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Irreverence and Intrigue in a New Jazzed-Out ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Clip

By Matthew Denis Oct 21, 2021 4:32 PM

From left to right, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, John Cho as Spike Spiegel, and Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine in Netflix's 'Cowboy Bebop.' — From left to right, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, John Cho as Spike Spiegel, and Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine in Netflix’s ‘Cowboy Bebop.’ Image used with permission by copyright holder

Get ready for vintage action: Cowboy Bebop is coming, complete with a 1970s “ba, dat, ba, daaah,” jazzed out soundtrack.

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After months of news, photos, and theme songs, Netflix has released the first teaser for its live-action Cowboy Bebop series — kind of. Titled “The Lost Session,” it shows off John Cho as Spike Spiegal, Danielle Pineda as Faye Valentine, and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, as they take on a bounty that won’t be part of the actual Netflix show.

The trailer, directed by Greg Jardin (who also directs the live action show), is actually a standalone episode, “The Lost Session,” even if it’s only two minutes and forty seconds long.

The action begins aboard the Bebop spaceship with Jet, Faye, and Spike getting the call for a new bounty. After a fight with the wrong crew (complete with a Spike roundhouse flip kick), Spike stops in the middle of the action to eat, a first declaration of his go-to mantra, “Noodles first.”

This scene leads to the first hint at what will go down during the actual Netflix show action. The music slows and the screen smokes to reveal a silhouette of Spike’s true nemesis, Vicious (Alex Hassell), his katana-wielding former partner turned Red Dragon Crime Syndicate gangster.

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After the gang finally finds and fights the correct crew, the action plays out with a playful split screen before Spike and Jet Black inevitably mess up the bounty and lose out on the cash.

“Hey nutbuckets!” Faye informs her overeager partners. “There’s no payout if you shoot him in the face.”

While the first live-action adaptation of Shinichirō Watanabe’s seminal show is a blast, the show’s iconic blowing horns and sax carry it. Cowboy Bebop showrunner André Nemec insisted that there was no show without the original noir anime series’ composer, Yoko Kanno. However the show eventually goes, the promise of a new Kanno soundtrack is payoff in itself.

“Anybody who loves the music from Cowboy Bebop is going to love beyond what Yoko has done for us on this show,” Nemec told Polygon magazine in August. “When I get those pieces there have been more times than I can remember that I hear something and … a smile comes to my face.”

While it’s nice to get a short preview of Cowboy Bebop, audiences will have to wait for next week’s trailer for actual Bebop series footage. The show is set to stream on Netflix beginning Friday, Nov. 19.

Read More: Netflix’s First Look at Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman

A toast to excellence: Don’t overthink lighting a cigar…but don’t underthink it either

Face, Head, Person

When I first decided I was ready to try cigars for the first time, I was ready to jump right in and sit back to enjoy the experience. Then, something crazy happened. I couldn’t light it. It seemed so simple. Flame, meet cigar. It really couldn’t be that complicated. But I ran into a slew of problems. The wrong kind of flame, canoeing, an uneven burn, and the damn thing kept going out, causing me to restart the embarrassing process. So I reached out to my friends over at La Aurora to find out what I was doing wrong.

That is when I found out from their own John Gaglio that these issues are very common and there is no reason to be embarrassed. Instead, don’t overthink lighting your cigar. And don’t underthink it. Instead, try to use the following tips and enjoy the experience without shame.

Topgolf brings back John Daly to continue to “disrupt” the game

john daly

To the uninitiated, golf can feel like a stuffy game. There is a dress code, there is an etiquette, and you even have to be quiet. At a sporting event. For those of us who love golf (don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan but believe it is called golf because the other four-letter words are taken), we recognize golf isn’t stuffy as much as it is steeped in tradition. But there has always been one man who shirked the shackles of the tradition and disrupted the game of golf with one of the most immaculate vibes in the sport, John Daly. With his drinking, smoking, wild pants, wilder mouth, and general who-gives-a-sh*t nature, he was everything golf wanted to keep out. Now, the game embraces him and his vibe, and Topgolf brought him in to continue the disruption.

I love the vibe at Topgolf. It’s a place where you can smash a golf ball, listen to music, have a drink, and enjoy yourself with friends and family. That’s my kind of golf. – John Daly

Cigar Lounge Spotlight: The Carnegie Club takes you back to Rat Pack days

Couch, Furniture, Body Part

Three blocks south of Central Park, before you find yourself lost in the hectic environment of Times Square, is a cigar lounge tucked back away from the hustle and bustle. It almost feels like a secret. A place only those in the know are privy to. Of course, if that is the intention, then lovers of this establishment will be coming for me in no time with their pitchforks. I am talking about The Carnegie Club—a cigar lounge sitting on 56th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue. From the moment you walk in, it doesn’t feel like a normal, run-of-the-mill bar. No, this has a New York feel, but a specific kind of New York feel. One that harkens back to the days of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. This feels like the Rat Pack days.

The space