This is another episode, which, in my opinion, foreshadows Spike's death. Stella's comment and Roco's death point to this. Stella comments to Spike that both her and Roco have something beautiful in them. Although Spike disagrees, it is true. And when Roco dies, it should be a clue to Spike that he might die one day, also. They both have that beautiful thing in them, which Stella senses, and they both die. But I am jumping too far ahead.
The episode in itself is quite different than the usual Bebop style. It is not a good first episode for those not familiar with the series to watch (especially the edited cartoon network version...Are we really supposed to think a man is making love to a pillow? Oy.) Yet it is one of my favorite episodes. The emotions that are invested into this episode are what you get back. We grow to love Roco and the misfortune that he got mixed up in a gang/syndicate thing, all to help his sister get better. We celebrate when he utilizes the move that Spike taught him, but watch in horror as he dies. I think Spike views Roco as himself in some ways, when he was younger and began in the syndicate. The urgency with which Spike tells Roco not to die is not because he can collect the bounty. He wants to reunite Roco and his sister. He brings Stella flowers in the hospital to show his care and consideration. Perhaps if Spike had met Roco sooner, they would not have been friends, but enemies. Meeting when they did was luck for Roco. He had some form of redemption for his life, and his sister got her sight back because of his actions which got him killed. This episode shows Spike's nature to care for people, and not just himself. And again, it goes to prove the point: Do not get mixed in with the syndicates!
