*** Full spoiler discussion of episode 5 of Skeleton Crew is ahead, so proceed with caution. ***
The fifth episode of Skeleton Crew has aired, and the series just keeps getting better and better as it goes along. This week, things reach a pivotal point, leading to a thrilling cliffhanger ending that will leave you desperate to see more.
The episode premiered on Christmas Eve night, so due to holiday schedules this review is a bit delayed, but episode five was my favorite of the series so far. It begins with a brief couple of scenes on At Attin, with the parents of the missing kids secretly plotting to send a message that will help find them. I’m glad that we’re still getting to see how the parents are dealing with it, and it’s really interesting that they seem to know that the planet is supposed to be hidden (given that they say they can get a secret message out that won’t give away their location). Just how much do the people of At Attin know about the rest of the galaxy? The kids obviously don’t, and while the parents might, they still don’t know a lot. I liked seeing how they’re handling things differently – Wim’s father, for example, tries to hack in, while Fern’s mother still has some hopes of using more formal routes. But, in the end, they all begin working together, secretly, to help their kids. I’m sure there will be a lot more to come on At Attin.
But the rest of the episode jumps away from the planet and follows the main cast, of the kids plus Jod (or whatever his actual name is). Aboard their ship, they awake SM-33, who tells them the legend of this treasure. He reveals that his captain was Tok Rennod, a name that Jod instantly recognizes – meaning the ship is the infamous Onyx Cinder. Rennod was the most feared pirate in the galaxy and the most famous of them, and he sought for the treasure of At Attin – which, it was revealed later, housed the last Old Republic mint. Translation: the riches of At Attin are almost immeasurable. At one point, the first mate of the crew challenged Captain Rennod, but Rennod’s concubine (cue the kids asking what a concubine is and Jod awkwardly trying to dodge it) killed the mutineering pirate. In the end, Rennod was alleged to have trapped his crew on the Onyx Cinder and crashed it into At Attin, killing them.
One curious thing about Rennod is that when the hologram of him is shown, it’s so blurred that the characters can’t see him – nor can we. It’s something that Neel even calls attention to, which feels noteworthy. This makes me think that the identity of Tak Rennod might be significant to come, which of course leads to the speculation that has been growing in recent weeks that perhaps Rennod is still alive and is the supervisor of At Attin. I’m not sure if that’s the direction the series will go, but I do think it would be a poignant message to send of a pirate realizing that the way to really have the treasure isn’t with the wealth, but governmental control.
I love seeing a pirate legend from the Star Wars galaxy, and it reminds me a lot of our own pirate legends – like, for example, Blackbeard. The legend portrays him as a murderous and fearsome pirate whose vessel, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, itself became legendary. It’s fun to see the Star Wars version of this, and to see how Jod is instantly familiar with it all. But this legend also helps to peel back the curtain on what is actually so significant about At Attin, as it is, supposedly, the site of the final Old Republic mint. This is the treasure to end all treasures.
Speaking of treasure, the kids have a lot to learn about pirates (thus the episode title). As they are hunting for Rennod’s treasure on Lanupa (more on that momentarily, they face a booby trap in the form of a pool of acid, which will go away after the ultimate sacrifice. The kids understandably assume this means the sacrifice of life, but Jod corrects them by saying that life doesn’t matter most to pirates. Treasure does. It gives us a clear contrast between these innocent and inexperienced kids who rightly realize that what matters most is life, and pirates who are bloodthirsty and driven by treasure. Life matters more than money. And leave it to kids to know that. We see this show up so often in our world, where sometimes kids can know things instinctively that adults forget, like the fact that people matter more than possessions. It can be so easy to prioritize personal ambition or wealth or treasure or comfort or whatever else over other people in our lives. These kids know better than the pirates. Neel last week thought that his inexperience and fearfulness disqualified his opinion, but instead his perspective was exactly what was needed.
This week, it’s Wim who gets a quieter moment of conversation. He sneaks off by himself aboard the ship, and Jod follows. Wim opens up to Jod about how all he ever wanted was adventure, but it hasn’t been as fun as he expected. It was scarier, and he messes his dad – and his mom, who is no longer with them. In response, Jod gives some very interesting advice. First, he instructs Wim to forget all of his attachments. He tells him: “All right. Here’s what you do. Forget ’em. Your fears, your anxieties, your parents. They’re what you call ‘attachments’, and they’re the last thing you need. Forget ’em. That’s what I did.” That’s really interesting, because that’s exactly what the Jedi taught. The Jedi, at least by the time of the prequel trilogy, taught that attachments were bad and forbidden and must be shied away from, even attachments that anyone else would consider completely normal (like, for example, a boy and his parents). But Jod isn’t done. He also gives a second piece of advice, one that’s even more familiar: “Your focus determines your reality.” That’s the exact same thing Qui-Gon Jinn says in The Phantom Menace. So we have these two statements, plus the fact that this episode shows Jod using the Force all the more (including to pull a lightsaber to himself… we’ll come back to that).
I’ve been skeptical that Jod is actually a Jedi, thinking it was just as plausible that he was a fraud kind of like Haja in Obi-Wan Kenobi, someone who uses the “Force” to impress others. But with all of this, I’m actually thinking that Jod probably was a padawan of the Jedi Order, and therefore presumably a survivor of Order 66, who turned to piracy to survive in the galaxy. His statements to Wim go beyond just playing the part or showing off with the Force; he is articulating some truly Jedi ideals in how he speaks of it, and shares that he’s come to embrace them. I think it would be really interesting to explore the tale of a Jedi survivor who, instead of staying involved in the fight and fighting for good (like Cal Kestis or others) turned to being a pirate and just looking out for himself. We’ve had some other stories of padawans who survived, but this would make it feel fresh and unique. We’ll learn more in the coming weeks, and it’s very possible I’m wrong, but this conversation has me thinking that him being a Jedi is only wrong ‘from a certain point of view’.
Ultimately, the crew winds up on Lanupa, the site of Skull Ridge Mountain – an old pirate hangout where Captain Rennod buried his treasure and, with it, the coordinates to At Attin. But upon arrival, they find that it has been turned into a spa retreat, which leads to SM-33’s constant bemoaning of what happened to his old home. Here the kids are warned about Jod, and for good reason. They work their way down into the spa and ultimately find Rennod’s buried treasure, but only after the enemy pirates catch up to them and only after navigating booby traps (in some real Indiana Jones-esque moments, which were great). At that point, Jod reveals his true colors. He orders SM-33 to re-fill the pool with acid, killing the pirates who had pursued them, and then challenging Fern for the role of captain. We had long suspected that Jod would betray the kids, but it didn’t make it any less heartbreaking to watch, especially after last week he helped to save them.
In an effort to save Fern, Wim pulls out an old lightsaber he found, and it leads to one of the most humorous moments I’ve seen in Star Wars in quite a while – he ignites it upside-down, sending it flying. Wim is relatable – he longs for adventure, but when it comes upon him, he’s unprepared for it. Yet I think it’s great to see him stand up for Fern, someone he was jealous of earlier. And Wim helps the kids escape from Jod, who calls the lightsaber to him with the Force and ignites it as the episode ends.
All in all, this was my favorite episode of the series, and this show just keeps getting better and better. I love the pirate, adventure, treasure hunting story, and I love the characters we’re following along the way. I can’t wait for next week’s episode!
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