Skeleton Crew season 1 finale recap

Skeleton Crew‘s season finale undoubtedly offered the purest expression of Star Wars as a franchise for years – not necessarily the best Star Wars but the one that best captured what the project is at its core. Sure, it would be nice to know what happens after the battles are over, or how the planet is affected by the whole episode’s development, but the story ended right when it should, with this group of kids reunited with their parents, finally back home after the adventure is over. At the end of the day, Star Wars is an adventure where the first film barely hints at the larger world and the aftermath of the Rebels blowing up the Death Star. It simply told an exciting adventure story.

The finale starts with another cool tribute, this time again The Wizard of Oz. After Jod convinces the kids’ parents that he’s the Republic emissary (never mind the looming lightsaber in his hand), he politely and not very discreetly takes Fern and her mother hostage while they all go to the Supervisor. Kerry Condon is lovely as Fern’s mother, Fara, whose initial excitement at the thought of her daughter seeing The Wizard – The Supervisor – quickly turns to despair and horror as Jod shows his true colours.

We quickly learn that the Supervisor is not Captain Rennod in disguise, but merely a simple droid with a big Stephen Fry-like personality, one who immediately realizes that Jod is a liar when he mentions that he is a Jedi. It turns out that good old Palpatine did one thing right throughout his tenure, and the last message Attin ever got from the Republic said that all Jedi are traitors. Unfortunately, while the Supervisor is quick to turn the droid guards against Jod, he is not quick enough to take down a skilled Jedi pirate, who turns his lightsaber on the Supervisor and cuts him down with a single blow (in retrospect, it was very stupid to have the droid’s chip right behind what is clearly meant to be his eye/mouth), and shut down the entire planet’s electrical grid.

When Jod forces Fara to let his ship pass the barrier (lest he blow up the entire barrier), we get another sight we hadn’t really seen in Star Wars before: an alien invasion. This is up there with the images of the Star Destroyer and the Death Star suddenly appearing in the sky Rogue One as one of the coolest things Star Wars have done for years. I know the sight of a suburban neighborhood in the galaxy far, far away was disorienting and strange. first sectionbut it was all worth it for this moment. Seeing the giant pirate cruiser fly over the same neighborhood with all turrets pointing down before opening fire on the buses, speeders and people below is a horrifying and extremely cool image.

That’s what does Skeleton Crew specifically, not the larger lore implications of At Attin or what the discovery of a mint might mean for the New Republic and Thrawn’s Imperial remnant. It is the fact that, thanks to this show, we got Star Wars corresponding to the raid on the Port Royal stage from Curse of the Black Pearl with alien space pirates raiding and pillaging a suburban neighborhood.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, soon after we get another fantastic sequence, one that pays homage to the climactic bike chase in ET The extraterrestrialwhere Wim, Neel and KB decided to take Onyx Cinder outside the barrier to try and get help while Wim’s father follows along. It’s an exciting sequence as we watch the speeder bikes move across the neighborhood while dodging the pirates. Wim’s dad also gets super excited when they jump and get to cross the forest cliff, which is adorable. Unfortunately, the ship is grounded and the only way to unlock it is to restore power from the top of the supervisor’s tower.

In true Amblin fashion, a big part of this episode is finding cool ways to implement the trope of parents not listening. The parents are initially reluctant to help or even listen to the children’s concerns. And yet, the moment they start coming around and helping is fantastically written and performed by the adult cast. Of course, KB’s moms are the only ones who fully support and believe in her daughter and her ability to steer the ship for help, while Wim’s dad, Wendle, understandably just isn’t about to lose his son again, even though he knows that the right thing is to stay and help (until he realizes that he can actually help his son because a Level 7 System Coordinator can definitely turn the power back on).

Then there’s Fana, who sees the oppressive barrier around At Attin as more of a security measure to protect children from the horrors of the galaxy. If they let more people in or threaten the integrity of the barrier, it will all be for nothing. Except, as Fern tells her mother, they’ve already been out in the galaxy, and they’ve seen some of the worst places you can see—a pirate haven, a decadent spa resort for rich gangsters and bankers, a post-apocalyptic wasteland— and they still kept finding people who wanted to help these children and do some good. Just as Fern had to learn to listen to her friends and be a better leader because of it, Fana learned to listen to and trust her daughter in this episode.

But that only happens after Wim arrives at the top of the tower and immediately tries to bullshit himself to scare Jod, spouting lies about bypassing the barrier’s communication block with the secret Crystal of the Founders that he got from an old guardian hidden in forest. (Never change, Wim.) The lie might have worked (it never would) except for the fact that Wim mentions that he called the Jedi Army for help, which is when the last shoe drops, and Jod to finally the child tells what happened to the Jedi. Maybe because he doesn’t fully trust Jod or he doesn’t have time to process it, but Wim doesn’t seem as affected by this as I thought he would be. Still, the lie is just enough of a distraction to allow Wendle to reactivate the power.

This allows KB to fly the ship – with the help of the best mate, SM 33 (who remains, only with his head detached) – while Neel mans the cannon on top of the school building and fires at the pirates. There’s no way these kids can just go back to school and learn about economics since they just became the coolest bunch of youngsters since Anakin single-handedly blew up the droid control ship. The Phantom Menace. After contacting Kh’ymm and getting her to call the New Republic for help, all that’s left is to shut down the barrier. This is where the parents get their moment to shine, with Wendle sucking on Jod and then Fara helping him pull the lever that blasts the barrier in a colorful and stunning shot that shows the barrier disappearing and giving room for a star-filled galaxy in the night sky.

After The Mandalorian season three and Ahsoka turned the New Republic into an inept and corrupt organization, it’s refreshing to see their warriors actually be badass heroes in this episode. But it doesn’t matter how the New Republic reacts to the discovery of At Attin, or what happens to Jod (whom we simply leave at the top of the Supervisor’s tower). All that matters is the final shot of all the kids reuniting after saving their parents and their home. There are questions that remain unanswered, but the season certainly went out with a bang.

Stray Observations

• • Common subject of the week but Star Wars-fied: a room microwave!
• • Must love one Star Wars planet-wide control system that has zero redundancies and can be destroyed by simply poking a droid in the eye.
• • What makes Jod’s backstory tragic is that he could have easily turned into another Cal Kestis, another Kanan, but instead his worldview darkened.
• • It’s good to see Wim taking the necessary time to assess which end of the lightsaber is glowing this turn.
• • Can Neel finally take a bath without interruption now that the adventure is over?
• • And it’s a wrap on Skeleton Crew. It has been a pleasure following this special little show with you all!