It has always been apparent that Jet's had a dreadful run of it. Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 5 illustrates exactly what being a good cop in a bad system can do to a person.
As a character study, it's a tragic tale from the get-go. Cut down and framed just as he and his wife picked a name for the child they're expecting. Locked away for five years where I'll assume ex-cops are not made to feel welcome by inmates and wardens alike.
Jet may not be Spike-cool or Faye-frenetic, but he's the rock that captains the Bebop. A lesser man would've given up trying a long time ago. Jet persists. I don't think he knows how to stop.
There's excellent continuity built into his evolution in his consistent dislike of Chalmers.
Before Chalmers replaced him in his wife's affections and daughter's life, he thought Chalmers was too perfect not to be dirty.
To psychoanalyze that a bit, his irritation with Chalmers probably reflects some personal insecurities.
And to pour gasoline on that fire, Chalmers ended up with everything Jet valued most — family and career.
If we look at the timestamps: Spike and Jet have been hunting together for three years; Jet was incarcerated for five; and, for mathematical duplicity, Kimmie just celebrated her eighth birthday, confirming that the events of the flashbacks took place approximate nine or ten years before our present day.
In those flashbacks, Jet and Fad had a pretty comfortable partnership. They'd been working together long enough that Jet felt Fad should have been able to come to him with financial issues.
They were in sync, in rhythm, knew how to question a perp together or corner a person of interest in the most effective and efficient way.
And, knowing Jet's analytical mind, they probably closed many cases in their time together.
So it's beyond heartbreaking for Jet to find out that the last person he cared about from that old life was the person who took that life away from him.
The scripting is such that there's an inkling of suspicion seeded early on. I started to feel some unease when Fad took that call after the visit to the papers guy with the teeth.
And knowing that he was widowing Fad's wife and that she'd never get any real answers either, can't sit well with someone as lawful-good as Jet.
Chalmers: You just killed the only man in creation that can clear your name. Shit, Jet. You’ve got the worst luck I’ve ever seen.
Jet: Yeah, I’m aware of that.
🔗 permalink: Yeah, I’m aware of that.
A different show would have Jet under some evil curse or born under an inauspicious star.
If Spike visits death on all around him, Jet is a walking bad luck charm.
Spike: They can grow you a new arm, you know.
Jet: You know, sometimes when you lose something, there’s just no getting it back.
Spike: Any more fortune cookies you want to crack open, or can we eat now?
Jet: You work at being an asshole?
Spike: No, actually, it comes naturally. Unlike your arm.
🔗 permalink: Any more fortune cookies you want to crack open, or can we eat now?
And it's not that he doesn't try to do the right thing and be a positive role model. The world is stacked against him.
Case in point, the Walking Sally Doll mission on Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 3. After dropping thousands of woo on a black market deal for that doll, how long is it before it gets run over in the street?
Meanwhile, he gives his teammates a simple task. Pick a bounty from the dozens of prisoners who escaped a crash prison transport and bag a few for the woo.
If I am correct in my observations, Spike and Faye spent the time they had arguing, bragging, and bathing.
Spike: T-Bone eats people.
Faye: So?
Spike: So it took seven guys to take him down last time, and he ate the faces off two of them.
Faye: Yeah, but he’s worth the most money.
Spike: I like my face.
🔗 permalink: I like my face.
Others might term it "bonding," but that doesn't negate the fact they didn't do anything like catch a fugitive.
Spike talks a big game about not trusting and disliking Faye, but he was the one who brought her onboard the Bebop the first time on Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 1.
The most attractive thing about Faye is how, despite her amnesia and obvious trust issues, she recognizes her own worth and isn't shy about lauding her successes.
The look of this offering is markedly different from the preceding lot in the very film noir lighting and the trenches that detectives apparently wear in 2071.
Much like how a graphic novel or manga may change inkers or artists for a specific chapter or segment to convey a shift in narrative style, utilizing wholly different shooting techniques and speeds in the flashbacks created a real contrast to the present-day scenes.
What's even more clever is that the longer Jet hangs with Fad on the trail of the escaped Taxim, the more enmired in that nostalgic vibe he becomes until the truth is revealed and the images are suddenly sharp and stark again.
While Spike's backstory is unfolding slowly through the season, having Jet's laid out so elegantly in a single outing really highlights how straightforward his life is when compared to the others.
So even though he's not as flashy as his teammates, it behooves us to remember that without Jet, they'd just be cowboys with no Bebop.
Jet is the family man of the series. He's been married, has a child, owns a ship, and invited both Spike and Faye into his life. He's not a creature who operates well in isolation.
Santiago: You’ll never know true power until you’ve tasted the testicles of a man who has wronged you.
🔗 permalink: You’ll never know true power until you’ve tasted the testicles of a man who has wronged you.
Meanwhile, on the truly dysfunctional side of the narrative tapestry, we meet and learn about the capos Vicious will need to court in order to overthrow the Elders.
I guess capos need to be intimidating, but Mao is something else altogether. And her description of Santiago's modus operandi is incredibly enlightening.
Do you expect Vicious's plot to succeed? Or do you suspect, as I do, that his proposal being made parallel to the revelation of Fad's betrayal is foreshadowing with a paint roller?
Hit our comments with the scene that impressed you the most!