Season Discussion: Skeleton Crew

I've actually put a lot of thought into this show because I feel like I should have enjoyed this more than I did. It's not the worst show they've done on Disney+ because it's certainly better than The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but there are enough issues with it that it gets held back from being in the same conversation as Andor, most of The Mandalorian, and even Ahsoka.

One of the problems with the show is that it feels anachronistic both to the Star Wars universe as a whole and to the era which the show explicitly takes place during. A lot of the pirate-isms do not feel organically within the Star Wars universe, almost as if this was a spec script that got acquired by Lucasfilm and then reskinned to fit into the Star Wars mythos. It's designed to nostalgia-bait to children of the 1980s more than it is designed to tell a cohesive story that is engaging on a weekly basis.

The other thing the show did very well, though I definitely don't think this was by design, was highlight many of the issues with the new development cycle of television shows in the streaming era. IGN ran a great piece when the show began about how Skeleton Crew does not have a pilot and how this is to the show's overall detriment. The rationale is that a pilot allows the show to flesh out the characters, sell the viewer on the overall look and feel of the show, and allow them to work out the kinks in a way that a direct-to-series order for a limited series does not.

The most engaging part of the show is the relationship between Jod and the group of kids and how they play off each other. It takes almost the entire first two episodes to get everyone together. What's worse about it is that the show's resolution does not support the amount of time spent in the first hour setting up the stakes of life on At Attin for the kids so it's functionally just a waste of an hour. The first two episodes could probably be consolidated into about half an episode with nothing of value lost.

The oddest decision about the show is to set it in the early New Republic era instead of the Prequel or Rise of the Empire eras. Considering the fact that the great treasure of At Attin was that it was a still functioning Republic mint, it's unclear what the real value is. The first episode of The Mandalorian shows viewers that there is major confusion in the galaxy about what currency is being used where and what value it has. The first episode of The Bad Batch shows that in the immediate aftermath of Revenge of the Sith, the galaxy quickly transitioned from Republic to Imperial credits. Was there a transfer of power of the mints from the Empire to the New Republic? Maybe, but regardless very early on it is established that these are Old Republic credits and people are shocked to see them in such good condition. Also, it's been over two decades, where are all these credits that are being minted going?

The point is this show would have made a little more sense if it was set during the events of Revenge of the Sith (like the finale of The Clone Wars) because it would have made two moments during the finale and one moment earlier in the series hit much harder. For starters, when they arrive on the sister planet that's war-torn and there are various weapons left behind from the Clone Wars, if that war is actively happening, that raises the stakes. Second, the moment when The Supervisor reveals to Jod that the Jedi have been declared traitors would work a lot better if that shift happens during Jod's infiltration. Third, the very ending where the New Republic shows up would work better if it is the Empire still using the Republic equipment because the transition is happening in real-time, which would add a sense of emotion to that ending. Because of how The Mandalorian establishes the treatment of worlds who are changing their allegiance, the New Republic showing up here should not exactly instill confidence that everything is going to be fine going forward. Also, and this shouldn't have to be stated, but if it is clear the currency has value, it makes the stakes a little more clear. Honestly, this show is basically the story of someone who really wants to break into a mint that's still producing lira in Italy right now.

I feel the same about Skeleton Crew as I did about Wicked Part 1, we probably do not need a continuation of this show based on where this ends off but we will be getting more in the future. I'll probably watch it for review purposes but I'm not overly enthusiastic about any possible continuation of this show.

★★★

Skeleton Crew
Showrunner: Jon Watts
Starring: Jude Law, Nick Frost, Kerry Condon, Rabi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Robert Timothy Smith, Kyriana Kratter
Release Date: December 3rd, 2024
Streaming Service: Disney+