Origin of a Bromance
“CowBoy Bebop” Season 1 Episode 9 “Blue Crow Waltz”, and the glory days of Spike and Vicious
Starting an episode with a detailed description of how a man likes to have his bush shaved is ballsy.
The vainglorious Vicious quivers with glee recounting his intimate delights and our boy Fearless stands by, quippy as usual.
The blasé manner that Vicious discusses his inner psycho and the carefree nature of his partner in crime reveals the depths of their personal knowledge of one another.
Vicious is his most comfortable with Fearless. Not relaxed, but docile. Their repartee is brutal, honest and completely free of consequence.
It’s bullshit. They’re bullshitting.
Up until the moment it’s time to kill. Then, it’s serious. Then it’s back to bullshitting.
These guys have it on a string. It’s like that with them.
They love each other, it jumps out at you through the screen.
There had always been a hole in Spike. It was in the unanswered questions, the long silences, and melancholy gazes.
We’d gotten to know Spike and Jet. That was the crux of the show, it's backbone.
Spikes spine had always had a missing piece. This episode gives us that, and more.
Here, we don’t just flesh out Spike Speigel, we come to understand Fearless’s fucked up sense of loyalty, the rational behind the laid-back, detached, demeanour, and his secret brutality.
Before this episode, we’d wondered how Spike and Vicious could have ever been freinds. I mean, it’s Vicious.
To watch them do their thing together; assassinations, interrogations, mob meetings and underground space cowboy galactic politics…
It’s fucking awesome.
Watching them drink together, laugh, hang out, I’m almost sad they broke up.
Almost.
Julia enters the stage and puts on display why she’s a girl worth fighting for. Her eventual rise to canny, strategist and usurper is juxtaposed with this sweet girl, with a hell of a lot of talent and instant crush worthy mystique.
Vicious and Fearless never stood a chance.
Julia’s song incites passion in both characters. Their reaction to desire is effortlessly portrayed in their body language; Fearless taken aback by her voice. Vicious leaning in, hungry, for more of her.
The game begins.
Vicious is a wannabe James Bond: Bottles of the good stuff, catered picnics and rides around the city in a nice wagon.
Fearless is a shameless flirt, a ladies man looking for a good woman to tie him down. He gets by on less material and more substance.
The politics of The Capo, and the inner workings of The Syndicate, are welcome world building additions.
I love the scarred sergeant, disgusted with his troops, bothered by the lack of adherence to tradition. It’s a classic character that works well here.
The Capo brings out the best in Fearless and the worst in Vicious.
As far as origin episodes go, this is a great one. Less of an origin for a specific character, more of a window into a relationship. It pulls at the heart strings without getting sappy, and it stays upbeat and fun, keeping with the shows flavour, despite tackling some dark subject matter.
The soul of the episode is the moment Fearless goes to kill Vicious, but finds him fucked up on the couch, lost in his childhood.
It ends in a western syle shoot out.
Gunslingers galore.
Vicious asked, “Think you’re fast enough?”
Fearless didn’t answer, so I will.
Hell yes
