Skeleton Crew’s mystery planet, At Attin, is quite suspicious

When the trailer for Skeleton Crew first dropped, the earth-like planet the kids call home raised some eyebrows, since the suburbs felt out of place for the galaxy far, far away. But, it turns out, that’s probably supposed to be suspicious, because the planet certainly is.

The first two episodes of the show make it clear that not all is as it seems on At Attin. There are several clues that make this clear.

• When undersecretary Fara speaks with the children at school, she refers to the government as simply “the Republic” – not “the New Republic”. That might seem inconsequential, but we’ve seen Star Wars distinguish them previously, even in the opening episode. The fact that they refer to it as just the Republic could mean that they’re aligned to a prior government – one that goes way back.
• Along those lines, the credits that Wim tries to use at the spaceport Borgo are Republic credits, and it seems that people haven’t seen them – they’re ancient. Presumably, they’re credits dating back to the Old Republic.
• No ships are allowed to enter or leave At Attin’s atmosphere, so they are entirely cut off from the outside galaxy. To add to this, the kids haven’t even seen stars before, so this is a pretty radical and comprehensive seclusion.
• As Wim’s father is in the forest looking for help, he encounters government droids who mention how it’s forbidden. The shot of the droids walking through the forest seems similar to shots from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which would further notions of a governmental conspiracy.
• Speaking of droids, the planet seems overly reliant upon them. That in itself might not be suspicious, but it’s worth noting in connection with all of the other points.
• Maybe most notably, though, is the fact that the pirates on Borgo don’t believe that At Attin really exists, but instead say that it’s a legendary treasure planet.

All of these things, when added together, paint a very suspicious picture of At Attin. It seems that this is a world completely closed off from the outside galaxy, and it seems quite plausible that the reason why is in an effort to hide some ancient treasure.

Skeleton Crew is off to a strong start, but it’s already clear that the mystery of At Attin is one of the primary question marks that will be unfolding as the series goes on.