Skeleton Through

[setsuled]

The final episode of Skeleton Crew aired last night and, due to the show's extraordinarily low ratings, people are saying it's the last of the series rather than merely the season. I found the episode frustrating and out of touch with itself but I can see what was trying to say, that the show itself had actual ideas and themes its creators, John Watts and Christopher Ford, were working through, which is more than I can say for The Acolyte, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. So, while I think the show was misfire, I do think it had good aim.

The last episode further emphasised the show's similarity to Treasure Island as it seems clear that Jude Law's character, Jod, is meant to occupy the same murky position of audience sympathy that Long John Silver inhabited in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic pirate novel (as well as many of his other novels, including Jekyll and Hyde, Master of Ballantrae, and Kidnapped). It's a tricky balance to pull off and, unfortunately, the show falls right off the tight rope, but I do kind of respect the intent.

The problem is, there's never a moment where I want the kids to win. The show throws us such broad hints that society on At Attin is sterile and really more Imperial than Old Republic, and Jod, despite Jude Law's performance infusing the character with bitterness, remains the more attractive and sympathetic alternative throughout. What is a morally complicated and riveting situation in Treasure Island is all too clear in Skeleton Crew so when characters act like things aren't clear, or clearly opposite of what they are, it's extremely discordant and a little infuriating. It's not helped by moments like when KB successfully pulls off a landing and Fern screams like we just saw her blown to smithereens. Or the pirate invasion where they're shooting at everyone but we never see anyone killed or injured, or the last minute appearance by Rebel fighters who open fire on the pirate ship without warning.

The intention may have been to nod at the undercurrents of Revenge of the Sith, to hint that the identity of the "real good guys" might not be so clear but I would be very surprised if anyone came away from this thinking Jod deserved to be thwarted. It was also kind of frustrating that Kelly Macdonald's character never returned. It would be kind of nice seeing a series about her and Jod having adventures far away from At Attin and those kids.

Skeleton Crew is available on Disney+.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

To me this was the worst episode yet in the series. I don't think the reveal about how the planet is governed was any real surprise, and that it was overcome so easily was disappointing.

What also made little sense is that the pirates are brought down to start firing at random on the inhabitants instead of just going straight to the vault to start loading up on credits. Clearly there's more there than they could possibly haul away but it would be the haul of a lifetime regardless. Given At Attin's history I am assuming they have no space ships of their own that could be stolen to take away credits.

And then to have the Republic respond so quickly AND to start firing on the pirate ship with no warning (only to have it crash into the city potentially taking out bunches of people!) made no sense at all!

I was also unsurprised about KB being fine since we saw no explosion. I did like how the kids worked together in this episode but that was about it.

And yes, I found myself much more interested by Jod's backstory than anything else. The ending of the season was also abrupt and left his fate hanging. I was trying to figure out what the end credit art scenes were meant to tell us -- was that the future of the kids? Flashbacks to Jod's past??

[maidenjedi]

To offer a different POV - I really enjoyed the series and while this last episode seemed rushed (I feel like a coda to see what happens to Jod or how the New Republic is now involved would have been good, but I wanted those as a Star Wars fan looking for connections more than anything else) generally I liked it. This series felt like a live-action version of what might have been just another animated series like "Star Wars Resistance" or "The Young Jedi Adventures," but live-action to give it a firmer place in canon. FWIW, my entire family was able to enjoy this from the first minute, which wasn't true of the other Disney+ SW series, each of which worked for some of us but never all of us, and that's a huge selling point for me as a media consumer. I also felt like this series was on firmer ground than The Acolyte or even Obi-Wan Kenobi, and was more enjoyable week-to-week than those series were.