premiere air date: February 14, 2002
summary: Whilst foraging for food, Spike intercepts a serial bomber, the
Teddy Bomber, trying to blow up a skyscraper. Spike-baby does his usual schpiel
of beating the crap out of the guy while looking bad-ass and spouting off cool
catch phrases. Teddy Bomber is just as intent upon blowing up the building, however,
and just as he's about to blow himself and Spike sky high -- lo! Andy the Cowboy
appears! Cowboy duds, horse, theme music and all! Andy manages to both save Spike's
life and nearly get him killed at the same time (as Faye says, he sure reminds
me of someone ^_^). Back at the Bebop, Faye and Jet aren't buying any part of
the story (can you blame them? I've seen him, and still I hardly believe that
Andy exists). Ed, however, proves the existence of Cowboy Andy, who is in actuality
Andy von de Oniyate, heir to the Oniyate ranch. The Bebop crew go to a masquerade
party, having laid another trap there for the Teddy Bomber. Again they miss their
chance and again Andy appears. Spike, as you might imagine, has an intense dislike
for Mr. Urban Cowboy which borders on obsessive. The episode concludes not with
the capture of the bounty, but with the showdown between two cowboys, Spike and
Andy! Who will reign supreme as smart-ass? I must say, I truly pity those who
can only watch CB on Cartoon Network. At this point, it seems very unlikely that
Cowboy Funk will ever play on network television [edit - they eventually did show
the episode]. Cowboy Funk is arguably the funniest episode of the series,
even rivaling the hilarity in Mushroom Samba. Andy
the Cowboy, a comic send up of Spike's character, is assuredly my favorite secondary
character of the series. And if you'll believe it, he's even funnier in Japanese.
Yes, this is the only episode that I have trouble deciding whether I should watch
it in Japanese or English. The English dialogue, particularly Faye's and Jet's,
is quite exceptional. Their banter, exchanging insults about Spike, is not to
be missed. Ms. Lee and Mr. Billingslea, you have outdone yourselves on this one.
Not to mention the inimitable Mr. Lucas. Snap, I love his work. Listening
to this episode reminds me why. But then there's Cowboy Andy. He's really, really
great in English, don't get me wrong, but -- his Japanese counterpart is a riot,
mostly due to his terrible, awful Engrish lines. Dangerous!
rating: A+++
