Why Dementia Beatrice did not recognize Bojack

So, I'm looking back on some episodes of Bojack Horseman, specifically "Stupid Piece of Shit". This show keeps drawing me back in with its beautiful attention to detail and wonderful storytelling. Rewatching this episode, I think I have a theory as to why Beatrice seems to not recognize Bojack at all in her dementia.

I listen to a lot of Johnny2cello on youtube and he does a lovely video essay on Time's Arrow. It's a great listen if anyone has a chance, but he speculates on the art style of the characters with their faces scribbled out that appear in Beatrice's memories. For a while, he was confused as to what these scratched out faces ment, as it was different from the faces that were blank in the memores (an indication that beatrice did not remember them),

He speculates that the scribbled out faces are basically people in Beatrice's life that she doesn't want to remember. That she is purposefully trying not to think about them. He equates the scribbled faces to the act of an artist scribbling out mistakes with a pen and I feel its very fitting. Especially since Henrietta, one of the most prevalent figures in her delusions, also has a scribbled out face. This was someone that Beatrice deeply hurt, and she knew it. I think there was a reason this was juxtaposed immediately with Beatrice losing her baby doll.

Throughout her dementia, Beatrice refers to Bojack as Henrietta. This is obviously played for the laughs, as Bojack is the farthest thing from a slight human girl with brown hair. However, the writers of the series are very good at linking things together, and I think that the reason Beatrice assocaited Bojack to Henrietta, was because she subconsciously felt bad about the way she treated him as he was growing up.

Now, I'm going to take a moment to digress and say this is not a defense of Beatrice. She was a horrible person and a horrible mother. But she was a lot like Bojack. And she calls Bojack in season 2 after reading his book, giving him the closest thing to an apology he could expect. The thing is, Beatrice didn't start off a cruel monster. She became that. And I think she regretted it. I think she regretted treating her son like shit, and I think unconsciously associating him with Henrietta in her dementia. There was another innocent person she felt she obviously screwed up, and that association was 'easier' for her mind to make than accepting 'Bojack", the greater representation of her screw ups.

Just a dumb thought I wanted to share,