“After the third episode, I changed my mind about Star Wars: Skeleton Crew not being good. But honestly, I thought this week’s fourth episode was pretty meh,” says Max in his review.
It’s not as bad as I thought, but it still needs improvement. After the third episode, I completely reversed my stance on Star Wars Skeleton Crew being bad. However, I couldn’t help feeling that this week’s fourth episode was lukewarm. The kids return “home” to At Attin but find something extraordinary with their homeworld. It looks like At Attin, but it also looks like it’s been deserted for centuries. I was ready out of the gate for some time-warping plotline, where the kids would have lost little personal time, but due to some time dilation, they would return from their trip many years in the future and find their world abandoned and their families gone.
It was initially when Wymm hypothesized out loud, and then it hit me. Disney would never go down that dark a path with having all their families dead due to time travel. No, this world is one of those Jewels Khy’mm mentioned in the last episode. I find this to be a little uncreative and silly. Each planet (including At Attin) is somewhat similar and has some mystery blanketed around it. I’ll give it some time to mature, but I was hoping for the time-dilation plot, to be perfectly honest.
A NEW WORLD
This new world is inhabited by some Mad Max-style warriors who are warring with a more technologically adept group, and the kids get sucked into the society. It’s primarily humans, including a young pubescent female named Haya, who is the daughter of the leader of the Troik. She speaks with a strong French accent, and I question that creative choice, as it has been established in canon that Twi’leks who speak Basic (Earth English) have natural French accents. Perhaps she was born on Ryloth or lived with Twi’leks.
I felt that this whole group and the crusade they’ve been fighting have been done so many times in many forms. I don’t find anything unique or interesting about them that would set them apart. Even their uniforms and weapons are relatively generic. They are like a Game of Thrones meets Borderlands, and I am not impressed.
NEEL NATION UNITE!
The real strength of this episode was the characters. Neel befriends Haya and baffles her with his non-violent and peaceful nature. He asks why they continue to fight and if they can ‘say sorry’ and live in peace. Haya initially interprets this as a weakness. But she quickly learns that Neel is kind, and her planet could learn from his kindness. This character growth was rushed and truncated, but it is incredible how Star Wars is all about fighting (it has the word war in it!). Many times in these stories, the fighters forget why they were at war in the first place. Why can’t there be peace? If an alien 12-year-old boy can see that, why can’t the galaxy?
Also, the biggest shining star in this cast is Fern. Fern is bossy and thinks she’s the rightful leader of the group. However, she breaks down and cries when she realizes she doesn’t have all the answers. Her performance is entirely believable, and funnily enough, this young actress started her career with a Razzie. I did not know that until after I had watched this episode. Regardless, the performance was excellent. I like that Wymm (who constantly argues with Fern) reveals a soft side to himself, trying to bolster his “friend” with kind words and compliments on her ability to lead and figure out their problems. Yet, Fern is not having it as she doesn’t know how to get them home.
VERDICT
Lastly, I am starting to like SM-33, the salty pirate droid. I previously critiqued him for being too much of a cliche pirate robot, but I like his faulty programming and inability to remember things. He frequently says, “I can’t say I remember, no At Attin,” over and over to a comedic effect, and when they try to reset his memory, they realize why his previous captain kept him around. He is pretty scary, but watch the episode for yourself.
The first four episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are streaming on Disney Plus now.
FORCE FACTS
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When the ship enters the atmosphere of this faux At Attin, it is remotely pulled into an autopilot landing sequence. This is a cool bit of tech, but it was never specified how it was activated. Perhaps it’s autopilot for any ships that enter the atmosphere?
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Hayna kisses Neel on the cheek to say goodbye to him. Neel is a pachydermic-like species with a trunk, and Hayna appears human. Is she possibly attracted to Neel despite their stark species’ aesthetic differences, or am I overthinking this? Yet, when you are born and conditioned in a world with many aliens, who knows what human women could be attracted to?
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
