Cowboy Bebop Session 10 - Flashback Blues

Session 10 - Ganymede Elegy

Where Spike Spiegel has his three sessions with Vicious, Faye has "Speak Like A Child" and shares "Hard Luck Woman" with Ed, and even Ein sort of has "Stray Dog Strut", this is one for Jet Black's past, and the man before he stepped foot on the Bebop.  This is one of three episodes which were solo Jet adventures (the less said about "Boogie Woogie Feng Shui", the better).  My angle on Jet for every episode prior to this one was that he was the sarcastic, easygoing everyman of the show.  After this episode... it stayed exactly the same, but this one does add a new depth to his character and still lets Jet be Jet, showing a sensitive side we hadn't seen just yet but was handled brilliantly and believably in this episode, as well as exploring the theme of how quickly time can pass when you're not there for it.
Seeing as Ed just came aboard last session, the episode begins with her doing what she does best: making me laugh my ass off.  The tied-up criminal responds in the only rational way possible: "What the hell are you?"  Weird characters are just the freaking best.  Meanwhile, Jet is standing at the ship's controls, but he's transfixed on a pocket watch, and flashes back to him standing in a doorway, with pouring rain... and a girl.  Just then Spike would come in and ask why it's taking so damn long to land.  As it turns out, the planet below is Ganymede, Jet's homeworld.  In fact, the cop Jet calls to turn in the bounty is an old friend of his, as Jet is revealed to have been a cop on Ganymede.  All it takes from the old man is one mention of the name Elisa and Jet's cool is lost.  What's sad is how the writers made it so very few things seem to have changed in Jet's old life on the surface, while time has marched on at the same merciless pace while he wasn't there.  Jet's old friend is still an active duty cop, but he's old, really old.  Elisa still has her bar, but time hasn't stayed still just because Jet was gone.  To compare it to something else, it's a lot like the episode "School Reunion" of Doctor Who.  Jarringly disruptive side-note: I love Ed's line "Yes!  Futile!  Useless!" because she says that she understands, while in the same breath confirming she has no idea what she is talking about. 

So cute. 

What was I even... oh right, so Jet finds Elisa, who, unsurprisingly, has a new boyfriend, but he's immediately pretty shady.  It's funny how Jet is such a gentleman when he cares enough to be one, as you can tell by his conversation with Elisa.  It's also sad, because at times you can see them falling into that insignificant small-talk phase that people who have been out of touch for too long get into.  Jet cuts right to the point and pulls out the old pocket watch.  We're told Jet came home one day and, for once, his Elisa wasn't there; just a pocket watch and a note, saying 'Farewell'.  The way Jet describes what happened, so matter-of-factly yet so like he knows how it felt, like it's something he's thought about countless sleepless nights since, which he most definitely had.  And still, Jet doesn't want to point a finger, he's just looking for an explanation.  But, while Jet had this as his last memory of Ganymede, something to contemplate and question ever since, we're hit with the sucker punch that Elisa had forgotten.  "Time never stands still."  Elisa, too, has a new life of her own, and Jet gets that it's time to leave.  From Spike chasing Elisa's boyfriend and Elisa to the end, it's all about what must be going on in Jet's head as he's trying to arrest the boyfriend of the girl he loved.

The ending is meaningful and satisfying, as Jet tries to protect Elisa as he sees fit, and Elisa's want for a life of her own clashes with her simply wanting someone to love.  Elisa gets a fresh start (after a fashion...), and Jet comes away from the experience with the understanding that time waits for no one.  As he's walking away, he feels something in his pocket... it's the pocket watch that brought him here and played a hand in his leaving, his memento of Elisa from all that time ago, the symbol of a time now past.  He looks down at it, smiles, then tosses it into the lake.  Time to move on...

Up next... oooooh!  "Toys In The Attic!"  A favorite of mine!  Okay, they're all favorites, but this one's like "Alien" with the Bebop crew!  And moldy food.