Skeleton Crew episode 3 reviewed
Very interesting, as an astrogation problem
Skeleton Crew is a new series streaming on Disney+. It is set in the Star Wars universe and occurs at some vaguely-defined period between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
What happened: On At Attin, the parents of the missing children are gathered together, united in worry. Undersecretary Fara, in denial that the children are off-planet, is convinced the security droids will find and return them shortly. A security droid does arrive, announces that the children are all aboard a starship that illegally flew past the Barrier and there’s nothing more they can do. Fara demands they contact the Republic for help, but the droid responds that any transmissions outside the barrier are strictly prohibited. Fara demands to speak with the Supervisor, who presumably oversees the governance of At Attin, but gets nowhere. Meanwhile, Wim’s father looks as if he suspects something isn’t adding up.
On Port Borgo, the kids, along with Jod, slip through the crowded port back to their ship, which Jod thinks— but doesn’t vocalize—is a piece of junk. The boys absolutely believe in their new Jedi friend, whereas the girls don’t trust him at all. They manipulate a reluctant Jod into going back for the deactivated SM-33. A chaotic chase ensues. Jod and the inert SM-33 make it back to the ship, which can’t escape because it’s still attached to a fuel line that refuses to break. After a bunch of crashing and banging about, Jod jumps to hyperspace to break free, leaving heavy damage to Port Borgo and many pirate ships in his wake.
They fly to a moon with an observatory base where Jod knows Kh’ymm, a half-cat, half-owl creature who specializes in star maps. Rather than dismissing the children’s claims of being from At Attin, she is intrigued. She reveals that At Attin was one of nine worlds known as “Jewels of the Old Republic” that were hidden for their safety. One by one they were destroyed and plundered, until only At Attin remained, remembered now only as myth. Using the kids’ description of the nebula surrounding the plannet and ancient symbols on Fern’s backpack, Kh’ymm nearly reveals the location of At Attin before she catches herself. Jod deduces she is stalling and discovers she’s called in New Republic X-wings to capture him—the pirate known as “Crimson Jack.” Jod fights Kh’ymm and steals the data card with At Attin’s location on it, fleeing with the children back to the ship. Backed up by SM-33, Fern and KB turn on Jod, forcing him to admit that he’s not actually a Jedi (disappointing Wim and Neel immensely). Jod points out that only he can get them to At Attin, and that if the X-wing “goons” get him the children will never get home. Reluctantly, Fern allows him on board, on the condition that he’s her employee, contracted to get them home and nothing more. They launch and try to flee the X-wings, which pursue. Jod puts the kids to work—KB calculating the jump to hyperspace, Neel flying evasive maneuvers, Wim and Fern manning weapons turrets to keep the X-wings cautious. All of the kids, save KB, are pretty terrible at their assigned tasks but manage to buy enough time to make the jump to hyperspace. Returning to the lunar observatory, the X-wing pilots say they couldn’t stop the ship without endangering the kids. When they ask Kh’ymm if she knows where they were headed, she replies, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Disturbances in the Force: This episode is pretty much non-stop adventure. Even the quieter moments are engaging. I particularly like the fact that none of the characters in the main cast are stupid. I mean, yeah, Wim and Neel are way too credulous when it comes to Jod’s claims of being a Jedi, but they’re also the youngest and were primed for his subterfuge by their dreams of adventure and hero worship of the Jedi. But once the kids get a chance to discuss amongst themselves the idea that At Attin is a mythical treasure planet, they begin to question what their parents do for a living, whiy their world has so many accountants and analysts, and what the mysterious, world-encompassing “Great Work” really is all about. That the pocket change tokens Wim has are considered significant wealth away from At Attin also lends credence to more going on than they were previously aware.
SM-33 is absolutely loyal to his captain, currently Fern. He is also violent, menacing and absolutely nuts. If there’s any droid in the Star Wars universe not playing with a full deck, it’s SM-33.
Skeleton Crew continues to sprinkle callbacks to previous Star Wars movies throughout. While taking the ferry back to their ship in the opening minutes, Fern complains that their escape was “too easy,” echoing the thoughts of Princess Lei in the original film. As the group approach Kh’ymm’s observatory, Jod confesses he doesn’t trust his “Old friend” very much they way Han Solo approached Lando Calrissian on Bespin. And like Lando, Kh’ymm brokered a deal with the authorities before Jod even set foot through her door. At the end of the episode, as the old pirate ship attempts to outrun the X-wings to get a clear jump to hyperspace, KB repeats “Almost there,” echoing Red Leader’s words during the assault on the original Death Star, while the graphics on KB’s screen evoke displays at the Rebel base showing the Death Star moving past the gas giant Yavin for a clear shot. I have to say, I appreciate these comparatively subtle allusions to the other Star Wars properties over the ham-fisted, “I have a bad feeling about this,” callbacks we often get. I am well aware that this, too, is fan-service. This entire series, while primarily targeted at a younger demographic, is following the original Star Wars template of “appealing to all ages.” In particular, they are going out of their way to salt the show with whistles and bells that myself and other Gen-Xers (who grew up on Star Wars, after all, and wore out countless VHS tapes—and Betamax before that—watching the movie over and over) who are far more likely to pick up on those more obscure Easter eggs than, say, those who grew up on the prequels or the animated revival series, such as The Clone Wars. This is absolutely a 1980s kids adventure. Yes, The Goonies influence is writ large, but there’s a good bit of Flight of the Navigator and Explorers in Skeleton Crew’s DNA, and I’ll wager I could add a few more films to the list were I to put my head to it. Skeleton Crew is absolutely tring to have its cake and eat it too, with a foundational narrative appealing to Zoomers and Gen Alpha, coupled with meta content that’s catnip for their Gen X and Millenniel parents. Warner Brothers animation was the master of this double-play with their old Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck shorts, and from what I’ve seen thus far, Skeleton Crew is pulling it off.
Skeleton Crew episode 1 reviewed.
Skeleton Crew episode 2 reviewed.
Skeleton Crew episode 4 reviewed.
Skeleton Crew episode 5 reviewed.
Skeleton Crew episode 6 reviewed.
Did you catch that SM33 is Smee, like from Hook? BANGARANG! And that Urkle was a pirate Gunter?!? Did iiiii do that?!