Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 4 Review
The fourth episode of ‘Skeleton Crew’ takes audiences to one of the former jewels of the Old Republic At Achrann, with a story that both helps drive the main plot forward, but helps to feel contained and like an old episode of television. Most of the characters are able to have a satisfying moment, but this episode was Neel’s time to shine. The mystery of the kid’s home is deepened further. It’s a strong package that shows that this show can continue to hold its own.
Opening on what looks like the space above At Attin, all the kids apart from Wim celebrate the fact they’re home. Wim however laments that his adventure was over too fast, which is the setup for a character moment for him later on, where he realises that adventuring isn’t all its cracked up to be, and that sometimes boring is best. As they fly in, broken satellites can be seen, their purpose unknown. Were they part of Operation Cinder, part of hiding the jewels, or something else? This is another mystery that will surely be explained.
On the planet, the kids realise that something is wrong. The suburbs are now in ruin, and the streets are now occupied with a militia, and kids are fighting them. Wim and the rest are taken to the Troiks, led by a man who believes all kids should be treated like adults. Wim at first likes this, it means he can train and play soldier for fun with the others, but he and the rest soon find out being treated like adults all means being used as soldiers like adults.
Neel however refuses to fight, and instead suggests that the Troiks and Hattans try to make peace with one another. He doesn’t believe in conflict, which is something the daughter of Troik’s leader at first sees as treason, but as Neel continues to describe his life, she sees it as a strength. Neel is clearly the stand out here, with his charm something everyone needs to take a lesson from. Actor Robert Timothy Smith’s voicework helped a great deal with this, along with Neel’s facial expressions. KB is the only one who doesn’t get a moment this episode, which is a shame as she’s how painfully few so far.
Jod and SM-33 take on a lot of the episode three’s humour, which is both incredibly sassy and funny. Fern orders SM-33 to babysit Jod while the kids explore, and SM-33 treats Jod exactly like that. Thanks to Nick Frost’s deadpan delivery, it’s unclear if SM-33 is hilariously mocking the man, or if he’s genuinely being serious. On the ship, Jod demonstrates his duplicity by stealing the kids’ money, which angers SM-33. Of course, Jod violates his order not to leave the ship, but is immediately captured by one of the warring factions of the planet, the Hattan. Jod gives up straightaway, even requesting to just be killed. It adds a nice bit of subversion to the whole “never surrender” trope.
Jod later manages to buy freedom from the Hattan and even frees the Troik’s eopies, though as he’s not gained the audience’s trust yet, it’s unclear what actually happens. Did Jod somehow manage to keep the money for himself? Jod gets the kids back from the Troik’s as his reward, showing that on some level he cares for them, but again is this just him using the kids to get to At Attin? His character continues to be an enigma, with audiences not sure whether he’ll take the selfish route, or if he does the right thing but for selfish reasons.
The ending of the episode is a shocking twist. The kids manage to climb the Fallen Sanctum, which they know as the supervisors’ tower and at the top they find coordinates for all the other treasure planets, except of course At Attin. It soon becomes clear why this is the case, as SM-33 was ordered to destroy them, and claim he forgot them. This sets up a wonderful moment for Fern, who has a realisation that being captain isn’t all it’s made out to be, as she has no idea what to do next.
After Wim tries to calm her down, Fern realises that she can trick SM-33 into remembering where At Attin is, by using a clever language trick. Surprisingly, this doesn’t work as planned, as SM-33’s old captain programmed another failsafe into the droid, ordering him to tear anyone who asks for the coordinates limb from limb, resulting in a genuinely scary moment as the droid lumbers towards the kids, attempting to kill them. Neel bravely distracts the droid, allowing Jod to switch him off. It’s unclear if this will reset SM-33 though. It shows the little boy isn’t as scared as he claims.
Unfortunately for audiences, the episode ends right after this. It’s a mid-season cliffhanger, as the kids no longer have a clear path forward, and they seem trapped. It leaves the show on a compelling note, as audiences now wonder who SM-33’s previous captain was, and what treasure he was after. The mysterious satellites that were shown clearly have some kind of meaning too, but it’s unclear yet. None of these mysteries have any obvious answers to them, proving that ‘Star Wars’ can be secretive as drop just the right amount of clues to encourage speculation, but subvert that in a clever way.
This episode managed to feel like its own complete adventure, but still serving as a part of a larger story and teasing what’s going on. Fern, Wim and Neel all had moments of growth, and Jod and SM-33 are both humourous. The story is compelling, showing the kids just how lucky they are to grow up on a world safe from harm, and just how important it is to protect what they have. It’s an all round great episode.
