The Cowboy Bebop series consists of 26 episodes, referred to as "sessions." Also included in the continuity is the Cowboy Bebop movie, placed between sessions 22 and 23. Many episodes are named explicitly for famous songs — "Honky Tonk Woman," "Heavy Metal Queen," "Jamming with Edward," "Sympathy for the Devil," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "My Funny Valentine," "Speak Like a Child," "Wild Horses," "Hard Luck Woman," and "The Real Folk Blues," the show's ending theme, (itself named for an album by blues legend John Lee Hooker.) Titles which do not name a specific song generally combine some plot element of the episode with a broader musical style — "Jupiter Jazz Pt. 1", "Jupiter Jazz Pt. 2", "Mushroom Samba," "Cowboy Funk," and "Waltz for Venus," for example. "Ballad of Fallen Angels", which was the title of session #5, was never released on any of the albums.

The Cowboy Bebop movie carries the subtitle The Movie. However, due to a trademark dispute over the title, Columbia Tristar released it in America with the shortened title Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.

The title of session 2, "Stray Dog Strut", references both the song "Stray Cat Strut" by The Stray Cats and the film "Stray Dog" by Akira Kurosawa. The title refers to Ein's daring escape from his abductor and running throughout the city, Spike in pursuit.

Session 20, "Pierrot le Fou" is named for the film of the same name by Jean-Luc Goddard. It uses mostly atonal music and could also be named in reference to atonal music pioneer Arnold Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire". "Pierrot Lunaire" means literally, "moonstruck pierrot." Also, the episode contains a tribute to Pink Floyd's "On the Run" from the "Dark Side Of The Moon" album when Pierrot's origines are being shown.

Due to the violence portrayed in the Cowboy Bebop world and violence in Japanese schools, the series was briefly cancelled and an extra session was created as a final episode to the first thirteen episodes aired. Called "Session XX: Mish-Mash Blues," a compilation of clips from previous episodes, it aired on June 26, 1998 on TV Tokyo. The episode was never released on DVD. In it, the characters provide a philosophical commentary and end with the words: This Is Not The End. You Will See The Real "Cowboy Bebop" Someday!

Session (episode) list

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1: Asteroid Blues

The opening to this episode depicts a scene from Spike's past. The setting is at a dark cathedral in the evening right after a downpour. We see Spike smoking a cigarette with a bouquette of roses in his arms. One of the roses falls from the rest into a puddle as scenes of a gunfight flash onto the screen. A gentle musical note is played in the background as Spike is hit several times by gunfire and clutches a detonator. The opening scene ends with Spike smiling and transitions directly to the title credits.

After the jazzy title credits, we are formally introduced to both Spike and Jet who are exersizing and cooking, respectively. "Beef with bell peppers" is the entree for tonights meal, just one problem, there's no beef; a factor that further motivates Spike to catch another bounty, a one Asimov Solensen who is hiding out on the Tijuana asteroid with his girlfriend Maria, he is worth 2.5 million.

Spike runs into the duo soon after receiving guidance from Old Man Bull. Spike soon learns that Maria has had aspirations of one day traveling to Mars with Asimov, who has been running the reflex-enhancing drug "Red Eye" with the her assistance. However, Asimov has lost sight of that goal, becoming dependant on Red Eye for everyday use. With Spike and the Police hot on their heels and Asimov physically desintegrating before Maria's eyes, she decides to end it all before they are captured.

Again, Jet starts cooking his special version of "beef with bell peppers" as Spike exercizes in another secluded area of the Bebop.

As a side-note, the personalities of the two leading characters are established in this episode: Spike as the laid-back, adaptible, almost invincible and omniscient martial artist; and Jet as the methodical, responsible back-up and renaissance man.

2: Stray Dog Strut

The beginning of this episode starts in a gritty toilet block were we are introduced to a large man named Abdul Hakim who is unwrapping several bandages on his head. A suitcase lays to his side shaking vigorously as he flushes the bandages down a toilet. Three armed men in white lab coats storm the toilet block, demanding Abdul to give up. Hakim smiles and kicks down the bathroom stall door and continues to dispatch the three men with a few strikes. Picking up the case, Hakim strolled calmly outside as if nothing had happened.

Onboard the Bebop, Spike turns on the television to catch a showing of "Big Shot". The first bounty up on the list today is Abdul Hakim, a serial pet thief who has stolen a data dog from a research facility, he is worth 8 million for his capture. Soon after, a doctor calls with information on Hakim's post-plastic surgery appearance who wants revenge after the beating he received from Hakim. Meanwhile, Hakim enters a local bar for a drink; but has his suitcase stolen after he indulges his saddistic behavior by torturing a drunk.

The Bebop lands on Mars and Spike sets out in pursuit of Hakim; but even after getting a friendly tip, Spike winds up only finding the man who stole Hakim's suitcase. A suitcase that has been containing a state-of-the-art, highly-expensive, cutting-edge... but otherwise worthless Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Through a complex series of events, Spike finds himself with the dog but lacking an Abdul Hakim.

Now with the dog in his posession, Spike hits the streets with the dog on a leash, knowing that Hakim must now come to him. Wandering past a fortune teller who claims to be able to find what he is looking for, Hakim gives it a shot and listens to what the old man has to say. The scientists are also becoming desperate, resorting to the use of a whistle to attract the data dog. The resulting chase ends with Spike back in posession of the data dog; while Hakim and the scientists crash into, of all places, the police station.

The data-dog, Ein, is now a part of the crew on the Bebop.

3: Honky Tonk Women

The episode opens with sexy, self-assured con woman Faye Valentine abducted at gunpoint; to pay back part of her enormous debt, she must act as a middleman for an under-the-table transaction at a casino. The deal goes sour when she mistakes Spike for the man she's supposed to get the package from. Faye, though assisted out of her jam by Spike and Jet, insists on going her own way.

4: Gateway Shuffle

...Only to find herself stranded in Jupiter's orbit, out of gas. She spies another ship nearby... But its only occupant, an ISSP cop, is dying. He gives her a suitcase, warning her not to open it. Spike and Jet, in the meanwhile, pursue a group of eco-terrorists to Jupiter, where Faye's suitcase turns out to contain a sample of the group's new biological weapon. The three team up to stop the terrorists, and Faye joins the crew of the Bebop.

5: Ballad of Fallen Angels

Back on Mars, a meeting is taking place. This meeting will hopefully bring peace between the Red Dragon and the White Tiger. With an executive of the Red Dragon signing a contract in blood, the two factions part ways with a new sense of relief. That relief is soon destroyed along with the White Tiger executive's transport. Mao Yenrai is captured during the commotion by men who are also seemingly apart of the Red Dragon. A katana is placed to Mao's neck as a dark man with a large black bird on his shoulder enters the room. As Mao tries to reason with this new dark character, his throat is slit. With his dying breath, Mao whispers, "If only Spike were still here..."

On the Bebop, Spike and Jet are having mixed feelings about going after the bounty on Mao Yenrai, which is a whopping 28 million. While Spike doesn't seem to care about the money, Faye can't keep the bounty reward out of her head, and goes to collect on the bounty. Ave Maria begins in the background as Faye is plunged into the world of the Red Dragon. Trembling as she takes her seat next to the obviously dead Mao, she meets the dark and cruel man from earlier, who introduces himself as Vicious.

Meanwhile, Spike visits an old friend, Annie, who is seemingly related to Mao and in touch with all the goings-on of the organized crime world. After his visit, Spike heads back to the Bebop to load up on supplies (i.e. pistols and grenades), when Faye calls in to give a location for the meeting. Faye is surprised when Spike offers to come, but he assures her that he's not going just to save her.

He heads into a large, dark cathedral. Inside the rundown church, Vicious and his gunmen wait for Spike, who has come ready for a fight. A gunfight errupts as Spike shoots his way to Vicious.

Faye manages her way outside and phones Jet, as Spike ascends a staircase; killing another gunman before taking two bullets to the gut. Breathing hard next to a large Tracery, Spike is surprised by Vicious, who quickly knocks Spike's gun from his hand and has Spike down on the ground. The two are in a stalemate, but Vicious manages to launch Spike through the large Tracery, but not before Spike leaves a grenade at his feet. As Spike descends to the ground, time seems to slow down as more images of the past float through his mind, as well as the image of a beautiful blonde woman, softly humming.

As Spike comes to, he finds Faye watching over him, humming the same tune as in his dream. After she notices that he is awake, Spike gestures for Faye to come closer to him. When she bends over to listen, he gasps painfully, "You're off key." Enraged, Faye slams Spike with a pillow and a deck of cards. Reaching up for a card on his forehead, Spike finds the ace of spades.

6: Sympathy For The Devil

Spike and Jet chase a bounty named "Giraffe," who has it out for a boy prodigy on the harmonica, Wen, and his bodyguard "Zebra." Wen turns out to be orchestrating the entire affair: a victim of the bizarre energies of Gate Incident on Earth, he is eighty years old but cursed never to age. Spike wounds him with an artifact from the same incident, aging him to death.

7: Heavy Metal Queen

The gang chases a bounty named Decker, who is running a load of high explosives. Spike runs simultaneously afoul and afriend of a truck driver, V.T., who hates bounty hunters but grudgingly helps him out. Decker is also a truck driver, so her assistance proves invaluable. Her respect for and resentment of Spike is the focus of the episode.

8: Waltz For Venus

The hijacking of a commercial spaceliner en route to Venus is foiled by Faye's and Spike's timely intervention. A fellow passenger, Roco, is impressed with Spike's aplomb and begs Spike to take him on as a student. Roco turns out to be on the run from his gang, for having stolen a rare and costly plant to fund his sister's eyesight-restoring surgery; Spike finds himself caught in the middle, shepherding his wayward but promising student.

9: Jamming With Edward

Laser satellites in Earth orbit begin carving pictorial designs onto the planet's surface. Jet and Faye pursue the (presumably) responsible party, a hacker named Radical Edward, but find nothing useful. Unbeknowest to them, however, Ed herself is a huge fan of the Bebop, and assists them in their search. The responsible party turns out to be an AI on one of the satellites, which Ed turns over to the Bebop crew in exchange for the chance to join them in their travels.

10: Ganymede Elegy

Jet is even more taciturn than usual as the Bebop lands on Ganymede, his last post before leaving the ISSP, and the home of his ex-girlfriend Alisa, whom he has never quite left behind. Spike, in the meanwhile, pursues bounty Rhint Celonias, whom Alisa happens to be helping out.

11: Toys in the Attic

A simultaneous homage and spoof to space-going horror movies, this episode takes place entirely on the Bebop. During the long drive between planets, Jet discovers a refrigerator in a back corner that no one knew was there. Shortly after, the crew is terrorized by a bizarre blob of black slime that was spawned when Spike accidentally left a Ganymede rock lobster in said fridge... For a year. Also, the ending scene may be considered as a referrence to "2001: A Space Odyssey".

12: Jupiter Jazz (Part 1)

Faye cleans out the safe and leaves the Bebop, evidently for good. Ed, searching the 'net for signs of her, comes up with the name Julia instead. Spike wants to pursue this Julia (the blonde woman from Session #5) at top speed, while Jet intends to look for Faye; the two part on bad terms. Faye, in the meanwhile, has found her way to Callisto, whose snowbound colony is populated entirely by men. Spike follows a trail of Julia clues to the same place, seeking a saxophone player named Gren--who rescues Faye from a roving band of lascivious men. He takes her back to his place... Where she overhears an answering-machine message from Vicious, who is on-planet to broker a deal for drugs. Spike confronts Vicious over his use of Julia's name as a code word, and is shot by Vicious's attendant Lin...

13: Jupiter Jazz (Part 2)

After a short teaser bringing the audience up-to-date, the audience finds Gren explaining his relation to Vicious: they were comrades-in-arms in the wars on Titan. But Vicious betrayed him, and now he wants to see the man with his own eyes. He leaves Faye imprisoned at the apartment and goes to the meeting spot. (Jet, now chasing the bounty on Gren, rescues her.) Spike, meanwhile, drags himself up and continues his quest. He reaches the meeting place at the same time Gren and Vicious do. Lin sacrifices himself to save Vicious from Gren's gunshot, and the three begin a free-for-all airborne melee. Gren's drugs, now in Vicious's possession, turn out to contain a bomb, and Vicious retreats when his mono-racer is compromised. Gren's fighter, damaged, crashes to the snowy ground, and Spike, honoring his last wishes, slingshots the ship back to Titan before returning to the Bebop.

14: Bohemian Rhapsody

In another non-serious episode, the Bebop gang hunts down a bizarre series of Hyperspace Gate Tollbooth robberies, each executed by a different party, and the mastermind that orchestrated the entire thing: Chessmaster Hex. Ed, meanwhile, plays a match of computer chess against Hex for over a week.

Along with Brain Scratch, this is the only episode where all five members of Bebop play an equal role in the episode. The rest either focus primarily on one or two characters, or do not have the entire cast of characters at the time. (sessions 1-8)

15: My Funny Valentine

The first half of the episode involves Faye telling Ein (and Spike, who pops out of the bathroom complaining about the length of her soliloquy) about her past: waking up from cryogenic sleep as a teenager, now that doctors have finally found a way to cure her illness after fifty years; being totally lost in a new world of technology, gates and intrasystem travel; having no idea who she was, where she had come from, or even her name; and the kind man, Whitney Hagas Matsumoto, who helped get her back on her feet, and then was tragically killed, leaving his personal estate to her... Which consisted mostly of debt. The second half involves the bounty Jet has just captured—Whitney Hagas Matsumoto, very fat and very not-dead—and Faye's all-consuming quest to reclaim her past.

16: Black Dog Serenade

An ISSP prison ship has gone awry, taken over by its prisoners, led by Udai Taxim, the assassin who took the arm of the most dangerous opponent the syndicate had ever known: Jet Black, the Black Dog. With this in mind, Jet's former partner, Fad, enlists him for the retrieval operation. The two infiltrate the prison ship, and Jet confronts Udai... Only to be told that Fad, long since sold out to the syndicates, was the one who betrayed him that night on Ganymede. Fad, shooting Udai in the head, does not deny it, but allows Jet to win the resulting shoot-out.

17: Mushroom Samba

The Bebop, out of food and fuel, is sideswiped in a hit-and-run off of Europa and crash-lands on the moon. Ed, with Ein by her side, is sent out to procure food, and trips over Domino Walker, this week's bounty, who is smuggling mushrooms... Special mushrooms. While Jet, Faye and Spike trip out around the ship (a result of Ed's less-than-scientific test of the shrooms' effects), Ed and Ein neutralize other bounty hunters and secure Domino—and, more importantly, his supply of decoy shiitake mushrooms!

18: Speak Like a Child

Faye wastes money betting on horse-racing, while a package arrives on the Bebop addressed to her. It contains an old Betamax video cassette, and Spike and Jet raid an abandoned museum for an appropriate VCR. (They end up with a VHS set instead.) The tape turns out to be made by Faye at the age of thirteen, addressed to herself; the contents provide tantalizing clues on her missing past...

19: Wild Horses

Spike, flying his Swordfish II mono-racer in for maintenance, runs out of gas not far from the garage. Doohan, owner of the garage and former owner of the Swordfish, berates him for not respecting it. In the meanwhile, Jet and Faye take on a group of bounty hunters who use computer viruses to terrorize intrasystem shipping, and when Spike runs into trouble helping them, Doohan and his assistant Miles take to the skies in a refurbushed Space Shuttle Columbia to rescue him.

This episode was temporarily removed from airplay in the United States after the 2003 Columbia disaster.

20: Pierrot le Fou

Spike faces off against Mad Pierrot, a bizarre killing machine modeled after both The Penguin and The Joker; the episode is an admitted homage to the the Animated Series.

The Japanese title for this episode literally means "Requiem for a Clown." Additionally "Pierrot Le Fou" is an actual French movie directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

21: Boogie Woogie Feng Shui

Jet, spurred on by a cryptic e-mail, tries to find an old acquaintance but discovers only his grave—he disappeared under mysterious circumstances—and his daughter, Meifa. She is an expert in feng shui and is being chased by pair of gangsters for her supposed knowledge of the location of the mythical 'sun stone.' Jet attempts to protect her while she follows her father's e-mail instructions.

22: Cowboy Funk

A terrorist, "Teddy Bomber," has been using explosives in teddy bears to bring down high-rise buildings in protest of humanity's excesses. Spike attempts to stop him, but constantly runs afoul of "Cowboy Andy," a fellow bounty hunter who is far more similar to Spike than either would care to admit. Totally ignoring Teddy Bomber (who is captured by Jet and Faye), the pair have it out. (This episode was removed from airplay after the September 11, 2001 attacks.)

The Movie

Though released after work on the television series had been completed, the Cowboy Bebop movie takes place between Cowboy Funk and Brain Scratch. The crew of the Bebop pursues Vincent Volaju, a terrorist who intends to deploy biological weapons against the populace of Mars.

23: Brain Scratch

Faye goes undercover in "Brain Scratch," a cult that believes in digitizing the soul for uploading into the Internet; its leader, Londes, has a whopping 38 million Woolongs on his head. The five Bebop members combine forces—Faye as the advance scout, Ed and Ein as electronic support (with Ein doing some impressive hacking), Spike as cavalry, and Jet to bring down Londes while Spike and Faye distract him—for the first and, sadly, last time in the series.

Londes is a homage to Heaven's Gate cult leader Marshall Applewhite. The idea of digitizing the soul to the internet could be a homage to Serial Experiments Lain.

24: Hard Luck Woman

A bounty is placed on a crazy man named Applederry (or Appledelhi, depending on the translation), who is mapping the geography of the planet Earth, despite it being altered every few minutes by meteor impacts. In the meanwhile, Faye investigates her past via the Betamax cassette, particularly a very prominent fountain. She takes Ed along for the ride, and Ed discovers the orphanage where she grew up. Spike and Jet chase Applederry, only to be stymied when Ed sails the Bebop right up to them--Applederry, as it turns out, is her father. His offer to come with him is totally forgotten when new craters demand his attention. Faye, suddenly remembering all or most of her past, leaves the ship to return to her family's home, now forgotten wreckage; and Ed and Ein leave the series to find Applederry ("See you cowgirl, someday, somewhere!").

25: The Real Folk Blues (Part 1)

Spike and Jet, now a duo again for the first time since the second episode, are ambushed by members of the Red Dragon syndicate, but saved by Lin's brother Shin, who explains that Vicious has tried to seize power and been deposed. He will be executed soon, and anyone related to him—including Spike and Julia. Most of the episode is devoted to flashbacks that finally explain the past: how Spike and Vicious were comrades in Red Dragon; how Julia came between them; how Spike tired of the syndicate and planned to run away with her; how Julia betrayed him (was forced, by Vicious, to betray him). Faye, in the meanwhile, almost trips over Julia, who is running from Red Dragon's enforcers; Julia sends her back to the Bebop to tell Spike that, this time, she will make their rendezvous. Red Dragon comes for the Bebop, and Spike and Faye take to their fighters to defend their home; simultaneously, Vicious's execution turns into his real coup d'etat, and Red Dragon's elders are killed. The episode ends with Spike in a graveyard, face to face with Julia.

26: The Real Folk Blues (Part 2)

Spike and Julia pick up where they left off in their plans to escape Red Dragon, enlisting Annie's help—only to find that Vicious's goons have gotten there already. After laying Annie to rest, they fight their way out, but Julia is shot and killed. Spike returns to the Bebop for one last meal with his family, and then storms Red Dragon's headquarters; with a bit of assistance from Shin, he makes it to the top floor, where he and Vicious confront each other for a final time. Spike and Vicious duel and Vicious is killed. Spike stumbles out of Vicious's chamber, clutching his side and bleeding profusely, and begins to descend a long staircase as several gangsters stare in awe and a bright light fills the room. Spike then raises his right hand, positioning his fingers to resemble a gun, says "bang" and collapses. Then the credits begin to roll with the stars as a background. Nearing the end of the credits a shooting star passes across the screen symbolizing that a warrior has lost his life.

External links

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• The Real Folk Blues - fansite - lists which track is used where in each episode. (First select the session, then next to the session title there should be a small list of links; "music" links to the track selection of that session.)
• Cowboy Bebop Screenshots Gallery Of each episode.

Cowboy Bebop | Lists of anime television series episodes