The Real Folk Blues, Part I

Season 1, Episode 25, Aired

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Vicious heads to the Red Dragon Syndicate to put an end to Van, which are the leaders of the Syndicate. Meanwhile, Spike and Jet are at a pub in town when the Red Dragon Syndicate burst in and start shooting up the place. As the action intensifies, Jet and Spike once again find themselves in the middle of another mess, though certain events soon make them realize that this may be bigger than they expected.moreless
  • This is the first to last episode and Spike is going back to where all his ugly past memories were. He has to meet back up with Julia, his one great love. I guess Spike had no choice but to face his past and the syndicate, the red dragons.moreless

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    This is a very passionate episode for the show. It reveals all of the past history of Spike and Julia. the whole deal with the syndicate. And Vicious. The to be continued at the end is so fustrating, because it just forces you to watch on, but how can you not. It's a great episode.
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (2)

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    • Jet makes a reference to Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" when he tries to talk Spike out of his suicide mission to kill Vicious

    • The man Faye sees meeting his mother at the train station is none other than the male host of Big Shot, Punch, whose real name is Alfredo. "[T]hat blonde cohost," his mother mentions is, obviously, Judy.

  • QUOTES (12)

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    • Jet: (To Spike) Turn back, when you and I first met, you told me something. You said that you had died once. That you had seen death. Why can't you just let it go? Forget the past.
      Spike: There was a woman, first time I found someone that was truly alive, at least that's what I thought. She was the part of me I'd lost somewhere along the way. The part that was missing. That I've been longing for...

    • Spike: (To Jet) Are you still in pain?
      Jet: Have you heard this story?
      Spike: Huh?
      Jet: A man injures his leg during a hunt. He's in the middle of the savanna, no means to treat the wound. The leg rots and death approaches. Last minute he's picked up by an airplane. He looks down and sees a land of pure white below him, glistening in the light is the summit of a snow-caped mountain. The mountain is Kilimanjaro. As he gazes down he feels the life flowing out of him and thinks, that's where I was headed.
      Spike: And?
      Jet: I hate stories like that. Men only think about their past right before their death as if they were searching franticly for prove that they were alive.

    • Faye: Have I met you before?
      Julia: If you see Spike again, tell him I'll be waiting for him there. Thats all, he'll know what it means. Tell him that I'll keep waiting.
      Faye: But why?
      Julia: See you later Faye Valentine.
      Faye: Hey! Wait a minute, how do you know I know Spike?!

    • Julia: I haven't even asked your name. Faye: Faye. Julia: Faye? Faye: Faye Valentine. It's a very common name. And how about you? Julia: Julia. Faye: Julia? Julia: It's also a very common name.

    • Jet: Find what you lost and get it back!

    • Vicious: And you shall shed tears of scarlet.

    • Vicious: The Syndicate doesn't need corpses that can't fight.

    • (Flashback during Jet's operation) Spike: When this is over, I'm leaving the syndicate. Julia: They'll kill you. You know how they work. Spike: Huh. Let them say I'm dead... I'll be waiting at the graveyard. By the graves, not in them. Julia: Spike... I can't come with you. Spike: Yes you can. We'll leave, get out of this. Julia: And go where? Do what? Spike: Live...and be free. It'll be like watching a dream.

    • Jet: I don't know what's going on with the Red Dragons, but it's not really your problem now, right? Vicious, Julia, to me those names sound ominous, like some magic spell that opens an old door, a door that should stay closed.

    • Vicious: So, you were going to betray me? (Julia shrugs) Vicious: Did you really think you could just leave? Julia: Vicious... Vicious: Keep dreaming, Julia. It's never going to happen. Julia: Are you going to kill him? Vicious: I'm not. You're going to do it for me. (He lays a gun on the table in front of her) Vicious: Either you kill him, or else both of you die. Those are your only options.

    • Vicious: Just kill me now. Elder: You will not have a choice in the time or manner of your death. You must learn humility, first. Only after you have been broken will we send you to the underworld.

    • Vicious: A serpent's venom poisons slowly after the bite.

  • NOTES (4)

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    • English Voice Talents Naomi Jones, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gully Jimson, Simon Issacson, Lee Kelso, Bo Williams, Ray Michaels, George C. Cole, David Lucas, Wendee Lee, Henry Douglas Grey

    • Original Japanese Airdate (WOWOW): April 16th, 1999.

    • During the series' initial run in Japan, this episode did not air on TV Tōkyō. It later aired on the WOWOW network.

    • The title of the final episodes of Cowboy Bebop, "The Real Folk Blues" is also the name of the song by Yōko Kanno that ends every episode (except the last).

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