The whole crew is finally together, which can only mean one thing: time to flesh out a character who heretofore has been neglected. Armed with a fresh new bounty, the Bebop crew return to Jet’s home base, Ganymede, unlocking a whole new slew of secrets.
1. Returning Home
We’ve spoken previously about Cowboy Bebop likes to mix genres, giving each character a set of specific tropes. Spike, of course, is the cowboy. Faye, a girl who just stepped out of a Preston Sturgess screwball comedy and decided to chase down bounties. Ed, a manic lovable science fiction genius. And then there’s Jet. The noir detective. The strong jawed, no nonsense tough guy who wants to know everything about those around him but is unwilling to share anything about himself.
For everything Cowboy Bebop attempts, the Jet-centric episodes kind of fall short for me. They have a difficult time making decisions, let scenes play out for longer than necessary, and lack the same confidence we see through the other characters. Sure, we empathize with Jet more by the end of this session, especially after learning about his former love, Alisa, and the new life she’s trying to carve for herself, but for an episode that’s supposed to bring out his backstory, it’s not like we understand him any better.
2. Slicing & Dicing
One of Cowboy Bebop‘s greatest accomplishments has been in its editing. But, like much of “Ganymede Elegy,” it feels . . . off. Alisa asks Jet if he wants a drink, and Watanabe cuts to one of those dunking birds tapping a glass of water. It’s an odd choice but I guess it works because Jet keeps tapping the surface of his past without really getting any deeper? He’s stuck in an endless loop? Watanabe thought it was a clever way to exit the scene? Instead of switching locations or something, we get a quick shot of Alisa’s new lover leaving the bar, then we’re right back in the middle again, dropping in on their conversation.
That sequence, too, doesn’t establish a rhythm. Watanabe uses some quick cuts in the middle of a sentence, not to close-ups or things that might be important, but wider shots of Alisa’s bar. Is it supposed to be jarring and disorienting? Because the scene features Jet falling back into familiar habits with a familiar girl: the rapid fire editing don’t go far enough to create irony from the sequence or stay consistent enough for us to settle into the characters’ smallest movements and reactions.
It also doesn’t help the conversation carries through three separate scenes, mostly because by this point, there’s no real story in this session. The writers are trying to throw pathos and ethos at us here, but “Ganymede Elegy” is still just two people skirting around a bigger incident.
3. Chasing Rhint
Things take a turn when Spike discovers there’s a bounty on Alisa’s boyfriend, Rhint. Well, things have already been turned every which way from the moment Jet walks into Alisa’s bar, but this is a desperate attempt for the writers to get the session in motion. Once Jet hears from Spike, he decides he has to make it his mission to capture Rhint. For reasons unbeknownst to us.
Honestly, this sequence makes Jet seem kind of petty. He saw Rhint for a total of five seconds, registered enough for him to know he’s Alisa’s boyfriend. He’s aware they’re planning to run off together. But Rhint’s done nothing to him save hook up with an old flame. The session offers Jet no real reason to care anything about Rhint. So diving in gung-ho after the new boyfriend turns this from a heartbreaking letting go story to a more jealous ex thing.
4. Going Through the Motions
Therefore, that climactic chase doesn’t have anything going on for it. We can feel the Cowboy Bebop crew more in their element with the spaceship zipping in and out of wiring and ducts, throwing up water behind them in the canals. Most of the sound is pulled out in favor of this wistful, bittersweet song (remember, Jet’s a fan of the blues since birth), which, is you know, a very Bebop troupe. But while the session presents this as a major emotional upheaval, there’s again no connection between Jet’s sudden desire to get Rhint (other than jealously) or his need to let Alisha go. The whole sequence is an awkward top on a askance session.
Continued below5. Miscommunication with Jet
Cowboy Bebop struggles throughout the course of its run delving into Jet’s backstory. There’s something about why a former cop would go renegade the series cannot seem to suss out. “Ganymede Elegy” is one of the weakest sessions of Cowboy Bebop, just tonally all over the place and unable to make to give these characters a concrete direction. It’s a noir trying so hard to keep up the conventions it ends up misusing all of them. In all, it’s an easy one to skip.
But not next week’s! Make sure you stick around, space cowboys, because we’re going from the bottom of the barrel to near the top of the heap in the Alien homage, “Toys in the Attic.” See you next time.
