How far would you go to reconnect with someone from your past? Would you turn your back on everyone in your present? Would you set up an illegal transaction? How far would you go to escape your present? To fundamentally change it? “Jupiter Jazz, Part 1” examines the tension between a person’s desires and the effect they can have on the people around us. Sometimes the expression of the desire can be downright selfish, such as Faye’s robbing the Bebop in order to live in solitude. In other instances, the timing can be wrong; Jet would probably never be too keen on Spike hunting down his past, but he’d likely be more accepting of the fool’s errand if Spike weren’t leaving at a time when Jet needed his help. And then there are times when those around you don’t trust you…
Much of the episode is slow, sad, and contemplative, with a few fight scenes to shake up the mood. Jupiter Jazz takes place on Callisto, one of Jupiter’s moons, and it may be the most depressing place we’ve seen yet. Callisto isn’t just run down, it is a snowy wasteland populated by weary men. The moon is meant to evoke Soviet Russia, with letters of the Russian alphabet appearing on signs, sable hats, and a depressed populace. One of the stranger characteristics of the town we see is that it is inhabited solely by men. The questions of how the population is replenished, why don’t women show up, and how this come to pass are, to me, conspicuous by their absence. Instead, the show simply uses the lack of women to (1) make the Callisto town even more depressing, (2) increase the tension of Faye’s presence there, and (3) alert the audience that Spike’s mission there is a fool’s errand.
This episode sees the return of Vicious and the introduction of the leaders of the Red Dragon Syndicate. Vicious has been contacted by someone on Callisto that he knew from a war, who has expressed an interest in purchasing a large quantity of drugs. The leaders are wary of the deal, and by extension Vicious himself. They tell Vicious to bring along another gangster, Lin. Lin sees the assignment as a protection detail to keep Vicious safe, but Vicious knows that the leaders intend to spy on him. Neither side trusts the other; the elders suspect that Vicious – who, as we have seen, definitely lives up to his name – wants to overthrow them and seize power for himself. And they aren’t wrong. Vicious comments to Lin that their way of thinking is outdated, and refers to them as corpses.
It’s not hard to see why Vicious has disdain for the Red Dragon elders; from their appearance, it looks like they have barely moved in years. They are incredibly old, wrinkly, and rather out of shape. They spend their days sitting on thrones bathed in light, while Vicious addresses them almost in shadow. To Vicious, a brutal man of action, having to take orders from people who sit around and think about gang politics – and try and solve problems without violence – must be an incredible insult. It probably doesn’t help his estimation of them when they refer to him as a snake or as someone with an impossibly cold heart. Then again, they aren’t exactly wrong.
Faye is on Callisto after leaving the Bebop, seemingly for good. She left behind a note saying that it would be too hard to say goodbye in person, which pleases Spike until Jet informs him that Faye emptied out the safe and drained the coolant fluids from the engine. Jet begins a plan to pursue her, but when Ed begins tracking Faye’s movements, she learns that someone has been using the name “Julia” on Callisto. Spike perks up and immediately heads to the Swordfish. Jet desperately tries to convince Spike to help him track down Faye (or, more precisely, the money she took), but Spike coldly tells him that he is going to search for “his” woman, and that Jet is free to find “the other one.” Jet’s desperation turns to anger, and he tells Spike not to come back if he goes on his wild goose chase, leaving Jet to hunt for Faye himself. Spike continues to calmly prepare for take-off as Jet hurls insults at him. Once again, we see Spike remain calm in situations that would anger most rational men.
As we get our first glimpse of Callisto, in which we see a few skyscrapers and many dilapidated low rises bathed in a blue tint, slow saxophone music plays. This music is actually coming from a source in the episode, rather than being soundtrack over the action; Faye is in a bar called the Blue Crow, listening to a saxophone player named Gren. She sits smoking and hunched over a drink, with a sad expression on her face. She also seems to be catching a cold, which is not too surprising based on the fact that she remains dressed in her tiny shorts and half shirt, despite the moon’s weather. Gren walks over to her and gives her the Callisto equivalent of a “god bless you” when Faye sneezes. She tries to flirt with him, but he dismisses her, stating he’s not interested in women. But he suggests she be wary of all the other men in the bar, all of whom give her leering looks, which only serves to bring a smile to her face. In an effort to “work out some frustration,” she leaves the bar hoping to be pursued by the men so that she can beat them to a pulp. But before she can do too much damage to them, Gren “rescues” her. (I’m not sure why; she was doing well.)
Elsewhere, Spike tries to track down Julia. He slowly but surely gets closer to the truth, but he gets sidetracked by a gang of locals who believe him to be Vicious. Spike made the mistake of mentioning Gren’s name to the gang’s leader, who knew that a foreigner named Vicious had set up a drug deal with Gren. Calling him Vicious causes Spike to fly off the handle; he literally shakes with rage before utterly destroying the group. Spike usually enjoys fighting and almost seems to derive relaxation from the act. But here, he feels nothing but rage for being labeled as his great rival, and he spends the entire fight growling, with a look of pure rage on his face. The fight ends when Spike questions the leader; he says that “Julia” sounds like a “cheap wench’s name,” causing Spike to lay him out.
Meanwhile, Jet carries on his pursuit of Faye, and he comes to a quiet bar populated by a bartender and a sleeping (passed out?) customer. Big Shot plays in the background, informing Jet and the viewer that Gren has a significant bounty on his head. He is an escaped prisoner, and the “statute of limitations” is about to run out, so the bounty is doubled. (I’m not an expert in criminal law, but I didn’t realize that there was a statute of limitations how long the police have to recapture and escapee.) Jet begins to pull out his walkie-talkie to call Spike with the new information, then angrily puts it away and demands that the bartender turn off the show. Is he angry because he misses Spike or because he can’t track Gren and Faye simultaneously?
Speaking of which, Gren has taken Faye back to his apartment. Faye explains to him that she prefers to be alone; when she is with others, she feels isolated anyway, so she might as well actually be alone. She laments that she cares too much for others and connections complicate things too much, then says that most people only ever pay attention to her because of how she looks. When she only has to worry about herself, things are so much simpler.
She certainly has a funny way of viewing herself; she spent most of the last nine episodes intentionally annoying Spike and Jet, she stole from them more than a few times, including in this episode, and she barely pulled her weight for her first few weeks on the Bebop. And this is her definition of caring too much. She is either extremely deluded or is an expert at lying to herself. The latter doesn’t seem too far off, though. We know that she is a liar and a cheater and deceives in order to survive, so who’s to say that she doesn’t do it to herself as well?
Faye plays around with a broken music box in Gren’s home (noticing a bit of a motif?) as she says all this. Soon, he excuses himself to take a shower, and while he’s indisposed, Vicious calls to set up the meet. Justifiably terrified, Faye picks up her gun and plans to get the drop on Gren while he’s showering. But when she pulls back the curtain, she is utterly shocked to see that he has some female body parts. Utterly shocked, Gren backs her into a corner, explaining that he’s both genders simultaneously and neither at all.
At the same time, Spike tracks down Vicious and Lin. He is surprised to see the latter, and his comments indicate that Spike knew him as a child back when Spike was a Red Dragon, and that he held a bit of a mentor role to the young Lin. Vicious taunts Spike by telling him that Lin works for him now and that Julia was in town a few weeks back. Spike pulls his gun, knowing that he’ll have the upper hand with Vicious far away from him; as deadly as the man is, he solely relies on his katana. But Lin puts himself between Spike and Vicious, causing Spike to lower his weapon. Despite all of his hatred and rage, Spike could never bring himself to harm someone he cared about, even if it meant a chance at taking out his rival. Sadly, Lin’s loyalty is to Vicious and the syndicate, and he fires at Spike. The episode ends with Spike spread-eagle on the ground, looking up as snow falls.
So let’s see: Spike’s quest to reconnect with Julia has alienated Jet and resulted in him getting shot. Faye’s desire to escape her life resulted in her being pursued by her old friends and brought to the home of a man trying to reconnect with Vicious. And Vicious’ plans to remake the syndicate in his own image remains… unresolved.
Up next: Slow piano music plays over scenes of explosions and gun fights. Spike asks how men and women are different, and Faye responds that women hide more vital secrets. They begin a discussion about the nature of masculinity and femininity, which is humorously interrupted by Ed and Jet.
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