Spike seeks a bounty on a doctor named Londes, but is tricked into entering a virtual program where he relives trying to run away with Julia only to be caught and killed by Vicious. When Jet finds out, Faye, a mechanic friend Mel, and he must find a way to free him before the program kills him.
Tropes
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Londes in this version is a computer program that went haywire and devoured the consciousness of thousands of people, killing their bodies in the process. Kaypack tried to shut it down but it somehow reactivated to trap Spike.
- Anorgasmia: Faye has her first orgasm (that she remembers) with Mel. While this could be because Faye has finally discovered her sexuality, the way she opens up to Mel about her past implied this is the first lover she's been able to truly relax with.
- Bait-and-Switch: We're lead to believe Spike managed to free himself before Jet, Faye and Mel reach Londes central system and destroyed it. But at the end, were shown that no, Spike couldn't let Julia go and it ended in Vicious about to kill him before the system was destroyed, showing that the three did indeed save him just in time.
- Boom, Headshot!: The first simulation ends with Julia getting shot in the head by Vicious right in front of Spike's eyes, followed by Spike himself. Later simulations can be seen visibly glitching at that point as the AI adjusts the program so Julia can continue talking.
- Can't You Read the Sign?: As the BeBop is Coming in Hot it crashes through a sign saying DO NOT ENTER.
- Chekhov's Gun: Literally with the Rail Gun pistol that Faye brought. She uses it to break through the casing of Londes' main AI hub so that Jet, Mel and she can finally destroy it.
- Cut the Juice: Dr. Kaypack warns Jet that he can't just pull the plug on Spike as it will fry his brain. Jet has to race off to the abandoned military base on Earth where Londes was originally created and cut the power at the source. The problem is the AI's hub is sealed in a bulletproof cage. When their bullets only crack the glass slightly, Faye loads a hairpin into the railgun and shoots it through the weakened area to destroy the hub.
- Diverting Power: After the engine bursts into flame, Mel and Faye plug the coolant into the sprinkler system.
- Duct Tape for Everything: Turns out the BeBop is literally held together with duct tape.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Spike tries his damnest to save Julia in the simulation, even when her virtual self is telling him to let her go. But ultimately each attempt ends in failure.
- Foreshadowing: Jet said the tip about Londes came from a hacker called "Radical Ed". Likewise Kaypak mentions that Ed sent him an alert on Spike's predicament.
- Fun with Acronyms: Londes here stands for "Life Observing Neural Development Emulation System".
- Gadgeteer Genius: Jet comes back with the needed engine part that he said he got for a much lesser price...only Mel points out it's the wrong type and she has to modify it to fit literally on the fly.
- A Glitch in the Matrix: The accuracy of the simulation degrades the more loops Spike goes through.
- Good Guns, Bad Guns: Averted; Kaypack is armed with a Luger but it turns out he's just trying to help Spike.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: Londes tries one scenario after another to break Spike's connection to Julia, using the information from each failure to refine the scenario.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Faye denies that Jet is her boyfriend, but rather than the Faye/Jet foreshadowing that would be normal for this trope, it's Mel trying to work out if she has the green light to seduce Faye. Which has happened by the next scene.
- Identity Amnesia: Faye's trust issues are because she has no frame of reference she can rely on, having no memory of her past before she was woken up as a Human Popsicle. For instance, is she sleeping with Mel because she's always been into girls, or is this an entirely new experience for her?
- Lotus-Eater Machine: A variation; rather than trap the victim in their ultimate fantasy, the Londes program works to wear down the victim's emotional connections so it can devour their consciousness.
- Mind Screw: The episode is a major one on Spike's end as he ends up right back at the beginning every time he's killed in the program. While at the same time we see the setting in the real world making it hard to tell which-from-which at first.
- Modesty Bedsheet: Faye and Mel are draped in one during their post-coital chat even though they're the only ones on the ship at the time.
- Moment Killer: The Mel/Faye post-coital snuggle is interrupted by Jet shouting "WHAT THE FUCK?!" as he finds out that Faye has been screwing the mechanic instead of riding herd on her to make sure the ship is fixed. In fairness, they do have to rush off to Earth then and there to save Spike's life.
- Phallic Weapon: Turns out the gun doesn't have to be phallic to do this trope. Faye has just bought a Rail Gun which doesn't have a barrel—you just place a metal object in the Y-shaped discharge area. Mel sees the gun and Double Entendre ensues.Mel: Whenever I see a good looking piece I have to touch it.Faye: Yeah...Touch away.Mel: You shoot her yet?Faye: I haven't found anything small enough to—Mel and Faye: (in unison) —fit in the chamber.
- Rail Gun: Faye gleefully spends her money on a Blitzer Railgun, but everyone else regards such weapons as a scam which is useless for bounty hunter work. Of course, it turns out to be just what is needed when they need to fire a hairpin through a sheet of bulletproof glass, but at the end of the episode Faye gifts it to Mel.
- Running Gag: Everyone telling Faye that the rail gun she brought is a scam. Ironically it comes in handy in the climax.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Virtual Julia starts off nice, but in each failure attempt of Spike, she berates him more and more. Essentially telling him he never truly knew or loved her, just the idea of her.
- Shout-Out: Mel, working on the Bebop, says, "Please tell me you didn't plug the g-line straight into the pin port." Kaylee, in Firefly, does exactly that to get Serenity running.
- Space Western: In Spike's virtual fantasy the Syndicate hitmen are armed with single-action Colt revolvers and lever-action long arms. Spaghetti Western music plays and the scenery looks like the main street of a Western cowboy town.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: Spike rips off the VR headset, leaps out of the chair and goes hunting for Londes, then we cut to what's really happening—the chair has folded back into a table with articulated restraints moving into position around Spike's body. Then something is injected subdermally and works its way up to his brain.
- Wrench Wench: Mel, the lesbian mechanic who is unsuccessful at getting Jet to fork out for the right spare parts but entirely successful at getting into Faye's pants.
