Episode XXIX: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

"Episode XXIX: The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful" is the twenty-ninth episode in the third season of Samurai Jack. Jack boards a train to his next destination, only to be pursued by the legendary bounty hunter, Ezekiel Clench and his ex-wife, Josephine.

Plot
The episode opens in a town reminiscent of the Old West. Jack enters the saloon where the owner is counting his money after throwing all of his patrons out. The saloon owner recognizes Jack and draws a knife, intending to collect on Jack's bounty. Jack effortlessly disarms the barman and offers to buy information from him. The barman agrees as Jack unfolds a map.

Later, after Jack has left, the saloon owner is sweeping the floor when a man enters, whom the barman recognizes as a dangerous bounty hunter. The nervous barman tells "Mr. Clench" that Jack has taken the train to Cordoba. No sooner has Clench left, when the saloon has another visitor. A beautiful woman enters and asks for a ginger ale and information on what the barman said to the bounty hunter.

At the station, as Jack boards his train, he is spotted by Clench. Clench jumps a fence and is immediately attacked by sheriff robots. Clench counters with the guns embedded in his bionic hands but misses the train. The bounty hunter quickly commandeers a car and uses it to catch up to the train and leaps onto the caboose. As Clench enters the car where Jack is seated, he is confronted by the woman, who he reveals to be Josephine, his ex-wife. Josephine tells Clench that she wants in on collecting the samurai's bounty. Clench flatly refuses and, reminding Josephine of the 150 foot restraining order he has against her, enters the car. Clench strides up to Jack and immediately picks a fight. Jack is somewhat at a disadvantage as the close quarters of the train car make it impossible for him to draw his sword without endangering the innocent passengers. Jack evades Clench and exits the car with the bounty hunter not far behind. Jack leaps to a flat car loaded with chained-down logs. Finally able to draw his blade, Jack engages Clench in combat. Clench seems to literally get the upper hand by grasping Jack's sword and releasing an electrical shock from his bionic hand but Jack manages to reach out and touch Clench and they are both badly shocked. Clench recovers first and attempts to deliver the killing blow but Jack suddenly leaps out of the way and the bounty hunter's blow severs one of the log chains. Jack severs the other and the logs fall from the train, taking Clench with them. As Jack reenters the train, Josephine looks out to see that Clench has somehow managed to climb back onto the train.

Jack resumes his seat but is approached by Josephine. She manages to talk him into joining her on the roof of the train where Clench grabs Jack in a bear-hug from behind. Jack escapes the hold and tries to defend Josephine but the femme-fatale merely places the samurai in a hold of her own, allowing Clench to rain blows on Jack's unprotected body. Jack manages to flip Josephine into Clench and draw his blade. The samurai and the two bounty hunters battle and Josephine manages to disarm Jack. Jack races along the train cars to reach his weapon while the two hunters open fire. Just when he is about to reach his sword, Jack is forced over the side, holding onto the edge. The bounty hunters keep firing while Jack sidles his way to the engine. The bounty hunters seem to have Jack cornered but Jack is able to send Josephine over the side, leaving her hanging on for her life and snags Clench's poncho in the engine's gears. With the hunters incapacitated, Jack races back for his sword. Just before he can reach it though, Clench fires a bolas and Josephine launches a chain, both of which wrap around Jack and the samurai is trapped. Josephine and Clench revel in their victory and the two seem to rekindle their feelings for one another. Josephine cozies up to Clench and while the two are distracted, Jack kicks his chain around Clench's boot. Suddenly Josephine betrays Clench and shoves him off the train, intending to take the whole bounty for herself. But as Clench falls, the train drags Jack back towards his sword. Jack cuts the bolas with the blade and throws the end of the chain around Josephine just before it pulls taught and pulls her off the train, leaving her to dangle upside-down right alongside her ex-husband.

Credits

 * Written by
 * Paul Rudish
 * Charlie Bean


 * Directed by
 * Robert Alvarez
 * Genndy Tartakovsky


 * Storyboards by
 * Paul Rudish
 * Charlie Bean


 * Voices
 * Phil LaMarr as Samurai Jack / Conductor / Passenger #2
 * John DiMaggio as Ezekiel Clench / Alien Guard
 * Grey DeLisle as Josephine Clench / Clerk
 * Greg Burson as Quick Draw McGraw / Baba Looey
 * Joe Lala as Owner / Engineer / Passenger #1


 * Casting by
 * Collette Sunderman

Trivia

 * The title is based on the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, while the two bounty hunters are a possible reference to Bonnie and Clyde.
 * Hanna-Barbera characters Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey makes a cameo in one of the passenger cars.
 * Despite being divorced from Ezekiel, Josephine is credited as "Mrs. Clench" in the ending credits.
 * It is shown that real-life cities such as Kansas City and Cordoba exist in the Samurai Jack universe, not to mention Gower Gulch and later Edo in Jack and the Haunted House.