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"My Funny Valentine" is the fifteenth session, or episode, of Cowboy Bebop

Credits[]

Written by:

Cast:

Cast (uncredited):

Animation Director:

  • Hiroshi Ousaka

Mechanical Animation Director:

  • Masami Goto

Plot[]

In the early 21st century, Faye Valentine is being put to cryogenic sleep. Several doctors and staff lower her into a storage unit with several other spaces in it.

In the present on the Bebop, Jet and Ed take out some fish to eat only to find that they are frozen and full of poisons. Forced to get any bounty he can, Jet decides to go after a con man who seduces and defrauds women – to have at least some money to buy food. He notes that Spike will not like it.

Elsewhere, Faye wakes up, seemingly from a nightmare, to the sound of Ein's barking. She smells Ein's waste and decides to clean his litter box. During, she tells Ein that he reminds her of someone and asks Ein if he wants to know about her past. Despite Ein's uninterested expression, Faye starts her story.

FrozenWoman

In 2068, Faye is pulled out of water in a hospital, woken from her long sleep. A doctor, introducing himself as Bacchus, confirms with his assistant that she is reviving and happily talking to her about her condition. He casually gets to the matter of payment, and asks his assistant, Miss Manley, for the amount. The charges are brought up to a total of 300,028,000 Woolongs. Faye, however, is disoriented and asks the doctor who and where she is. Miss Manly confirms that Faye is not acting and has truly lost all memory of who she is, shocking Bacchus.

Later, in a hospital bed, Faye is approached by a lawyer, Whitney Haggis Matsumoto, who says he'll help her, having done research on her case. He informs her she was in an accident 54 years earlier at 20 years old and frozen. She's in disbelief and, as he tries to prove to her, she collapses from the stress. That night, Faye tries to escape the hospital. She trips an alarm, but makes it to the highway. Matsumoto finds her and assures her he'll help her make the payments little by little. She goes with him and he buys her elaborate meals and fancy clothing, and sweeps her off her feet, calling her his "Sleeping Beauty." One day, they're driving back from being out when they're pursued. Matsumoto says it's a collection agency and drives the other way. He drives off the road and tells her to run away while he deals with it. As Faye runs, she sees a large explosion – he has died.

At the hospital, Faye finds he has named her his sole heir, leaving her all of his assets. She remarks that he really did care about her. However, once she accepts the assets, she is enraged to find out that his only "assets" are his many debts.

Back in the present day, Faye wraps up the story when Spike exits the bathroom, having eavesdropped on her story. He tells her it needs editing.

Eyecatch

Episode-15-whitney-found

As Spike ribs Faye about her (probably made up) story, Jet returns with a bounty... who turns out to be Matsumoto, three years and many additional pounds since Faye saw him last. Faye realizes she was just another one of Matsumoto's "marks," and talks to him alone. He says the doctor (who's now dead) was protecting him, and he had to cooperate with him. Now, he seems regretful.

The police arrive to make the exchange, however, Faye decides she has unfinished business and abducts Matsumoto in the Red Tail so she can get answers from him about what was true and what was part of his scam. They're pursued by Spike in the Swordfish II and eventually he hits her. She pleads with Matsumoto to tell her the truth, but, before he can, the police communicate with her. However, Faye recognizes the voice – it's Bacchus and Manley. Frustrated with the further lies, she starts to realize he really doesn't know. Bacchus also says he gave her the name Valentine, and he doesn't know either. Just then, the real police arrive and demand their patrol ship back. Bacchus and Manley decide to flee, leaving Matsumoto behind where Faye is now determined to claim the bounty on him.

Once Matsumoto is in custody, he tells Faye that he knows one more true thing: He fell in love with her while she was in cryogenic sleep. But he immediately reverses course and says "it's just another lie!"

As they leave the police HQ, Jet gives Faye her third of the bounty: 19800 Woolongs. She's dismayed at how little it is. In an aside, Jet confesses that he actually "added a zero" to the total.

Quotes[]

  • [Faye has just poured out her life story to Ein in front of the bathroom. Spike flushes the toilet and emerges from the bathroom stall next to Faye]
Faye: [grumpy] How long were you in there listening, Spike?
Spike: Too long. Your story needs editing.

Songs[]

  • Tank! (TV Edit) – Opening titles
  • "Secrets" – [Unidentified piano piece] Faye asks Ein if he's at all interested in her past
  • Piano Bar II – Faye meets the lawyer, Whitney, from her hospital recovery bed
  • "Diner" – [Unreleased; possibly library music] 50s-style rock'n'roll when Faye triggers the arcade
  • Flying Teapot – Montage of Faye and Whitney's growing relationship
  • Vitamin "D" – Eyecatch card I
  • Slipper Sleaze – Eyecatch card II, plays through the Bebop crew talk
  • Bindy – Faye escapes the Bebop with Whitney
  • Odd Ones – The Red Tail and Swordfish II dogfight
  • Piano Bar I – Spike waits for Faye outside the police station
  • The Real Folk Blues – Closing titles
  • Farewell Blues – Preview for Black Dog Serenade

Background[]

Themes and Motifs[]

Homages and References[]

  • My Funny Valentine is a song from the musical Babes in Arms that has been covered by several artists such as Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis.
  • Faye's cryo tube has two references on it. In the upper left-hand corner is written the serial number for the USS Enterprise-B from Star Trek. Also, the date on it is the twenty-third of November, which is the day the first episode of the famous British television series "Doctor Who" was aired. The capsule in which Faye was cryogenically preserved has the code NCC-1701-B written on it.
  • A Yellow 1957 Fiat 500 makes a brief appearance while Faye runs away. This is a reference to Lupin the Third in which the titular character's primary method of travel is by aforementioned vehicle.

Gallery[]

Sessions[]

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