This week on Episode Epiphanies, Natasha makes Jessica watch Cowboy Bebop, a noir-style anime that... well, it's a noir. That's it. That's the show. That's this episode. It's a noir. We discuss how much Jessica dislikes noirs, how they are definitely not cowboys, and then we probably spend way too long mourning when cigarettes were cool. There is just no inanimate object that can equal cigarettes in symbolic weight. If you've got an alternate, please let us know. Because we are struggling writers that need to understand how to create homoerotic tension without cigarette sharing. Cigarette sharing is where it's at. But if you don't want to talk about how much we miss the ideal of cigarettes as the ultimate symbol of being Cool & Sexy, we also discuss the typical problems of 90s animation and the fact that Spike almost certainly has sex in this show. Is all this enough to make Jessica overcome her hatred of noirs? Or will she bebop these cowboys out of the airlock? You'll have to listen to find out.

Follow Jessica at twitter.com/jessicairowe

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Intro and outro music is Feelin Good by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)