Skeleton Crew | Season One Review
Star Wars as a franchise has a large varied collection of art. There is the beloved Clone Wars TV show that introduced us to Ahsoka, the Original Trilogy that can do no wrong, and The Mandalorian that instantly became a fan favorite. There have also been a few flops over the years like the pitiful Sequels and the agenda-pushing Acolyte. It’s nearly impossible to guess what will hit before watching, so I make sure to at least give everything a chance before writing it off. Join me as I dive into a review of the recently released show, Skeleton Crew.
Before we get started, here’s a fair warning that I will be mentioning specifics about the plot. If you’re not a fan of spoilers, go finish binging the season, and then come back for the rest of my review.
Skeleton Crew follows the antics of four kids named Wim, Fern, KB, and Neel as they accidentally get lost in the galaxy. The series starts by introducing us to the characters and their families on their home planet called At Attin, which is a utopian planet sheltered from the violence seen throughout the galaxy. It’s clean, modern, and safe, which is a stark difference from most of the worlds, outside of Alderaan and Coruscant of course, in the Star Wars galaxy.
Unbeknownst to the kids, At Attin is actually an Old Republic Mint and is protected by a cosmic barrier that prevents it from being found on maps or located on radar. The barrier also prevents transmissions to and from the planet and is a deadly defense mechanism that will only allow certain ships entry.
An aptitude test is used to determine what each citizen will do on At Attin. In the beginning of the series, Wim is begging for an adventure and thinks of the Jedi as heroes of the galaxy. He rebels against the norm of just going along with the program and secretly wishes something cool could happen to him like in his books.
On the day of his test, Wim falls into a ditch on his way to school and discovers what he thinks is an old Jedi temple, but what is actually an abandoned ship. He convinces his best friend, Neel, to visit the alleged temple with him later that evening, with KB and Fern following them. They enter inside, but Wim accidentally pushes a button that activates the ship and starts their adventure into space.
The ship initially appears to be abandoned until the pilot, a droid named SM-33, makes himself known. After some convincing by Fern, he accepts her as his new captain and they ask for help getting back home. He navigates them to a pirate outpost that preys on their valuable currency and their claims to be from At Attin. Unfortunately, they get captured by a group of ferocious pirates who throw them in the brig with other prisoners.
They meet a Force-user named Jod, who convinces them he could help them get home. Wim thinks he’s a Jedi and agrees to let him tag along after they escape. After the group refuses to leave SM-33, Jod is outed by one of the pirates as Silvo and shatters Fern’s trust in him. Wim and Neel still believe he’s a real Jedi and KB reluctantly admits that he’s their only hope of making it back to their parents.
They visit Jod’s friend Kh’ymm who is a map expert and reveals that At Attin is among a series of legendary planets that conceal themselves from outsiders to protect their riches. While printing out the coordinates, she calls in reinforcements to apprehend Jod, but the group escapes.
Unfortunately, they end up on one of the sister planets called At Achrann that has been decimated by war and violence. They find out that SM-33 destroyed the coordinates to At Attin in the “Fallen Sanctum”, but his memory was wiped by his previous captain. Fern commands him to remember in hopes of getting the directions, but he attacks them due to a hidden order to protect the treasure. Jod successfully disables him before any damage is done and they alter his programming to prevent him from turning on them again.
Once SM-33’s memory is restored, he reveals that the treasure belonged to a well-known pirate named Tak Rennod and agrees to take the group to his former base on Lanupa. The pirates from the outpost get a tip of their location and are hot and heavy on their trail as the group traverse deep into the hidden lair past booby traps to get the coordinates.
After finally learning what treasure is found on At Attin, Jod gets overwhelmed with greed and challenges Fern for the captaincy. Throughout the course of the show, Jod appears slimy and untrustworthy, but it was at this point that his character arc took a turn for the worse. You could feel just how unsettled everyone became after the realization that he really was a bad guy.
Fern, KB, Neel, and Wim all escape the lair while Jod and SM-33 get captured by the pirates to be killed. Using his persuasive ways, Jod convinces the pirates to help him take over At Attin in exchange for riches beyond their belief.
KB gives the group hope when she reveals that she memorized the coordinates home, and after purging the hull to reveal a sleeker ship, they start their journey back home. They get captured by the pirates right outside of At Attin, but are able to break free with SM-33’s help and pass through the barrier with no problem since the ship was an Old Republic vessel.
After landing back home, there is a struggle as Jod and the pirates attempt to round up the citizens. The kids and their parents fight against the invasion, ultimately lowering the barrier so New Republic forces can help save them.
While Skeleton Crew might come off as a kid’s show, I really enjoyed the production and story of it and it presented a new idea of what Star Wars could be. It didn’t go overboard with the Jedi lightsaber fights and it didn’t have any notable characters from other works to keep things fresh.
The story was written in a way that suggests Disney intended for it to only have one season, and after watching the finale, I completely agree in letting it have a limited run. The writers tied up any and all loose ends and gave us a happy ending. Granted there’s definitely room for more to be written, but I’d hate for Disney to ruin the one good thing they have going.
There was also just enough good natured comedic relief to get a few belly-aching chuckles throughout the series. I actually really enjoyed the lightheartedness of the episodes and how it was completely different from anything Star Wars has created recently. It’s definitely worth checking out!
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
