As expected, Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop show can’t compete with the original
By Diana Nosa
Episode 3: “Dog Star Swing”
“Dog Star Swing” establishes that the series is taking the slow-burn approach to the story and sets the pace for the rest of the show. Spike knows that Vicious is after him, meaning that an epic showdown between the two is near. But other business (i.e. securing a highly sought-after doll for your child) must be done before we see this fight go down.
Jet is still passionate about getting this doll for his daughter and, once again, I wonder why this Jet’s story is centered around this. He’s a family man, yes, but perhaps this would’ve been better to show a little later in the series.
At the end of the episode, Jet can’t get the doll for his daughter, Kimmie, after all. This conclusion, while ironic, is absolutely not worth the build-up.
Another aspect that was not worth the build-up was the fight between Hakim, an anime-favorite bounty, and our bounty hunters. The tussle between the two pales next to the ferociousness Vicious displayed while killing workers of the Syndicate in cold blood after he concludes they’re unnecessary to keep alive.
The show is doing an amazing job at building Vicious into a menacing character by having him commit all these heinous crimes. It helps us understand why he can only be brought down by someone like Spike, but I wish our main characters were given the same amount of detailing as Vicious. After all, each episode is much longer than an episode of the anime, so it’s frustrating getting less information despite having more time.
The only other thing done right in this third episode is how it subtly shows us Spike’s bloodlust. When he asks Jet whether he would put a bullet in a guy who betrayed, we get a peek at the darkness that lurks under the surface, getting Spike closer to the multidimensional character we know from the anime.
Hopefully the series continues using subtlety; it’s more effective than bombarding viewers with one-dimensional objectives or unfinished plot points. (Again, where is Faye?)
All in all, I’m slowly warming up to the series now that it seems to have finally found its footing. But will Episode 4 deliver what I’ve been hungry for?