Board 8 > Gauntlet Crew Ranks the Cowboy Bebop Episodes

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Page List: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 7
JONALEON1
08/19/19 10:41:26 AM
#1:


I thought it was time to shake things up when it comes to what the Gauntlet Crew could rank so I decided to go with the episodes of my favorite show, Cowboy Bebop. Even though the episodes have themes that help contribute to the whole of Cowboy Bebop, there is also quite the variety in tones and genres that I thought it would be be interesting to see the different reactions to them.

Our Rankers:

charon
Ermine
Gen
Inviso
Johnbobb
JONA
Karo
KBM
scarlet
Snake
Stifled
Wickle

The Sessions (Yes, the two-parters are ranked separately.):

Asteroid Blues
Stray Dog Strut
Honky Tonk Women
Gateway Shuffle
Ballad of Fallen Angels
Sympathy for the Devil
Heavy Metal Queen
Waltz for Venus
Jamming with Edward
Ganymede Elegy
Toys in the Attic
Jupiter Jazz (Part 1)
Jupiter Jazz (Part 2)
Bohemian Rhapsody
My Funny Valentine
Black Dog Serenade
Mushroom Samba
Speak Like a Child
Wild Horses
Pierrot le Fou
Boogie Woogie Feng Shui
Cowboy Funk
Brain Scratch
Hard Luck Woman
The Real Folk Blues (Part 1)
The Real Folk Blues (Part 2)
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 10:42:50 AM
#2:


First ranking will be sometime later but here's the point values for each episode.

58
72
80
81
83
120
129
139
140
140
141
143
159
173
176
180
199
201
205
209
211
214
215
216
247
281
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PrinceKaro
08/19/19 10:44:19 AM
#3:


tag
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Congrats to Advokaiser on being really good at predicting stuff
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scarletspeed7
08/19/19 10:47:51 AM
#4:


tag
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Espeon
08/19/19 11:05:10 AM
#5:


Tag
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Johnbobb
08/19/19 11:09:02 AM
#6:


tag

also, I watched every episode with my girlfriend (who had already watched through it growing up) so I included a brief thought from her for each write-up
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Snake5555555555
08/19/19 11:43:35 AM
#7:


Tag

I ended up liking this show quite a bit overall! Definitely one of the biggest and pleasant surprises of the gauntlet ranks series so far. I never knew this show covered so many different genres and was more about vignettes then a serialized story.

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TheArkOfTurus
08/19/19 11:45:50 AM
#8:


tag
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Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
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StifledSilence
08/19/19 12:01:09 PM
#9:


The Real Folk Baloos

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xp1337
08/19/19 12:28:57 PM
#10:


Tag.

Ballad of Fallen Angels and Real Folk Blues for Top 3. Curious what scored last. Scanning the list and my memory I'm gonna say... Gateway Shuffle?
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
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Anagram
08/19/19 12:30:41 PM
#11:


Tag
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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005
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Zigzagoon
08/19/19 12:31:50 PM
#12:


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Zigzagoon
08/19/19 12:37:18 PM
#13:


Difference between 5th and 6th is pretty telling I think
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AxemRedRanger
08/19/19 12:39:38 PM
#14:


xp1337 posted...
Tag.

Ballad of Fallen Angels and Real Folk Blues for Top 3. Curious what scored last. Scanning the list and my memory I'm gonna say... Gateway Shuffle?

Im guessing Boogie-Woogie Feng Shui for last.
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Vengeful_KBM
08/19/19 1:15:03 PM
#15:


Taaaag
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NBIceman
08/19/19 1:30:59 PM
#16:


Hard Luck Woman for #1 or I'm rioting.
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Sherry_Tueli
08/19/19 3:13:35 PM
#17:


Howdy cowboys, you ready for our episodic adventures? I got a bounty on my #26, if we can eliminate it in last, I can pay 20 million oolongs.

Not really though, I just really wanted to make that joke.
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 3:31:20 PM
#18:


26. Wild Horses
Total: 281 pts.

Wickle - 15
Stifled - 19
Inviso - 23
KBM - 23
Karo - 24
Ermine - 25
Johnbobb - 25
JONA - 25
scarlet - 25
Snake - 25
charon - 26
Gen - 26

Wickle - Kind of cute episode, a little dull at parts but otherwise good. The dynamic between
characters was pretty good and was great to see the old man pull out a space shuttle to save Spike.

Stifled - Anyone else get Cid Highwind vibes from Doohan? This episode kinda reminded me
of the Rocket Town section of Final Fantasy 7. Doohan is rough and barks orders at Miles like Cid did
with Shara. He even has a space shuttle to fly into outer space! This was a nice episode that gave some
lore to the Swordfish 2 that we didnt even know we wanted until we got it.

Inviso - This was just fucking BORING. Ive been enjoying the single-character focus and the backstory stuff thats been going on in recent episodes, but who the hell thought we needed to focus an entire episode around where Spike got his red ship? The bounty hunting plot is dull because the
space pirates are personality-free losers who have absolutely no real fangs, given the way they
dont just finish off the crew on their first encounter. And then after theyre defeated, the end of
the episode spends way too long worry about how Spike is gonna survive burning up in Earths
atmosphere. But then he just survives. Off-screen. For fucks sake.

KBM - I hate to say it, but this episode kind of felt filler-y to me, adding a bit of extraneous backstory for Spike that will, of course, never be mentioned again. Even the voice acting (especially from the guest stars) seemed unusually bad here. A rare straight-up miss for me, although I did at least enjoy the music (as per usual) and the fact that the mechanic's name is Doohan, a cute reference
to the actor who played Scotty on Star Trek.

Karo - So Spike is crash laded on earth for whatever arbitrary reason before the episode even starts and we waste time on a pointless plotline involving mechanics and ship repair.
Meanwhile, everyone else is after some pirates who shoot a computer virus at other ships with fucking harpoons, and this works somehow. The Bebop ends up getting hacked and taken over by the virus causing all sorts of problems.
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Don't we have the arguably the greatest hacker in the galaxy on board the Bebop who literally did the same thing to their ship when she first met them? So do they even bother asking Ed hey can you stop this virus before it blows up our ship or disable the pirate computer or like acknowledge that she even exists?
No. No, they dont. Jet tries to fix a computer virus by ripping out the Bebop's plumbing, and eventually everyone comes to the epiphany that they should just break their ship systems when they get infected. Nice going, you bunch of fucking neanderthals.
Anyway Spike ends up freefalling into earth's atmosphere because breaking your ship's controls generally means you can't control your ship anymore, and he is saved by what seems to be the ghost of the space shuttle Columbia.
The whole episode is simply a shoddily written mess that has most everyone acting stupid and/or out of character, and lacks focus in the worst way. I'll not be seeing you again, space cowboy.

Ermine - Ooof... this was NOT a good episode in the slightest. Basically every character introduced was either boring or really annoying and the story was just... not interesting at all. Any of the drama in the episode just felt so stale and not real? Anyways, this one sucked.

3/10
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 3:31:23 PM
#19:


Johnbobb - Maybe I could've been more into this had it happened earlier in the series, but ultimately, for how late in the show Wild Horses is, I needed more from it. It way too easily gets lost in the shuttle, and just having great music and somewhat interesting character dynamics wasn't enough to cut it for me.

Mickayla's thoughts:
Doohan is the best. Spike is the best.
17/26

JONA - Spike has to prepare his ship while the rest are busy trying to catch some bounties. Spike has some fun interaction with the Characters of the Day, Miles and Doohan. I liked seeing Spike being bored of the baseball talk and the line about his ship and that he can't get rid of it. I also liked how Doohan is kind of like a mentor to Spike; they have some great trust in each other. I like how the themes of the past are presented in a more a positive outlook here, with the gang using something more old-fashioned than their MONO computer, Spike using the broken piece to make a HUD for himself and the recreation of the Columbia saving the day. The action is solid but the thing that stands out for me this episode is Spike's line of "Whatever happens, happens." The episode preview is also quite haunting with it just being maniacal laughter. While not my favorite episode, it's at the very least entertaining.

Favorite Song: No original song here, so I'll go with NY Rush. Both it and Too Good Too Bad really helped their respective scenes.

scarlet - This episode in particular felt less like a Cowboy Bebop episode and more like a Firefly episode. And thats fine if youre watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and suddenly get an upgrade, but less great if youre watching Cowboy Bebop and suddenly get a downgrade.
Rating: 73/100

Snake - A largely forgettable episode that flounders about with underdeveloped characters of the week and a plot that I found kind of difficult to follow and pay attention to. I do like Spikes whatever happens, happens at the end of the episode though, which is just classic cool, and the final photo just put a smile on my face.

charon - This is probably the only episode of this show that I would say is completely forgetable. It starts out well enough but once we get into the antagonists and the plot with Jet and Faye "fishing" or whatever, it just completely loses me. I tried to care about the backstory offered up with Doohan and Spike, but ultimately it just isn't there for me. I wouldn't call the one off characters "bad" here, they're simply boring and it felt like the writers just phoned this one in.

Gen - When I was watching this session I realized I remembered nothing about it. With joy I thought it would be like watching a brand new episode of Bebop, a series I'd seen at least 3 times. Unfortunately this was like watching the worst episode of something you love. I realize they can't all be winners, but this session just about bored me to tears which is truly amazing considering the stakes in this session are about as high as your average Bebop. I suppose I just didn't care for any of the new characters introduced, nor did I find the antagonists compelling in any way. The virus subplot done in previous session were far superior to the one herein..
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Zigzagoon
08/19/19 3:38:13 PM
#20:


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StifledSilence
08/19/19 3:39:26 PM
#21:


Weird choice for last place. Its just kind of harmless, when there are a few episodes Id say are flat out bad.

But yay free outlier points.


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JONALEON1
08/19/19 3:40:32 PM
#22:


Outlier

Wickle - 11
Stifled - 7
Inviso - 3
KBM - 3
Karo - 2
Ermine - 1
Johnbobb - 1
JONA - 1
scarlet - 1
Snake - 1
charon - 0
Gen - 0

Wickle launches into first right out of the gate, with the couple avoiding disaster the most.

I'll be like Snake and not post any hints but here's some interesting info to keep in mind.

Every episode from this point on has at least 1 top 10 ranking.
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Zigzagoon
08/19/19 3:42:37 PM
#23:


StifledSilence posted...
Weird choice for last place. Its just kind of harmless, when there are a few episodes Id say are flat out bad.

But yay free outlier points.



The villains in that episode were sooo awful and annoying. Thats definitely harmful for me
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Vengeful_KBM
08/19/19 3:46:59 PM
#24:


Yeah that's a good start.

I'm genuinely surprised anybody put my #24 or #26 in their Top 10, though. #25... well, I'm guessing it'll get me a little more ire for how low I put it. It was definitely difficult to order my #23-26, though. The bottom four were all around the same level of "aggressively mediocre" for me.

(I will mention that my boyfriend actually seemed to quite enjoy "Wild Horses" which I found somewhat baffling.)
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 3:56:52 PM
#25:


Karo posted...
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Don't we have the arguably the greatest hacker in the galaxy on board the Bebop who literally did the same thing to their ship when she first met them? So do they even bother asking Ed hey can you stop this virus before it blows up our ship or disable the pirate computer or like acknowledge that she even exists?


Ed tries to help fix it but Ein presses the return button to disable the MONO system. Ein was kinda justified since both Jet and Faye were in trouble and not using the MONO system was what helped the crew get the edge later on.
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Snake5555555555
08/19/19 4:03:18 PM
#26:


Excellent first drop. Besides the final moments I struggle to recall any specific event from that episode. I think there could've been a good plot here if they had dropped the virus thing and just put the full focus on Spike.

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v_charon
08/19/19 7:59:24 PM
#27:


I was hopeful that was the episode that was dropping in last place when I saw the large gap between it and 25th place. Glad to see it happen for once, I'd didn't want a repeat of last ranking project where my bottom placer went on for way too long.

It's just a bad episode. It's the only episode I'd say was actually bad.
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WickIebee
08/19/19 8:46:17 PM
#28:


I saw a few eps that were bad, none were that one. But guess KBM's bf and I are the only people that can really enjoy this kind of episode. Just typical with me and gauntlet crew.
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v_charon
08/19/19 9:19:00 PM
#29:


I will say that I do agree the old space shuttle making an appearance was nice. I just really dislike the antagonists here and think they were far and away the most clunkiest and least interesting of all.
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WickIebee
08/19/19 10:21:33 PM
#30:


Whoops, never sent that message I had typed up. The villains in that episode are just ones I forgot about instead of disliking. There's definitely some villains I disliked, but that's for later.
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Johnbobb
08/19/19 10:42:28 PM
#31:


Yeah really that was the issue for me, it's just a forgettable episode in a show where most episodes are memorable
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 11:33:09 PM
#32:


25. Boogie Woogie Feng Shui
Total: 247 pts.

Wickle - 10
Johnbobb - 12
Karo - 12
Snake - 18
charon - 22
Ermine - 23
Stifled - 23
Inviso - 24
Gen - 25
JONA - 26
KBM - 26
scarlet - 26

Wickle - Cute story, cute daughter, uh yeah thats about it. It was a lovely story, and Im glad it was Jet who told off his old friend regarding it not being his daughters will to go there. But honestly The point of it all seemed to lack, so it definitely goes no higher than this.

Johnbobb - I really wish Meifa had the chance to be a recurring character, because I love her and Jet's dynamic. He also serves a fatherly role for the crew, though he wouldn't admit it, and this makes him face that head on. She brings out the best in what is already one of the best parts of the main cast.

Mickayla's thoughts:
I love Jet so much. Poor Meiha. I wish she would have become part of the crew, too (but not as Jet's girlfriend because that's terrifying and creepy.
14/26

Karo - Jet comes across the daughter of one of his old friends and ANOTHER evil space crime syndicate is after her and so they have to use the power of geology and interior design to help find her father. It's a decent enough episode that never gets boring despite Jet not being the most exciting guy around.

Snake - Falls right in the middle of Jet centric episodes. Much like other Jet related episodes, it features him rekindling a connection with a figure from his past, and I thought Meifa was a cute compliment to Jets gruff attitude. Much of the episode plays out like a weird rom-com, but there are moments that really hit you in the feels, especially when Jet and Meifa finally make contact with her father. I can take or leave the feng shui philosophy which is a lot to swallow at times, and delivered in a really flat, clunky way that feels more like reading a wikipedia article than watching a dramatic series.

charon - I wanted to like this more than I did. I enjoyed the dynamics between Jet and Meifa, and the little jokes throughout the episode about Jet's age (since you know, in Japanese fiction 36 is super ancient) but then there was like, no payoff. The ending just fell really flat for me; so basically her father sent out this beacon and all this hocus pocus with Feng Shui ends up just being a trick so Jet would bring his daughter with him so he could bid her farewell because he's basically screwed? I just don't know, that's assuming a lot. Not only that, but the entire episode features people shooting at Jet and Meifa. Being blunt with the message would have been better, and not faking his death would have too. It didn't fool the syndicate obviously since that's the way they found out he was alive. Just a lot of missed opportunity I think.

Ermine - Another Jet episode! Except this time... it's not that good. It just felt incredibly difficult to connect with any of the characters or care about them in any way. The story was whatever and was overall just yawn inducing.

4/10
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 11:33:12 PM
#33:


Stifled - I kinda like Meifa. I kinda like the scenes where Jet and Meifa get away from the assassins. I kinda like the space stuff later on in the episode. But Im ultimately left placing this one in the I dont care pile. It feels very much like filler and doesnt add much to anyones character. Most of the fluff episodes at least add something to the proceedings or develop a character in some way. Or even if they dont, they are at least super fun. I suppose its important for Jet on a personal level since he knew Pao, but I dont see any effects from this have any bearing on Jet or anyone else in later episodes. Its more an episode for Meifa, which would be cool if we saw her again, but we dont. Additionally, it isnt even a wacky fun episode that I can relax and enjoy. So Im at a loss.

Inviso - Of all the things that couldve been interesting to learn about Jets past, I feel like whats the deal with some unmentioned former acquaintance whos really into feng shui isnt one of them. This episode is really boring, to the point where Im honestly wondering if I zoned out and missed something relevant. All you have is some bad guys trying to hunt down the daughter of Jets old friend, and shes really into feng shui, using it to map the galaxyand its just a bunch of bland, spiritual crap without an injection of personality from any of the more interesting cast members. Dont get me wrong, Jet can be greatbut hes great in solid, serious episodes. Not in an inherently dumb and goofy plot like this.

Gen - I'm not okay with shipping Jet with someone half his age, even if she is of age! That's not the entire reason why this session is ranked here however. Frankly I find it a little despicable that Pao Pu-Zi manipulated Jet into bringing Meifa to his coordinates to hear what he knew would be his final words to her and didn't have a nicer message. Something else I don't understand is if a Feng Shui master such as himself could use it to "change his destiny" as Meifa implies then why would he get on that ship in the first place? Shouldn't the chi have been off or whatever? ONE MORE THING! The syndicate hunting down Meifa just kind of disappears after a certain point. The robot drones are destroyed in the time-space vortex, but the mother ship that deploys them remained intact yet ceased its pursuit. Why is that never explained? I guess I have more issues with this session than my bottom placement, but at least this one entertains in a mildly infuriating way.
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 11:34:53 PM
#34:


JONA - Jet's noir-like narration and Spike and Faye's banter here are pretty entertaining but I find the episode to kinda be just fine. Meifa's just an okay character and her interaction with Jet is definitely awkward. I think it's kinda intentional if you consider how Jet's past relationship with Alisa went. Jet's not great at differentiating between romantic love and parental love. The non-smoking area scene is pretty funny and shows Jet's parental instincts once again. Guess I'll also write about the use of smoking in the whole series while I'm here. While smoking is fitting of the show just because of the noir style, I do think it has its thematic reasons in the show too. Smoking helps Spike, Jet and Faye with their facades of being mature and collected. Smoking can also reflections on the past. As an example, in Black Dog Serenade, Fad mentions quitting smoking during his conversation with Jet. He seemingly moved on from his past but at the end of the episode, after confronting his past, Fad says that he could never quit smoking. In another instance, in Honky Tonk Women, Spike throws out his cigarette right before meeting Faye, implying that Faye could possibly make Spike forget Julia. There's also the idea that smoking (reflecting on the past) too much can kill you and the people around you, which is definitely the case with Spike. Thank you for reading my ramblings that talk about the series as a whole and not the episode itself. Anyways, I do appreciate how Spike, Jet and Faye help out with Meifa's situation with no reward in it for them. Meifa's scene at the end with her conversation with her dad is sad but also kinda falls flat. The action in the episode is just okay. I like the Feng Shui concept and how it relates to a theme of the show but it never really sat right with me on how it's executed. Good ideas with some mixed reactions to the execution is basically how I feel about the episode as a whole. Before starting my rewatch of the series, I had this pegged as my least favorite and it hasn't changed afterwards but at the very least, I appreciate it a bit more.

Favorite Song: Gateway

KBM - This might be the only episode of the show where I just found absolutely nothing to like. At no point during this episode did I feel I'd been given any reason to care about Jet's relationship with an old friend's daughter. Just added nothing to the series.

scarlet - You could have replaced this episode with 20 minutes of Spring Tiger trying to start the Womens Revolution with Stephanie McMahon the Dark the Third and it would have been just as relevant to Bebop without being as dumb.
Rating: 43/100
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WickIebee
08/19/19 11:39:14 PM
#35:


Alright, there's the last of what I think is my main outlier stuff. Should be able to balance out unless people like specific eps.
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JONALEON1
08/19/19 11:45:55 PM
#36:


Outlier

Wickle - 26
Karo - 15
Johnbobb - 14
Stifled - 9
Snake - 8
Inviso - 4
KBM - 4
charon - 3
Ermine - 3
Gen - 1
JONA - 1
scarlet - 1

Wickle uses his Luopan to guide him to the lead of outlier.
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Snake5555555555
08/19/19 11:49:24 PM
#37:


Don't think it deserves to be this low really. It has some good action and the Blues Brothers were kind of fun. It definitely wasn't a boring episode by any means.

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Johnbobb
08/19/19 11:54:33 PM
#38:


Snake5555555555 posted...
Don't think it deserves to be this low really. It has some good action and the Blues Brothers were kind of fun. It definitely wasn't a boring episode by any means.

I would agree with that. I was surprised people were predicting it at first, and I'm not really sure I get what about it people found boring
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v_charon
08/20/19 12:54:47 AM
#39:


I had it a bit higher, but the big hole with the father basically risking his daughter's life reeled it down a lot when I did the writeups.
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Espeon
08/20/19 9:55:58 AM
#40:


I have no problem with the boring episodes going out first. I feel like my number 25 and ESPECIALLY my number 26 are going be in for a while.
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StifledSilence
08/20/19 12:38:57 PM
#41:


Boogie Woogie would have been a little higher on my list if Meifa ever came back or joined the crew or something. But instead it just felt like a waste of time.

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GenesisSaga
08/20/19 1:29:45 PM
#42:


We're off to a great start with these first two drops. Can't wait for the list to be in shambles by the end (though I too am surprised by the fairly agreeable if not unanimous #1)!

As it stands with that one episode I'm not sure if I'd like to see Meifa as a recurring character. I like her design, and she can take care of herself despite Jet's attempts to pamper and/or baby her so she likely wouldn't hinder the crew, but she also didn't a good chunk of the episode spouting off feng shui factoids I couldn't give less of a shit about and that would get old real fast. Maybe if the rest of the crew didn't insinuate the potential romantic link I could stomach it...

Those were some very nice random observations on the symbolism of smoking in Cowboy Bebop, JONA.
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NBIceman
08/20/19 1:39:08 PM
#43:


I'm not really sure what exactly Meifa would've brought to the cast as a recurring character. Feels like some of the people who want that are just looking for a reason to make a pointless episode more relevant.
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Sherry_Tueli
08/20/19 3:03:55 PM
#44:


Yeah, Meifa doesn't work as a returning cast member. If she was, I think it would basically assume romance implications between the two and I dunno.

Better to have the potential Faye or leave it up to your own imagination post Real Folk Blues.
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xp1337
08/20/19 3:11:34 PM
#45:


Oh, I totally forget about Wild Horses (it was one of like 3ish episodes I saw the title of and couldn't place the plot to.)

Yeah, that's the actual correct pick for last place. Good job all. Boogie Woogie Feng Shui kinda getting a raw deal I think, but not by much, it's still in the bottom third or maybe even quarter of episodes in all likelihood but I wouldn't put it in 2nd-to-last.
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StifledSilence
08/20/19 3:14:33 PM
#46:


NBIceman posted...
I'm not really sure what exactly Meifa would've brought to the cast as a recurring character. Feels like some of the people who want that are just looking for a reason to make a pointless episode more relevant.


Most things in Bebop are very deliberate and are referenced later in some way though. Or if not, they are fun enough that they leave a lasting impression. But Boogie Woogie did none of that. It was an odd choice of episode compared to most of the other ones.

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JONALEON1
08/20/19 4:21:43 PM
#47:


Boogie Woogie is referenced in The Real Folk Blues Part 1, with Vicious's betrayal being predicted by a fortuneteller. Meifa's dad is basically a parallel to Spike with him being someone who who left the syndicate and someone who leaves the people he love in order to protect them.

Meifa joining the crew doesn't make any sense. What could you possibly do with her? The impact of Hard Luck Woman would be lost if Meifa was still around.
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JONALEON1
08/20/19 4:41:25 PM
#48:


24. Cowboy Funk
Total: 216 pts.

Stifled - 9
Snake - 11
charon - 14
Gen - 15
Johnbobb - 16
scarlet - 16
JONA - 17
Wickle - 20
KBM - 21
Karo - 25
Ermine - 26
Inviso - 26

Stifled - Between a terrorist that uses explosive teddy bears and a moron literal cowboy type cowboy that thinks Spike is a terrorist, the entire episode is just ridiculous hilarity. Eventually it becomes about a battle between Spike and Andy that leaves the Teddy Bomber in the dust. I tend to really like these one-note episodes that dont advance the plot, but just provide crazy fun. No offense to the plot of course, but given what happens at the end of the series, some harmless (relatively speaking) fun is a good thing!

Snake - It was a ton of fun seeing Spike going at it with a character that parralels himself to an almost eerie degree. Theres a ton of funny imagery in the episode; I especially got a kick out of Cowboy Andys horse riding out of the elevator. Its very rare to see Spike get this angry and flustered, losing his cool almost anytime Andys on the screen. Its also pretty great how the actual main antagonist of the episode keeps getting pushed to the background, despite his high threat and surprisingly lethal body count. Its a well-constructed piece of comedy that emphasizes Spikes personality traits to highly exaggerated levels, almost a parody of the show itself.

charon - The antics with Andy and Spike are definitely hilariously fun. I will say that I don't think Spike is quite that reckless, but I think Andy was basically created to highlight all of Spike's wild tendencies turned up to 11. This is also one of the more charismatic one off villains in Teddy Bomber as well, surprisingly enough. His overall theme and ideas being serious and thought provoking serve as a great contrast to the rest of the episode's baffoonery. Even as the antagonist, him stating that he never has meant to harm anyone in any way paints him in a very sympathetic light especially when you compare him to the personalities of the bounty hunters seeking to stop him. It works very well.

Gen - My favorite part of this session? It's not Andy being completely full of himself, him being compared to Spike repeatedly, the wild west standoff, or him repeatedly getting in Spike's way causing him to miss out on the bounty time after time. Nah, my favorite part of this session is the Teddy Bomber never getting to deliver his manifesto until the very end.

Johnbobb - I really struggled on where to put this one. The cowboy samurai himself was great, and his and Spike's interactions were always a treat. I really couldn't find myself caring about the episode's overall plot as much, which I guess was the point?

Mickayla's thoughts:
"See you Space Cowboy..." "See you, Space Samurai"
18/26

scarlet - As the title suggests, this episode really puts the Cowboy in Cowboy Bebop. The most tonally western episode of the batch, this episode once again summons up the Firefly-feeling the series has occasionally touched. As someone who enjoys a bit of western in my science fiction, thats a welcome shift.
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JONALEON1
08/20/19 4:41:27 PM
#49:


JONA - Andy's entrance with him breaking the glass and accusing Spike of being the bomber definitely sets the tone of this episode. Spike ends up in bandages again, with the gang not believing his story and then comparing them. Ein wearing Jet's wig for the masquerade party is pretty funny. At the masquerade party, Jet is pretty funny with his hippy talk and it's funny that Andy takes the elevator while riding his horse. The bomber has a funny running gag of not being able to say his reasons for bombing, even when he sends a letter to Big Shot. Pretty funny how Spike is cautious of Andy's entrance music when he meets with the bomber for a third time. Spike and Andy's fight on the roof is great. I love how the roof ends up looking like a western setting. Andy admitting defeat and then riding his horse, who somehow rode the elevator to the roof, and becoming a samurai is quite funny. Funnier in hindsight too since the next series the director went on to is Samurai Champloo. This episode is just goofy, dumb fun.

Favorite Song: Go Go Cactus Man

Wickle - God, it really shows that the less of an advantage Spike has over his opponent, the more of just a simpleton he becomes. At least eventually hell be a good character from narrative again, I assume. But ugh Andy was horrible and even the change of the ending quote to fit him being even more moronic was worse.

KBM - A really dumb cowboy comes into town to act as a comic foil to Spike, but to make it work they also have to dumb Spike down significantly and it's a bit annoying as a result. There are some isolated moments of dark humor here that work involving a mass bomber who can't get anyone to pay attention to him thanks to Spike and Andy's rivalry, and hey, at least Andy is voiced by Daran Norris. I just wish he'd gotten a less intrinsically-annoying character to work with.

Karo - Spike runs afoul of an American wild west cowboy while trying to capture the 'Teddy Bear Bomber', and if you think things have already taken a nosedive, you dont even know the half of it.
Everything about the episode is incredibly stupid, from the terrorist who blows up buildings without killing anyone to this dipshit who not only rides a horse around in a sci-fi society, but is somehow a renowned bounty hunter while doing so and please god just make it end already.
Lets keep the cowboys to the space kind and send this buffoon back to Dodge City and his horse to the glue factory. Or even better, the other way around

Ermine - The only things worse than boring episodes are actively bad ones and this episode definitely fits that bill. Just full of unfunny things and the whole story/plot if you could call it that was just so dumb. There's funny filler done right and then there's this. Andy was so terrible and honestly Spike fell a bit for me from that episode as well for stooping to his level.

2/10

Inviso - This episodethis is the first one all watchthrough where I feel like it ACTIVELY annoyed me. Like, its trying SUPER hard to go for comedy, but the problem is that the comedy comes from an EXTREMELY unlikable one-off character. Andy is a fucking moron, and his inclusion in the episodes events transforms them into a complete farce. Facing off against the Teddy Bomber couldve been amusing in its own right, but instead were forced to deal with a complete moron who fucks everything up in a completely asinine fashion. After spending what, twenty-two episodes with Spike as a charming rogue, he turns into a hypercompetitive moron, facing off against Andy. And the end result is a rooftop battle where he gets his ass handed to him by this incompetent chucklefuck. Holy crap this was stupid and bad, all at the same time. A COMPLETE failure in my eyes.
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Snake5555555555
08/20/19 4:51:13 PM
#50:


Aww that's a shame. It was a funny episode, and had some hidden meaning too if you looked closely.

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