TL;DR – A riot of fun from start to finish.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Skeleton Crew Review –

Well, it is season finale time for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and I am kind of not ready for it. This has been such a blast of a season that I wish we had gotten more of it. But all good things must come to an end, so today, we will first look to see if they stuck the landing before exploring the season as a whole.  

So, to set the scene, well, the kids Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith/ Kacie Borrowman) are in trouble. They have made it home to At Attin but in the hands of Pirate Captain Jod (Jude Law), who now knows where the greatest treasure in the history of the Star Wars galaxy is hidden. He also knows who every single parent of the kids is and has made some explicit threats to their safety. The only question is: can the kids get the alarm out before the raiders take the planet? Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

Okay, let’s rip that band-aid off right away and come clean that this absolutely stuck the landing in the way that none of the actual ships did in this episode. I was so afraid coming into this that they would try and so with the easy option. I know that there had to have been at least one Disney executive yelling at the writer’s room to give Jod a hero turn in the final episode so we can get his big anti-hero moment because they have been trying to copy Han Solo’s energy for an age and have always missed up to now. But they kept him a villain all the way to the end, and I am glad that they took that risk. There are a lot of balancing acts that they pull off in this episode and the series, such as making sure that this series is steeped in nostalgia but not drowning in it, which we see all the time.   

Overall, the structure of the final episode went pretty much how I expected it to go, with the kids being the only ones truly understanding what is at stake and being the only ones with experience as to what the world is like on the other side of the barrier. So, it would be up to them to save the day as the rest of the city floundered with inaction. Also, if you were in any doubt as to how the episode was going to end, the title did give it away a bit. But it is the details that helped the episode land. The kids reach out to the allies they made along the way with Kh’ymm’s (Alia Shawkat) in Very Interesting, as an Astrogation Problem. Neel remembered where the guns were thanks to his time in Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin, which might make me like that episode a touch more now. But the most interesting moment was when The Supervisor (Stephen Fry) referenced Order 66 to dissect Jod’s lies. Also, I am happy I called it as to who The Supervisor was in last week’s Zero Friends Again.

The next thing you do is add some solid action beats to this narrative. There are moments when you could feel the episode going to Book of Boba Fett: look, this is how you do a hoverbike chase. This is all anchored by Jude Law’s fantastic performance. He has gotten to act some wild turns across the season, but here, I think he is given his absolute best. While we don’t get his hero turn, what we do get is some understanding about who he was and what he went through that gave layers to his character. Those layers came out not just in the spoken backstory but in his performance, as well. Every moment he was on the screen was electric. I loved how he was emoting with just his face in those final moments when he was illuminated for what he truly was and saw his entire plan fall to ruin. I also think all the kid actors worked well in this final episode. It is clear that Ferm and Wim got most of the big hero moments, but everyone got time to shine, and shine they did. I am interested in seeing how people react to an ending that does nothing to set up a future sequel or any other project in the universe.  

If there was one weakness, it was the rest of the adults. Part of me can understand their position to a point. They have lived 40+ years in this propaganda-based world that constantly reinforces that they are only safe under the barrier, the droids and The Supervisor know what is best for them, and they are champions of the Republic. So, living in that bubble of naïvety would take some time to adjust your parameters to all of that being a lie and acting accordingly. However, even understanding that position. Every single thing that Wendle (Tunde Adebimpe) did in this episode up until the last minute was fundamentally frustrating. It is rare that I want to reach into the television and give a character a get-your-stuff-together slap, but I did here. Also, this is about how the character was written because I have seen Tunde Adebimpe work fantastically well in other projects.

When we look at the series as a whole, I honestly had a blast from start to finish, bar one or two minor issues. It was so lovely to see a show that, while clearly leaning into nostalgia, still told that story with all new characters and no major outside cameos. It brought a refreshing voice to the Star Wars world, and I wish they had captured more, like that promise of the kid at the end of The Last Jedi, which went nowhere. Everyone has to have some sort of relationship with something already established in modern Star Wars. And while we reference events, sure. Also, it would be fair to say that the description of this as just being ‘Goonies in space’ is not an unfair comparison. We are also writing a new story and new narratives. We visit new and interesting planets. We get to meet new and interesting aliens. And we get to see a new side of the Star Wars universe that had only been hinted at before.

One area where you fundamentally see this worldbuilding, or in this case, hear this, is in the musical score. After smashing it out of the park with last year’s The Penguin, Mick Giacchino is back to bring his own voice to a Star Wars score, something that people have struggled with in the past. The musical score here felt immensely suitable for this science fiction world but also spoke with its own voice. This brings a level of joy at all times because you feel like you have been taken on a journey of fun, but it is not creating discord by feeling out of place in this universe. It is touches like this, and the period-perfect reproductions of all the technology that help ground the world. Add to this solid visuals, strong reference points, like the trash crabs in Zero Friends Again, and a drive to see where the story will go next. Well, you get something that made me want to check back on every week.   

Look, Star Wars has struggled to find its identity in this modern era. It feels trapped in the past because it does not know how to guide its supposed core audience through any change. This bullishness or cowardness, depending on how you want to frame it, has had big repercussions for those behind and in front of the screen who have been caught up in the mess. It is in this chaos where pitchforks have been raised, shows have floundered, and movies misfired. However, what I truly hope they take away from this show’s success is that if you have a firm idea, a solid cast, bring something new to the world, and, most importantly, have the full support of the studio, not half-assed press releases and behind the scenes sniping, you get something that is a joy to watch. But Star Wars has a history of taking the wrong lessons from projects, such as Solo not working because they re-cast Han, which means we now get soulless AI golems going forward. So, who knows?        

In the end, do we recommend Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: The Real Good Guys? Absolutely, and without a doubt. What an incredible joy this was to watch each and every week. I am honestly sad that it is over because I won’t get to see a new episode next week. While this was positioned as a one-and-done mini-series. I do hope that this is not the last time we drop into this side of the galaxy far, far away. And yes, I know that undercuts everything I just said about this being a unique show and being better for that, but I kind of don’t care. I like it that much. Have you watched Skeleton Crew yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Skeleton Crew
Directed by – Jon Watts, David Lowery, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jake Schreier, Bryce Dallas Howard & Lee Isaac Chung
Written by – Christopher Ford, Jon Watts & Myung Joh Wesner
Created by – Christopher Ford & Jon Watts
Based On – Star Wars by George Lucas
Production/Distribution Companies – Golem Creations, LucasArts & Disney+
Starring – Jude Law, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith & Nick Frost with Kerry Condon, Tunde Adebimpe, Alia Shawkat, Hala Finley, Mathieu Kassovitz, Kelly MacDonald, Kacie Borrowman & Rob Ramsdell and Cass Buggé, M.J. Kang, Geneva Carr, Stephen Fry, Jaleel White, Sisa Grey, Marti Matulis, Domonic Burgess, Shane Almagor, Andy Powers, Caitlan Shera Moore, Dawn Dininger, Carey Jones, Mike Estes, Andrea Detwiler, Jasper Anderson, Cary Gunnar Lee, Sydney Rose Walker, Fred Tatasciore, Dale Soules, Jacob Roanhaus, Stephen Oyoung, Alfred Molina, Alexander Ward, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Alan Resnick, Iliana Castillo, Phoenix Notary, Patrick Seitz, Colin Follenweider, Julie Ann Emery, John Hodgman, & Robin Walsh
Episodes Covered – This Could Be a Real Adventure, Way, Way Out Past the Barrier, Very Interesting, as an Astrogation Problem, Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin, You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates, Zero Friends Again & The Real Good Guys