With the release of Episode 4 of Skeleton Crew, we hit the halfway point of the latest Star Wars streaming show, which takes us on a quick detour.
Using the coordinates taken from Kh'ymm, the crew head to what they think is At Attin, but is actually At Achrann, a planet that looks identical to their home world in almost every way. The buildings, town layout, and design are all the same; it's revealed it was part of the same Republic project.
The only difference is that, rather than the prosperous utopia of At Attin, this world is lying in ash-covered ruins as two rival factions fight a bitter war for control. Even children are thrown into the conflict, leading to Neel and the others being recruited and trained as fighters.
Alright then, I'm going to use that dreadful word that can be applied to a lot of Star Wars shows: filler. It's kind of a shame, because it's not a word I've needed to use about Skeleton Crew before, but really there's not much point to this episode. Maybe some important plot points will come back round later, but right now, this just looks like a temporary diversion to string things out.
The fact At Achrann looks just like the kids' home planet is an important revelation. Obviously whatever the Republic scheme was, it encompassed several planets, but the information we're given doesn't add up to much, and creates quite a few plot holes in the offing.
I would have liked to have got some idea of why the planet ended up as an ash-covered ruin, as opposed to the clean, smart look of At Attin. Was it a natural disaster, or something to do with the pirates who visited once before with SM-33? I guess they could have damaged the planet a bit, but surely they wouldn't have enough firepower to reduce it to this?
The fact that there's more than one of these planets raises the question of why At Attin is so special. Is it the only one of these planned Republic worlds that has "treasure" hidden on it? But probably the biggest hole that's torn here is that people must knows about this other planet, or else they wouldn't be able to trade weapons with its inhabitants. There also seemed to be some other relics from different eras, like a Clone Wars tank and Imperial helmets, so how come people treat this whole thing like it's some great legend?
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew review: Episode 4, "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin"
Anyway, those plot holes aside, there are a few nice moments in this episode where we get some character development. It's mostly for Neel, who's always been the coward of the group, but now he has to try and find his courage as he's forced into the middle of a conflict.
There's also some time given to developing Fern. It's been clear for a while now that her bravado and belief that she's captain is just for show. When she's put into a really difficult situation, she's well out of her depth. She is just a kid, after all.
So, is it filler? The answer is definitely yes. I mean, I'm fine with the idea that the kids will have to bounce around from place to place before they find their way home, it's what you'd expect from this kind of adventure, but this particular episode misses the mark.
The whole conflict on At Achrann is kind of pointless. We don't know why it started or why it's still going on. Is it the reason the planet is like it is? That seems like the kind of question that should have been asked, as the same fate could await At Attin. Maybe we'll still be here next week to get these answers (I hope not).
Either way, there wasn't much that came out of this episode. There was no resolution to the war, no big twists, and not much advancement beyond the breadcrumbs about SM-33 having been here before and having all memory of At Attin suppressed on his captain's orders.
It's fun, of course, but it's still quite a bland world for these kids to visit. There wasn't much for them to do here. Whatever all this is setting up about the Republic and their shady utopia planet scheme, I hope the payoff is worth it.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.