Cowboy Bebop
I don't think I noticed before but there is a lot of smoking in "Cowboy Bebop." In the opening, Spike, Jet and Faye are all shown with a cigarette. And like, I don't smoke and think it is gross, but based on these people, maybe smoking is cool? I guess, its no big surprise that they have sort of cut smoking out of a lot of shows, movies, etc.
Twinkle Maria Murdock: "Please do not associate us with common terrorists. We are warriors of peace fighting a noble battle for the law of nature."
Spike Spiegel: "Yeah, yeah. We saw how peaceful you are."
A bounty that Spike and Jet are pursuing is killed by Twinkle Maria Murdock and her band of Space Warriors. When Spike sees the 25 million woolong bounty on Murdock he takes her into custody, but when they get back to the Bebop it looks like the bounty has been cancelled. It turns out that the Space Warriors are threatening to release a virus that will turn humans to monkeys if the government of Ganymede doesn't cooperate. After picking up a stranded Faye, Spike and Jet are forced to release Murdock. But the Bebop crew may be the only hope of stopping the virus from being unleashed.
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| And you thought your mother was bad... |
Who would've thought that something called a Ganymede Sea Rat would cause this much trouble? I love that after all the talk of the sea rat, I don't think we ever even see it.
Faye becomes a full member of the Bebop crew in this episode, despite Spike and Jet's objections. After robbing them last episode, Faye blew all the cash at a casino and is stranded in the Red Tail. Its out of fuel and every ship that passes that she tries to flag blows right by her. She finds a dismantled ship and goes to it. The pilot is almost dead and gives her a case that he tells her not to open and take to the ISSP. When she gets back to her ship, the case opens and she finds a strange object that looks like an hourglass. It's about this time that the Bebop shows up and she ends up once again handcuffed to something inside of it.
Twinkle Maria Murdock might be one of my favorite one off villains in the run of "Cowboy Bebop." She is truly unhinged. It seems she single handedly turned the Space Warriors from a group of benevolent eco-warriors doing good work to a group of eco-terrorists indiscriminately murdering, blackmailing government and just generally causing chaos. That design is chilling. There is never any confirmation if these men with her are her actual sons, but I like to believe that they are. It makes her using the Monkey Business on Harrison even more horrendous. I mean, look at her. She's a ghoul. And I have to commend Mary Elizabeth McGlynn who does amazing work as her voice. I particularly love the warbling singing.
One of the things I love about "Cowboy Bebop" is the absurdity. Take the extended scene where Spike is trying to break open the container that Faye got that clearly contains the virus. Spike is just nonchalantly trying to do whatever he can to bust it open. Completely uncaring about what might be inside it. The flashes of Murdock's face as she watches this have me laughing out loud every time, particularly when Spike pulls out his gun to shoot it.
The final chase scene is thrilling too. After sending the ISSP on a wild goose chase to an exploding decoy ship, it turns out the Space Warriors are in hyperspace heading to Ganymede. Spike and Faye follow and attempt to destroy the missiles containing the virus but they split. Ganymede decides to close the hyperspace lane, so it becomes a race for the Swordfish and the Red Tail to get out before it closes and traps them in hyperspace for good. It's really one of the best space chases I've ever seen. It's thrilling. The music is perfect. There's believable tension even though you know that Spike and Faye are going to make it out OK.
The ending reveal that Spike put the vial of Monkey Business in Murdock's pocket before she left the Bebop and it shattering in their ship in hyperspace is wonderful. This episode doesn't reinvent the wheel and it maybe doesn't hit the heights of the first three, but its still a lot of fun.
See you, Space Cowboy...
Grade: B+
Vicious: "When angels are forced out of heaven, they become devils. You agree, don't you, Spike?"
Spike Spiegel: "I'm just watching a bad dream I can never wake up from."
Vicious: "I'll wake you up right now."
Spike's past comes back to haunt him and the crew when he wants to take a bounty on Red Dragon Syndicate chairman, Mao Yenrai. Yenrai is already dead, killed by fellow Red Dragon and Spike's nemesis, Vicious. Jet knows something is up and is upset that Spike won't be more upfront with her. Faye cares little for the drama and is just interested in the woolongs for Mao. This leads her to get captured by Vicious and Spike to a confrontation that may be his last.
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| Do you feel lucky? |
This episode introduces us to the "big bad" of "Cowboy Bebop:" Vicious. Vicious is one of the best anime villains of all time. He just is perfect, with his long, white hair and kitana, buzzard-like bird perched on his shoulder. I feel like with this episode, we have to begin at the end. It's perfection from the moment that Spike approaches the rundown cathedral where Vicious is holding Faye. It is perfect. The animation is gorgeous. That stained glass window is iconic. The dilapidated cathedral. I still listen to "Rain," the song that is playing as Spike makes his way to the cathedral. The action sequence that follows is iconic and one of the best action sequences in all of anime. I said what I said. Spike goes balls to the wall against Vicious and his lackeys, completely uncaring for his own life. He empties clip after clip, getting shot himself in the process, until he confronts Vicious in front of the stained glass window. The moment when Spike shoots Vicious at the same time Vicious stabs Spike in the shoulder. Spike going out the window, tossing a grenade as he falls. It's sheer perfection. If I had on complaint, very minor, I could probably do without the cheesecake jiggle of Faye as she escapes.
We see actual friction between Spike and Jet for the first time. Jet instinctively knows something is up when Spike is so gung ho about going after the Mao Yenrai bounty. It's clear that while Spike and Jet are partners neither one of them has been entirely forthcoming about their past. Jet presses Spike about what is really going on while Spike asks Jet what happened to his arm in order to drive home the hypocrisy he feels is coming from Jet. This fight feels real and lived in. You can feel the undercurrents. The tension that has probably been building up for a while. It adds a lot more to the Jet and Spike relationship and makes it feel more three dimensional and like it existed before we were experiencing it. Then, there is Faye, who doesn't really care about this and is halfheartedly trying to get them to work things out.
This episode is all about Spike's past but while we learn a few things, we are left with more questions than answers. When Spike goes to visit Annie, we learn that Spike has been presumed dead for three years. In his past life, he was part of Red Dragon and was close to Mao. Spike is going after Vicious because he owes Mao. As Spike falls through the air, we see flashes of his past. He's working with Vicious. Carrying a bouquet of flowers that hides a gun. Vicious in bed with a blonde woman. The same blonde woman nursing Spike's injuries. (If you have seen the show before, you know who said blonde woman is, but I'll keep that under wraps in case there are any first time watchers amongst us.) The episode does a great job of teasing us. Revealing just enough to sate us but keep us hungry for more.
There's so much great stuff in this episode. I love the moment with the kids shoplifting the dirty magazines from Annie's shop. The opera scene is another gorgeous scene in a long stretch of gorgeous "Cowboy Bebop" scenes. It's beautiful juxtaposed with the menacing as Faye is held at gunpoint when she approaches Mao's box and finds his dead body sitting in there. Vicious is so dramatic. Faye feels like a fully integrated part of the team by the end of the episode as she is watching over Spike's fully bandaged body on the Bebop. But Spike can't help getting in a dig about her singing which he quickly regrets.
See you, Space Cowboy...
Grade: A
Next up, Spike hates children and teams up with a bounty hunter hating trucker.
What do you all think of these episodes? Anything to add? Let me know in the comments.
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