Stray Dog Strut
Session 2
Previous Session:	Asteroid Blues
Next Session:	Honky Tonk Woman

Session 2 : Stray Dog Strut

Cast (in order of appearance): Abdul Hakim, Spike Spiegel, Punch and Judy, Jet Black, Doc, Ein.

PlotEdit

A serial pet thief named Abdul Hakim unwraps bandages, after having plastic surgery done to his face, in a dirty public restroom where a group of scientists with guns corner him. Hakim knocks them out easily and leaves carrying a large briefcase.

Big Shot posts the bounty information on Abdul Hakim, showing an outdated face on his mugshot, who say he stole an innocent lab animal from a research facility and is worth 8 million Woolongalive.

A Doctor and friend of Spike calls the Bebop and offers a picture of Hakim post-plastic surgery for 280 Woolongs.

Once on Mars, Hakim contacts someone with his cell phone. He then goes to a juice bar where he is distracted by an old man long enough for his partner, a younger man, to grab Hakim’s suitcase and run away.

The Bebop does a water land on Mars and Spike flies off on his Swordfish II. He goes to a pawn shop and after impressing the clerk with his knowledge of a pair of nunchucks, Way of the Dragon model, he is told to go to Animal Treasure.

At Animal Treasure, the younger man with Hakim’s suitcase tries to sell its contents to the storeowner. Spike catches him at gunpoint thinking the man is Hakim after another plastic surgery job. The storeowner opens the case and finds a Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy; she says the dog, henceforth named Ein, is worth about 200 Woolongs. Spike decides to leave and passes the real Hakim on the street without noticing.

Hakim catches the younger man at gunpoint and tries to grab Ein, who growls and runs away. Scientists in a van from the research facility see Ein and chase after him with Hakim close behind. Spike hears the commotion and, spotting Hakim, follows the chase as well.

Ein runs to a bridge where Spike and Hakim meet on opposite ends. They fight until the dog jumps over the bridge and onto a boat. They jump after him but Ein jumps off the boat and onto Spike’s head. Hakim falls into a barrel of crabs in the boat and Spike is left in the water holding the dog.

Back on the Bebop, Jet outfits Ein with a collar that has a tracking device back to his computer. They decide to use Ein as bait to draw Hakim out into the open. To do so, Spike is forced to dog walk on the streets of Mars.

The scientists decide to use a high-powered dog whistle in their van to attract every dog in the city to them. Ein hears the sound and escapes from Spike. The van, followed by a pack of dogs including Ein, drive past Hakim who is using a fortune teller to help him find the dog.

Hakim steals a honeymooners car while Spike chases after Ein on his Swordfish II. Hakim grabs the dog, sprays him with a sleeping agent, and drives out to a causeway. Spike tries to crash Hakim’s car by hitting the roof but the scientist van catches up and harpoons Hakim. Ein wakes up, pushes a button to open the doors and jumps out. Spike makes a conscious choice to go after Ein and save him from falling into the water. He is forced to land and watch as the harpooned Hakim crashes into an ISSP precinct along with the scientists van.

Big Shot reports on the crash, saying that the dog is a "data dog" and was engineered in an illegal research facility. The scientists along with Hakim were arrested by the police without Spike getting any reward, but at least they got to keep Ein---and his ticks.

Memorable QuotesEdit

Main article: Memorable Quotes from Cowboy Bebop#Stray Dog Strut

[Spike is walking Ein to lure Abdul Hakim]

• Spike: Well here’s another great moment in the legend of Spike, famous bounty hunter and dog walker.
• Research Scientist 2: Seems that way.

Series ConnectionsEdit

• Ein's Intelligence: Not much is explained in this session about Ein's intelligence. He demonstrates the ability to push buttons on a zipcraft to escape from Hakim. He is called a data dog and it is known that he was enhanced by an illegal research facility. Much of his intelligence remains hidden to the rest of the crew.

Real World ReferencesEdit

• Way of The Dragon: A 1972 martal arts action film starring Bruce Lee. In this film Lee's character fights gangsters in Rome using nunchucks.
• Abdul Hakim himself has a resemblance to Kareem Abdul Jaamar, Bruce Lee's adversary from "The Game of Death".
• The title of the session, "Stray Dog Strut" is a reference to "Stray Cat Strut" by the Stray Cats, the most popular song from their 1981 album.
• There is also a Django (western) reference . The Kareem Abdul-Jaabar character draging the coffin.

SongsEdit

"American Money" --Big Shot theme

"Want It All Back" --During the first chase scene

"Cat Blues" --Between the commercial break and the second chase scene

"Bad Dog No Biscuits" --During the second chase scene in which all the dogs are chasing after the truck