"Big Shots" Re-Watch: "Speak Like a Child" & "Wild Horses"

 Cowboy Bebop

We have kind of a strange pair of episodes in this post. We get some more backstory for Faye and an episode about pirates and the guy who fixes up the Swordfish. Let's get into it.

Younger Faye: [on tape] "And now a big cheer from my heart! Let's... go... me, alright! Do your best! Do your best! Don't lose, me!"

While she's out losing all her money at the horse track, Faye receives a package where the Bebop is docked. Since it was C.O.D., Jet demands Faye pay him. Faye is concerned that it came from one of the various people she owes money, so she takes off. Jet, Spike and Ed open the package finding that it contains a Betamax tape. The three of them search for wars to play the ancient tape in hopes that what's on it will provide them some woolongs. 

Cheering for your future self.

There is something about this episode that I really enjoy. There's no major drama. They aren't pursuing a bounty. They aren't in mortal danger. It feels a lot like "Cowboy Bebop" as a slice of life anime and it's kind of fun. 

The best part of the episode is Spike and Jet searching for a Betamax player to play the tape they got that is for Faye. Their first stop is to a guy who collects memorabilia from the 20th century. When the duo walk in, he's watching what is clearly "Beverly Hills, 90210." It's clear what the writers think of the show. The dialogue is stilted. It's delivered with zero emotion. There's a lot of repetition. It's great. When the credits roll, it is produced by Jason Priestly and Shannon Doherty who played Brandon and Brenda on 90210.

Sometimes I forget that Spike is kind of a douchebag. He is completely disrespectful of everything in the 20th century shop. He puts his cigarette out on one of the tape players. While Jet is talking to the shop keep, he's fiddling with the knob on one and it breaks off and he just tosses it to the side. When the Betamax player is starting to eat the tape, Spike begins hitting and kicking it, completely ignoring the protests of the owner. He hits it until its destroyed because kicking works on the Swordfish sometimes. Yeesh. Spike. They have zero respect for this dude. 

Their next stop is Old Asia at an underground Electrical Museum that has electronic relics from the 20th century on display. They go diving and suffer a few near death moments and indignities in search of this player. They are almost crushed by an elevator. They go underwater in a men's bathroom. The only thing that doesn't happen is they don't have to run away from a giant boulder. In the end, they grab a player, but they grab the wrong one. They get a VHS player instead of a Betamax. To add insult to injury, another courier shows up with a Betamax player to play the tape.

Throughout all this, Faye is gambling. She switches to the dog track and initially her luck is going well. But Faye is a true gambler. She can't quite while she's ahead so it's not too long before she's out of money and heading back to the Bebop.

The end of this episode is really the best part. The crew watches the Betamax. Faye watches in secret since Jet told her she couldn't watch unless she paid all the C.O.D. charges. It's a video of her younger self talking to her future self. We see a self aware young girl. Telling her future self that she is probably getting into trouble, but that's ok. And that no matter what her future self should never forget her younger self. Faye has no recollection of this tape or her younger self so it's kind of heartbreaking and melancholy. But it seems like Jet and Spike watching the tape gain more insight and maybe a little bit more appreciation for Faye from watching it.

This episode is kind of slight and the tone fluctuates kind of wildly, but I still really enjoy it.

Grade: B+

Spike Spiegel: "Whatever happens... happens."

Spike has taken the Swordfish to Doohan and his apprentice, Miles, for repair. While he's away, Jet and Faye are tracking Starship Pirates who end up planting a virus on both the Bebop and the Red Tail. When Spike returns, he's not too keen on going after the pirates until Jet tells him they just got Doohan's bill. Jet and Spike are able to stop the pirates but when the Bebop is reinfected with the virus and is unable to pick Spike up it looks like he might be done for. Until, Doohan stages a daring rescue using his special project.

Old friends?

I am going to be up front with you all and say that I don't have a ton to say about this episode. It's not the worst thing that I have ever seen but it is far from my favorite episode of "Cowboy Bebop." Here a couple of fun facts about the episode! Doohan is most likely a reference to James Doohan who played Montgomery Scott on "Star Trek." Miles is most likely named after Miles O'Brien from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine." The Challenger space shuttle is a real space shuttle. Sadly, it was destroyed upon re-entry in 2003. This was two years after this episode first aired in America. 

This episode is kind of all over the place and not in the fun way that "Cowboy Bebop" can be all over the place. There usually seems to be a method to the madness, but here, it just feels like they put some ideas on a dartboard and whichever they hit is what they decided to write about. 

I like the idea of an episode that focuses on the guy that fixes the Swordfish, but we get zero backstory about the relationship that Spike has with Doohan. I was expecting it to be a whole thing, but we get nothing. Doohan barely speaks to Spike until the end of the episode when he saves his life. I think that moment would have been a lot more impactful had we gotten some idea about what Spike and Doohan's relationship was like. I mean, we learn more about Miles than we do Doohan. Sure it's basically that he really likes baseball, but still. That's something.

I don't really care about the Starship Pirates. They are super nondescript. They seem like preppy dudes in space, which again could have been a cool concept if they weren't so criminally underdeveloped. The whole plot about the computer virus is so convoluted that my eyes just glazed over when Jet was talking about how it worked and how they were going to turn it against them.

There were only a couple of moments that I really enjoyed in this episode. I liked when Spike and Faye both had the idea to shoot at the identical moving company ships and pursue the one that ran away. It really showcases how alike they are no matter how they deny it. I loved Ed correcting Spike when he tried to say bacteria and a computer virus were the same. And I enjoyed that they showed that Spike, Doohan and Miles survived re-entry by showing a polaroid on the wall.

Otherwise, this is super lackluster. "Cowboy Bebop" is known for big swings and even if they don't work out I respect the effort. Here there is little to no effort which makes this episode standout for all the wrong reasons.

Grade: D

Next up, an assassin dressed as a mime, Jet goes looking for an old friend and a teddy bear bomber.

What do you all think? Does anyone out there love "Wild Horses?" Please, defend it in the comments.