1x25 The Real Folk Blues (1)

[7.5/10] If there’s one thing about Cowboy Bebop that’s always worked for me, it’s the cinematography. Sequences like Faye making a stand to help Julia dodge her assassins, or scenes of Spike flitting through space and enemy fire like a hummingbird intercut with the bloody ballet of Vicious’ coup grab a hold of you and don’t let go. THe soft jazz score gives things a different, almost melancholy feel.

The whole thing is worth the price of admission. I believe the Wachowskis, of The Matrix fame, have cited Cowboy Bebop as an influence, and you can see it in the kinetic, symphonic style of these high octane moments.

That said, I find myself a little nonplussed about the big story business in this one. There is certainly some power in the clash between the old guard and the new wave that this episode represents. There’s a lot of thematic material, from the Syndicate leaders’ speech to vicious to Jet’s warning to Spike about now dwelling on the past, that underscores the abiding notion of the new blood rising to the top. But I’ve struggled to care too much about the crime lord power struggle portion of the show, even if it was inevitable that we’d end up back there.

We also get some payoff, or at least the beginning of it, to what happened in Spike’s past. The reveal that he was ready to bail and was betrayed by both Vicious and Julia is reasonably predictable, and there too, I struggle to get too excited about it. This is pretty standard noir stuff. The hardboiled-to-the-point-of-nonchalance guy who lost the girl that made it all worthwhile is a familiar archetype. THat’s not bad, exactly. But there’s nothing particularly special or compelling about the Spike/Julia relationship that we’ve seen to date, so it comes off a bit stock.

It’s not bad though. I know the show wants this to be momentous. It’s the payoff to things that have been vaguely hinted at for ages, with the mortal threat of the syndicate eradicating any remaining threats, Spike included. And there is something compelling about Faye returning to the fold once more to warn him about what Julia said.

But I don’t know. Even in its endgame, I’m more compelled by the imagery of Cowboy Bebop, something as simple as the bloody but transfixing gunfight in a “Loser Bar”, and the mood of it, as explosive firefights come with a languid, even resigned soundtrack, than I am with the story. We’ll see if that changes in the series finale.