions, but Secretariat says that despite that he ended up in the same place as BoJack. BoJack asks Secretariat if he could go back and do things differently what would he do.
Secretariat says that he wouldn’t have cared so much about everything. Secretariat, speaking in Butterscotch's voice tells BoJack that he did care. BoJack brushes off this sentiment saying that all he cared about was his book, getting drunk, and telling people how miserable he was. Secretariat insists that he cared a great deal about BoJack and Beatrice and he wanted BoJack to love him and respect him but he was so afraid of BoJack knowing that.
BoJack regrets the fact that he and his father never got to speak like that to each other in real life but at the very least they were able to do it before he woke up. Secretariat insists that BoJack really doesn’t get it before tossing his cigarette over the bridge and returning to the theater. BoJack looks over the edge of the bridge and spots the silhouette of his body floating in the pool of his old house. Reality starts setting in for BoJack when he realizes this is the reason he hasn’t woken up yet.
Back at the theater, Zach Braff is about to perform his roller skate routine when BoJack bursts in and tells him to stop the show, asking what is going on. Zach Braff tells BoJack that he’s being rude and he’s about to perform form his rollerskating routine. Secretariat and Zach try to get BoJack to calm down, and Zach tries to get BoJack to sit down put BoJack pushes Zach backward and Zach slowly slides towards the open door. As he’s sliding towards the door, Zach expresses regret for all the things he didn’t get to do such as direct his “Backdraft” remake “Zach Braff’s Backdraft," finish his memoir “I Started A Zach Which Started The Whole World Braffing," or license Zach Braff short stack breakfast attack at Shake shack.
Before he finishes he falls backward into the door frame and disappears into the darkness. As BoJack continues to panic, he asks Herb how he got there and Herb replies “How the hell should I know?“ BoJack tries retracing his steps, recalling that he broke into his old house, he was watching the “Horsin’ Around“ Blu-ray, and he drank and took some pills and then he went swimming. Just then the image of BoJack‘s body floating in the pool appears on the ceiling of the theater. Then BoJack remembers he got out of the pool and called Diane. Herb tries to tell Bojack that they’re trying to do a show.
However, BoJack continues to retrace his steps saying that he called Diane and he couldn’t have drowned in the pool if he had gotten out of the pool to call Diane. BoJack wants to finish his conversation with Diane and tries to leave the room to find a phone but the exit disappears. As BoJack continues to panic, Herb invites Secretariat to the stage. Crackerjack tries to calm BoJack down and guides him back to his seat saying that freaking out isn’t going to change anything, while Beatrice tells BoJack that something like this was bound to happen to him sooner or later.
Secretariat takes the stage and starts reading his poem “The View From Halfway Down." When he’s partway through, the spotlight reveals the open door behind Secretariat, but Secretariat assures the audience that he’s not finished yet. When he gets to the part of his poem where he starts expressing regret for committing suicide in the first place, Secretariat starts to panic and the door inches its way closer to him. Secretariat continues to panic saying he's changed his mind as Herb tries to console him. As Secretariat regrets not admiring the view from halfway down after he jumped off the bridge he stumbles backward and falls through the door frame and disappears into the darkness.
BoJack panics and tries to run through the exit, which had reappeared, but he ends up on stage instead. Crackerjack, bleeding through the bullet wound in his forehead, tells BoJack that nothing he does it is going to matter, while a slightly aged Beatrice tells BoJack that all his screaming and struggling isn’t going to pull his body out of the pool and Herb tells BoJack he needs to sit down. Herb tells BoJack that there’s a possibility that somebody’s going to find him and save him and there’s also a possibility that someone won’t. BoJack asks Herb if anyone’s ever come back from “this place," and Herb tells BoJack there is no “place," his brain is just going through what it feels like it needs to go through and all he can do now is sit back and enjoy the show.
Herb returns to the stage and introduces Beatrice Horseman and Crackerjack Sugarman. Crackerjack starts to play I Will Always Think of You on the trumpet while Beatrice starts to dance. Partly through her dance, Beatrice starts dancing with a ribbon baton and jumps into the audience. Towards the end of her dance, Beatrice manages to suspend her self in the air while spinning and her ribbon gets longer. Crackerjack stops playing the trumpet although the music keeps going while his trumpet is suspended in the air. Beatrice wraps herself in the ribbon as she keeps spinning and Crackerjack ties the end of the ribbon to his waist and jumps into the door frame and disappears. As Beatrice keeps spinning black tar reaches out from the door frame and consumes Beatrice and she vanishes too. Just then Beatrice’s ribbon falls to the ground as does Crackerjack’s trumpet and the music stops.
Herb then goes on to introduce BoJack describing him as “The star of ‘Horsin’ Around’ and ‘The BoJack Horseman Show’! ‘Philbert’! ‘Secretariat’! The upcoming ‘Horny Unicorn’! Son of Butterscotch and Beatrice! Husband to no one! Father to none, that we know of! Standup comedian, actor, crippling alcoholic! A talented charmer and a stupid piece of shit.” BoJack then takes the stage and approaches the open door and asks if it’s terrifying. Herb says that he doesn’t think it’s scary saying that everything must come to an end at some point. BoJack says that he’ll see Herb on the other side. As Herb is consumed by the black tar that starts to leak from inside the door, he says that there is no other side and this is the end, before vanishing.
BoJack states that he needs to make a phone call before running out of the theater and through the dining room. As he runs through the dining room he hears indistinct chatter as he’s being chased by the black tar. He runs to the living room and tries to bolt to the exit but the plant he had given his mother earlier had mutated and blocked the door. He runs to the bird he had chased out earlier who had somehow found her way back in the house, telling her that he’s looking for a phone. The bird turns around and her head begins to emerge from her mouth on a continuous loop. As the house continues to fill with black tar, the bird makes its way towards BoJack who takes a poker and chases her into the kitchen. As the bird struggles to make its way out of the window, the black tar consumes her.
In a panic, BoJack takes the kitchen phone and Diane answers much to his relief. Frantic, BoJack asks Diane if she’s going to save him since he called her, and he asks if she’s coming to get him. Diane asks BoJack why did he call her and reminds him that she’s in Chicago and she can’t save him. BoJack, seemingly at peace, realizes that when he got out of the pool to call Diane she didn’t pick up the phone and it went to voicemail and after he left her a voice message he went back in the pool.
BoJack leaves the house and walks back onto the bridge as Diane tells him it’s too late and what’s done is done. As BoJack watches the black tar consume the silhouette of his body floating in the pool, Diane tells BoJack there’s nothing she can do as she is not real and nothing that’s happening is real either. BoJack asks Diane what he should do and she tells him it doesn’t matter. BoJack asks Diane that since it doesn’t matter can he stay on the phone with her and she allows him to. As the black tar consumes him he simply talks to Diane about her day. Diane says she had a good day and the black tar consumes BoJack completely. The screen goes black and a heart rate monitor goes flat but then starts beeping again indicating BoJack is still alive.
Cast
| Actor | Character | |
|---|---|---|
| Will Arnett | ... | BoJack Horseman, Butterscotch Horseman/Secretariat |
| Alison Brie | ... | Diane Nguyen |
| Zach Braff | ... | Zach Braff |
| Brandon T. Jackson | ... | Corduroy |
| Wendie Malick | ... | Beatrice Horseman |
| Lin-Manuel Miranda | ... | Crackerjack |
| Kristen Schaal | ... | Sarah Lynn |
| Stanley Tucci | ... | Herb Kazzaz |
Trivia
- Secretariat and Butterscotch Horseman were blended into a single character during BoJack's dream sequence. This may be because Secretariat was more of a father figure and role model to BoJack growing up than his actual father was.
- Considering each person in the dream are people BoJack knows who has died, it's somewhat implied the bird in the dream could have been the one from BoJack's story about 'what happens when a baby bird gets pushed out of the nest too soon' as mentioned in Zoës and Zeldas.
- The song Crackerjack plays on the trumpet is I Will Always Think of You the same special song he and his mother used to play on the piano together.
- BoJack's suicide attempt is similar to how he said he wanted to go out in Downer Ending, going for a final swim, and being too tired to swim back so he lets the water take him under.
- The recurring theme of tar in this episode could be a possible reference to Charlotte saying, "L.A. is like a tar pit."
- At the dinner scene, most of the characters were given the last meal and beverage they had before dying:
- BoJack is served a plate of pills, the last thing he ingested before his drowning. The water he is given is highly chlorinated, like the pool he drowned in.
- Herb eats a bowl of peanuts, as it was ultimately an allergic reaction to peanuts that caused his death. He is not given anything to drink. This may be because he was not drinking any fluids while battling cancer and was instead being hydrated by IV.
- Crackerjack eats a military C-Ration and is given a canteen.
- Beatrice is served what appears to be low-quality cafeteria food from the hospital she ultimately passed away in. She is given a Jello cup and a styrofoam cup with a bendy straw.
- Corduroy was given a lemon, as biting into a lemon was an essential part of his auto-erotic asphyxiation ritual and he was found dead with a sliced lemon. He is served what appears to be a protein shake in a shaker cup as well.
- Secretariat is given two eggs, referencing how he was a professional racehorse. Eggs are highly recommended among athletes due to their high protein value and numerous health benefits. He also receives some alcohol that he pours into his coffee, reflecting Butterscotch's drinking habits. This could have also been the breakfast Butterscotch had eaten before perishing in a duel.
- Sarah Lynn is given a burger, French fries, and a soda. These all appear to be from a fast food joint. This is presumably the last meal she had while she was on her bender with Bojack. She also mentions how her mother would weight-shame her while she was touring in 2007, alluding to both her struggles with a life of fame, and how she turned to a life of addiction and self-destruction following a visit from Bojack that same year.
- Zach Braff prepares and serves food instead of eating because his death was a result of cannibalism in Underground.