As expected, Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop show can’t compete with the original
By Diana Nosa
Episode 6: “Binary Two-Step”
Forget what we said about the last episode; “Binary Two-Step” is, unquestionably, the game changer of the series. From start to finish, this episode felt fresh, different, and innovative. It’s the first episode to expand on what we knew from the 1998 anime series.
Spike’s journey to uncover the mystery behind Dr. Londes is front and center in this episode, and what we expected to be a regular bounty has a psychological twist that no one, not even Spike, saw coming.
In Dr. Londes’ lab, Spike is stuck in a mental labyrinth that requires him to cut the neural connections of whatever it is that is holding him back from becoming his best self. This connection, naturally, is with Julia. He encounters his past love numerous times in his dream-like state. Each time, the dream Julia becomes better at using the right words to push Spike away for good, and each time, Spike seemingly falls for the trap.
“My husband [Vicious] may do bad things,” Julia laments, “But you [Spike] are the psychopath”.
Comments like this one, though manufactured by a machine, impact both Spike Spiegel and us, as we never expected such words to come from this harmless human being. I can’t help but wonder if Julia (both in the adaptation and the anime) has always felt some sort of resentment towards Spike for what he’s done in the past, but we’ll have to keep watching to know for sure.
Another great moment in this episode is Faye’s hookup with an attractive mechanic to whom she confesses that she hasn’t had much luck since she woke up from her cryogenic sleep. Our ice queen’s heart finally melts, kickstarting her journey to confront her ghosts.
From Spike being exposed as the most flawed of them all to Julia saying that she’s the one who wants to do the saving, Episode 6 uncovered so much more about these characters. And the best gift was, of course, the mention of our beloved Radical Ed!
With the episodes becoming slightly better each time, it isn’t outrageous to expect that Episode 7, “Galileo Hustle,” will be just as good, if not better.