Cowboy Bebop (1998): Cowboy Bebop: Hard Luck Woman Rewatch
January 9, 2015 9:57 AM - Season 1, Episode 24 - Subscribe
While heading to Mars, the Bebop is diverted to Earth, where Faye decides to investigate her past by traveling to the landmarks she sees in the video she recorded as a child, taking Ed along with her. Meanwhile, Jet and Spike go after what looks to be a lucrative bounty.
And so young Edward (and Ein) lights out, just like Huck Finn.
When I first watched this episode in the original Adult Swim run, I wanted there to be more to Ed's story than just her wandering off into the middle of nowhere. I wanted a definite future for her, and a sense of closure. But now that I'm older, I feel like a more definite ending (or one where she just went off with her dad, or stayed at the orphanage, or returned to Bebop) wouldn't have been very satisfying either. Knowing what we learn about Ed and her history of running away from whatever home she makes, it just makes sense to have her as an eternal vagabond child, living by her instincts, guile, and luck alone.
The way Faye remembers her old life in fleeting, impressionistic images, spurred by her chance meeting with her old classmate, is one of my very favorite things in the episode. You get the sense in her interaction with Spike just after her epiphany that she's momentarily turned back into the girl on the Beta recording, with the full knowledge of the compromises she's had to make to survive in the future.
The entire sequence starting with Faye's line "Belonging is the very best thing there is", and underscored with Steve Conti singing "Call Me Call Me", is one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen. Faye running to the ruins of her childhood home, Ein following his best friend into the unknown, and Spike and Jet devouring the basket of hard boiled eggs, all of it tells a story about companionship and loss that transcends the individual images. We're witnessing the breakup of a family, and none of the individual members even realizes it yet.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:20 PM on January 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
When I first watched this episode in the original Adult Swim run, I wanted there to be more to Ed's story than just her wandering off into the middle of nowhere. I wanted a definite future for her, and a sense of closure. But now that I'm older, I feel like a more definite ending (or one where she just went off with her dad, or stayed at the orphanage, or returned to Bebop) wouldn't have been very satisfying either. Knowing what we learn about Ed and her history of running away from whatever home she makes, it just makes sense to have her as an eternal vagabond child, living by her instincts, guile, and luck alone.
The way Faye remembers her old life in fleeting, impressionistic images, spurred by her chance meeting with her old classmate, is one of my very favorite things in the episode. You get the sense in her interaction with Spike just after her epiphany that she's momentarily turned back into the girl on the Beta recording, with the full knowledge of the compromises she's had to make to survive in the future.
The entire sequence starting with Faye's line "Belonging is the very best thing there is", and underscored with Steve Conti singing "Call Me Call Me", is one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen. Faye running to the ruins of her childhood home, Ein following his best friend into the unknown, and Spike and Jet devouring the basket of hard boiled eggs, all of it tells a story about companionship and loss that transcends the individual images. We're witnessing the breakup of a family, and none of the individual members even realizes it yet.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:20 PM on January 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by valkane at 7:40 PM on January 10, 2015