Bebop Thoughts

[in_the_blue]

So, it was lostinapapercup who reminded me I was going to talk about Bebop and some character development things. If you've seen all of it, click the link. If not, spare yourself heartache and don't even go there. This is mostly just for my benefit, but I'm curious to know what you think if you're a CB fanatic.

Part I: Julia, Julia, Julia, why are all women liars?

There's a scene in flashbacks in Julia's apartment where there's a red spill on the tabletop and 2 vials lying on their sides. At first I assumed (like most people) that they belonged to Vicious and he left them there. But wait.

Let's think this out.

If there's one character in Cowboy Bebop who's all about control and being in control, it's Vicious. He's determined and he's focused and he knows exactly what he wants, and he knows how to go about getting it. (Yeah, yeah, I've dabbled at roleplaying him, but even without that, this makes sense, so bear with me.) He's obsessive and compulsive about it. Would someone like that use drugs that alter your perceptions?

No fucking way. Because if he did that, it would mean that he ceded control to the drugs. And I don't believe that Bebop's baddest bad boy would give away the least bit of control to anyone or anything. Vicious isn't stupid. He's evil and unredeemable and entirely selfish, but he's a damn control freak and I mean that in the biggest sense of the phrase: he plans. He plots. He carries things out. He's fearless. He's mean. He's supremely self-confident.

He's not a drug addict.

So who, pray tell, used the Red-Eye?

I don't think it was Spike. In Asteroid Blues, he's not judgmental enough about the Red-Eye to have been a former user. He would have stopped Jet telling him all about it if he knew the details. Plus, face it: he's just not a drug user. He drinks, but he's not a user, and Red-Eye seems pretty damn addictive. The only time he uses is in Mushroom Samba, and he doesn't know he's taking drugs then.

So that leaves the lovely Julia, the one who says all women are liars. The one Vicious says to watch out for.

Let's look at her profile. What do you suppose there was about Vicious that made her want to hang out with him in the first place? His kind and generous nature? His chivalry? His good-heartedness? He doesn't have any of those things.

But if he was a drug dealer... and she was a drug user... well, there have been stranger pairings out there in the world.

People dependent on drugs are liars, for the most part. They're unreliable. Yes, she took care of Spike, but she didn't show up at the cemetery for him the day they were going to run away together. Why not? Two choices: first, she didn't love him enough to risk her own ass for him. Second, if she ran away with him, her supply would be cut off.

And so she didn't go with Spike, setting up the very Casablanca-like Rick Blaine bitterness that Spike carries like a giant chip on his shoulder. But in the three years they're apart, where does she turn up? With Gren, and what does he do?

He deals Red-Eye.

Part II: Vicious. It ain't that Barbie doll; her heart's been broken just like you have.

What do we know about Vicious? We know that he and Spike were partners in the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate and by all evidence the best of friends. They went out killing together (yeah, boys will be boys). And then Spike fell in love with Vicious's girlfriend and stole her away, and the trio broke up, and Vicious went off to be a mercenary in the war on Titan before betraying his next best friend there and coming back to take over the Red Dragons, no matter what the cost. Hey, he's a hell of a guy.

At least he knows what he wants. In the Julia section up there, I talk a little bit about Vicious and his control-freak nature, but I'll second it here. He's not just a control freak, but he's one manipulative son of a bitch. Look at what he did to Gren: he has no remorse about that. Is that the kind of guy who's going to be head-over-heels for a pretty blonde? I'm not saying he didn't like her or didn't have fun sleeping with her, but love? I don't think he's capable of the emotion.

So... did he set up Spike with Julia, just like he set up Gren to go to jail? Testified against him? Put the illegal transmitter in the music box and made sure Gren would take it back?

Bad dog, no biscuits.

If he was that manipulative then, what makes us think he wasn't equally as manipulative before? Maybe he did go so far as to set up Spike with Julia so that there would be conflict, so that Spike would leave, so that Vicious would have a clearer channel to the Red Dragon leadership role he so desperately wanted. I believe he was manipulative and cruel enough to do just that. I believe that he didn't ever give a flying fuck about Julia or about Spike. I believe that to him, everyone was simply a means to an end.

Hmm. Ponder, ponder, ponder. Feel free to add to this discussion, any of you Bebop fans out there.

Comments

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

[looks around] Nobody here yet?

Hmph. Anyway, Vicious is obviously Not Stupid, which implies the ability to plot/scheme/think through things. Getting rid of Spike, who's menschy, does seem like a good plan, although... why wouldn't he just get Spike killed in a more straightforward manner? Why fiddle around?

(Gren was a dealer? Shows how much attention I was paying to the details.)

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Why fiddle around? He's a cruel bastard, for one thing. Second, there actually might have been some true basis for friendship there, even if Vicious is completely twisted. Third, it's handy to have someone you can bend to your will (especially someone who's the favorite of the reigning Syndicate boss). Fourth, if he could have someone else kill Spike, then it wouldn't be his fault, would it...

There are probably other reasons too; those are just the first four that spring to my mind.

[luu-alita.livejournal.com]

It's more challenging and sadiscally fun.

[lostinapapercup.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, one of the first reasons that came to my mind kind of goes hand in hand with that fourth reason. I think that Spike was just too respected or well liked or whatever for Vicious to think it smart to kill him in a more straightforward manner.

At that particular point in time.

[zahdi.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you posted this.

There's something so erratic about Julia's tendencies that struck me as so familiar, and I *couldn't place it.*

But, if Julia was a user... and Vicious was her dealer... oh my GOD, that makes so much sense.

I can hook those pieces together now. ;__; Thank you.

-- Sche.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

[bows for your benefit]

It just didn't make sense otherwise. Of course, I could just be blowing smoke out my you-know-what and ultimately, this will all go unanswered. But hey, it's fun to theorize about it all.

And, by the way: welcome back, you!

[zahdi.livejournal.com]

^__^ Yes, theories make me happy. Usually if they are sound.

T__T Thanks!! *grins*

.Sch.