Cowboy Bebop Forum

OK… that was seriously demented.  

If we’re talking about homages, this episode was definitely cooked up during some session of watching BATMAN RETURNS while listening to Pink Floyd’s DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (I wonder if all the parallels pop up like they do when you watch it to THE WIZARD OF OZ?) The result is much like the unholy love child of Donald, Goofy and Pluto we see in the animatronic parade - - something so weird that I almost can't even comment. This Pierrot the Penguin on acid, a cackling creature conjured by the trippy drones of the hypnotic soundtrack. Man... even the plotting of this episode felt like a nightmare. He just floats down from the sky and starts killing people, and Spike just happens to be in his way.  

Speaking of that ass-kicking... hoo boy! I’ve seen aerial combos a thousand times, but I don’t think I’d ever see one outside a fighting game. The French dude racked up at least seven hits on Spike before letting him even hit the ground! I suppose that’s a "DEADLY COMBO" on KILLER INSTINCT's scale. I'm sure he racked up enough XP for his super-move after that one.

Too bad we didn’t get to see more of Edward in this episode. Even when she’s doing something as basic as hacking the encryption or calling Faye “Faye Faye” I'm... just... so intrigued by her. I don’t suppose you’ll ever see anybody else compare her to L but, for me, they both belong to a specific class of characters whom I'm so compelled to just watch and see how they react to things; to everything.

Getting back to what I was saying about the nightmare plotting, I love how this ending is so messy. What I really relish about serial fiction like this is that, the deeper you get into it, the more the experience is allowed to be visceral. It doesn't have to fit into the narrow boxes of plot structure and all that. I like how it’s just a simple hatchet job, how you don’t really even understand how Spike kills Pierrot and how all that drama about finding the weaknesses online ended up being wasted. It's so much more interesting this way.

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of    HYBRID BASTARDS!  &   UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon   here   &  here .  

This episode solidified Spike Spiegal on the throne of anime badasses.

@frsty13: If you liked the soundtrack on this one, you should seriously listen to Pink Flloyd.

He's kinda like Heath Ledger's Joker. We don't know who he is, where he came from, or why he's doing it. We just know he's crazy and he's very good at killing things.
 
And he's a child. In his head, he's a little kid. That's all we know about him. And that's why it's terrifying.
 
You'll also notice that every single other episode title refers to either a song or a music genre. Not this one. This is the only episode in which the title refers to an obscure french student horror film.
Again, magnificent episode, almost put me off finishing the series it was that creepy.

I can watch the air fight over and over again. Spike gets his ass beat. Love this episode.

eh the things you liked about this were the things I didn't creepy as hell yes...but I wanted to know how spike finished him off.  I don't like things unexplained in my anime unless it is something you are supposed to figure out and I didn't get that vibe here..now it has been years since I watched this so may be remembering wrong.  It was creepy as hell though from what I remember.  Was wondering what episode you were talking about when I read your tagline till I saw the picture of the guy with the umbrella...then I shivered and it all came back.  Definitly a good halloween episode but not one of the best for bebeoop for me (perhaps it was to french?  French movies never really work for me either)

That first fight scene in this episode freaked the hell out of me when I first saw it - especially the part where Pierrot gets up close, with his grinning, leering face right in the camera before he backs off, sticks the barrel of his umbrella-gun in the camera and fires a few shots.

This was one of my favourite episodes.