humans) and their environment are formed through a sort of “law of attraction” known as the “chi of magnetism.” Jet and Pao Meifa’s bond is the focus of “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui,” with the two serendipitously meeting by way of their shared connection in the form of Pao Pu-Zi, but Jet seems to be the only one of the two who seems to express anything resembling an intimate interest in the other.
The episode as a whole centers around “Universal Feng Shui,” a philosophy which itself centers on relationships and bonds between living beings (i.e. What “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui” lacks in comparison to either “Ganymede Elegy” and “Black Dog Serenade” is a central concept that fully comes together. The previous two Jet-specific episodes, “Ganymede Elegy” and “Black Dog Serenade,” which respectively delved into the character’s history via his past failed relationship with a woman named Alisa and the story of how he lost his arm as a member of the Inter-Solar System Police force. It juxtaposes and offers a peek into the thought processes and personality quirks of Spike, Faye, Jet, and Ed as they mull over the mystery at the heart of the episode. And sure, this same criticism could arguably be applied to “Toys in the Attic,” but what that episodes offers in lieu of shortcomings - and what “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui’’ conspicuously lacks - is time spent in the respective headspaces of Bebop’s core characters. The problem with “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui,” or more specifically, why it earns the distinction of being the “worst” episode of Cowboy Bebop in my estimation, is that it ultimately amounts to a shaggy dog detour that focuses on a particular character (Jet) that does nothing to advance his arc or deepen the audience’s understanding of him, before concluding with a climax that as anything but climactic. Learning that her late father attempted to contact Jet prior to his death, Pao Meifa is convinced that his message relates to a fabled “sunstone” hidden somewhere on Mars and begs Jet in her quest to find both it and hopefully the truth about her father’s demise. Eluding their would-be pursuers by diving into a nearby river, Jet brings Pao Meifa back to the Bebop. Visiting Pao’s grave, Jet meets Pao Meifa, Pao’s teenage daughter, before being fired upon by mysterious assailants. After receiving a cryptic email riddle from Pao Pu-Zi, an estranged acquaintance and noted master of “universal Feng Shui” (more on that later), Jet scours Alba City on Mars in search of him - only to discover that Pao is now dead. Set smack-dab in the middle of the series’ final quarter, “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui” centers on the character of Jet, the eldest member of the Bebop bounty crew and captain of the ship. Here’s why the 21st episode of the series, “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui,” is the nadir of a near-perfect show. That honor goes to an episode so unexceptional that it is seemingly non-existent in the memories of fans of the series. Neither of these episodes is the “worst” episode of Cowboy Bebop. “Toys in the Attic,” while inconsequential to the anime’s main characters’ arcs, is a fun and spooky send-up to Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror classic Alien that collectively foregrounds and juxtaposes Spike, Faye, Jet, and Ed’s personalities for the first time since Ed’s introduction.
“Sympathy for the Devil” features an intriguing antagonist whose nature not only harkens to the series’ overarching theme of “living in the past,” but materially alludes to a major event in the history of Cowboy Bebop’s universe. Some suggested that either “Sympathy for the Devil” or “Toys in the Attic” were the worst episode of the series. Look, I know some of y’all just started yelling, but can’t we just keep it a buck fifty here? I am not alone in saying this, just look at the comments of the list of Cowboy Bebop episodes we recommended last month where, in-between several dozen replies shouting at me for not recommending newcomers just watch the entire series (which I totally did, mind you), folks debated which of among the 26 episodes in the series was the weakest. Fans of the 1998 sci-fi western noir anime Cowboy Bebop can agree on three things: The series is still amazing, even after all these years Yoko Kanno’s score is immaculate and arguably the greatest thing to come out of the series aside from the series itself and there are, at most, one or two episodes out of the 26-episode anime that are kinda “ehh.”
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