Things have been fairly dour for a while. We get attached to characters and they get killed off. We learn more and more about why we got sent to the stars. Every action Spike, Faye, or Jet make doesn’t seem to have any effect or change on anything else. There’s a real nihilistic bent here, and it seems like Watanabe, Sunrise, and company are about to combat that by introducing the most exuberant character in the whole series.
Warning, there are spoilers for both this session of Cowboy Bebop, as well as all the previous sessions.
1. The Crew’s Together
“Jammin’ with Edward” calls the Bebop crew back to earth. An old satellite has been making these weird illustrations in the remains of South America and the government thinks it’s probably hackers. They put out an 8 million wulong reward, which Faye jumps at, thinking these hackers are the most otaku peeps from your nightmares. Instead, we’re introduced to Ed, who joins the crew and gives the show a much needed balance of energy.
2. Cyberspace
Let’s just take a minute to appreciate late-’90s cyberspace. This was before The Matrix popularized the torrents of falling code, when interpreting the internet was more like flying through canyons and valleys, a frontier of information. Cowboy Bebop goes for an ocean of data, complete with fish flying in front of the camera, though it nevertheless maintains that sweep from, like, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.
What I especially like in this one is Ed’s anarchic little emoticons as she hacks into various servers, these giggling and shrieking little faces causing all sorts of trouble for everyone.
3. Nothing Good Comes from the Earth Anymore
I’ve said this before, but I also think it’s worth noting strong and effective world-building. Where so many other pieces of media are happy to causally explain what happened in the show’s history or how something or another developed, Cowboy Bebop instead allows it to unfold. This is through throwaway-lines, like the creepy scientist guy who still believes aliens are out there (telling us there aren’t extra-terrestrials in Cowboy Bebop; characters might be from other planets or moons, but they’re still very much human) or the anchor saying a signal originated from what used to be South America, implying a major destruction. There’s Ed dodging meteorites and that wide shot of Earth surrounded by a belt of debris. Watanabe showed us what happened in “Sympathy for the Devil,” but I also dig how he and the Sunrise crew show how life continues for the survivors and people still stuck on the planet.
4. Always Alone
It’s telling this session opens with the satellite’s eye staring blankly toward us, coldly saying, “Here. Nobody here. Always alone.” Obviously, Watanabe and crew are evoking HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, because what better shorthand is there for a cold, heartless, practical machine? But, like the rest of Cowboy Bebop, Sunrise seems to be subverting this thought. As we go deeper and deeper into the series, we find these characters who have been left alone, cast aside, et cetera et cetera. Even our heroes are a bunch of self-proclaimed lone wolves who eventually come to depend on each other. If there’s an overarching plot to the show, it’s about Spike, Faye, Jet, and Ed learning to trust and depend on each other, which gives them the ability to pursue their own interests in a less abrasive manner while also having them act against their own self-interest.
“Jammin’ with Edward” blatantly throws the show’s thesis right at us in the opening moments, spending the next 20 minutes going through the dangers of being all alone. I’ve seen some articles about Cowboy Bebop being nihilistic, about the futility of life and humanity; while it’s difficult to argue with that point, the show also goes out of its way to show what makes life most fulfilling.
The session eventually reveals the satellite’s images are artwork it desperately produces to attempt to find a connection with something else.
5. Enter Ed
Ed is probably my favorite character in all of Cowboy Bebop. What could have been the annoying kid sidekick, the Short Round or whatever, becomes a source of joy and humor throughout the series, especially as things get grim. She offers a nice balance to the tone, undermines the show when it gets too self-seriousness, and is simply impressive when it comes to her hacking skillz. With the dour and mopey and more laid back, groovy leads, Ed’s anarchic energy helps keep everything in balance.
How do you feel about the casual way this show unravels information? What about its philosophy and approach to life? What does Ed’s presence add or take away from everything that came before it? Let me know in the comments, and see you next time, space cowboys, for the “Ganymede Elegy.”
