Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is picking up steam, and I love it much more than I did before. The series is apparently like a fine wine: It’s better when it’s aged.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is picking up, and I love it much more than I did before.
The series is apparently like a fine wine. It’s better when it’s aged, and the fifth episode delivered something I’m finally proud to say belongs in the Star Wars Canon. The kids and their mysterious Force-sensitive adult companion are trying to figure out how to reboot SM-33’s memory, as the stereotype swashbuckling pirate droid tried to, uh yeah, kill them all in the last episode as other parts of his memory were revived.
SM-33 AWAKENS
After the reboot, SM-33 easily breaks free of the ropes the kids used to tie him down, and we learn that he is the former droid of the legendary pirate Tak Rennod. Rennod’s name was dropped earlier in this series by Jude Law’s character in the form of an exclamation of surprise: “Rennod’s ghost.” While this may seem like a lazy plot-pull-in-point, the rest of the episode is fine, so I don’t care. The droid takes them to the planet containing the mountain where Rennod’s lair originally was.
This is where the episode gets interesting. In the years since Rennod’s death, the mountain has been turned into a high-tech spa for all the galaxy’s denizens who want to relax and soak in the rejuvenating mud baths. It is hilarious that this has happened, and seeing SM-33’s outrage was equally as funny. The lair was in the center of the mountain, so the ‘crew’ splits up to find the entrance, which should have Rennod’s insignia on it.
JOD NA NAWOOD
When Jude Law’s character (known to the children as Jod Na Nawood) tries to use some Jack Sparrow vibing (giving the front desk money so he can stay discreetly), we learn that Jod is quite dangerous. More importantly, he is not to be trusted, as he has more aliases than stars in the sky! A bounty hunter, who he threw under the bus at one time, recognizes him, and after an awkward exchange, Jod announces they have to move quickly before the pirates looking for him arrive.
Throughout the last few episodes, the audience is made aware that Jude Law was (and still is) the ruthless pirate captain Silvo, as we see at the beginning of the first episode. The only reason he’s running around with some kids and without his creepy helmet is because his crew mutinied. There are a lot of subtle nods to Pirates of the Caribbean in this episode. Ja’s goofy yet silently dangerous demeanor is very similar to Jack Sparrow’s, and his long list of grievances with others and his mutiny further cement this.
A TRECHEROUS PIRATE?
The audience is lulled into a false sense of security with this character. He may act like an ornery man being manipulated by children, but the audience knows he has no qualms about killing other people. It is such a strange juxtaposition to see alongside these innocent pre-teens, and Ja even gives Wimm some advice on letting go of his attachments when he later remarks sadly that he misses his dad. He’s a complex character and may have some good in him.
VERDICT
I’d like more of a deep dive into Silvo/Ja in the future, and when he showed his true colors at the end, I was not remotely surprised. Yet the way he took control was genius and heavily plays off Pirates of the Caribbean.
The first five episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are streaming on Disney Plus now.
FORCE FACTS
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The alien who helped the kids get into the lair is a giant squid-like Cthulhu creature, and even his first name is similar to the Lovecraftian monster’s. I always love to see weird new species in Star Wars, and this guy certainly takes the cake.
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There is a pool of acid-blocking Rennod’s lair, and it can only be drained with a sacrifice. KB automatically thinks it needs to consume a living being, but it was the thing Rennod valued most, and the guy certainly didn’t care about his crew. The entrance “fee” is money, as Rennod valued that over everything else. How does the acid know to drain when a credit chit is thrown in? I haven’t the foggiest clue. Perhaps there is a sensor under the acid?
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We see a Hutt and a few Muuns relaxing in the spa. The Hutt comically tries to eat one of the spa workers.
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One of the treasures in Rennod’s lair is a blue-bladed lightsaber, which Wimm unsuccessfully uses to try and fight Jod. It makes sense that an old pirate would have plundered a lightsaber in their time from a Jedi they came across and may have killed.
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The computers at Wimm’s dads work, are charmingly aesthetically retro-future analog, and the makeshift hacking device is also.
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!
