I like to imagine that Netflix read my mind when it comes to what the next episode of Cowboy Bebop is about. I mentioned in the previous recap that I have been waiting for a more in-depth episode dealing with Faye (Daniella Pineda) and her past. And well, here we are! In episode seven, Galileo Hustle, a con woman from Faye’s past reappears and offers Faye her real identity in exchange for passage to Santo City. Will Faye take her up on the offer? Let’s find out!
DISCLAIMER: This is a recap and, by definition, will contain spoilers for Cowboy Bebop. If you haven’t watched it yet – stop. Go watch it first and then come back. You can thank me later!
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Galileo Hustle opens with Faye and Spike (John Cho) chatting about the benefits of extracurricular activities. After Faye’s eye-opening experience in the previous episode, she thinks that is the perfect cure for Spike’s now constant migraines. Seems he might be struggling with a bit more than the migraines but isn’t open to sharing with Faye. Spike decides it’s time to head back inside and leaves Faye on her own. But she isn’t on her own, though. While Faye is reading up on some old-school literature, she gets a visit from fake mom (Christine Dunford). We think she deserves the punch too.
But fake mom isn’t here to go over the fond memories. She needs Faye to get her off the planet and is willing to trade the Identikit she stole from Faye for a ride. Faye warns her that she is riding with bounty hunters and that fake mom has quite the bounty on her head. What is she supposed to do? Lie to them? “Fake stories.” That is what fake mom tells her. Cue the opening credits! If you skip it, Spike will practice his kung fu on you.
Galileo Hustle opens back up with Faye introducing fake mom, Whitney, to Spike and Jet (Mustafa Shakir). They seem to buy the lie and fake mom even helps Spike out with his migraine. At least she is good for something. Faye tries to get this show on the road, but Jet needs to be at Kimmie’s (Molly Moriarty) dance recital. Faye can’t seem to convince Jet otherwise, so fake mom steps up to the plate. Spins a story about how she is on the lam, running away from her husband (not Faye’s fake dad) but doesn’t want to possibly cause Jet to miss the recital. Even Spike is siding with fake mom on this one and finally, Jet agrees that they have time to drop her off and get back before the show. For the dumplings, of course. Not to help out Faye.
We jump over to Ana (Tamara Tunie) and Gren (Mason Alexander Park), who are discussing who to hire next when Julia (Elena Satine) drops in and is upset that Ana didn’t tell her about Fearless. The two argue about Ana’s little secret. I get Julia is bitter, but in this case, I think Ana is right. If Julia were to go to Spike now, she would spend the rest of her life with Vicious (Alex Hassell) hunting them down. Ana told Julia that she had a choice, but Julia needs to be a bit smarter about how she plots her escape from Vicious. Let’s just hope she doesn’t make any rash decisions.
Back on the Bebop, fake mom is playing chef and teaching Jet and Spike her pepper dumpling recipe. Faye isn’t keen on keeping up the ploy. She’s right. Does fake mom even still have the Identikit? But it seems like Whitney isn’t ready to give up so quickly and reminds Faye that she won’t ever know her past if she turns her in. Jet is picking up on the defensive vibes Faye is giving off on the opposite side of the kitchen, but Spike is somewhat preoccupied. I love investigator Jet and how he tries to poke holes in this con that Faye and fake mom have going on.
Galileo Hustle flashes back to Ana’s for a brief moment and we see a very impactful scene between Gren and Julia. Turns out Ana is not the only one listening in on the patron’s conversations and Gren knows that Julia will never be safe from Vicious. It’s the second half of this conversation that has me a bit worried. Gren points out that she won’t be safe while he is alive. And the look we see pass over Julia’s face is giving me some anxious thoughts. I said it before and I will say it again; I hope she doesn’t make any rash decisions.
We slip back over to the Bebop, where Jet continues to do some digging and figures out that fake mom is a con artist. Faye realizes that the con is up and finally opens up to the guys about fake mom and her amnesia. Jet is highly disappointed in Faye. She lied to him in his own house. On the day of his daughter’s recital. Bad Faye. But before he can continue the disappointed dad lecture, pirates pop up on the Bebop’s comms and we figure out who is really after fake mom – the Iron Mink (Tyson Ritter). The most notorious arms dealer in the galaxy and fake mom’s real husband.
So, it seems fake mom has gotten the Bebop mixed up in her relationship drama and now they need to figure out how to get the Mink off their back. Jet decides the best course of action is to turn her in, but if that happens, Faye won’t get her Identikit. Jet changes his mind and lets Faye take fake mom to pick up the Identikit. So kind of him. But then tells Spike that the two of them are going to take the tracker and lead Mink in another direction. Poor Spike. First missiles and now crazy arms dealers.
Galileo Hustle turns the tables on us and we see Vicious, Mao (Rachel House) and Santiago (Blessing Mokgohloa) meeting together. Vicious lays out the plan for Santiago. Mao is going to tell The Elders he is planning to overthrow them. They will send Santiago to bring him in and then kill him for his insubordination. Just before Mao kills him, Vicious will take his katana back and kill The Elders. Easy enough. Santiago ponders on this for a bit and I don’t even want to know what he eats, though after learning about him before, I can only imagine. But, in the end, he bumps the percentage of the profits he is getting from Vicious up to 3% and agrees.
Outside Santo City, Spike and Jet are fighting on a stuck bus and putting on a con of their own. Jet really does make Spike so happy. But Jet isn’t happy right now, especially after Faye lied. I hope that they will be able to put this all behind them after they deal with fake mom and Minkie. On the other side of the city, Faye and fake mom put on another con to steal a car. That poor guy never saw them coming and most likely ruining the rest of his day. However, we can see where Faye gets her con skills from. At least fake mom was good for something else.
Remember how we talked about not wanting Julia to make rash decisions. I don’t think she was listening! We see her back at Mao’s workshop and she has her own offer to put on the table. Julia wants Mao to kill Vicious and, in turn, get everything. The only thing Julia wants is to get away from the syndicate all together. I would consider this a rash decision Julia.
Galileo Hustle jumps back over to Faye and fake mom, who are stuck with a flat tire. While Faye fixes it, fake mom reminisces about how the time she spent with Faye was some of the best. Faye isn’t too keen on remembering the “good old times” and reminds her that it was all a fantasy. None of what they had together was real. But, the only difference between the two is one’s perception. I get where she is coming from, but I still think she is a terrible fake mom and nothing will change that.
Jet and Spike aren’t having any better luck trying to get as far from the Bebop as possible. Kimmie’s recital is about to start, so Jet leaves Spike to deal with the Iron Mink. I like how Chalmers (Geoff Stults) is actually trying to help Jet be a better dad. From inside the shop, we can see that Spike is going to have a rough time as a car pulls up and a bunch of men jump out. The poor guy can’t get away from all of this family drama.
Faye and fake mom arrive at her stash and it turns out that fake mom has a liking for the finer things in life. Fake mom tries to talk Faye out of uncovering her past. Faye’s story has been building up to the moment she finally figures out who she is, but now it looks like fake mom might have gotten to her. What if her real family left her for dead? What kind of emotional trauma would that bring? Or what if they all died and Faye is back to having no one in her life? There is a lot to think about before she makes this choice.
We jump to Kimmie’s dance recital, where she is playing the sun. Chalmers moves closer to get some photos and Jet uses this moment to try and talk to Alisa (Simone McAullay). It is such a heartfelt moment to see Jet being able to be there for his daughter. He isn’t letting his past or job stop him from being her dad. Of course, the funny part about this scene is Spike going toe to toe with Minkie’s thugs in the background. Hopefully, he doesn’t have too much trouble.
Galileo Hustle does some jumping back and forth for a bit. We find ourselves at fake mom’s stash, she tries to convince Faye to go on the run with her. But Faye has to know where she came from or any little bit of her past. Then we pop back over to Jet, who is dancing away to Kimmie’s recital while Spike is trying to fend for himself out on the street. We then return to the stash where Faye finds her Identikit. Inside she finds nothing but a VHS tape. I know this is in the future, but her reaction to not knowing what it is hurt my old heart.
Kimmie’s dance recital comes to a close and she gets a standing ovation. Spike takes this moment to throw one of the thugs through the window and finally get Jet’s attention. It turns out Spike didn’t need his help after all. Except that the man who he thought was the Mink wasn’t. He has no idea where the Mink is. But we do. In the next scene, he shows up at the stash and surprises Faye and fake mom. It seems like he is like Spike and uses multiple trackers on the things he cares about. Now it’s time for Mink to put an end to this whole charade, but not before Faye tries to con him one last time.
But really, who is the one being conned in this situation? It’s Faye. This whole thing has been one big roleplay fantasy between fake mom and the Iron Mink. If this weren’t Cowboy Bebop, I wouldn’t believe it. But, here we are. Faye uses the moment to grab her kit and the keys to the other ship and get as far from those two as possible. It’s probably for the better.
She finds her way back to the Bebop and everyone apologizes to each other, well, except Spike. Jet sets up a VHS player and Faye gets her first glimpse at her past. Galileo Hustle comes to a close as Faye hears herself say, “thanks, mom.”
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Talk about an emotional journey for Faye! I know this doesn’t give us all the answers to Faye’s past, but it is reassuring that we will learn more as the series goes on. It also gives me hope that this isn’t going to be the only season for Cowboy Bebop. If it were, I imagine we would have gotten more within this episode. But that could be wishful thinking on my part. But, this episode does open up a lot of questions and with just a few episodes left, I doubt we are going to get the answers to them before the end.
This episode was all about family in a way. Faye trying to find hers, Jet trying to piece his back together and Julia trying to get out away from hers. While it had its laughs, it still manages to set up some excellent emotional moments. That I am so worried will get crushed at some point. Jet has had perpetual bad luck this whole time and I don’t think it is going to be changing now. And Julia, well, she seems to be on a one-way path of vengeance and we know that doesn’t always play out. Let’s not waste any time and see what the next episode brings us.
But before we do, what would you do for fake mom’s pepper dumplings recipe? Let us know in the comments below and on social media!
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Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
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