Once again, I am 10 years old, and I dream of either being a Jedi Knight taking on Darth Vader or a smuggler flying a beat-up YT-1300 freighter with a beautiful princess at my side.
That is the feeling I get when watching “Skeleton Crew.”
The Disney + show takes me back to my childhood when I started watching “Star Wars” and pretending to be these amazing characters that I grew up admiring. Only this time, “Star Wars” is being seen with a whole new lens. It is being seen in the eyes of a motley crew of children looking for adventure rather than adults who are fighting a war against an evil Empire.
“Skeleton Crew” takes place around the same time as “The Mandalorian,” which is a time when the New Republic is in control of the Galaxy and the Empire has been defeated. However, while the peaceful New Republic is ruling the Galaxy and the Empire is nothing more than an Imperial Remnant, there is the threat of pirates lurking in the hyperspace lanes to steal from travelers.
And it is not a Jedi or a smuggler who encounters these pirates—both would be ideal people to do so in a different time in the Star Wars universe. It is a group of children from a planet called At Attin—a group of children that we can all relate to, which makes the story of “Skeleton Crew” work.
Among those children, in the first episode, “This Could Be a Real Adventure,” we are introduced to a young boy named Wim (Ravi Cabot Conyers), who is adventurous and idealistic.
Wim is a character that some of us can relate to. Wim represents the part of us that longs for adventure and seeing what is beyond where we are at. We want to see the world and what it throws at us and take it head-on. But while we romanticize adventure, we do not take into account the challenges that come with adventure until we make a choice to confront those said challenges or walk away. Plus, I like that Wim’s adventurous nature is a counter to his father, Wendle, who is loving but more grounded and strict.
However, there are some of us who enjoy the simple things in life and prefer to stay in our utopia. We see that in Wim’s friend Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), who is a “do-gooder” and someone who is content with his life At Attin. He’s a good friend to the outgoing Wim but wants to stay out of trouble.
We are also introduced to Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), a spunky and confident girl who is the daughter of Undersecretary Fara, a teacher and government official.
We see her confidence and spunkiness when she takes the role of captain of the ship, Onyx Cinder, which she and the children dig up and discover. Fern, like Wim, has a sense of adventure, but she is more daring and impulsive. An example of this is when she rides her speeder bike through the city while breaking the rules of the road. Some of us have this attitude where the rules do not apply to us, and we just want to live free.
Then we have KB (Kyriana Kratter), who is very intelligent and astute. There are some of us who like to assess the situation before making the choice to jump in, and KB fits that description. This is shown when KB is quick to find the power conduit to help power the Onyx Cinder while Wim. Fern and Neel panic while the ship locks them in.
There are every bit of these characters in us. Again, that vicariousness is one of the things that makes the story of “Skeleton Crew” work. Some of us long for adventure. Some of us are content with life as we know it. Some of us are naturally confident. And some of us are analytical before making a choice.
Another enamoring quality of “Skeleton Crew” is the world-building. We are taken to the planet At Attin, which is akin to the American suburbs. It is an organized, sanitized, and clean utopia with rules and regulations. In addition, the children are subjected to taking a career assessment test to determine their future, which would contribute to the Great Works. Another interesting thing about the planet is that they do not allow its residents to leave the planet beyond the barrier. Furthermore, At Attin is loyal to the Republic. Not the New Republic. The original Galactic Republic before the Galactic Empire.
This is revealed in the second episode, “Way, Way Out Past the Barrier,” when Wim’s credits show the symbol of the original Republic, much to the shock and interest of the pirates he and the group encounter on Starport Borgo.
Another interesting thing about At Attin is that the pirates called it a planet of eternal treasure and that it is a myth.
One has to wonder why many believe that At Attin is the planet of eternal treasure and why it doesn’t allow its residents to leave. If it is the planet of eternal treasure, what exactly is At Attin hiding? Could Fern’s mother know about this eternal treasure since she is an undersecretary?
Starport Borgo is another fascinating place and is basically a Mos Eisley in space. As a wise Jedi Master once said, “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” The starport is full of pirates and criminals. Wim and Neel end up causing a commotion after the former shows his Republic credit to a patron who wants more credits. I feel that this is reminiscent of a young Luke Skywalker’s accidental scuffle with the criminal in the Mos Eisley cantina.
One mystery I need to point out is the character of Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law), who helps Wim/ and the children escape the brig where they are locked up. He is revealed to be Force-sensitive. Who is Jod, and was he the masked Captain Silvo who was mutinied by his own pirates at the beginning of episode one? After all, Jod was locked up in the brig before the children by the same pirates who mutinied against Silvo.
Skelton Crew was full of some Easter eggs, including the hologram of the acrobats from the “Star Wars Holiday Special.” There was also the mention from Wim about Jedi Temples descending into the ground in times of danger, which is a call back to the Jedi Temple on Lothal in “Star Wars Rebels,” which would descend to stay hidden. An Easter Egg I noticed was Wim’s cereal and milk, which reminded me of the scene in Andor where Syril Karn is eating his cereal. Another Easter Egg I found was when Wim and the group were running from the pirates, and a droid gave a pirate a tattoo of the Hutt Clan symbol.
As I have mentioned, “Skeleton Crew” is a “Star Wars” show seen through a whole new lens. It is a mixture of “Treasure Island,” “The Goonies,” “Peter Pan,” and “The Adventures of TinTin.” It is a side of “Star Wars” that leans toward the underworld of the galaxy, far, far, away. While we have seen pirates in “Star Wars Resistance” in the form of the Warbird Gang led by Kragan Goor, we have never seen them in live action, and their story has never been told in depth.
As I watch “Skeleton Crew,” I am once again 10 years old. After watching two episodes, I don’t want to be a Jedi or smuggler; maybe I want to just explore the world outside of mine and see what it is like.
“Skeleton Crew” is now streaming on Disney +.
