Fish Out of Water (BoJack Horseman)

Plot

BoJack is sent by his publicist Ana Spanakopita to the world's biggest underwater film festival to promote Secretariat. After a mental breakdown on the plane, he is tasered by an electric eel. At the festival, he sees the film's director Kelsey Jannings and feels ashamed for costing her the job. He tries to write her an apology note but she disappears.

Pushed onto a bus by sardine businessmen, BoJack falls asleep and is later asked to help a male seahorse give birth. Stranded far from the city, he realizes a baby seahorse has clung to him and decides to find its father. His journey includes stealing milk from a great white shark named Tim Jaws, falling into the deep sea, and entering a taffy factory where the father works. He reunites the baby with its father, but the father had not missed the baby. The seahorse invites BoJack for dinner and offers money, but BoJack declines and leaves depressed.

Production

The episode was written by Elijah Aron and Jordan Young and directed by Mike Hollingsworth. Series creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg said the idea came from a desire for more visual storytelling. The crew realized communication underwater would be difficult and settled on garbled speech. Bob-Waksberg watched the Futurama episode "The Deep South" to avoid borrowing its humor.

Netflix was initially hesitant due to the episode's different structure; Bob-Waksberg sent an email listing other limited-dialogue works like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Hush" and the film The Artist. Netflix eventually approved and loved it. Production designer Lisa Hanawalt called it "our Fantasia". Sound effects were prioritized to show BoJack's emotions, with higher pitches for surprise or anger and calmer pitches for relaxation.

The script was written without dialogue, relying on description and direction, making length difficult to gauge. Hollingsworth acted out the script to time story beats. A full act was removed due to length concerns. Lost in Translation served as a template for BoJack's communication struggles. Emotional content was prioritized, with much left vague for the animation department to interpret.

Release and reception

The episode was released on Netflix on July 22, 2016, as part of the third season. A soundtrack by composer Jesse Novak was released in September 2017. Critics highly praised the episode. Jennie Richardson of Collider commended its themes, particularly BoJack's kind act for a stranger.

Jesse David Fox of Vulture called it "a must-watch" that stands alone. Rolling Stone listed it as the 26th best TV episode of all time in 2024, noting its sight gags and wordplay. Bethonie Butler of the St. Paul Pioneer Press praised its visuals and creativity. Les Chappell of AV Club described it as "nothing short of a masterpiece".

Rory Cashin of Joe.ie hailed it as one of the greatest television episodes ever made. Daniel Harmon of Flood Magazine commended its handling of parenthood. Kayla Cobb of Decider listed it among the show's five best episodes. The episode was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation at the 69th WGA Awards, losing to another BoJack Horseman episode.

It was nominated for Best Animated Television Production at the 44th Annie Awards, losing to an episode of Bob's Burgers. At the 2017 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, it won Special Distinction for a TV Series. It was also nominated for Sound and Music Editing in TV Animation at the 64th Annual Golden Reel Awards, losing to Albert.