LogFAQs > #969951412

#62: The Real Folk Blues (Part 1 and 2)
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Show: Cowboy Bebop
Original airdate (US): November 19 and November 26, 2001

I'm not going there to die. I'm going to find out if I'm really alive."

All good things must come to an end, and Cowboy Bebop was certainly no exception. The final two episodes see Spike reunited with Julia, the Red Dragon syndicate making its final move, and Jet and Faye caught up in it all. It's tragic because the previous few episodes, as well as the movie which takes place amongst them, saw the crew of the Bebop become closer than ever, like a real family, but Ed and Ein had left in the previous episode, and now it's just Spike, Faye, and Jet, and the syndicate, and events come to a head quickly. Vicious is captured by his fellow syndicate members, but uses this turn of events to orchestrate his takeover of the organization, setting the stage for his final confrontation with Spike. Spike and Julia try to get away, but it's not to be... Julia is tragically killed, and Spike realizes there's just one thing left to do. This episode shattered me, I didn't want the Bebop crew to be broken up, I wanted Spike to be okay, and even during that final sequence with "See You Space Cowboy" playing in the background, I still had hope... but the episodes were full of allusions to the inevitability of death, to Spike's star fading, and of course, the message "You're Gonna Carry That Weight" at the end to hammer it all home... but really, there's no other way this show could've ended, at least not in any way that fit with the thematics of the series. For those wanting Spike to survive, there's always fanfiction, but these final two episodes were crafted so perfectly that there's really no substitute for the real thing.