Short Summary
Jet gets a message from one of his old colleagues named Pao who request his help. But upon finding him, he's seemingly dead yet meets Pao's daughter, Maifa, who likewise is looking for Pao. The two team up to track him down with only the power of Feng Shui to lead them.Long Summary
Jet receives a cryptic message from an old friend named Pao Pu-Zi, a Feng Shui master on Mars he's not seen in years: "Seek the holy beast of Anzan. I am where the Four Gods meet."Jet journeys to Mars, Pao's home planet... and finds Pao's grave. A teenage girl pops out from behind it and pushes him away as two men appear and open fire. She consults her Luo Pan (Chinese Feng Shui compass) and leads him to the road, where they jump onto an open-top bus then into the river and escape.
Jet takes her to the Bebop. The crew, watching from around a corner, gossip and guess if she is his girlfriend (despite their large age difference) or his love-child. Ed wanders over bringing treats and asks her point blank, angering Jet: She is in fact Pao's daughter, Pao Meifa. She was told her father died in a hyperspace accident on his way to Jupiter. He shows her the message from 3 days ago: She says he arrived at the perfect Feng Shui conditions for those on a quest, and her father must be talking about the Sun Stone.
While they stop for ice cream, Meifa educates Jet on the basics of Chi and Universal Feng Shui, which she practices like her father. She laments that she didn't spend much time with her father lately. The girl leads Jet to a rooftop in the city, pointing out that surrounding landmarks resembling the Four Gods converge on this spot. She finds a Sun Stone, an unassuming-looking black rock. The gangsters from earlier re-emerge, but Jet is prepared and attacks them first. Interrogating one of them, the man says they're Blue Snake syndicate who are tracking Pao after intercepting his message. Jet kills him. Meifa asks if this means Pao is alive.
The Bebop's analyser says the Sun Stone is a piece of the moon from the Gate accident, imbued with special properties. Meifa sticks the rock in the center of the Luo Pan, and its magnetic properties begin pointing somewhere. She says her father also owns a Sun Stone, so they're resonating and this will lead her to him. Meifa is sad that she's lived with her mother for the past 7 years, and her father didn't try to reach out once in that time. Jet tells her that Pao was a consultant for a syndicate (and Jet's informant), and he couldn't escape that life or his family would be in danger.
The crew follow the compass through space, into a hyperspace tunnel. The gangsters appear and attack the Bebop. Spike and Faye manage to fight them off, and as an idea from Jet launch the Sun Stone into space and shoot it with Spike's plasma cannon. The Stone releases a buildup of energy, opening a tear in the wall of the tunnel: On the other side of this unstable forcefield appears Pao's ship. An incoming transmission from Pao. He had in fact survived the accident, but nothing can enter or leave this space tear, which is soon to close for good. Pao had led them here to say his goodbyes. Meifa tearfully says she hated him before, but now she forgives him. The video screen fades to static, and the tear closes.
Meifa goes back home to Mars. She lays her Luo Pan on her father's grave.
See You Space Cowboy…
- Bittersweet Ending: The crew manages to find Pao who's stuck on a ship on a hidden dimension in the warp gate. However they can't get close to save him thanks to an unstable forcefield surrounding Pao's ship. What's more the air in Pao's ship is running thin, however he knew this and just wanted Jet to bring his daughter to him so he could see her one last time. The two have a final goodbye as their transmission cuts out.
- The Four Gods: The clues which help lead to the Sun Stone.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Meifa seemingly uses Feng Shui to help her and Jet make an escape from some thugs.
- Neck Snap: How Jet kills one of the goons.
- Off Bridge, onto Vehicle: Done to escape a pair of thug chasing after Jet and the girl.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Jet says "Open foot, insert mouth" to himself after saying he's still young enough to be Meifa's boyfriend.
- Shout-Out: The two goons after Jet and the girl are clearly designed after The Blues Brothers. Mind you, the syndicate they belong to is conveniently called "The Blue Snake".
- Spit Take: Done by Jet when Ed asks the girl if she's Jet's girlfriend.
