Free Churro

Lore & Background

The episode opens with a cold open flashback where Butterscotch Horseman (voiced by Will Arnett) drives his young son BoJack home from soccer practice, complaining that his wife Beatrice has locked herself in the bedroom after seeing the Henrik Ibsen play A Doll's House. The moral of Butterscotch's rant, he says, is that one needs to realize that nobody else will look out for them. In the present, BoJack gives a eulogy for his mother at a funeral home.

He begins with a story of how he stopped at Jack in the Box on his way to the funeral, and the cashier gave him a free churro when BoJack explained where he was going. Throughout the eulogy, BoJack banters with the organist, imitates the gruesome face his mother made when she died, and tells stories about his life, his mother, and TV shows like Becker and his breakthrough show, Horsin' Around. At one point, he tells what appears to be a nice story about Beatrice, only to reveal that it was not true and that he had taken the story from an episode of Maude.

Many of his anecdotes detail the abuse he endured from both of his parents, as well as his father's death in a duel. Additionally, BoJack tries to parse out the meaning of his mother's final words, "I see you." At the end of the episode, BoJack realizes that Beatrice was reading the letters "ICU" on the intensive care unit where she was admitted. Upon discovering that his mother's last words were meaningless, he becomes angry, saying that the cashier who gave him a free churro showed him more kindness than Beatrice ever did.

After calming down, BoJack realizes that while he will never have the good relationship with Beatrice that he always wanted and that he does not understand what she wanted herself, she deserves the open casket that she requested. He finally opens the casket, realizing that he is at the wrong funeral and that he has been eulogizing to a room of geckos.

Reader's Guide

"Free Churro" was released to critical acclaim, with multiple reviewers proclaiming the episode as the highlight of the season. Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone and Rachel Syme of The New Republic referred to the episode as season five's "greatest triumph" and "apex," respectively, while Don Trumbore of Collider told readers that, "if you never watch another episode of BoJack Horseman, make it this one." The Guardian's Rebecca Nicolson praised the execution of the episode's concept, saying that it is "a rare series that can dedicate 30 minutes to a monologue and not test viewers' patience."

Writing for the Observer, Lester Fabian Braithwhite said that the tragicomic balance struck by BoJack's eulogy "encapsulates what makes Raphael Bob-Waksberg's animated Netflix series one of the best shows on television." Some reviewers directly mentioned the episode's approach to its dark subject matter, with Rebecca Patton of Bustle saying that "Free Churro" "nails" the experience of mourning an "awful person" like Beatrice Horseman, while Vulture's Daniel Kurland voiced his approval for the way that the episode "eloquently comments on how nobody really has the answers when it comes to death."

Arnett's voice performance was also the subject of praise, with Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter saying that his work is "as good as voiceover work gets," and Greg Cwik of Slant Magazine proclaiming "Free Churro" to be the "apogee of Arnett's career." Emily VanDerWerff of Vox said it would be "a bigger travesty than usual" if Arnett did not win an Emmy Award for his performance. The A.V. Club's Les Chappell gave the episode an "A" grade, stating that one "can hear every last bit of forced levity, resentment, and genuine pain as BoJack tries to find some way to come to terms with Bea's death, and his feelings or lack thereof about the matter."