*** Full spoiler discussion of episode 8 of Skeleton Crew is ahead, so proceed with caution. ***
The first, but hopefully not last, season of Skeleton Crew has come to an end, with the eighth episode airing Tuesday on Disney+.
The series, helmed by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, has been absolutely terrific and more enjoyable than I ever imagined. It wasn’t entirely clear what to expect with a new show with new characters with a new feel, but it started strong and just kept improving as the season went on – making it, in my opinion, one of the best live-action shows in the Star Wars franchise. That’s high praise, and there will be plenty of time to process the entire season as a whole. For now, let’s unpack the ending, with “The Real Good Guys” wrapping things up.
The episode picks up where we left off last week, and as I expected, Jod igniting the lightsaber in front of the parents for the cliffhanger ending was a bit of a red herring – he did it to try to persuade them that he is the Republic emissary, a Jedi, while at the same time silently reminding the kids of his threat to kill their parents should they protest. He orders the kids to be kept under guard and not allowed to leave their homes, but takes Fern and her mother with him to meet the supervisor, given her rebelliousness. But when they arrive in the tower, Jod is surprised to learn that the supervisor is a giant droid. This seemed to be foreshadowed by Jod’s dislike for droids, and it makes sense. But I’ll admit that I was a little disappointed that there was no follow-up whatsoever to Tak Rennod and his connection to the planet. After all, in episode five when they found the holographic recording of him it was blurred beyond what we could see, and the kids even pointed that out. It seemed that would be something noteworthy down the road, but it was never revisited. That’s fine… I’m just a little confused as to why all the secrecy surrounding Rennod if it didn’t influence later events.
That’s a fairly minor critique, though, and the supervisor being a droid is interesting enough – especially given the fact that the droid was aware of outside events. When Jod says he is a Republic emissary and a Jedi, the droid politely welcomes him, then asks him one question: since the last Republic message said that the Jedi had fallen and were criminals, is Jod lying about being an emissary or being a Jedi? It worked out well to trap Jod, but it’s also very interesting that the supervisor has this kind of connection to the galaxy as a whole. Every impression we had gotten throughout the season was that At Attin was totally isolated, and had been for a long time, but at least the supervisor had some knowledge of what was going on out there, enough to at least know of the fall of the Jedi. This episode answered what it needed to, given that it’s about furthering the plot and the characters and it did so (rather than crafting a complete Wookieepedia page), but I’ve still got plenty of questions about At Attin. I think it’s such a fascinating concept and think this series has been so much stronger for having this mysterious treasure planet of legend being at the center of so much. I’m really eager to learn more about it, and while this episode did tie up several threads, there are still questions about how At Attin really works.
For now, though, we know that the supervisor had enough insight to discern that Jod was an imposter, so he killed the droid by stabbing it with a lightsaber, after fending off attacks from some of the security droids. Upon doing this, all of the other droids – and all of the planet’s technology, period – went off-line in a way that would make George Lucas proud, given how the battle droids all shut down during the Invasion of Naboo once the control ship was destroyed. A bit convenient, yes, but this is Star Wars, and it’s something easy to overlook. I think it’s especially easy to overlook because there’s some powerful imagery that could emerge through the supervisor. The people of At Attin could easily have made changes had they wanted to, but they had no desire to – in part because they had limited knowledge of what was actually happening, but even more so because they wanted to be safe and secure. It’s a reminder that it’s fairly easy to exert control on people by playing up the fears of ‘others’ out there and a desire for safety and security. But it’s also a reminder, I think, of how technology is such an unstable foundation upon which to build whole societies, for how easily it can become a burden. Replacing droids with people actually didn’t make things all that much better.
Keeping on the theme of protection from the outside galaxy, one of the episode’s better moments (and there were several of them) came in a quiet moment between Fern and her mom, Fara. As they talk about disabling the barrier, her mom tells her that the barrier is what will keep her safe. But Fern tells her that on their adventures throughout the galaxy, on every planet they visited, they encountered dangers, yes, but they also met good people. Some of those good people showed up again in the episode to help them. But Fern’s point is, I think, a really important one. Yes, the galaxy can be dangerous, just like our world. Yes, there are merits to wanting to protect and shelter kids from the horrors of what’s ‘out there’. But at the same time, there are plenty of good people, and wherever there are good people, there is hope. There were plenty of people throughout the season offering to help the kids, and that makes things worth fighting for. The barrier shutting down doesn’t mean the kids are doomed, for one because they’ve proven themselves capable of fending for themselves, but also because there are people out there who will help. This is important because Fern’s mom disables the barrier to allow Jod’s pirate ship to get through, to protect Fern’s life.
The scenes of the pirate ship descending to the planet were just tremendous, and ominous, and tense, as the ship broke through the haze and clouds to streak across the night sky. The pirates began opening fire on the planet, causing mass damage and rounding up the citizens to hold them captive – with Jod telling them they could either work for him, or face the consequences. The only people on the planet who actually know what is going on are the four kids, and they spring into action. With the droids disabled and the pirates attacking, Wim, Neel, and KB mount speeder bikes and race off, and they’re joined by Wendle, Wim’s father. The speeder chase was also just really cool, as there’s something thrilling about seeing kids ride bikes while evading pirate fire and going off to save the day. And I love that Wendle was part of it. He was reminded of the thrills of being a kid, racing the bike and jumping a chasm, but he also comes to join Wim in the mission. He volunteers to help infiltrate the supervisor’s tower, doing so with one of the show’s best lines – about him being a level 7 technician. It was hilarious and perfect.
The kids’ plan is a good one, and it pulls together the lessons they’ve learned throughout the season. They realize that if they can get the Onyx Cinder past the barrier they can get a message out to Kh’ymm, who can call the “real good guys” in the X-Wings to help them. Wim and Wendle infiltrate the supervisor’s tower to try to get the technology back online so that KB can fly the ship away, and it works. Wim distracts Jod with an imaginative lie about a crystal that controls everything, and I love that this dreamer with a large imagination puts it all to use here. And I love that his father, often disapproving and always overprotective, sneaks around using this distraction to get the power back. Once that happens, KB takes off in the ship, putting the flying experience to use, and she’s able to get past the pirate ship thanks to Neel manning the gun on the roof, like he discovered on At Achran (and thanks to SM-33, who it turns out isn’t quite dead… his head is just severed from his body). It’s no surprise to see elements from previous episodes show up again in the finale, but none of it felt forced whatsoever. It all felt so natural, and it was a joy to see the kids work together to execute an admittedly impressive plan.
I also loved how the parents played such a key role in this final encounter, as Wim, Wendle, Fern, and Fara all have to team up to defeat Jod. Through this extremely tense encounter, we learn more about Jod. He was alone and helpless, but a Jedi who was down on her luck found him and taught him some things… but he saw her killed in front of him. I’m assuming this was during Order 66, but we don’t know for sure. It does explain more about him, though, as he was lost, then found a chance to make a better life, only to see it ripped from him. It explains why he knows how to use the Force a bit, but it also explains why he’s only looking out for himself. Yet what’s been right in front of him this entire series are kids who were in much the same situation he was in, and he had the chance to do for them what no one was able to do for him. Instead, he decided to use them as pawns to get what he wanted. Despite all of that, and despite the depths of his anger and criticism of the kids, it seems there’s some conflict in him. He had plenty of chances to kill the kids or their parents, and he didn’t take any of them. He seemed genuinely upset when KB crashed. And at the end, as he watched his pirate ship defeated and crash, he looked almost… amused? I read it almost like he was impressed with the kids and what they had done. He’s not a good guy by any means, but he also isn’t the cold-hearted and ruthless villain. I definitely think there’s a path to redemption for him in future stories, should they be told, even though this series didn’t get there.
In the end, it’s the kids and their parents working together to overpower him, and I loved that it was the parents who had to make the final decision. Wendle punched Jod to stagger him and give the heroes a chance, which was great, and then it was Fara who had to ultimately decide to pull the lever to permanently destroy the barrier. These two parents have all throughout the series been driven by what would protect their kids and keep them safe. But Fara is the one to pull the switch, which felt like such a perfect and important climax to the season-long effort to keep At Attin secret. And Wim? Well, it was great to see him finally get to hold a lightsaber – the proper way, this time.
All of that effort to deactivate the barrier was so that the New Republic forces could arrive and defeat the pirates, and right after the barrier is down their ships arrive. A squadron of X-Wings jumps into action, and thye’re accompanied by two B-Wings – and we get to actually see the composite beam in action, which was simply epic. I loved seeing these forces make quick work of the pirates. And their arrival illustrates what Fern told her mom earlier: yes, there’s much evil out there, but everywhere they went they also found good people. That might be the best summary of the entire series, and it shows up here. Kh’ymm and the X-Wings, people Jod told them to be distrustful of, are those the kids call upon to help. There are real good guys out there in the galaxy, and as long as that’s the case, these kids might just be ok, even without a barrier. It seems like the New Republic will set up camp on At Attin, and I could see this becoming a key base of sorts for their operations in this sector. The New Republic is busy hunting pirates, and this could help them do so. Furthermore, this legendary world full of wealth could help a fledgling New Republic finance government and military and a fight against Grand Admiral Thrawn. We see a blockade runner arriving on the planet right at the end, which seems to indicate that the New Republic will have some presence there.
If there’s one real complaint that I have about the episode it’s that it seemed to end way too abruptly, with no real resolution besides the kids embracing and celebrating. Which, by the way, is proof of just how in love with this show and these characters I’ve become, because that reunion was so heartwarming and emotional. The kids won! It was great to see. But the episode ends with Wim looking up at the skies, at the New Republic forces, after realizing he might not have to take the placement tests (since their school was damaged). I very much expect that Wim will go on to bigger things, and probably will join up with these forces in the larger galaxy to continue his adventures and try to help people. As for Jod? We don’t know what happens to him, but I’m assuming the New Republic takes him captive. In all of it I would have liked one or two scenes to show the resolution to the story, but it works well enough that it didn’t ruin the episode. In all, this was maybe the best episode of the season, cementing Skeleton Crew as one of my very favorite live-action Star Wars shows. I’d have liked a few more minutes to see the fallout, but outside of that, this episode was superb and fired on almost all cylinders.
After the ending, I did really like how the credits were art from Wim’s Jedi stories, and how it led to the series logo being displayed on Wim’s datapad. I think it’s a fitting message to end the season with, as Wim grew up hearing stories about the Jedi and their heroics and how they helped people, and we’ve now seen him do exactly that. He’s a hero in his own right, as are the rest of the kids, and they’ve helped an entire planet through their actions. Jod was a poor representation of what a Jedi should be, but Wim was a much better one. These kids – this Skeleton Crew – have had a heroic adventure that won’t be soon forgotten.
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