Whatever happens, happens.....
Feb. 5th, 2003 11:37 amThere was a comment on
adult_swim about whether the Cowboy Bebop episode "Wild Horses" would be aired again, so soon after the Columbia accident, if ever. I really couldn't remember what it was about and I noticed it was on the DVD I bought the other day. I hadn't watched that particular one because I got too sleepy and turned it off. I watched it again last night.
The premise is that Spike has just had his ship, Swordfish, overhauled by an old mechanic (engineer?) friend of his. The old guy, Doohan, has a hobby of fixing up an old spacecraft; it's in a building and you can't see exactly what it is, but for some strange reason the nose, tail fin and engines are protruding through the walls (An aside: Is Doohan some sort of nod to Star Trek? i.e. Engineer Doohan->James Doohan->Engineer Scotty->Enterprise->another shuttle? No? I'm crazy? Ok, I'll buy that...)
Near the end of the episode, Spike's ship is in dire straits, he can only control it manually because the pirates he was chasing infected it with a virus before their own destruction ( An aside: it's a wonder these guys make a living at all - most of their bounty subjects seem to wind up dead and no bounty paid. Then again, a lot of episodes involve growling stomachs and empty fuel tanks). He's below a meteor field, just above the atmosphere and Jet can't get to him to rescue him. He tells Jet to go ahead and help himself to some booze he has hidden on the Bebop, because he's just run out of fuel and he won't make it back. Doohan and Miles, his assistant, have been listening in, and tells Spike to stay up any way he can, because he'll rescue him from below. He gets his mystery antique ship fired up, the building opens up, it rolls out, and....
it's the Columbia. It did give me a pang.
Doohan and his assistant take off in the shuttle, Spike mangages to maneuver the Swordfish into the shuttle bay, breaking the wings off in the process, and relaxes, thinking "Whatever happens, happens..." while Doohan and Miles are arguing about whether they are going to make it back due to the heat shielding tiles coming off, and the landing gear not working. They apparently did, as evidenced by the show ending showing a photo of the shuttle crashed into the desert, with the guys standing in front of it - Spike with a disgusted look on his face - because he doesn't think much of Miles and now he has to get the Swordfish fixed again. All's right with the world.
I would hate for this to never be aired again. Maybe not in the next few weeks while feelings are still raw, but why not show an alternate ending to Columbia's life, one with some hope? It is science fiction after all, an alternate, speculative universe, where everyone is a spaceship pilot and today's dreams are everyday reality.
Edit: Other Trek references: Miles~Miles O'Brien, Reggie the parts guy~Reggie Barkley, I think there are other as well.
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The premise is that Spike has just had his ship, Swordfish, overhauled by an old mechanic (engineer?) friend of his. The old guy, Doohan, has a hobby of fixing up an old spacecraft; it's in a building and you can't see exactly what it is, but for some strange reason the nose, tail fin and engines are protruding through the walls (An aside: Is Doohan some sort of nod to Star Trek? i.e. Engineer Doohan->James Doohan->Engineer Scotty->Enterprise->another shuttle? No? I'm crazy? Ok, I'll buy that...)
Near the end of the episode, Spike's ship is in dire straits, he can only control it manually because the pirates he was chasing infected it with a virus before their own destruction ( An aside: it's a wonder these guys make a living at all - most of their bounty subjects seem to wind up dead and no bounty paid. Then again, a lot of episodes involve growling stomachs and empty fuel tanks). He's below a meteor field, just above the atmosphere and Jet can't get to him to rescue him. He tells Jet to go ahead and help himself to some booze he has hidden on the Bebop, because he's just run out of fuel and he won't make it back. Doohan and Miles, his assistant, have been listening in, and tells Spike to stay up any way he can, because he'll rescue him from below. He gets his mystery antique ship fired up, the building opens up, it rolls out, and....
it's the Columbia. It did give me a pang.
Doohan and his assistant take off in the shuttle, Spike mangages to maneuver the Swordfish into the shuttle bay, breaking the wings off in the process, and relaxes, thinking "Whatever happens, happens..." while Doohan and Miles are arguing about whether they are going to make it back due to the heat shielding tiles coming off, and the landing gear not working. They apparently did, as evidenced by the show ending showing a photo of the shuttle crashed into the desert, with the guys standing in front of it - Spike with a disgusted look on his face - because he doesn't think much of Miles and now he has to get the Swordfish fixed again. All's right with the world.
I would hate for this to never be aired again. Maybe not in the next few weeks while feelings are still raw, but why not show an alternate ending to Columbia's life, one with some hope? It is science fiction after all, an alternate, speculative universe, where everyone is a spaceship pilot and today's dreams are everyday reality.
Edit: Other Trek references: Miles~Miles O'Brien, Reggie the parts guy~Reggie Barkley, I think there are other as well.