Sword fights. Gunplay. Heartbreak. The surprise ending of the Cowboy Bebop Season 1 finale has left main protagonist and lovesick bounty hunter Spike Spiegel in quite the jam. The kind of jam that involves almost getting skewered to death by your former friend, then being shot by the love of your life, all before falling out of a fragile stained glass window and into a large body of water. But, hey, at least he’s not dead, right? Right??

During an episode of the aftershow Unlocked, series star John Cho spoke about the predicament Spike finds himself in at the end of Season 1. “He’s gone through a lot,” Cho said. “But there’s always been a reason to get up, and I don’t know if he’s got that reason to get up right now.” In Bebop, Spike’s Season 1 journey starts out with him reminiscing about sharing kisses with his former love, Julia. But, by the end, he finds that the only thing Julia is willing to do is shoot him. 

Cho provides insight into how Spike was probably feeling trying to come to terms with the love of his life turning against him in the end. “When he got shot by Julia, he was thinking, ‘This is a bummer.’ I mean, Julia is his reason for living and for existing and now that’s been severed.” 

During Unlocked, Cho shared his worries for Spike in the next season. “I don’t know what Season 2’s going to bring for him because this is an extraordinarily low point for him.”

In an interview with Tudum, Cho hinted at what he’d like to see happen for Spike: “I would like to see him happy, well-fed, and relaxed. It’s been a harrowing Season 1, and it would be nice to give him a break and a few days off.” Undoubtedly, it’s hard to come back from the love of your life shooting you and leaving you for dead. But if Stella can get her groove back, surely Spike can too, right? 

We wish Spike Spiegel the best of luck (especially when it comes to girlfriends.)

After all, whatever happens, happens.