Netflix has given us some comedic and emotional episodes of Cowboy Bebop so far and saying I am impressed doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. We’ve got the chance to see bits and pieces of the crew’s emotional pasts while watching them navigate the galaxy in search of a bit of woolong. And after the last episode, I thought I saw everything. But then this episode happened. In episode eight, Sad Clown A-Go-Go, Vicious (Alex Hassell) liberates a terrifying assassin and contracts him to kill Spike (John Cho) before putting his plan for The Elders in motion. Buckle in, folks; you are in for a ride with this one.
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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Sad Clown A-Go-Go opens with Vicious arriving at Cherious Medical in search of some help. This homicidal maniac sounds just like the kind of guy that Vicious would be hanging out with. With a bit of helpful persuasion, he gets LaFou (Josh Randall) freed. But what they didn’t expect was for LaFou to go off the deep end so soon. However, Vicious does him a favor and in return for that and all the Red-Eye LaFou could ever want, Vicious asks that he kill Spike.
Cue Tank!. Don’t skip it, or you might make Jet disappointed. And we all saw how he was with Faye in the last episode. You don’t want the dad lecture too, right?
Sad Clown A-Go-Go returns with Spike, Faye (Daniella Pineda), Jet (Mustafa Shakir) and Ein spending some family time together at a bowling alley. The bowler in me will forgive Faye for her attitude towards the sport and sigh along with Jet after getting stuck with the 7-10 split. But this isn’t just family time for the crew. Spike and Jet have decided that since they don’t know Faye’s actual birthday, they are going to celebrate it now. We get a quick rendition of the happy birthday song from Jet and Spike and spot our favorite amigos Antonio (Arthur Ranford), Carlos (Fungai Mhlanga) and Jobim (Lutz Halbhubner).
On the way out the door, Faye thanks the guys though she is worried that she isn’t a Virgo. Spike, who knows quite a bit about astrological signs, agrees. So, of course, Faye now considers herself a Virgo. Spike is a layered man – like nachos. While Faye is trying to get Ein to hurry up his business, LaFou makes his first appearance. I also want to point out the clock has 15 hours on it and I wonder if we are going to have 30 hour days in the future. But back to the story.
In a scene very similar to The Boondock Saints, we see that LaFou has quite the arsenal. And then there was a firefight! Spike and Jet try to fight back, but it seems like LaFou also has some sort of forcefield. LaFou manages to separate Spike from the others and gives him a pretty good ass-kicking from Vicious before setting his arm on fire. Jet and Faye get back to the other side in the nick of time and while Ein temporarily gets LaFou to zone out, Spike and the others make their escape.
Back at the Bebop, Jet and Faye get Spike sorted out. There is a bit of pain involved. Well, okay, maybe a lot of pain. But it looks like he passed out pretty quick. Jet leaves Faye behind to finish tending to Spike while he goes and meets with Woodcock (Carmel McGlone) to get some answers about the maniac who attacked them. Woodcock has got nothing, which makes her think that the guy is a part of the Syndicate. She knows that Jet runs a clean ship and wouldn’t be in that kind of mess, but she couldn’t say the same for Spike.
Jet admits that he never looked into Spike’s history, that saving his life was enough to win him over. But Woodcock decided she was going to and she came up with next to nothing. Even less conspicuous than this Phantom that is after them. But Jet doesn’t pay her any mind and heads back to the Bebop. At the ship, Jet finds Spike just waking up and the two share a drink from their secret-secret stash. Jet tries to get Spike to share what the maniac said to him during their fight, but Spike deflects the question and goes on about how the guy was obsessed with killing Ein. Something is fishy about that adorable corgi.
Sad Clown A-Go-Go jumps over to LaFou, who is still having a moment while experiencing flashbacks to the testing and all of the dogs. Some of them definitely look like Ein and I wonder if he was one of the test subjects. During these tests, it seems like LaFou was constantly told to just “go to your happy place,” which to him is an amusement park called Earthland. Somewhere he went to visit as a child. And either we are still in his head, or that place exists on this current planet.
We jump back to Faye on the Bebop, who is putting together a list of all the people she ever pissed off (spoiler alert, it looks like a long list). Spike is trying to figure out who the guy is, but Jet isn’t about to let things go. He wants to know what the guy said to Spike. At Earthland, we see LaFou tap into Ein (so they are connected!) and use his eyes to spy on the crew. Spike realizes that something is wrong, just as LaFou projects himself through Ein’s eyes because future technology will let us do some bizarre things.
LaFou’s message is for Spike and is all about how he is going to kill him and his friends. He gives Spike two hours to meet him at the designated place before he starts making good on his promises. At Earthland, LaFou finds his new outfit and this episode instantly became a nightmare for me.
As Spike prepares for battle against LaFou, Jet tries to get him to open up about his past. However, Jet has the wrong idea. Spike wasn’t on a special ops team; he was in the Syndicate. Spike doesn’t try to correct Jet about his theory, though, giving up another chance to come clean about his past. But regardless, Jet and Faye aren’t ready to let Spike head out on a suicide mission on their watch. And while yes, Faye brings up a very valid point that they aren’t sure what Ein can do, there was no reason to leave that poor baby behind!
Sad Clown A-Go-Go shifts gears back to Vicious as Santiago (Blessing Mokgohloa) comes to pick him up. The deal nearly goes off the rails until Santiago agrees to send his men away and take Vicious’ ship to The Elders. Vicious says goodbye to Julia (Elena Satine) and they set off to see this crazy plan through. I just can’t help but wonder what could possibly be going through Julia’s head at this moment. Is Mao (Rachel House) going to go through with Julia’s plan? Or will Vicious return?
Jet, Spike and Faye come up with a plan to take out LaFou. It rhymes and it is incredible. Don’t ever doubt Jet. Really, in the end, Jet just wants to make sure they remember exactly what needs to happen so that everyone comes back alive and in one piece. Now, one more time with feeling!
At The Elders temple, Vicious’ plan is underway. The Elders have decreed that he will die for his treason and with a single strike, Mao cuts his head off. Except it wasn’t Vicious. It was Santiago. And now the real plan begins. Vicious grabs his katana and starts tearing the room apart, killing everyone, including The Elders. But, he leaves Caliban (John Noble) last. And in a twist of events, we learn that Caliban is actually Vicious’ father. It’s a shame that this bonding moment didn’t turn out for the better. But even with Caliban’s dying breath, he reminds Vicious that he will never be anything but a scared boy.
Back at the Bebop, the crew is ready to get this show on the road. Spike heads out to start phase one and jams the signal, thus shutting down the Bebop entirely. Faye thinks the assassin did it, but Jet realizes that it was Spike. The man will do almost anything to make sure the rest of the crew is safe and doesn’t have to deal with the consequences of his past. How noble of him. But, not smart. Jet and Faye start getting the ship put back together while Spike heads down to meet with LaFou.
We slip back to the Temple where Mao is trying to crawl away. Mao’s final words to Vicious are to ask him to tell Julia she is sorry. He still thinks it is about making Julia sing. But Mao let’s Vicious in on their little secret deal about bringing Julia back his head. The real question is, does he believe Mao? And if he does, what will happen to Julia now?
At Earthland, Spike goes toe to toe with LaFou in a horror-themed carnival-type fight. Spike is living my nightmare right now. But, he manages to keep his distance and uses his knives to slowly get closer to LaFou and avoid his shield. Things aren’t looking good for Spike until he spots a dog toy and uses it to disarm LaFou long enough to stick a knife in his leg. Spike hits a button and sends LaFou drifting towards space. But before he is gone, his bombs fall and set off a chain of explosions.
Sad Clown A-Go-Go comes to a close at the Syndicate penthouse. Julia is waiting for news from Mao when Vicious returns home with her head. Turns out he had a great day and expects it to only get better.
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Well, this episode of Cowboy Bebop was something. As someone who is terrified of clowns and spooky carnivals, I have been preparing for this episode since the trailer. And I have to say, I enjoyed it. Netflix and Tomorrow Studios balanced the spooky theme with the action and intensity of the series while also having a few moments of comic relief. The entire plan rhyme is comedic genius on their part. As far as Spike’s fate, I am a firm believer in the idea that no body equals no proof of death and that the next episode will have him return to the Bebop and find Jet and Faye thoroughly disappointed with him.
But while the Bebop crew are the main characters of this story, this episode pushed the Vicious and Julia storyline forward. And boy did it. Vicious doesn’t call Julia out on what Mao told him at the end of this episode, but from the look on his face, I get the feeling that he believes what Mao said. And I really worry about how he will deal with Julia and her treasonous act against him. Now that she has no one except Ana (Tamara Tunie) and her crew to help her, what will Julia do? We’ve got two more episodes left in this first season and we had better get some answers! And don’t think I forgot about Ein! Netflix, you had better bring our baby back.
But before we get into the next episode, we got to know, do you find bowling to be relaxing? 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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