Skeleton Crew, the latest Star Wars TV show on Disney+, has come to an end with an exciting final episode that brings the story to a satisfying close.
Episode 8, "The Real Good Guys," sees the kids having to defend their planet from Jod and his gang of pirates as they attack At Attin to seize the Republic mint located there. Having finally made it back home in the previous episode, the kids have to face a final threat as Jod poses as a Republic emissary to get access to the vaults where the credits are stored. But luckily, the kids have learnt a few thing on their adventures, and they aren't going to give up without a fight.
Being a Star Wars fan can be a rough ride. Despite being at it since 2019, Disney still haven't found a way to make entertaining Star Wars shows with any consistency. As for the cinema side of things, well, even Jyn Erso would have trouble keeping her hopes up. So Skeleton Crew was a nice respite from the turmoil of the last few years, and came at just the right time to take away some of the unpleasant taste left by The Acolyte. It's not like the show has done anything truly amazing or remarkable, but it hasn't done anything bad either.
The ending is much the same as the rest of the show: standard, predictable, but still very enjoyable. A lot of fans were right in their speculation that the Supervisor was a droid who controlled the whole operation of the planet, though he's now just a pile of scrap after coming into contact with the wrong end of Jod's lightsaber. It's a pity that they didn't go with the more interesting theory that it was actually Tak Rennod, the captain of the Onyx Cinder, who took up the position of Supervisor after crashing on the planet. That particular plot point feels like a loose end. What happened to him? Was he just one of the skeletons aboard the ship? It seems odd that he would know where At Attin was and have a way to traverse the Barrier, yet never bothered to seize the treasure waiting there.
All the kids get a chance to shine as they fight off the pirates. KB flies the ship outside of the Barrier to contact Kh'ymm, who sends the New Republic to help. Neel uses the cannon revealed in Episode 4 to hold off the pirate ship, and Wim and Fern do their best to stop Jod. It shows how much they've learned from their adventures across the galaxy, and how their friendship has grown to the point where they can work as an effective team.
Yes, there are parts of the story that feel too convenient, especially the way the New Republic sends a squadron of X-Wings to help a planet they didn't even know existed when they wouldn't send a single ship to help Nevarro in The Mandalorian. But those kinds of things are to be expected, that's the kind of show it is; you need those "punch the air" moments in an adventure like this. It can be a bit predictable, but it's still fun and exciting.
Review: Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 8, "The Real Good Guys"
One thing that's more disappointing about this episode is Jod Na Nawood. Despite it being essentially about the kids, the best character in the show by far is the multi-moniker pirate Jedi, but he has a bit of a flat ending here. We get some of his backstory, where it's revealed he was trained by a Jedi to use the Force, presumably a survivor of Order 66 (not another one!), similar to Ezra Bridger in Star Wars: Rebels, but turned away from her teaching when she was killed.
It's not a bad backstory, but it's something we've seen before, and I thought there might have been a more interesting answer for why he has Force powers, like him being trained by an outcast or renegade, like Baylan Skoll and Shin Hatti. There's a whole galaxy of possibilities that don't involve yet another reference to the increasingly pointless Order 66, which wasn't nearly as effective as Revenge of the Sith showed.
There's also the way his part in the show ends. He's not killed, or arrested by the New Republic, and he doesn't pull off some daring Jack Sparrow-esque escape. The show just leaves Jod's fate unresolved, and any or all of these things could have happened to him. It's not just him, though; everyone's story is brought to a swift end as soon as Jod is defeated. There's no time for the kids to savor their victory, or to show what might be next for them and At Attin.
Regardless of these faults, the final episode still fits in with the rest of the show's tone; it's simple, undemanding entertainment, There's no subverting of expectations, not mind-blowing moments, it's just an enjoyable distraction. It's a shame that the show came along when it did and has fallen into obscurity, failing to break into any top 10 charts. If it has come out five years ago, it would have had a better chance at being recognized and enjoyed by fans. But now it looks like interest in the franchise is fading, despite the positive reviews the show has.
And it does deserve those positive reviews. It's a fun show, and it's also original. This is the only Disney+ Star Wars series that's managed to make it all the way through without resorting to a single big cameo to get fans' attention. Sure, it draws a lot of inspiration from '80s movies, but at least it's an original story told in the Star Wars universe, and doesn't require viewers to do their homework to understand what's going on.
Skeleton Crew is rather like what a live-action Star Wars show might like if made in the 1980s, similar to the Ewok movies, but less of an endurance test to get through. While a lot of people are calling Skeleton Crew a kids' show, I think it's actually a show for those who were kids back then, and watched similar adventure stories. If viewing figures are anything to go by, it certainly doesn't seem to have grabbed a new, young audience, and sadly doesn't look like it will get a second season.
Skeleton Crew isn't enough to save the franchise by itself, but it's still nice to get a show that feels like Star Wars but that does more than just constantly reference itself and bring back established characters. It's the most fun I've has in a galaxy far, far away for some time.
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