"Big Shots" Re-Watch: "Brain Scratch" & "Hard Luck Woman"

 Cowboy Bebop

We are rapidly approaching the end of "Cowboy Bebop." Including these episodes, we've got four left. And it definitely feels like we are nearing an ending. Let's get to it.

Spike Spiegel: "If you want to dream, dream alone."

A movement called SCRATCH is gaining popular amongst the systems. It is a movement to migrate your consciousness to the digital space and join the "infinite sea of electrons." The Bebop crew aren't super concerned with it until Jet, Spike and Ed see Faye on the news acting like a recent convert, claiming it's the only way to rid herself of her massive debt. It turns out that Faye is undercover trying to collect the massive 38 million woolong bounty on SCRATCH founder, Londes. After learning of the bounty, Jet and Spike get involved, but it seems like there is more to this cult than meets the eye.

Terrifying.

I really enjoy the opening of this episode. The episode has to give us a lot of information and a lot of it is kind of involved. They give us this information by having an unseen someone flipping through television channels. It's really cool and it's not something that I've seen in an anime before. I don't think I've seen it since this episode aired. We start off seeing a recruitment video from SCRATCH that heavily features the giant face and unblinking eyes of founder, Londes. Then we switch to a news report about ISSP officers investigating SCRATCh as a cult when there are reports of multiple members going missing or committing suicide. When the channel switches again, we see members of SCRATCh being interviewed and it's a bit of a jolt to see Faye on screen, seemingly all in on SCRATCH. She's talking about how she feels like this is the only way she can see to get out of debt.

This makes for a nice transition to the Bebop and the reveal that the person flipping through the channels is Spike. Spike and Jet aren't sure what is going with Faye, but they know her well enough to know that this is probably a con and their instincts are proven right pretty quickly. It turns out that due to the high number of recent suicides, their is a bounty on Londes of 38 million woolongs. So, of course, Faye is going after it on her own. 

Faye is in the process of investigating of the cult where she tumbles on a room that is full of dead bodies. There is a stack of TVs that all turn on at once. They start playing Londes's face and honestly, what a face it is. It's awful. Like, something out of nightmares and how just seeing multiple views is not great. Londes seems to put Faye in some sort of trance and she passes out. But he wakes her up long enough for her to send an incoherent message to the rest of the crew that puts them on alert.

There are a lot of fun moments in this episode. The thing that made me chuckle the most was when Jet is trying to get a hold of a popular game system called Brain Dream that he thinks can get him in to SCRATCH. Seeing Jet surrounded by all these children is hilarious. Especially since he can't stop saying inappropriate things around them when Spike calls him.

While Jet and Ed try to hack SCRATCH, Spike tracks Faye down in the room with the dead bodies. It turns out that the bodies are bounty hunters that have come after Londes. He puts them to sleep and they just never wake up. Londes gives Spike a speech about religion that is pretty interesting and made me think of the "Nightcrawler" episode of "X-Men" that I watched not too long ago. I really enjoy when Londes said god didn't create humans, humans created god. We rarely hear stuff like that so matter-of-fact and it's cool. When Londes starts talking about how tv is the new religion then they kind of lose me, because this is something that we've heard a million times and it's not really relevatory.

Jet and Ed track Londes to a hospice and find that he's actual a projection of a young hacker who had an accident that put him in a vegetative state. Apparently this is his unconscious way of reaching out or something. Don't think too deeply on it because it all falls apart under even the smallest bit of scrutiny. I don't even understand why Jet put the handcuffs on this kid in the first part. There's no way that any one is going to like put this comatose kid in jail.

Grade: B

Faye Valentine: "It's the best. Belonging is the very best thing there is."

Faye has been watching the Betamax tape she found a few episodes ago and is trying to find a certain location that feels familiar to her. Ed shows up and seems to know where it is so Faye redirects the Bebop to Earth. The girls go looking and end up at an orphanage that Ed stayed at for a few years. Sister Clara, the nun who runs it, tells Ed that her father came looking for her. With Ed and Faye finding family, are we looking at the end of the crew?

A girl and her dog.

This episode is sort of a continuation of "Speak Like a Child." In that episode, Faye received a betamax tape that she made when she was a little girl. It seems like she's been obsessively watching the tape, specifically a portion that features a very unique fountain. It feels like she can almost remember it but not quite. Then, a sleepy Ed shows up in her room and seems to tell Faye that she knows where this is and then passes out. This scene is a little weird to me. Faye is obviously upset that Ed doesn't give her more information about this since it is seemingly very important to her. But, I don't understand why she like puts her mouth over Ed's. Is this a way to try to like suffocate her to the point that she wakes up? I don't get it. And it makes me a little comfortable. So, let's just move on from it...

I love when they pair up Faye and Ed. It feels like they don't do it a ton and I really enjoy the girls dynamic. Faye reacts to Ed the way that Spike and Jet react to Faye. And it is even funnier that she doesn't realize it. One of the images from the show that stays with me from the series as a whole is the image of Ed tied to the Red Tail. I love it. 

Ed ends up taking Faye on a wild goose chase because of course she does. They end up in a dump where they are accosted by children. There are children who know Ed. It turns out that Ed lived with these children at an orphanage ran by Sister Clara. Ed knew there was good food there so that's why they went there. Sister Clara drops a bombshell on Ed. It's a holo of Ed's father who came looking for her. It seems like frazzled brains run in the family. Ed's father, Appledelhi Siniz Hesap Lutfen and his assistant, McIntire. 

I really love the sequence where Faye's memories start to come back. The looks on her face as she remembers the accident that killed her family and almost killed her. She remembers her childhood home, which is where the fountain was. She leaves the Bebop and her speech to Ed about the importance of belonging is maybe the biggest insight that we get into who Faye is. It's so impactful when Faye is running up the hill to where her childhood home is and even though we kind of all know what she's going to find, it's still kind of heartbreaking when all she finds is rubble. But, Faye seems non plussed and the last thing we see is her drawing a rectangle where it once stood and laying down in it as if it is her bed. It's a beautiful moment that feels like closure for Faye.

Speaking of closure, Ed manipulates the Bebop crew into locating her dad by making it seem like he's a bounty. It turns out that he's just a cartographer trying to make new, accurate maps of Earth after the gate incident to the point of following the meteor showers that change the topography regularly so his maps stay up to date. He's thrilled to see his son -- er-- daughter, Françoise -- er Ed, but when a meteor shower strikes he takes off leaving her behind once again.

Ed is non plussed. She decides to follow him. Literally leaving the Bebop and walking into the sunset with Ein by her side. Like, I said at the top. There are only two episodes left and you can definitely feel like we are moving towards an ending with what happens here and the cancelling of "Big Shots" in the last episode. Are you ready for the finale?

Grade: A-

Next up, things come to a head with Vicious, Julia and Spike in the two-part series finale.

What did you all think of these penultimate episodes? Did you like the way that Ed left the crew? Do you trust her to reunite with her dad? Will Faye make a go of it on Earth? Let me know in the comments.