| Sometimes You Can't Live with Dying, Baby | |
|---|---|
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| Episode | 04 |
| Air date | January 25, 2014 (NA) January 19, 2014 (JP) |
| Written By | Kimiko Ueno |
Sometimes You Can't Live with Dying, Baby is the fourth episode of the Space Dandy anime.
Synopsis
After being bit by a strange-looking alien, Meow becomes very lethargic and sick.
Plot
Our heroes examine the Stiltonian alien they have captured, but are unsure if it is a new species because of it's slow movement and discolorization, in contrast to the alien handbook Dandy and crew are referring to. Meow attempts to point out a color discrepancy on the alien's abdomen, but gets bitten in the process. After QT concludes the species they have captured is not a Stiltonian, Dandy and crew head back to the bridge of the Aloha Oe, en route to the Alien Registration Center to register and cash in on their catch.
Unbeknownst to Dandy, QT notices a change in Meow's overall well-being, deeply concerned about his lethargy, communication, and lack of response to any stimuli. Dandy is unconcerned, shaking it off as "just a bug," until QT convinces him to stop by at Galaxy Hospital to have Meow examined.
After a brief evaluation by the doctor, Meow is revealed to be dead, as test results indicate he had no vital signs. He is admitted into the hospital for further examination. Dandy proclaims he should he hospitalized because of the sexy hot nurses, but QT drags him out until the next day, proclaiming Dandy needs to be sick to be admitted.
Meanwhile, somewhere in space, Dr. Gel is greeted by reckless mercenaries hired by Admiral Perry to assist the doctor in capturing Dandy in light of his ineptitude. Bea also pinpoints Dandy's location at the hospital, thus beginning Perry's mission to apprehend our pompadoured hero. However, in Meow's room, the nurse looking over the sick Betelgeusian is attacked and bitten, as her scream echoes throughout the night.
The next morning, QT notices a drastic change of atmosphere at the hospital, noticing the chaos and blood on all corners of the facility. The bumbling Dandy remains unconcerned, even with three zombie-like nurses thirsting for his blood. While Dandy assumes the nurses wanted a foursome, QT intervenes in time to prevent Dandy from being bitten. Outside, the mercenaries hired by Perry ready themselves to snatch Dandy, unaware that our heroes are now cornered by the patients. Perry's lackeys are quickly ambushed and dispatched, and QT believes all the patients have become zombies after one walker shakes off a bullet barrage and subsequently zombifies its attacker.
Dr. Gel and Bea oversee the entire operation at another corridor within the hospital, but quickly misattribute the zombie apocalypse as Dandy's trap to stop them. The two also become victim to the zombie deluge from an elevator. Dandy and QT attempt to bail out Meow, only to abandon him a second later. With the hospital completely inundated with aliens, QT finally realizes the cause of the zombie apocalypse was due to the Stiltonian infecting Meow on the Aloha Oe a day prior.
Overrun by zombies again, Dandy uses QT (claiming robots can't catch zombie) to defend himself and plow through the mess. Trying to escape, Dandy is cornered again by more zombies (including Gel and Bea, now zombified). In another twist, QT also becomes a zombie and proceeds to attack the vigilant bounty hunter. Dandy fends off his attack and counterattacks his fallen AI robot companion by using him as a bowling ball to strike the zombies in his path. Hopelessly cornered by a never-ending swarm of brain-hungry aliens, Dandy valiently jumps on top of every zombies' heads, finally escaping to a helipad on top of the hospital. Dandy is rescued by a helicoptor. However, our hero's survival is all for naught, as he finally gets bitten by the pilot.
Back on the Aloha Oe, the Narrator begins a voice-over, describing the day in a life of the now-zombified Dandy, QT, and Meow a few months after the zombie apocalypse. The trio look for a way to cure their undeadness, but are forced to accept their fate as there was no cure for their zombification. Because of their sadness, our heroes swing back and forth from despair and an inexplicable craving for raw meat. This cycle continued until Dandy realizes that the Stiltonian they had captured months before was still on the ship, may know how to live life as a zombie.
As the crew question their newfound "zombie guru," the Narrator, who claims to be fluent in zombie-ese, translates. Their zombie guru explains that being a zombie isn't so bad as they barely have to spend much money on food. The zombie guru also encourages our heroes not to eat meat, even though the cravings might be extremely strong at first. Instead, the Stiltonian recommends they eat yogurt, as he claims it makes him feel healthier. Taking the advice of their zombie cohort, our heroes begin eating strictly yogurt, and surprisingly felt better every time they drank or ate the food. Dandy then becomes more optimistic and has a positive outlook on zombification, realizing that instead of rotting, he was fermenting because of lactic acid bacteria.
Despite the epiphany, Dandy also learns that craw are utterly incapable of capturing aliens anymore, as they are now too slow to move quickly. Even with food costs way down,the crew still needed money for fuel and (mostly for Dandy and Meow) trips to Boobies, until he realizes he had signed up for a life insurance policy in the past in an attempt to have sex with the insurance saleswoman. Dandy unsuccessfully tries to file a claim for his death, since proving he's dead is "quite a challenge if you're still moving," according to the Narrator. After much persistance, Dandy finally receives his death certificate and insurance payout after the agent had enough of the trio's dead moaning day after day. With their money troubles gone, our heroes continue to eat yogurt and visit Boobies.
Meanwhile, Admiral Perry chastises a now-zombified Dr. Gel after he had spent all that money on the failed mission. Soliciting no response from the doctor aside from moans and groans, the Admiral blows up Dr. Gel's ship in a fit of wrath after becoming sick of hearing his "ughs."
Unfortunately, zombie happiness is halted because of life insurance companies struggling financially because of all the payouts to their undead customers. The struggling life insurance companies hired skilled snipers known as zombie hunters to kill any clients who are taking advantage of the payout money. Though it seems unethical, the Narrator also explains it is perfectly legal to kill someone who is already dead. Dandy is also one of the targets of the zombie hunter, but freak coincidences and accidents, such as sneezing, staring down a woman, and slipping on a banana peel, spare his life, at the cost of other zombies being killed by misplaced sniper shots. The zombie hunter's reign of terror comes to an abrupt halt, thanks to the Stiltonian Dandy had freed earlier biting him at the movie theater.
After the demise of the zombie hunter and the life insurance comapnies, every being, including robots, in the universe becomes a zombie inexplicably quickly and unexpectedly. With the galactic zombifications, no more sickness and war exists. Every being is now classified as a single genus, albeit zombified. The Narrator finally succumbs to zombification, as the entire universe proceeds to watch a film written and directed by George A. Romero.