After learning that Cowboy Bebop is getting a live-action remake, I decided to revisit the much-beloved anime series from the 90s (although not aired in the U.S. until the early 2000s). Many people think of it as the best anime series ever, and with good reason. My episode reviews will contain spoilers, so be sure to watch the series before you read this.

Session 25: The Real Folk Blues, Part 1

On Mars, the blonde woman gets a message telling her the elders are ready to make their move. Vicious and his men shoot up a room, but the elders were warned by a fortune teller and are able to capture him. However, his bird flies from his shoulder and perches in the chamber.

Jet and Spike are in a bar when someone shoots at them through the window. Jet gets shot in the leg. Lin (who died in Session 13) has a brother named Chinn who joins Spike and tells him about Vicious. Julia also is in danger. In a flashback, Spike tells Julia he’s leaving the syndicate and wants her to come with. She says you can’t leave. Julia remembers Vicious holding a gun to her head telling her she’ll never leave him. He says if Julia doesn’t kill Spike, he’ll kill them both.

Faye overhears a woman talking with her son Alfredo in the airport. He says he’ll take care of her now. Alfredo is Punch from the Big Shot TV show. He says his cohost will probably marry her agent. I didn’t know that we needed to wrap up Punch and Judy’s story, but there you go.

Spike calls Faye, ordering her back to the ship to take care of Jet, but she doesn’t like being ordered around and hangs up on him. Julia drives past Faye, someone shooting at her from another car. Faye shoots out their tire and jumps in the car with Julia. Faye doesn’t know who she is, but Julia tells Faye to give Spike a message.

Faye returns to the Bebop and gives Spike the message. Ships start firing on them. Spike and Faye go out in their ships and shoot down the enemies. Vicious is about to get executed, but his crow explodes and someone shoots his shackles off. He kills the elders. Spike meets Julia. She pulls a gun on him.

Session 26: The Real Folk Blues, Part 2

Julia explains that if she’d met Spike all those years ago, she would have killed him and she’d be free. Instead, she chose to be hunted. She hugs Spike and says the two of them should just run away. Chinn tells Vicious Spike got away and he couldn’t find Julia.

Spike and Julia go to Annie (last seen in Session 5) who’s been shot. She dies after telling them Vicious killed all the elders. Spike gets weapons from the back of Annie’s shop. He and Julia decide to not run away. They get into a shootout with the syndicate and retreat up the stairs. Julia is shot. Fridged to make Spike really angry. I guess killing Annie wasn’t enough.

Jet goes to see the Native American shaman last seen in Session 12 and asks where Spike is. He calls Jet “Running Rock” and tells him everybody has a star that falls when they die. Spike’s star is about to fall.

Spike returns to the Bebop looking for food. He tells Jet a story about a tiger-striped cat who never dies finally dying after a cat he loved died. Faye tries to stop him from going back, but he says he has to go. Spike single handedly storms syndicate headquarters, killing countless minions on his way to Vicious. He runs into Chinn who helps lead him to Vicious. Chinn, like his brother Linn, gets shot and dies. Spike and Vicious kill each other. After the credits, a star goes out, presumably for Spike, but possibly for one of the many other people who died this episode.