Grief in Death's Shadow | 'The Old Sugarman Place' Explained

SPOILER WARNING FOR SEASONS 1-6 OF BOJACK HORSEMAN
The Old Sugarman Place is my favorite episode of BoJack Horseman. This story comes on the heels of Sarah Lynn’s untimely death, at a point where the audience and BoJack are both grieving, and fittingly, grief is what is explored so thoroughly in this episode. Primarily through the eyes of BoJack, Honey Sugarman and Eddie the Dragonfly, we take an in depth look at the many ways death and grief can break us, and the ways that improperly dealing with that grief can have major long term effects on us and those we love. Enjoy this breakdown of this masterpiece from BoJack Horseman season 4.

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Thumbnail by Ravioli!

Music:
Johnny 2 Cellos Theme Music - Norman Marston

Video Used:
BoJack Horseman (2014-2020)

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted.

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[JohnnyCellos]

I’ve got some regrets about how I covered the stages of Grief in this video! Obviously these stages aren’t linear or the same for every person and I should have acknowledged that. If I could do this video over I’d have done it differently. I do think there’s still some insight into how these characters grieved, but I wouldn’t have covered it in such a linear fashion if I did this over again.

[spookymadeleine]

There's something ironic about Honey being lobotomized, subsequently losing brain function, while her children died from a bullet wound to the head and from complications of dementia. All of her children ended up having "half a mind"

[wut-dah_]

"Well that half you can keep."

Oh my god.

[alyssals]

Its kind of scary how Honey's breakdown is so reminiscent of Bojack's destructive behaviours - drinking, making advances on people she shouldn't, asking a child to drive (endangering someone shes responsible for - like bj and sarah lynn) while acting like everythings fun and okay. i might be reaching but i think the intergenerational trauma is shown so well in this show

[TriforceWolf]

Anyone else make the connection between Eddie’s past with Lorraine and him saying “I wanted to see how high we could go” and BoJack inviting Sarah Lynn on an “epic bender”

[sketchyjulia]

One of the background designers, Kelly Wine, desired the lake house wallpaper with horseshoes and acorns, because acorns are poisonous to horses and it foreshadowed the horrible events that would take place while the Sugarmans stayed at the lake house and the poison that would continue decades later

[JamesEmery]

this episode truly demonstrates the butterfly effect when it comes to cycles of abuse.

[rolanslide]

god. the reason Honey and Eddie can duet across time is because they are both accustomed to singing and harmonizing with another person. god fuck

[pixwool]

It’s so damn sad that Honey wasn’t able to finish the cycle of grief. What she said was probably in the heat of the moment. She never wanted to have her mind destroyed like that.

[NomzNoodle]

The phrase “why I have half a mind...” is still the most haunting and chilling line of dialogue in any piece of media I know. I get goosebumps every time I hear it

[emilynelson]

My family is riddled with generational abuse on both sides, and seeing this portrayed on tv in such a creative way gave me a lot of valuable perspective about my own life

[exxon]

You said we don't see Bojack bargaining, but that's what the house reconstruction is. The desperate idea that if he can fix the house, he can fix himself, like a plea to an unhearing God. And of course, then, the hidden meaning that Bojack is incapable of fixing the house (or himself) and needs the help of others (the fly). The rehab clinic is the obvious next step.

Good video.

[Heating]

Jospehs’ “it’s only ghosts here in the winter” paralleled with Bojack falling asleep in the freezing house was always striking to me

[lou]

This episode spoke to me. My grandmother lost a brother in WWII, this impacted the way she treated my mother, and how my mother treated me. The trauma bleeds down through generations.

[ashb]

I just realized the place was called Harper’s Landing and in the the episode downer ending of season 1 Bojack’s hallucination daughter he had with Charolette was named Harper

[micycle]

who made that thumbnail and why haven't they won a Nobel prize yet

[samanthastephens]

Coming back to this episode I just wanted to mention: the look of anger on Beatrice's little face in the last scene she appears in. Joseph said Honey was better and acted like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the shell of a person that Beatrice ended up meeting. Grief leaves you sick, but its the bitterness that will truly poison your heart. She already lost her brother. Now her mother is gone as well. Eventually even her doll would burn. She had a lot to be angry about.

[aren]

The duet scene really gets me and I wondered if CrackerJack and Lorraine each sang the other half of the duet with Honey and Ed when they were alive.

[flamingmidas]

If you look closely in some scenes you can free Beatrice carrying her baby doll in this episode. Specifically when she's on the porch with Joseph

[pidgypod]

When Honey said “never love anyone as much as I loved Crackerjack. Why, I have half a mind-“, this could just be a random thought she finished mid-sentence, but it could also be her explaining to Beatrice that her love of Crackerjack is why she was lobotomised: “never love anyone as much as I loved Crackerjack. *IT’S* why I have half a mind-”