Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 7 Recap: Galileo Hustle

Cowboy Bebop

Galileo Hustle

Season 1

Episode 7

Editors Note

5 stars

*****

Photo: Geoffrey Short / Netflix

For a little while I was worried that Galileo Hustle would reduce our heroes to idiots just to keep the plot going. When Whitney, Fayes’ adoptive mother and renowned con artist, shows up at the start of the episode for help, Faye has no reason to trust her. And once she meets the rest of the Bebops team despite Whitney’s efforts to manipulate them with a sad story, amateur chiropractic, and a bowl of homemade dumplings, there’s certainly no reason for Spike and Jet to fall into the trap she is obviously pulling.

That’s why it’s both a relief and a pleasure when Spike and Jet see her at 15 minutes. A good, curvy caper requires relentless pace and relentless surprises, and Galileo Hustle delivers a lot of both.

Early on, Faye only agrees to help Whitney because Whitney swears to finally give Faye her Identikit the box with all of the surviving information that Faye had before she emerged from cryo-sleep with amnesia. All Whitney wants in return is some help getting away from her husband, a notorious arms dealer who calls himself Iron Mink. Faye is too smart and too jaded to trust Whitney, but she’s also desperate to find out all she can about her past, so she accepts.

Spike and Jet are a whole different matter. It’s only been a few episodes since Faye moved into the Bebop, and it’s not at all clear that the guys still trust her fully and given the almost constant chain of betrayals that have preceded her joining. the crew, why would they do it? So when Jet quickly analyzes Whitney’s face and discovers an impossibly long rap sheet, it looks like a confirmation of his worst fear: Faye really. was a crook from the start, and they’ve been duped yet again.

At this point, the episode is no longer about whether Whitney can direct a galactic version of The bite; that’s whether or not Spike and Jet, having felt the sting of yet another betrayal, will rally to Faye when she needs it most. And after a bit of hemming and shrouding, to Fayes’ obvious relief, the answer remains yes. Spike and Jet agree to act as a diversion for the Iron Minks crew while Faye and Whitney slip away to retrieve Fayes Identikit.

Both endings of the story end up being extremely satisfying. Spike-Jet’s hijacking is mostly fun, but it also offers the smartest and best-staged fight streak yet, with Jet happily watching his 8-year-old daughters dance a recital while Spike fights an entire gang. in the distant background. of the frame.

Meanwhile, Faye and Whitney resume their mother-daughter scam routine, managing to steal a car from an angry valet and head to a warehouse that allegedly contains Fayes Identikit. While Whitney generously praises Faye as being smart, tough, and daring and insists that she truly loved her like a girl from the start, it’s impossible not to anticipate the next phase of this scam, where Faye s softens towards Whitney only enough for his adoptive mother another knife in the back.

Which is why the smartest take on Galileo Hustle is that at least when it comes to Whitney and Faye, it’s really about is not another stupid layer. When they arrive at the warehouse, Faye opens her Identikit and finds a VHS tape containing the only surviving recording of her life before the cryo-sleep. Unfortunately, the Iron Mink shows up, having planted at least one undiscovered stalker on his wife, and holds the pair at gunpoint.

But just when it looks like the Iron Mink might shoot, Faye steps forward and defends Whitney like her mother, warts and everything. And that’s when Whitney comes forward and says the word safety. As she and Iron Mink begin to kiss, it becomes clear that this alleged life and death attempt to run away from her mortal husband was quite another thing. I complained in those same recaps that this show may be too predictable, but I have to admit: I absoutely I didn’t expect Whitney’s real motivation in this scam to be extremely elaborate sex play.

As the happy couple continue to do what is very strange, Faye finds another way to prove that she is Whitney’s daughter, spiritually if not literally. As she steals Whitney’s ship and walks away from the warehouse, even Whitney can’t help but appreciate her: she’s my daughter, she told Iron Mink, smiling.

But while Whitney is, and always will be, something of a mother to her, Faye also had a birth mother. And when she returns to the Bebop, she sits down to watch the video and meets her for the first time.

I enjoyed it a lot Cowboy Bebops first season, but it was the first time that this show really moved me. In the video, teenage Faye anticipates cryo-sleep to come and applaud her future self as she stands outside a childhood home that Faye can’t remember. As her child demonstrates a now-lacking talent for playing the piano, Fayes’ biological mother, invisible but holding the camera, offers a few sweet words of support.

It’s not a lot, but it’s enough. Faye bursts into tears, in part because the video is a reminder of how much she’s lost. But watching alongside Jet and Spike is also a reminder of all she’s earned, not the family she’s been looking for all along, but a family all the same.

In our Syndicate subplot: Vicious and Mao head to the Eunuchs Vineyard and tell him about their plan to take down the Ancients. Later, Julia sneaks up to see Mao one-on-one and launches her plan: Let the Ancients kill Vicious so she can escape without the Syndicate chasing her. It’s hard to gauge where Mao lands on this, but he’s definitely feels As Cowboy Bebop sets up a final phase where Julia replaces Vicious as the Syndicates’ big bad. Well, see how it goes if the opening credits are any clue, there is at least one showdown between Spike and Vicious in front of a large stained glass window left before the seasons end.

Galileo Hustle replaces the traditional closing text SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY with EASY COME, EASY GO taken directly from the original episode of the Honky Tonk Woman anime, which marked the introduction of Faye Valentine.

Faye follows up on her previous pitch for a shower-bath-shower with a pitch for double dinners, and honestly: another great idea.

This time in archaic technologies that have made the leap into space: Playboy magazines, VHS tapes and at least a bottle of Earth wine.

And while we were on the topic, the headlines on it Playboy coverage included College Shootball and Fucker Hunt.

Chalmers is right: Peonies instead of lilies are definitely more impressive for the Woo.

This one seems to be a pretty good substitute, but I certainly wouldn’t object to someone posting Whitney’s official Roasted Pepper Dumpling recipe.