All right, everyone. Here we have it. “Mushroom Samba” is my favorite session of Cowboy Bebop. Over the top, bursting with energy, consistently hysterical, genre-mashing, spontaneous, and insane, this session just hits every note perfectly. As always, spoilers for this session and potentially the other sessions proceeding it.
1. Ed’s Got the Gig
Like always, the Bebop is in trouble. The crew is out of food and fuel, leaving them drifting toward space, hoping to use their inertia to catch the gravity of Europa to pull them in for refurbishments; however, a hit and run spaceship knocks them off course, sending the ship crashing into the desert. More of an effort to get Ed off the ship and interfering with the repairs, Spike and Jet send her out on a mission to get food, a job Ed, accompanied by Ein, is only too happy to accept. Their search leads to some fun visual gags, from Ed doing somersaults on a sand dune to her and Ein staring down a cactus, as if they’re debating whether or not they can actually eat it. All the while, the background wobbles with a hazy heat. A hip-hop beat accompanies it, strutting along and helping ease us away from the perils of space travel to the farce we’re about to see.
What I think is so enduring about Ed is her endearing excitement for everything. The animators are able to let loose with conveying her energy. Just watch as she chases the hit and run ship, arms up and flailing about like Olive Oyl or something. I could honestly list Ed’s expressions and movements for this entire column and be satisfied with the discussion.
And we haven’t even gotten to her motor scooter yet.
2. Chaos, with Cream and Sugar
The genres start mashing together when Coffee shows up. She drives a slick car, has a blaxpoitation outfit, and is on the job. She’s calm and collected, measured and cautious. She’s a cowboy, sure, but she’s from a different environment, contrasting completely with the Western landscape of Europa Naturally, her world is thrown into total upheaval the moment Ed stows away in her trunk. Because what is Ed except CHAOS? As “Mushroom Samba” progresses, as Ed inadvertently gets more and more wrapped up in the chase between Coffee and the mushroom smuggler, we watch Coffee start to come undone fully. It starts with the cops finding Ed and Ein sleeping in the trunk of her cool cool car and culminates in that train chase. More on that later. Coffee’s mounting frustrations and loss of control make the session even more entertaining. (I’m sure we could talk about how the desire for control in the face of chaos is one of Cowboy Bebop‘s favorite themes, but let’s not detract from what else is going on here.)
3. Pink Elephants on Parade
If the Western and the blaxpoitation riffs weren’t enough, “Mushroom Samba” goes even wilder when the mushrooms are introduced. Ed and Ein stumble upon some “bad mushrooms.” After seeing Ein freak out after eating one (which I’ve watched four times in the course of this review and still find myself rolling on the floor), she decides to experiment with its effects on the rest of the crew. We’re going Pink Elephants on Parade over here. Spike faces an infinite staircase, Jet starts talking to his bonsai trees, and Faye finds herself in an aquarium. The real punch is Ed and Ein watching them, giving us a perspective of how the characters are really acting.
I know I know, the quickest way to run a joke is to try explaining it. But the setup and delivery during these sequences is so on-point and so true to the crew’s characters and behaviors, it’s applaudable.
4. Train in Vain
Everything culminates in a massive chase. This might be the most inventive and insane sequence in all of Cowboy Bebop. Scene after scene, shot after shot, Watanabe and crew continue to escalate the obstacles, taking us from a crashed space ship through town to a train, where the weapons and explosions keep getting larger and more ridiculous. It’s wild and insane and I wish more media across the board allowed themselves to have this much fun with their material.
Continued below5. Too Much for One Go
Okay, so here’s some random jokes I couldn’t fit into the main body of the column. Because this session is fixated on Ed and Ein, Watanabe and crew allow themselves to present far more ridiculous gags and jokes than we typically see. For instance, the sheriff’s son, who bought some bad mushrooms from Domino. He’s introduced by dragging a coffin around him, already a fantastic image in its own right. Turns out he’s doing that because he’s been biding his time for his confrontation with Domino, and when he finally reaches him, finally explains he’s been dragging that thing around him for the sole purpose of putting Domino’s body in it, a truck runs over it.
Or the guy so desperate to chase Ed but not quite ready to sacrifice his Sno Cone trying to scarf it down so quickly it triggers a brain freeze. Worse than that, the gabby geezers surround him, not letting him move on until they’ve imparted some advice and stories.
Or Ed’s botched attempt at apprehending their target, where she uses stinky gas guns, but fails to provide air support herself and Ein.
Then there’s the costumes. It might be because the other characters were borrowed from a blaxpoitation film, but the colorful suits, the dope-ass jackets, the crazy vests are simply something to behold.
“Mushroom Samba” is Cowboy Bebop at its wildest and most unhinged. And it’s the show at its absolute best.
What do you think about this crazy train? How does the show balance energy between these characters? Let us know in the comments and we’ll see you next time around, space cowboys, as we “Speak Like a Child.”
