"Time's Arrow" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the American

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated Black comedy, black Comedy drama, comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F ...

''. It was written by

Kate Purdy Kate Purdy is an American writer and producer of television series. She grew up in San Antonio,Texas, United States. She is known for her work as a writer on the Netflix adult animated comedy series ''BoJack Horseman'', which she also produced. Sh ...

and directed by Aaron Long. The episode was released in the United States, along with the rest of season four, 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 fil ...

on September 8, 2017.

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

Majandra Delfino Maria Alejandra Delfino ( ; born February 20, 1981), known professionally as Majandra Delfino, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Maria DeLuca on '' Roswell'', and as Andi on the CBS sitcom ''Friends with Bette ...

, and

Wendie Malick Wendie Malick (born December 13, 1950) is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles in various television comedies. She starred as Judith Tupper Stone in the HBO sitcom '' Dream On'', and as Nina Van Horn in the NBC sitc ...

provide voices in guest appearances in the episode. The episode follows a non-linear structure, looking at the life of

's mother,

Beatrice Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated ...

, and her battle with

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

and deteriorating health. In February 2018, "Time's Arrow" won the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation at the 70th WGA Awards.

Plot

Through

's fuzzy memories, it is revealed how her father (

) pushed her toward a potential suitor, whom she spurns in favor of the dashing aspiring writer,

Butterscotch Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. The series stars Will Arnett as the title character, BoJack Horseman (character), BoJack Horseman. The supporting cast includes Amy Sedaris, ...

. She becomes pregnant by Butterscotch, marries him, and they move to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Their marriage falters as their dreams fail to pan out; she becomes unhappy and bitter, and both drink heavily and take out their frustrations on BoJack. Butterscotch later has an affair with a maid named

Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Henrie ...

, an aspiring nurse. Beatrice convinces Henrietta to give up the baby for adoption so that she can continue in nursing school. Hollyhock is thus revealed not to be BoJack's daughter, as previously assumed, but his

half-sister A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

Reception

"Time's Arrow" received universal acclaim from critics, many of whom described it as one of the best episodes of the season and of the series. Les Chappell of ''

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 cre ...

'', who gave the episode an "A", wrote that there was "no episode of television to simultaneously anticipate and dread more in the year than Time's Arrow" Julia Alexander, writing for ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'', described "Time's Arrow" as "TV's best episode of 2017". In ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', Lenika Cruz noted the episode's effectiveness at its portrayal of female characters.

References

External links

"Time's Arrow"
on

* {{WritersGuildofAmericaAnimationScreenplay BoJack Horseman episodes 2017 American television episodes Works about dementia