Thanks Skeleton Crew, c-cant say I remember no toxic discourse
It always seems that no sooner are we getting new Star Wars, than we’ve had the finale and it's over in two flaps! Skeleton Crew has been no different. For many it was nervously anticipated after the divisiveness of recent offerings.
I sometimes find the discourse about new Star Wars exhausting, particularly of late. Disagreements about birthdays of characters or if blasters look enough like ray-guns, catastrophising about what might happen in the story and how it will ruin a piece of lore that was on a 20 year old trading card, or change things too much. Cant we just be thankful we’re getting showered with cool things, forget about keeping the gate and enjoy what we enjoy!
However Skeleton Crew’s reception seems almost unanimously warm and positive. I’ve loved it. After two or three episodes I found myself noticing, in surprise, that the questions the show was posing to the audience were actually being discussed on screen. WHAT? The kids arguing about whether Jod is a Jedi, or asking why he didn’t use the force to escape the cell sooner. What is At Attin, and why is it hidden? Yep we’ll explain that for you.
It was so refreshing that the story was this effective, fast paced and clear. No unspoken intergalactic entanglements, or integral threads of lore to guess about. That’s not all though, the show was plain fun and good vibes throughout. The kids’ lens of storytelling made it whimsical and gave everything a sense of awe and wonder, but at the same time the stakes felt high and there was jeopardy. An impressive balance to strike in a “kids show”.
Yeah we got Neel, Neel’s blue furry comb-over, Neel in the bath…twice, and Neel flying a spaceship. Let’s not forget that Star Wars also gave us tiny murderous teddy bears taking on giant metal chicken walkers with rocks, in inexplicably aerodynamic flying machines made of sticks, and in the same film that Anakin Skywalker comes back to the light. Well in Skeleton Crew we also got brutal pirates ruthlessly boarding another ship, Brutus the wolfman being murdered in cold blood, and a lightsaber feeling like a really lethal weapon.
I loved the trailer but I admit I was trepidatious about the space suburbs. My nervousness was dispelled. There were enough droids, aliens, Hyperspace routes, Jedi storybooks and X-Wings to make it feel Star Wars in the first half of the season. Of course by the second half we had a lightsaber, B-Wings, a (THE?) blockade runner, and an indirect reference to order 66 and the inquisitorious. Lanupa was like a cross between Cloud City and Canto Bight.
Not only did it feel like Star Wars, but its been some of the best stuff we’ve seen in a hot minute. SM-33 has rightly taken a seat at the top table of Star Wars droids in my mind, all of the kids were awesome characters on a real journey and fantastically acted. Jod was the best kind of baddie, one you love to hate thanks to the intense performance of Jude Law. I was so pleased he wasn’t redeemed, though the door was left slightly ajar at the end.
Speaking of the ending, the finale hit me in the feels more than I expected. Seeing the kids show their parents how much they’d bonded and grown to trust eachother since the ship whisked them away was a great demonstration of the character development over the course of the show. They all played a vital part in getting over the line in the final episode, showing what they’d learned, and with way more street smarts than their parents. The parents did their part too, stepping up to the plate inspired by their children, with some definite fist pump moments for Wendle in particular.
I was totally satisfied by it, there were just the right amount of breadcrumbs left to explore the characters again, but the story doesn’t demand it. Some shows get this wrong and the balance is tipped too far and the ending doesn’t feel like a conclusion. Sure I’d like to see what’s next for Jod, what happened to Wim's mother, who was in that blockade runner and what really happened to Tak Rennod, but they all feel like stories for another day.
Seeing KB slide out of the Cinder on a sheet of credits at the end, and the kids not care about the dataries in the least, was perfect. A real metaphor for the dual motivations in the show, helping friends and family, or cold, hard, credits.
Skeleton Crew felt like a beautiful breath of fresh air, and the positive reception has been energising after a period of discourse we'd all like to forget. There is something so poetic about the people of At Attin being insulated from the danger beyond, missing a civil war, surviving a raid by a bunch of pirates and grifters, and then gaining the strength to venture out thanks to the crew. I think they’ve given the fandom the energy to do the same.
The viewing figures don't look great, but it did reportedly have a budget around a third of The Acolyte, way less pressure on its shoulders, and was consistently in or near the top ten on Disney+. I wonder if it will be a slow burn while word spreads. For now though its been a shot in the arm for Star Wars, and a brilliant way to go into 2025 which is starting to feel like it will be a year long remembered. Thanks Skeleton Crew, i’m a pirate now, and I c-can’t say I remember no toxic discourse.
MTFBWY
