As Jet and Faye go after some pirates, Spike takes the Swordfish to his old friend Doohan to get it overhauled. He meets Doohan's assistant, Miles, a talkative baseball enthusiast and avid supporter of the "Blue Sox". Meanwhile, Jet and Faye's sting operation fails when the pirate gang infects the Red Tail's systems with a computer virus, prompting it to go haywire and shoot at the Hammerhead. After the pirates insult the Bebop, Jet is eager to bring them in, and Spike reluctantly agrees after receiving Doohan's invoice.
This is one of the more light-hearted episodes, but there isn't really much to it. However, it does delve into the origins of the Swordfish without being a flashback episode. It turns out that Spike originally obtained his craft from Doohan, and that it was originally a mono-racer. We don't get much more than that, but it's interesting to get some insight into Spike's past that doesn't involve Julia or Vicious.
There are still some great moments. One funny part involves Spike and Faye planning to ambush the pirates, going on information that they're travelling in a cargo hauler with a purple penguin on the side. When they see two identical haulers leaving the truck stop, Faye suggests they shoot at both and see which one runs (which Spike claims is the first time he agrees with Faye on something). Naturally, Jet is aghast at this plan, but they carry it out anyway only to find that both haulers leave. Faye pursues one of them, but it turns out to be a real hauler and the pilots think they're being accosted for an unpaid parking ticket.
The main action scene happens shortly afterwards, when Spike is forced to disable his systems after being hit by the pirates, and finds himself facing a potentially fatal re-entry in the Earth's atmosphere. Miles picks up the incident on his radio while listening to a baseball game, and he and Doohan try and pick Spike up using an old space shuttle. The whole thing has a Gerry Anderson vibe, albeit with second-hand technology. It's also kinda sad to see how unperturbed Spike is about the whole thing.
All in all, this episode has its moments, but isn't one of my favourites. And hot damn, that teaser for the next episode is creepy.
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