"Big Shots" Re-Watch: "Ganymede Elegy" & "Toys in the Attic"

 Cowboy Bebop

We get two ends of the spectrum on the things that really make "Cowboy Bebop" great in this post. Let's get right into it.

Alisa: "That's just how you were back then, you decided everything; in the end you were always right. When I was there with you I never had to do anything for myself. All I had to do was to hang onto your arm like a child without a care in the world. I wanted to live my own life; make my own decisions, even if they were terrible mistakes."

A bounty takes the Bebop crew to Ganymede where Jet used to live and work as a member of the ISSP. While there, Jet re-connects with a lost love, Alisa. Things take a turn when an old friend of Jet's alerts Spike to a new bounty, who just happens to be Alisa's new love.

It's the look.

Jet Black has been in every episode of the series, but he's a character we still don't know a ton about ten episodes in. He's a foil for Spike. He's butting heads with Faye. He's tending to his bonsai trees. But he's not the focus. All that changes in this episode, and I for one think it's about time. I'm ready to find out more about this taciturn dude and what his life was like before he took up with Spike and the Bebop.

It all starts as the Bebop heads to Ganymede to drop off their latest bounty. We don't learn much about him but he seems like a real too. I can't imagine it took too much effort to take him down seeing as how Ed torments him while he's tied up on approach. I love Ed and scenes like this just illustrate why. She's wrapping her arms and legs around this guy. She's biting him and growling like a dog. There is zero explanation for why she is doing this and I wouldn't have it any other way.

When the local ISSP officer, Donnelly, answers Jet's call, the two immediately pick up and banter as if Jet never left. This is a great way to show without telling. And as the two catch up, Spike fills Faye (and us) in on some of the details. Faye is surprised that Jet is a former cop, but for Spike it explains why the two of them are at each other's throats most of the time. Speaking of Faye, she's sidelined most of the episode, but gets a fun moment sunbathing. First off, she looks amazing in her bathing suit and I love when she is giving Ed what she thinks are pearls of wisdom and all Ed cares about is rubbing her face on Faye's bare leg.

Jet immediately heads to the bar that his ex, Alisa, owns and finds her there with her new squeeze, Rhint, who is noticeably jumpy. In flashbacks, we learn that Alisa left Jet without warning, no note, leaving him only a watch that has since stopped to remember her by. Jet decided to stay on Ganymede until the watch stopped and if Alisa wasn't back by then, he would leave and start a new life. The meeting between Jet and Alisa is very mature and very adult, which is exactly what you'd expect from Jet. All he wants to know is why Alisa left and I think that is something anyone who has maybe been dumped without notice can relate too. Jet is not looking to rekindle anything, he's just looking for closure. Relatable content.

It's no surprise that Rhint is Bebop's latest bounty. This might be the weakest element of the episode. It's clearly a way to inject some action in and I'd argue that "Cowboy Bebop" is a good enough show and has earned enough audience goodwill at this point that we don't necessarily need every episode to have an action sequence. Particularly since the chase scene that ends the episode is rather pedestrian by the show's standards, though I was a fan of the periodic shifts to third person.

There is much to love, though. The music as always is great. I loved the bluesy number that plays as the crew lands on Ganymede and the guitar driven song that plays later on that sounds like a mix of something from the Broadway musical, "Hadestown" and "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal. This show is so great at showing and not telling and that is demonstrated by the scene where Rhint is trying to get his lighter to work and we get flashes of the confrontation with the loan shark that ended with the loan sharks death and Rhint with a bounty on his head. When we finally get the reason for Alisa's leaving, it's another moment that is very adult and relatable and kind of a gut punch to Jet. But he gets the closure that he needs and the tossing of the watch into the river is a perfect note to end the episode on.

See you, Space Cowboy

Grade: B+

Jet Black: [Lesson 1] "Humans were meant to work and sweat to earn a living. Those that try to get rich quick, or live at the expense of others, all get divine retribution somewhere along the line. That's the lesson. Unfortunately we quickly forget the lessons we've learned. And then we have to learn them. All over again."

Faye Valentine: [Lesson 2] "Survival of the fittest is the laws of nature. We deceive. Or we are deceived. Thus, we flourish. Or perish. Nothing good ever happened to me when I trusted others. That is the lesson."

Edward: [Lesson 3] "Lesson, lesson. If you see a stranger, follow him."

Spike Spiegel: [Lesson 4] "And what was the real lesson? Don't leave things in the fridge."

The crew of the Bebop are trying to enjoy some downtime on their way to Mars. But it is interrupted when Jet is bitten by strange black blob that attacks him in soldier. He's soon incapacitated and Faye follows him shortly thereafter. Soon, it's up to Spike with some help from Edward and Ein to try to track down the strange entity that is stalking the ship.

Time to clean the fridge.

When you ask me what my favorite "Cowboy Bebop" episode of all-time is, it can vary, but routinely "Toys in the Attic" tops the list. This episode is just great. It's weird and wonderful. It has one of the craziest resolutions of any episode in the series. It really highlights what makes this show so special and it is always a treat to watch. If I had to choose an episode to try and get someone hooked on "Cowboy Bebop" this just might be the one that I'd use to do it.

"Toys in the Attic" is a bottle episode. A bottle episode is an episode of television that takes place in basically one location for the entirety of the runtime. This episode takes place entirely on the Bebop. The only characters that appear are our four protagonists. Bottle episodes allow television shows to take risks, change dynamics, do something they wouldn't usually be able to do in a regular episode and in most cases delve a little deeper into the main characters. 

"Toys in the Attic" definitely does this. There are lessons imparted by each member of the crew. Each lesson feels very on point for the character delivering it and while they may not tell us something new, each lesson is important to the episode as a whole. 

Jet talks about the perils of downtime when you are self-employed. Most working stiffs really enjoy and value their downtime. I definitely do. But, when you are working for yourself, particularly if the work you do is sporadic, it can be difficult to enjoy your downtime, particularly if the money you've made from the last work you've done is dwindling. You're so focused on where your next paycheck and next meal are coming from, that the downtime becomes more of a burden than something to enjoy. That may be the case but the crew are trying. Ed is napping. Spike is eating. Faye and Jet are gambling, though Jet is losing everything including his clothes to Faye. Spike happens to walk in at the moment that Jet is removing his boxers. Wrapped in a blanket, searching for clothes is when Jet is first attacked by the blob.

I feel like this episode is paying homage to Ridley Scott's "Alien" a little bit. This strange blob going around this ship in the middle of deep space stalking and taking out the crew. The episode is tense, but there are some great comedic moments, as well. There is Spike and Faye going through a list of poisons that could be affecting Jet. He is alarmed as each is read and then relieved as they are ruled out. Ed is convinced that they are dealing with a horrible space creature. Faye and Spike rule that out, but Spike's possible explanation of a mutant rat that develops the ability to inject poison seems about as plausible as Ed's theory.

Soon, Faye, Ein and Jet are all incapacitated and Spike is all that's left because he can't find Ed. He attaches an arsenal to himself and goes after the blob. To again reference, "Alien" it is very Ripley. The last ten minutes are some of the trippiest in "Cowboy Bebop" history. After Spike thinks he's barbecued the blob, he finds the fridge and remembers a Ganymede rock lobster he'd hid in it a year ago and forgot about. Spike opens and sees a world of fungus that seems to be alive, Spike is mortified and we as an audience are as well. It's a lasting image from the show. 

One thing I love about this episode is that it doesn't give us any real explanations. As the episode ends, the entire crew is incapacitated except for Ed, who eats the blob as it floats by. Tchaikovsky plays as the unconscious crew floats and the fridge spins through deep space throwing off multicolored sparkles as it goes. Earlier, Spike set the autopilot to Mars and you can infer that perhaps Ed woke up and called for help since everyone is fine the next episode. But I sometimes like to think that the crew passed and maybe everything that happened after is just some shared purgatorial fever dream. I'm sure it's not, but you never know.

The End

Grade: A

Next up, Faye robs the Bebop and takes off leading Spike and Jet to chase her and Spike to once again meet up with Vicious and Julia.

What do you all think of these episodes. Do you love "Toys in the Attic" as much as I do? Let me know in the comments.