Relationship Spotlight: BoJack Horseman & Todd Chavez (BoJack Horseman)

BoJack Horseman dropped the first half of its final season last month, which of course got me thinking about BoJack Horseman again (and asexuality in the media – when the show wraps up in January, there will be no confirmed aces on TV anymore.) And while all of BoJack’s major relationships on the show are important in different ways, my sentimental favorite will probably always be BoJack and Todd (a few spoilers.)

Before we get to into it, I have a few things to acknowledge. First, BoJack and Todd’s relationship has changed a lot over the course of the series, and in the most recent season, they spend very little time together, in no small part because BoJack is in the midst of a very personal journey. Second, another reason for the changes in their relationship is their serious baggage. BoJack has done some truly terrible things to Todd, and as happy-go-lucky as Todd often is, that only goes so far, and the series has seen some major riffs between them.

Looking at the series overall, though, there’s a lot to love about BoJack and Todd. In a weird way, they remind me a little bit of Blackadder and Baldrick, with Todd as the everpresent quasi-dogsbody BoJack spends much of his time being annoyed by. We’re introduced to Todd as BoJack’s roommate, although we later find out he actually crashed a party at BoJack’s house once and just never left. He sleeps on BoJack’s couch and is constantly told by BoJack to clean up his shit (seasons later, we discover that BoJack’s house has a second bedroom he never told Todd about.) This places Todd in an odd position in BoJack’s life. He’s constantly in the way and taking up space in a manner that’s purposefully impermanent, with BoJack projecting the notion that he’s way past ready for Todd to get out of his hair, but that’s not the truth of the situation.

In truth, BoJack needs Todd, destructively so (their first major falling-out occurs when Todd learns that BoJack sabotaged a big break for Todd in order to keep Todd dependent on mooching off of BoJack.) Despite all BoJack does to demean Todd and all his weary irritation at Todd’s whacky hijinks, BoJack needs Todd’s chaotic-good friendship in his life. Todd is one of the toughest nuts to crack when it comes to hitting his limit with BoJack – BoJack really has to screw things up before Todd is done with him – but whenever he does reach that point, BoJack suddenly realizes what he stands to lose. BoJack’s apologies to Todd are often dramatic and involve big gestures. Honestly, the beats tend to be similar to big rom-com declarations, albeit with a lot more zaniness. I mean, Lloyd Dobler just held up a boombox. BoJack saves Todd from a cultish improv group at sea!

And in the midst of all the effed-up stuff, there’s just so much fun. I like how BoJack can be begrudgingly cajoled into having a good time with Todd sometimes, and when they really get into the shenanigans, it’s just off the wall. One of my absolute biggest laughs from season 1 comes in the middle of BoJack’s climactic bender, in which he and Todd are so out of it they’re not sure whether they’re holding guns or brooms but decide the only way to figure it out is to see if they can shoot each other. “Let them eat guns!!!”