Star Wars: Skeleton Crew 1×01 and 1×02 Review: ‘This Could Be a Real Adventure’ and ‘Way, Way Out Past the Barrier’

Star Wars’ latest entry into the Mandoverse dropped last Monday, with episodes 1 and 2 of the Skeleton Crew.

Somehow, we’ve never gotten a Stephen Spielberg/Amblin pirate adventure within the galaxy far, far away. It took Jon Watts and his writing partner Christopher Ford to bring this adventure to us via Disney+.

The first episode ‘This Could Be a Real Adventure’ starts with a short explanation of where we are in the timeline and what is happening in this part of the galaxy. A ship slowly crosses the screen, when a pirate ship attacks. The attack is scary and violent without showing blood. The pirate captain gives a long speech about them finally getting the big score they’ve all needed but once the vault is open, it is empty, except for one New Republic credit. Most everyone believes that Jod is that captain and that is why he is in the brig on Borgo. But as of right now, we don’t have an actor listed as the captain.

In the debut episode, we are introduced to two sets of friends. Wim, played by Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Encanto), and his best friend Neel, played by Robert Timothy Smith (Dear Santa). Wim is the dreamer, always looking out the window and dreaming of being a Jedi someday. And Neel is a rule follower who seems always willing to play second to Wim.

The other set of friends is Fern, played by Ryan Keira Armstrong (Firestarter 2022). She tries to come across as the tough troublemaker but is the daughter of the school’s undersecretary, and is the top of her class. Her best friend is KB, played by Kyriana Kratter (Bunk’d). KB is the techy, fixing Fern’s bike after she pushed it too hard getting it ready for a big race coming up.

During class where the droid teacher is speaking about the barrier around At-Attin, Wim is caught by the undersecretary drawing a Jedi with his desk computer. It surprises him that the next day will be the class’s career assessment test to determine his career for the rest of his life.

This was a major clue that not everything is fine on At-Attin. Some people expressed concerns about the ‘earth-like suburban’ aesthetic when the trailer dropped. But Amblin movies always looked at the strange underbelly of suburban America, questioning the perfect-looking facade of the middle class.

The next morning, Wim missed his tram into school, forcing him to ride his speeder bicycle, tassels and all, to make the test in time. He tried to make up some time by taking a shortcut through a restricted forest. Rushing through the forest like Luke and Leia on Endor, he crashes. But the crash leads to a major discovery. A long-hidden hatch, leading to a Jedi Temple, in Wim’s mind.

Picked up by the security droids he is taken to the principal’s office, meeting Fern while they wait. She tells a fake story (or is it) about kids not passing the test and being sent to ‘the mines’, never to be heard from again.

It’s a recurring thing with Fern telling BS stories to make others uncomfortable. It’s a trait that helps them get out of a sticky situation in episode 2 Way, Way Out Past the Barrier’.

Wim convinces Neel to go with him back out to the hatch to get into the Jedi Temple when they run into Fern and KB. The exchange between the four on who has a claim to the hatch showed that the four actors are going to be a lot of fun to watch through the coming adventure.

Once they get the hatch open, they find a powered-down droid, SM-33 (named after Smee from Peter Pan), voiced by Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead). The hatch closes on them, leading to them trying to get the power back on. Wim, being Wim, and after being told NOT to push any buttons, pushes the button that restarts the spaceship they are in, not a Jedi Temple.

They do their best to get out of the ship but it had already gotten too high in the air to jump. The ship blasted through the barrier that protects the planet. The kids stand in wonder at all the stars in front of them. The barrier has red lights in a uniform pattern but they are unable to see the stars until they push past it. One of them even points out how many there are before the ship automatically jumps to hyperspace.

I enjoyed the first episode. Setting up the kids and At-Attin was good. But if I’m being honest with myself, I would have felt a little disappointed if that was all we got. Deciding to play episode 2 on opening night sets up the other part of the story and gives us a chance to understand where the story could be going.

The second episode starts with Wim, again touching buttons he has no idea what they do, pulling the ship out of hyperspace. This is not the best idea but it gives the kids a moment to try to figure out what has happened and maybe how they could get home. During the entire exchange, Neel worries about how much trouble they are going to be in with their parents when and if they get back. I joked that Neel is a vibe and we must protect him at all cost!

SM-33 shows up looking for his captain. Fern tells him that she killed his captain and that makes her the captain now. She convinces SM-33 to take them back to At-Attin, but he has no idea where that is. Again, more questions about the kid’s home planet. She finally gets him to take them somewhere where they can find out where their home is. So he takes them to the pirate port of Port Borgo.

Upon arrival, the kids make every wrong decision they could possibly make. They split apart, Wim and Neel order some food, Fern and KB tell a stranger they are from At-Attin and Wim flashes his lunch money, which is Old Republic credits.

Wim and Neel even start a bar fight trying to get away from a group trying to steal the rest of his credits. Fern shows up, pointing a pistol at everyone going after the boys. But it takes SM-33 to save them from the horde of angry pirates.

SM-33 defending his captain was so much fun to watch. This old droid, with a peg leg (of course) and blaster shields on his forearms fighting off half a dozen pirates was the action set piece we needed for the two-episode premiere.

But unfortunately, SM-33 gets shot in the back and the kids are thrown in the brig. They attempt to do their best Pirates of the Caribbean, by getting the rat living in SM-33’s head to get them the key, but it goes terribly wrong. Up steps Jod Na Nawood, Judd Law (Fantastic Beasts) from the dark corner of the cell.

Jod tells the kids that he can get them out of there if he takes him with them to their ship. He then uses the Force, to get the key off the hook to his hand. Wim asks, “You’re Jedi?”

I don’t think so but I will get into that in a second.

Like I said earlier, I’m glad they gave us a double-episode premiere. Spending time on At-Attin and Borgo opens up this new part of the galaxy we haven’t been to before. And gives us time to get to know most of the main characters, besides Jod.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew looks amazing. Adding practical make-up and real puppets to The Volume gives Borgo a realness we haven’t been able to see yet in the Disney+ shows. With each new show, the use of The Volume is getting better and better.

Also, so many shots feel and look like Goonies, E.T., or Poltergeist, adding to the Amblin feel. There is definitely a reason for the look and I can’t wait to figure out that part of the mystery.

Each week, I will end the review with Speculation Corner. Where I responsibly speculate on where the show is going next.

First: At-Attin is talked about as a lost planet by the pirates on Borgo, like it is a famed lost treasure planet or something along that line. I believe At-Attin could be an outpost set up during The High Republic era as part of Lina Sols Great Works Project, expanding the Republic into new areas of the galaxy. The High Republic is 300 or so years before A New Hope, so having multiple generations disconnected from the outside galaxy and turning knowledge of Jedi and other planets into stories and legends makes a lot of sense.

Second: Is Jod Na Nawood a Jedi? I don’t believe so. We don’t need another Jedi that survived Order 66. He could be able to use the Force. Across modern Star Wars storytelling, all types of different people can use the Force outside of the Jedi. I do believe he can use the Force and is not tricking us like Haja Estree from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, but he uses it to make himself important and/or rich.

Third: Will the kids get home? Of course! But what that means for the kids, their parents, and At-Attin remains to be seen.

Fourth: If they hurt one hair on Neel’s perfectly combed head, we riot!

Again, I really liked the first two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. I wonder how this is going to connect to the wider Mandoverse story but if it doesn’t, I will enjoy the adventure anyway.

Author: Sean Miley

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