Bojack Horseman’s Todd just came out as asexual, and fans are in tears
One of the main characters on Bojack Horseman has come out as asexual.
Todd Chavez, Bojack’s wacky, lovable, surprisingly insightful sidekick, told his former best friend in the third episode of season four, which came out on Friday.
The episode shows Todd rushing around, selflessly making everyone else’s lives better, before he stops in at Bojack’s and gets a huge weight off his shoulders.
“I think I’m…asexual,” he hesitantly tells the main character.
“A sexual what? Dynamo? Deviant? Harassment lawsuit waiting to happen?” Bojack responds, comically.
“No, asexual – not sexual,” Todd explains.
“Ohhh.”
“I’m sure you think that’s weird,” Todd tells Bojack.
“Are you kidding? That’s amazing,” he responds.
“Sometimes I wish I was asexual. Maybe then I wouldn’t have a strain of herpes.”
After joking about Bojack’s “many” strains of herpes, Todd says: “It actually feels nice to finally say it out loud.
“I am an asexual person. I am asexual.”
“That’s great,” says Bojack.
Todd tells him he doesn’t want to be friends quite yet – but “more than not-friends.”
The horse then jokingly says: “You know, for an asexual, more than not-friends is probably as good as it gets, right?”
Todd shoots down the well-meaning but ignorant joke, replying: “Yeah, I’m not really at a place yet where I want to joke about it.”
“Got it, got it, totally.”
“But it feels good to talk about it,” he tells Bojack.
The scene was a culmination of a storyline which started last season and has developed bit by bit, with Todd organically coming to his own conclusion.
He continues to learn and struggle with his newfound identity throughout the season, showing that just because you find a label, doesn’t mean you’ve fixed all your issues.
He attends asexual meet-ups, where he makes friends and finds out that asexual people get married.
The fan favourite comes a long way from that first coming out scene, when he tells Bojack: “I don’t think I’m allowed to be in love.”
People loved the scene, with some reacting emotionally to their sexuality being shown on an award-winning show with such prominence.
Kara Anderson commented on YouTube: “Whenever I read about people crying when they see themselves represented in media for the first time, I thought they were exaggerating but then I saw this episode and started bawling my eyes out.
“As an asexual person, I could not ask for a better character to be that representation, and the whole process of Todd’s self-discovery journey was handled so well.”
Hol Jay wrote: “As an asexual, for this to be happening in a popular TV show is so amazing I’m literally crying!!
“Asexuality deserves so much more representation and support. I receive daily hate because of it.
“I wish everyone was like Bojack and [replied] positively.”
Holy shit, actual positive asexual representation in media?! Thank you @BoJackHorseman https://t.co/gTtCcY3xhe via @YouTube
— Princess Kenny! (@Bodacious_Ace) September 11, 2017
TODD CHAVEZ IS ASEXUAL
BLESS HIM
BLESS THIS SHOW
BLESS NETFLIX
IM pic.twitter.com/D4tIKT6Ego— matt@ProtectRedRiot (@maddensins) September 8, 2017
Totally teared up watching the Todd episode of the new BoJack season. Asexual representation is incredible :’)
— Diane Murray (@dmurring) September 9, 2017
Netflix was already a treasure trove of constant entertainment, with a substantial number of LGBT+ characters to watch.
The company did cancel Sense8 – though it did also renew the show for a two-hour finale after a fan-fuelled outcry.
Earlier this month, hit show Narcos featured a hot, steamy gay scene in the first episode of its third season.
And in July, a student on Netflix’s Degrassi: Next Class came out as non-binary, in a landmark move for the long-running series.
Watch Todd’s full coming out scene here:
