Typically, the Jet-centered sessions are Cowboy Bebop‘s weakest entries. Faye might have her bleh amnesia plot, but the crew at Sunrise seem to routinely miss the mark when it comes to dealing with Jet’s backstory. It’s often very boring, and I find I just don’t care. The first few times I’d watched “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui,” I found myself drifting off, distracted by seemingly any random thing around me. I know I’ve said some sessions are among the weakest, but this might be my least favorite.
1. The Voice Over
Right away, one of the things we notice this session does differently is provide a voice-over. Now, Watanabe and crew have utilized this device in the past, and have even peeked into characters’ inner thoughts from time to time, but this one goes into, like, Blade Runner territory. There’s this mystical mumbo jumbo going on with it as Jet sets the scene, but I don’t think it’s at all effective here. Cowboy Bebop has been so good at doling out its information, at allowing stories to unfold and head straight toward the inevitable. Even if the cosmic-ness turns out to be a joke at the expense of the people who believe it, the voice over undermines the show’s previous narrative integrity.
I’ve touched on Jet being a noir character, and I guess the device is consistent with the genre, but the mood and tone of the session don’t match it, either. It’s all over the place.
2. Awkward Pacing
Something, too, feels off about this session. Take the opening sequence, where Jet arrives at a gravesite. He quotes some feng shui stuff and suddenly this girl pops out from behind a headstone. Seconds later, there are guys firing at him. Watanabe leaves himself no time to develop tension or establish place. He throws in a joke, but it’s flat. I think the producers were going for a confused feeling, trying to mimic Jet being swept up in this action, but the session never comes to life. It’s like watching a laundry list of action beats.
It’s not just the opening, but not one scene comes to life. Spike, Faye, and Ed trying to figure out who the girl is in relation to Jet, his revelation about his friendship with the girl’s father, their quest, it’s all presented, but never really develops into a story.
3. A Quest
One element of this session I did think was interesting — at least on paper — was the heroic quest but in a nontraditional environment. Cowboy Bebop constantly mixes genres and conventions, but the Holy Tower being another skyscraper, the Blue Dragon a subway train, the ancient temples being places in the city, the evil forces another bunch of gangsters, the hidden fortresses scattered throughout random city blocks is clever. It’s a fun twist. Does this mean Meifa is making all this up? When it comes to the ideas of Feng Shui as presented by the show, with its energy and motion and connection, I wonder if it really matters.
It eventually plays its hand too hard, especially in the climatic chase, where Spike quips, “These must be the evil stepsisters,” when battling drones, or “It’s all for the princess.”
4. Women Who Jet
In “Ganymede Elegy” we met Jet’s former flame, who was trying to start a new life for herself. In “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui,” we meet Meifa, the daughter of a former acquaintance. The girl “with that gypsy scarf and all that spirit,” too young to be a lover, but too old to be pursuing a daddy. He’s really quick to connect with her, though it’s all tenuous and, knowing how this show likes to play its games, it was difficult to trust her motives. She’s helpless and I think Jet’s attracted to that. I think he needs someone to watch over and protect, which might explain some of his issues with Faye, who’s perfectly capable of handling herself.
5. What’s This Tell Us About Jet?
As we’re nearing the end of the series, a lot of pieces are being put in place for the finale. A lot of this is setting up character motives and actions, but I don’t know what it’s doing for Jet. Unlike him learning empathy or respect for Faye, this session features him dabbling in the mystic. At the same time, everything is played like it could or couldn’t be true, depending on how you look at it. “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui” has a lot of a heroic quest in it, and I guess Jet would be cast as a knight? (He was former ISSP — space cop!) Maybe he’s able to care more about others? I think Faye says it best about him though: “The more righteous a man was in the past, the more likely he is to fall for some pretty young thing.”
Anyway, that’s it for this week. Tune in next Tuesday, space cowboys, as we get down with the “Cowboy Funk.”
