Question about the ending of Cowboy Bebop

[Perfect Cell]

My cousin is a huge fan of this series, hes seen every episode 10 times, and constantly tells me how this episode is based on Bruce Lee or that or the other. Well the other day we were having a discussion about the ending, and we were mostly discussing why Faye Valentine, was so against Spike going to kill Vicious. Was it because she was in love with him?

[JDuncan]

I don't think they were romantically in love, but they had a very close friendship and she knew he was going there to die.

[Arxane]

Originally posted by Perfect Cell
My cousin is a huge fan of this series, hes seen every episode 10 times, and constantly tells me how this episode is based on Bruce Lee or that or the other. Well the other day we were having a discussion about the ending, and we were mostly discussing why Faye Valentine, was so against Spike going to kill Vicious. Was it because she was in love with him?

I am an avid fan of the series, but even so I cannot accept the idea that Faye and Spike are a couple.

Many people seem to believe Faye and Spike should be a couple because they seem so "perfect for each other," and many fanfics are based upon this idea. However, after watching the series, I can't believe that this relationship was ever there to begin with. Spike obviously never loved Faye; Faye, however, is more complex.

Faye never knew her childhood. She awoke from her sustained sleep without any memories and thus had to start from scratch. She joined the crew of the "Bebop" mainly to cash in and get as much money as she could, but she also probably did it in an attempt to fit in. Near the end, when she had made a place for herself on the "Bebop", she found her history and tried to abandon her new home for her old one. But her old home was forever gone and Faye's past can never return to her. All she has left is her place with the "Bebop", and that includes Spike.

You see, Spike was the only person who ever stood up to her. Others oogle at her because of her good looks, but Spike never backed down. He made her realize there was someone else on her level, someone who matched her wit for wit and saw right through her. She never knew it, but she developed some kind of respect for him. Near the end of the series, when Spike was about to leave to go and die, she didn't want him to go because he was too big a part of her new life. Without him, her new home would feel hollow and unfulfilling.

No, I really don't think Faye ever loved Spike. She did, however, have a profound respect for him that she didn't realize until when she realized she would never see him again.

And that's my opinion.

[Midou Ban]

I always thought their relationship was like a brother-sister type deal.

[ThorMX624]

Yeah, I think of it as a brother-sister type relationship too. Nothing more.

[Rikou]

Honestly, Spike was too busy pining after Julia to fall in love with anyone else, especially Faye. As for them being "perfect for each other"... Yeah, right. They'd kill each other the first time Spike left the toilet seat up or something.

However, all of the members of the Bebop had a sort of friendship between them, even Ein. They were their own sort of dysfunctional family.

[Animation Otaku]

I thought of it as Jet was the mother, Spike and Faye were the siblings, Ed was the androgenous little sister, and Ein was, Ein.

[Meson]

Originally posted by Rikou
Yeah, right. They'd kill each other the first time Spike left the toilet seat up or something.

Every relationship between a man and a woman is like that. That says nothing, but I agree with you. Spika and Faye weren't a couple.

[saladdays]

No, I really don't think Faye ever loved Spike. She did, however, have a profound respect for him that she didn't realize until when she realized she would never see him again.

I think if anyone were to become a couple, it would probably be Faye and Jet, not Spike.

[saladdays]

Honestly, Spike was too busy pining after Julia to fall in love with anyone else, especially Faye.

I'm not so sure that Spike was always "pining" after Julia. I mean, I don't think that he always was sitting alone thinking about her like he was in the last episode all the time, as "pining" suggests.

[Rikou]

Originally posted by saladdays
I'm not so sure that Spike was always "pining" after Julia. I mean, I don't think that he always was sitting alone thinking about her like he was in the last episode all the time, as "pining" suggests.

All right, bad word usage, let me rephrase: Spike was too hurt by what Julia did to him to ever really fall in love with anyone else, at least until things with her had truly been resolved (and by that time, he was dead. :( ).

[SirLemming]

I think Faye was so troubled because she had finally broken through and figured out where she had to go to trace her forgotten past, and then she found nothing. The only place left for her to go in life was back on Bebop, with Spike & Jet... so she was upset when Spike decided to leave and almost definitely end his life.

[Vekou]

Originally posted by Rikou
Honestly, Spike was too busy pining after Julia to fall in love with anyone else, especially Faye. As for them being "perfect for each other"... Yeah, right. They'd kill each other the first time Spike left the toilet seat up or something.

However, all of the members of the Bebop had a sort of friendship between them, even Ein. They were their own sort of dysfunctional family.
Gah... your avatar is horrible. :(

[Rikou]

Originally posted by Vekou
Gah... your avatar is horrible. :(

I'm quite fond of it, actually. :D

[Zedizded]

I think a lot of the premise revolving around Cowboy Bebop is regretting things that could've been but never could be because of the situations they placed themselves in. Even Jet had a love story. Ed had a father. Spike had Julia and Faye had a simple and good life with friends and family.

The entire crew of the Bebop were masters of deflecting. No one knew too much about the other, no one wanted to. People die in their line, and to get too attached leads to pain. But they were attached nonetheless. I think many fans of the show see whats on the surface, but if you dig a little I think there is more between Spike and Faye than most fans, or even they themselves would think.

The interesting thing about the Bebop crew is the "every man for himself" attitude they all shared. They always came and went as they pleased. And no one interfered with the other's pesonal business.

I think that Spike and Faye is one of those things that could've been but circumstances wouldn't permit it, nor would they allow it. I like to think Spike would've gotten involved with Faye eventually. The attraction was there, but never exposed becasue that wasn't important to either of them. They both are very much in control of those feelings, but you watch them grow as the show progresses, to the point where Faye is almost begging him not to go off and fight, where a few episodes before it wouldn't have mattered.

There are a lot of "things" in the show that are subtle but thought provoking about their feelings for each other being more than business or friendship. I think Faye reminded Spike a little of Julia. There was a scene in which Spike was flashing back to a time when he was injured and Julia hummed a tune to him, and he woke up to see Faye watching over him and humming. I like to think Spike and Faye kept each other at arms length for the same reasons, which is not to get hurt or feel lonely. Perhaps Spike didn’t want to have to have his heart broken by another “Julia”… But I’m not sure. I’m just typing what I think.

When Spike tells Jet about "The missing piece" of his life that he'd "always been longing for" we know he's talking about Julia, but in the same line he' says "She's back", and leaves the room as Faye lands the red-tail on the Bebop. You have to wonder if he was talking about Julia or Faye that whole time. The line between Julia and Faye are smudged here and there where it seems Spike shares some of the same feelings for both of them. Given a choice I think he'd choose Julia however.

Even so, when he knows Faye is coming at his request, he withdraws in order not to face her. He behaves very more stand-offishly with her, like someone making his best effort to conceal how he feels. I think they could've hooked up, but were never given the time or the oppourtnity.

When she comes to him with the message from Julia, he doesn't even turn to look at her. But watches her through a reflection off his glass full of booze. When the ship is attacked he runs past her like she isn't there, and she has to chase him to thehis ship. Spike goes well out of his way to demonstrate that he doesn't care, that's how you know he does. They all do that actually.

But in the Spike/Faye relationship it says to me that maybe Spike was afraid he'd lose his focus if he got any closer to Faye or something so while he cared very much, he‘d never let his heart do the thinking for him. It got him into a lot of trouble the last time out.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. ;)

Overall, I think they had a friendship based on respect and personal space. They cared for each other while never admitting it, but showing it through their actions toward each other. They were partners, and companions-in-arms and I would chalk up their relationship to that. I don't necessarily subscribe to the brother-sister feeling, though It's clear they were attached to each other. Spike always came to bail her out, and visa versa, when it is clear from the beginning that it's optional.

i think the nature of their relationship is something complicated that they both struggle to keep simple.

[SirLemming]

I always thought that one moment near the very end of "Brain Scratch" was interesting. After Londes was all disconnected and everything, Faye woke up in that room with all the TVs, and she and Spike seemed very friendly and non-hostile.

Obviously that's many steps below romance, but it's one of the only times they're not at each other's throats. It just seems kinda sweet.

[Rikou]

Originally posted by SirLemming
Obviously that's many steps below romance, but it's one of the only times they're not at each other's throats. It just seems kinda sweet.

I agree. Then again, Faye just had a nice, long nap, so of course she was in a good mood. :p

[Kat Pryde]

Opposites do attract. But as for Faye and Spike, no. As what most have already said, they only have a really close friendship. And Spike already loved Julia too much to love someone else.

=^-^=

[Rei]

Gah... your avatar is horrible.

I think it's hilarious but that's just me.

[Master Moron]

I agree with Zedisded...I think. I think Faye definitely loved Spike. Whether or not that love could have become anything if Spike had lived is another issue entirely.

[Aurochs]

Although I believe the show has a much more deep philisophical meaning then just "coupling people up", but if I had to, I'd definately say Feye and Jet. Feye and Spike definately had a metiphorical sibling relationship.

[EightOh]

I would tend to agree with arxane's excellent analysis, though there's always room for speculation(that is, after all, what makes it so fun and fulfilling). I think she had finally managed to develop a true connection with someone else, and didn't want that bond to be severed. Not necessarily in the "lovey dovey" sense, but in the sense that they deeply respected each other and sort of operated on the same wavelength.