So many shenanigans going in such a small spaceship.

Now, this is the probably the most inspired idea I’ve seen throughout the entirety of COWBOY BEBOP. A crime wave perpetrated by a mob of random working stiffs who’ve ordered do-it-yourself burglary kits from a corporation’s print ad? Even without the added twist of the bounty only applying to the ring leader (not the individual perps) that’s still a conceit that’s seriously strong enough to sustain a feature of its own. I’m actually a little disappointed that it’s been wrapped up so quickly. I would’ve preferred that this be the continuing sub-plot instead of all the middling intrigue with Vicious. There’s so much potential for wild satire.  

But it’s done… c’est le anime.

Figuring out what the song-homage titles have referred to has been easy up until this point… but I’m really scratching my head over how “Bohemian Rhapsody” is supposed to apply to this one. “Toys in the Attic” obviously referred to the monster in the Bebop’s neglected storage space. But for this one? I suppose you could describe the crime wave as a rhapsody, but that’s a bit of a stretch. But the who are the bohemians? Though they’re certainly motley crew, the Bebop’s bounty hunters are a wee too profit-driven to be a described as such; as are the weekend felons. Has this been debated ad nausem by the fans? Am I missing something here?

In lieu of that, I’d be remiss not to include that other melding of Queen and anime. The one where the connections are a little more obvious…   

There’s 26 episodes in this show, so I’m officially past the halfway point, now. I suppose what really sticks out to me is how much of pop culture potpourri this is; what with all the references to music and action flicks. I suspect that’s something that other shows have picked up and run with in a much more in-your-face way since the show debuted, though (FLCL, et al.) Is that this show’s specific legacy, or were there other multi-media hodgepodges that preceded this?

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of  HYBRID BASTARDS!  &  UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon   here   &  here .

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 Vicious’ appearance is less a warning of danger than it is of befuddlement.

Before anything else, I’m going to bring up something my roommate mentioned (since he watched this show in college.) So there’s some theory among fans that everything after “Toys in the Attic” is either a dream or some paradisiacal vision from the afterlife – - because the crew all died after their encounter with that monster?!?! Good lord, that sounds stupid. I don’t see it myself, yet, and I don’t know why people have such a fascination with interpreting a story in this way, in general. It basically invalidates all the drama you’ve watched. It’s like how a lot of my friends got so caught up in whether the ending of INCEPTION proved that everything was a dream. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t – - the spinning top was meant to be ambiguous – - but I was a lot less interested in discussing that junk than I was in what the movie had to say about meme theory.

I digress, I know. The message of that diatribe is that I really hope there isn’t any substance to “post-’Toys in the Attic’ dream” discussion, because it’d really take COWBOY BEBOP down a peg in my eyes.

Actually, seeing as how I said “ambiguous” back there, I’ll mention that I, once again, had trouble following what was going on in this episode. None-too-coincidentally, the last time I had that problem with this show was the last time Vicious showed up. I get the feeling I’m going to appreciate this the same way I appreciated the X-FILES – - that is, I’ll vastly prefer the “perp of the week” episodes over the “mythology” ones. See, I’ve thought about this episode for a bit and I’m still not entirely clear on why or how that androgynous jazz man had big ol’ boobies, or how that plasique bomb briefcase of his just came out of nowhere. Again, I was focusing on stuff I enjoyed… like Ed’s food game with Ein and the odd Sting sound-alike they got for the soundtrack and the fact that Jet’s voice actor sounds kind of like a sitcom Dad. 

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of    HYBRID BASTARDS! &   UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon here  &  here .

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 Go on and wave that big gun you, Spike, you big softie!

Awwww… even suave Mr. Cool Spike Spiegel has his tender spot. He probably would’ve chided Jet for getting all bent out of shape over his ex in episode #10 and, now, here he is, going off the deep end about this Julia; the one that got away.   I’m usually not one to criticize a show for detailing every little bad experience the characters have had – - I’d rather have broadly-drawn caricatures than schmaltzy sympathy-seekers – - but, man, this cast really needed some fleshing out for me to care enough to want to continue watching. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’ve been enjoying this show that much more lately… since they’ve been getting more into these goons’ backstories lately. On that note, considering how disinterested I was over the last episode Vicious appeared in, it speaks to the importance of character development and context that I actually enjoyed his re-appearance here.

And by the way, aside from Faye ganking the Bebop’s safe, is her departure really that much of a loss for the crew? Maybe I wasn’t paying attention close enough attention, but I can’t seem to recall why they even let her tag along with them in the first place. All she’s seemed to do since then is gripe and con these guys out of one thing or another (thankfully it wasn’t Jet’s clothes this time.)  And, even with her dangerous curves and skimpy outfits, neither of these guys seem attracted to her enough to keep her around for that sort of reason. Am I missing something important?

Edward, on the other hand, is quickly becoming my favorite character on this show (and not for the reasons Lemon put in my head last episode.) I don’t know what it is… it’d be so easy for her to become the kind of annoying kid that ruins shows… but I find her endlessly endearing. Maybe it’s because she’s kind of “spaz savant” in this universe’s very-90s vision of cyberspace?

Anyway, this episode was called “Jupiter Jazz Part 1.” Read my comments on the previous episode here.

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of  HYBRID BASTARDS! &  UNIMAGINABLE.  Order them on Amazon  here  &  here.

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