Adios, Cowboy – Arc 1 – Day 34

Here we are, half-way through the series in 34 days. Not bad. Not bad at all.

So let’s have a chat about something the show does that has catalyzed into a sticking point for me. I’ll preface this by saying it has nothing to do with the series’ age. This is something that contemporary TV does, as well. Cowboy Bebop simply feels a bit more egregious amid this particular sin.

I am not okay with Cowboy Bebop thinking it can dine out on emotional affect in lieu of presenting a coherent story. I kept an open mind through part one of Jupiter Jazz, but after seeing its entirety I now find it a shallow and tedious mess. It’s not a “complex” episode, in the spirit of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Rather, it is an attempt to messily shoe-horn half a season of largely absent character shading into the span of two episodes. And when the episode is done, as if attempting to hang a lantern on its efforts at making mountains of mole hills, it flashes this title card.

No way, Cowboy Bebop. You do not score points for trying to make things personal via a fourth wall violation. To quote a few ex-girlfriends of mine, “This is about you, not me.”

BUT ADAM, SPACE JAZZ

Yeah. Don’t care.

There’s no title card in the universe that can make up for the fact that Jupiter Jazz fails to deliver. Sad songs and ersatz emotional codas do not work on me. It’s a Jedi mind trick, and I am not buying it.

Cowboy Bebop lights a cigarette and shrugs in the face of criticism

Listen to me. I know your game. I see what you are doing, and I am calling you on your bullshit.

Cowboy Bebop blows smoke in Adam’s face

I will not go away. Being cool is not a meaningful response to a valid observation. Nor is a constant invocation of an off-beat neo-genre a fucking shield.

Cowboy Bebop leans in and drinks Adam’s martini, butting its cigarette in the dregs of the glass

This isn’t over. Do you hear me? There are 13 episodes left, and now I’m going to be looking for this. I’ll be bringing the ruckus now.