Episode XXIX: Couple on a Train

"Episode XXIX: Couple on a Train" 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 two bounty hunters who both share a history together.

Synopsis
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 another patron enters, whom the barman recognizes as a dangerous bounty hunter. The nervous barman tells "Mr. Clench" that Jack has already taken a train to Cordoba. No sooner as Clench left, does the saloon has another visitor. A beautiful woman enters and asks for a ginger ale, as well as information on what the barman said to the bounty hunter.

At the station, as Jack is boarding his train, he's spotted by Clench. Clench jumps a fence and is immediately attacked by sheriff robots. Clench counter-attacks with a machine gun built in his bionic hands but miss the train. However, Clench quickly commandeers a car and uses it to catch up to the train while leaping onto its caboose. As Clench enters the car where Jack is seated, he is confronted by the woman, who is revealed 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. However, Jack manages to reach out and touch Clench. Soon, both Jack and the bounty hunter are badly electrocuted. Clench recovers first and attempts to deliver a 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, while 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 continue 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 he is finally 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 away the bolas with his blade and throws the end of the chain around Josephine just before it 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

 * This episode's subtitle is often misidentified as "The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful" in fan circles.
 * Hanna-Barbera characters Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey make a cameo in one of the passenger cars.
 * Despite being divorced from Ezekiel, Josephine is still credited as "Mrs. Clench."
 * It's revealed 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".