Star Wars: Skeleton Crew 1×08: ‘The Real Good Guys’

Our Amblin-style series about kids going out into the wildness of the galaxy far, far away, of course, had to end with them on their bikes being chased through the suburbs.

The finale of Skeleton Crew answered several questions we had about the series but also left some unanswered for future storytelling and I for one am happy about that.

We got some resolution about who Jod Na Nawood is. He told Wim that he was about his age, living off of scraps when a Jedi, who was just as haggard as him, saw his talent. He was forced to watch “them” kill her, unfortunately. This, to me, means the Inquisitors found them. He wasn’t a padawan during Order 66 but was an orphan who was found by a Jedi survivor. I didn’t want Jod to be a padawan. I wanted him to be someone who had fallen through the cracks and was no one important. That is pretty much what we got. I don’t need to know who the Jedi was, I just want to know about the person Jod became.

Living on the streets, then having someone take him in, and then watching that person killed for having the same abilities as him, would make you a bit jaded against any attachment. He even mentioned that the galaxy is full of terrible things and people and there are only small pinpricks of light. Him finding the “treasure of At Attin” was his small pinprick of light and he was going to hold on to it as hard as he could.

After Fara, Fern’s mother, and Wendle, Wim’s father, worked to destroy the barrier so The New Republic could come to their aid, he was never shown to be taken into custody. After the pirate frigate was taken down, they never showed the pirates being arrested, instead, the showrunners decided to show the kids coming back together for a hug. If they are going to tell more stories about the Skeleton Crew, I want Jude Law back as Jod. He was quite awesome in the series overall.

We learned about who The Supervisor is/was. I was correct, it was a droid. More specifically, a large supercomputer. It had been running the same program for ten generations. It wasn’t a big surprise, in fact, the series as a whole was pretty straightforward. There were no surprising cameos or shocking canon-changing events, and that is just fine.

Sometimes, Star Wars fans get lost in what a certain story means for the larger galaxy. Even I can get caught up in that. That is part of the fun of being a fan of Star Wars. But this series told a story about kids growing up and seeing there is more to life than their little planet.

Speaking of our kids, each of them jumped into action without a second thought. They were the ones who formed a plan to get the Onyx Cinder out into open space to get a message to Kh’ymm, even though their parents were more worried about keeping them safe.

KB repairing SM-33 so he could fly the ship, Neel using the plasma gun on top of the school, Fern making plans to stop Jod in the Supervisor’s tower and Wim coming to Fern’s aide and telling a story to keep Jod distracted, showed that each of them used the skills they learned during their adventure and the final shot of them all hugging under the crashed Onyx Cinder and on top of a pile of gold credits warmed my heart.

Fara and Wendle each got a moment in this episode to show they could learn from the kids as well. It was Fern and Wim who asked their parents to trust they knew what they were doing and they each followed their children’s leads. Of course, every parent wants to protect their kids from being hurt by the scary outside world but they allowed themselves to get past the actual barrier of fear they had been living behind to let help arrive.

For this week’s Speculation Corner, we’re going to talk about some of the things I would like to see going forward from this series.

First: Another season of Skeleton Crew, or two! There is so much storytelling to be had in this time period. This series is set in season 3 of The Mandalorian and season 1 of Ahsoka. There are rumors some of the characters will show up in The Mando/Grogu movie but I want more than glorified cameos in someone else’s movie.

Second: I would love a book about The Great Works and the seven planets. I want to know why those seven planets were made and what happened to the other six. In the High Republic books, the Nihil use a similar technology as the barrier to expand their territory. So, I wonder if Chancellor Lina Soh used it to protect these planets from future attacks. These are all things that could be flushed out in a book where you can spend some time giving details about each planet and their collapses.

Third: Jod Na Nawood and many of the other pirates were not shown being arrested. We need to know what happens to them next—specifically, Jod. There was a bit of a smirk on his face when he watched the ‘real’ good guys show up in X-Wings. He has a tragic back story of people leaving him and when Wim calls out to him to escape with them, I wonder if that brings him back to the light. So, continue his story. Book, comic, or have him be in season two or three as the foil to the kids, Captain Hook style.

A couple of shots I loved in this episode that I need to talk about.

B-Wings! We got B-Wings!

KB, Neel, Wim, and Wendle on the speeder bikes being chased by the pirates was straight from E.T. and more recently, Stranger Things. I joked, “If someone doesn’t force-push a van over their head, the series is ruined!”

Wim igniting the lightsaber, the correct way this time, was a great completion of his arc of becoming his version of a Jedi. The blue glow on his and Fern’s faces was so great. Them standing side by side after being at each other’s throats most of the series, again great. In season 2, I want a scene of Wim trying to ask Fern out to prom. Please give us that super awkward teenage moment.

Neel’s tough-looking dad, carrying his twin brothers, is so good. We are going to Disneyland in March and if they don’t have those Twins as plushies…

When they announced the series, I was excited. Not for any other reason than we were getting new Star Wars content. When asked, “What are you most excited to see coming up?”, I always say the same thing, “Whatever is next.” If I’m being honest with myself, the excitement for Skeleton Crew was lower than Mando season 3 or Ahsoka. My excitement was purely based on the fact that we were getting Judd Law in Star Wars.

So, maybe my expectations were lower than those other series. Being a child of the 80s (I know, I know), riding my bikes until the lights came on because I was on an adventure, was a thing that happened nearly every night. I was raised on Spielberg, and Donner, and adventure cartoons. This series hit all those story points and not in a nostalgic way. But in the idea that we as latchkey kids were always looking for the fun beyond our suburbs.

I loved this series. Out of 10 speeder bikes, I would give this a solid 8.5. My only real complaint was the release schedule. Having two of its episodes released on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, took some of the steam out of my excitement of watching the next episode. I wish they had released the series so the last episode would have ended on Tuesday before Christmas week. That was a small personal thing for me and is not enough to take my enjoyment away from the adventure of these kids and the friends they made along the way.

Next for Star War, something completely different, Andor season 2.

Author: Sean Miley

I’d rather find the things that I like about a story, movie, or tv show, than lead with negativity. I love Star Wars, Doctor Who, MCU, comic book and conventions.

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