Mark Watches ‘Cowboy Bebop’: Session 10 – Ganymede Elegy

In the tenth session of Cowboy Bebop, Jet heads to his home planet to visit an old flame. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Cowboy Bebop.

Oh my god, A JET-CENTRIC EPISODE. YES.

  • Look, I need to get this out of the way. I loved the fact that Edward essentially does whatever she wants and it’s 100% weird 100% of the time, and she is just so fucking strange, and she’s my hero. Already. I don’t care, I’m going to be ridiculous and hyperbolic about Edward because I am just so enamored with her whole existence.
  • I initially thought the brief flashes Jet got where about a young Spike. Y’all, doesn’t Elisa when she’s younger kind of look like Spike? No? Just me? OH WELL.
  • Because of “Ballad of Fallen Angels,” I haven’t spent much time at all thinking of Jet’s background. Spike’s is so ridiculous and ~mysterious~ that he basically took all my attention. I was rather excited, then, that this might finally tell us where Jet came from.
  • NEVER IN A BILLION YEARS WOULD I HAVE EVER GUESSED THAT HE WAS ONCE A COP. What??? What??? It… it doesn’t fit! Oh god, how is that true??? (Of course, when you think about it, it kind of does make perfect sense. His temperament fits a cop perfectly. So what happened that forced him to modify his own body, then?)
  • For the most part, “Ganymede Elegy” is a sober, mournful look upon the past, one that elegantly examines what Jet’s life was one like. Again, this show’s continued minimalism really works in its favor. The writers don’t tell us a whole lot all of the time. Instead, they show it. We see the simplistic fishing town where Elisa’s bar is located. It is an image of a time long gone. La Fin is a vacant and empty excuse for a bar, a place that you can imagine was once brimming with activity. But those times are gone.
  • The passage of time is an important theme throughout “Ganymede Elegy.” We see how time has not been kind to Elisa and La Fin. Despite that she left Jet years and years ago to pursue her own life, that life has led her here. She’s dependent on others for loans and protection, and the irony is not lost on her. But she still refuses to tell Jet why she left him.
  • So on the same note, Jet is obsessed with time as well. He keeps the watch with him because he has no closure. Time passes, and she never once reached out to him. Now look who he has become. Once again, the irony is not lost on Elisa. She finally found someone to be with (Rhint), but Jet’s reappearance threatens to unravel everything.
  • Even though he has such a small part, I was impressed that we got so much depth for Rhint. He shot a loan shark, and he ostensibly did it to protect his and Elisa’s future. Even at the end of the episode, he’s not treated like a plot point. I admire that.
  • It’s fascinating to watch Jet go after a bounty because it’s almost like we’re watching him transform into Black Dog. My god, he really was a police officer on Ganymede. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE. As he does this, he becomes more and more determined to capture Rhint and Elisa. It’s not until he catches up with them, both cowering on the shoreline, that he changes into the Jet we know. I’d be interested to see more of Black Dog. Was he a ruthless cop? What caused him to leave?
  • In the end, Jet shows mercy. He understands Elisa, and while he turns Rhint in, he mentions a “self-defense plea.” It’s hope for Elisa, but it also shows her that Jet is going to leave her alone. As he chucks the watch he held onto for years, it’s clear he’s ready to put that portion of his life in the past where it belongs.

This episode ruled. More Edward, though. THANKS.

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About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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