By George & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – Episode 5
If you’re like us, you’ve probably spent the last week replaying adorable Neel moments from the previous episode of Skeleton Crew. The fourth installment of the new Star Wars series may have been the weakest episode to date (in our opinion), but it excelled in its positioning of Neel as the lead character and, as previously shown with Rey and Omega, in proving that Star Wars is often at its most heartfelt when focusing on endearing characters whose greatest strength is their kindness. With Episode 5, Skeleton Crew continues to hit those emotional beats, while taking the team one step closer to At Attin.
Episode 5, titled “You Have A Lot to Learn About Pirates,” picks up with Jod and the kids discovering that SM-33’s memory banks may hold the key to finding At Attin. Following a lead that coordinates to the planet may be hidden in a notorious pirate’s lair, the team journey to a vacation-resort planet with pirates right on their heels.
The episode begins, however, by catching up with the parents on At Attin. So far, the parents have taken a backseat in the series, in favor of the show focusing more heavily on the children and their perilous attempts to return home. Initially, checking in with the parents seems like it could be a slow start to the episode, taking us away from the kids, but, through the mystery surrounding At Attin, this beginning is quite interesting. Wim’s father Wendle meets with Neel’s mother Nooma, who encourages him to steal a barrier access code from the system. The fact that the parents need to resort to espionage in order to find their lost kids speaks to how off everything feels on the seemingly idyllic At Attin. The entire existence of the barrier has us suspicious of the planet and its illusive supervisor, in addition to those creepy droids fitted with a camera for a face. After one of these droids captures Wendle red-handed, Wim’s father meets Fern’s mother Fara, who criticizes him for trying to steal a barrier access code and insists that she is trying to find their children through the proper channels. Before we find out anymore about what that means though, the title card appears and brings the parents’ screen time to an end. Although not the most riveting of starts, the episode continues to intriguingly play with the mystery of At Attin and show that the parents, like the audience, are understandably suspicious of what’s going on.
Back on the Onyx Cinder, the kids and Jod decide to turn SM-33 back on after he tried to pull them all apart on At Achran. SM-33 wakes up and reveals more about his origins and how he ended up on that crashed ship on At Attin. The droid explains that his old captain was Tak Rennod. Unknown to the kids, Jod is well aware of who Rennod is and begins to speak of “the most infamous pirate the galaxy has ever known.” Jod says that Tak Rennod was after the treasure of At Attin aboard the Onyx Cinder when he, his crew, and the ship suddenly vanished. Soon after, SM-33 reveals that Rennod and his pirates were heading to At Attin when a mutiny occurred and Rennod’s concubine killed him, resulting in the ship crashing on the planet. After Neel hilariously asks, “What’s a concubine?” and Jod deftly avoids answering that awkward question, the team begin to head to Skull Ridge Mountain, the location of Rennod’s lair, where SM-33 believes Rennod kept the coordinates to At Attin. This scene serves as a great setup for the episode and has so many intriguing elements. An infamous pirate captain who had a lair at a place called Skull Ridge Mountain? That sounds exactly like something out of a family pirate adventure like Pirates of the Caribbean or the Amblin classic The Goonies. It’s spooky, yet enticing, and just the kind of adventure Wim fantasizes about.
Speaking of Wim, the episode then transitions to an unexpectedly heartfelt scene between Ravi Cabot-Conyers’ character and Jude Law’s Jod Na Nawood. One would think that Wim, of all the children, would be most excited for this upcoming adventure, but that isn’t the case. Retreating to the back of the ship and crying to himself, Wim finds the stress of this adventure catching up to him and the fear finally setting in. It’s easy for a show focused on children like Skeleton Crew to ignore this kind of emotion and vulnerability and exclusively focus on the mix of fun and danger the children are experiencing. But that’s not the case here. Last episode saw more development for Neel’s character and now the fifth episode does the same for Wim. Wim mentions that his mother is dead, which explains why his father Wendle is a single parent. Jod, sensing how upset Wim is, takes on a fatherly role here and comforts Wim in a way just like a Jedi would. Jod’s fatherly instincts began to show in the previous episode, and it’s endearing to see this side of the character continue to develop here (that is, until the end of the episode).
Jod advises Wim to forget his fears, anxieties, and parents as these are “attachments.” Jod is echoing the philosophy of the Jedi, primarily depicted in the prequel trilogy, which claims that attachment is a path to the dark side. This is best evidenced through Anakin Skywalker, whose attachment to his wife Padme and fear of losing her led him to ally himself with an evil Sith lord and turn on the Jedi Order. Jod’s mention of “attachment” and brilliant delivery of Qui-Gon Jinn’s “Your focus determines your reality” line not only gave us goosebumps, but it adds further evidence to the theory that Jod is indeed a Jedi, which is certainly taking us by surprise. In being teased as a Jedi in the trailer for the show and at the end of the second episode, we were sure that Skeleton Crew would eventually reveal some twist that Jod isn’t a Jedi and is, instead, a pirate or something else. And, while the show did that, it seems that there’s a double-twist on the cards here as Jod may actually be a Jedi. This would make for a surprising turn, and a decidedly different take on what a Jedi can be. Jude Law previously said that Episode 7 of the series will more fully explore Jod’s background, so we’re looking forward to uncovering the mystery surrounding his character. Our money is on him being a Jedi, perhaps one who survived Order 66 as a child and turned to a life of piracy. We’ll wait and see.
The team then flies to Skull Island Rock. SM-33 teases a horrible, spooky, dangerous lair, much like the archetypal pirate lair one would find in a pirate story. But that is not the case as Skull Island Rock has been turned into a vacation resort called Lanupa. This is certainly a surprise as we expected this episode to take place in a more archetypal pirate lair, not a resort that looks like it’s been lifted from a real-life tropical holiday. SM-33 mentions that the world is also known as Battle World and The Devil’s Nest, the former of which got us thinking of Battleworld in the Marvel comic Secret Wars.
With children not permitted on Lanupa, the team instigate an undercover spy mission (not unlike the espionage Wendle was engaged in at the start of the episode) to infiltrate Skull Island Rock. The kids disguise themselves as wise elders from the Bratric system, and look hilarious with their makeshift costumes (especially Neel, who looks like a Jawa with his hood on).
There’s a fun hidden detail in the dialogue soon after. The resort worker who welcomes them to the planet mentions that security is heightened at Skull Island Rock as the Banking Clan is present for an economic summit. The InterGalactic Banking Clan appeared in the prequel trilogy and were an ally of the Separatists during the Clone Wars.
Jod plans on enjoying the luxury of the resort as they try to find Rennod’s lair – that is, until he comes across an old colleague Pokkit (who is played by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald, known for her roles in No Country for Old Men, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II, and Boardwalk Empire). Pokkit holds a grudge against Jod, who she knows by the name Dash Zentin. The first name ‘Dash’ immediately has us thinking of Dash Rendar, the mercenary who originally appeared in the Legends multimedia project Shadows of the Empire, and is yet another alias for Jude Law’s character. Between Captain Silvo, Jod Na Nawood, Crimson Jack, and now Dash Zentin, Law’s character is obviously known by a lot of names, which just adds another layer of mystery to his intriguing character.
Not long after running into Jod, Pokket calls him a sleemo (the Huttese insult Zam Wesell says as her dying breath in Attack of the Clones) and contacts Captain Brutus, who is still on the hunt for Jod and the kids. Jod suspects that Pokket will do this and immediately changes his plan – he wants to find the coordinates to At Attin and get out as quickly as possible, rather than take his time enjoying the luxury of the resort. What comes next is the episode’s funniest scene as an anxious and frantic Jod tries to wrangle the four kids and get them to calm down for his mission. Jod exudes dad energy here, in a moment that will undoubtedly be relatable to anyone who has been a parent or caregiver of young kids. Eventually, and after some humorous deliberation, Jod is able to get everyone on board, deciding to split into two teams in order to locate a symbol that signifies Rennod’s lair.
Up next is an unexpected cameo appearance from a Hutt, who hilariously eats a fed up resort worker. This is the second reference to the Hutts we’ve picked up on in Skeleton Crew so far (the first of which being a pirate getting the Hutt sigil tattooed on his body in Episode 2). With the Hutt twins in The Book of Boba Fett and now this Hutt in Skeleton Crew, it is clear that the Hutts are still around (and seemingly thriving) after the death of Jabba.
Meanwhile, the two teams try to locate Rennod’s lair. Jod, Neel, and KB, however, are soon intercepted by a man who knows Jod by Captain Silvo, Dash Zentin, AND Jodwick Zank (yet another alias for Jude Law’s character). Due to KB’s intellect, the team escapes and finds their way to Wim and Fern, who have befriended a massive creature named Cthallops. The interactions between Chtallops and the crew are funny here, as is Wim and Neel calling each other ‘Jedi One’ and ‘Jedi Two’ over walkie-talkies (what kid hasn’t had fun with nicknames communicating over walkie-talkies?).
After Chthallops points Jod and the kids in the right direction to Rennod’s lair, the team come across some Indiana Jones-esque booby traps on their way to their destination. One of these booby traps feels like a Star Wars version of a particularly memorable part of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. Again, Skeleton Crew does not shy away from the myriad of projects it draws influence from, and this wink at the Indiana Jones franchise proves to be a lot of fun.
And, in Indiana Jones fashion, Jod and the kids need to complete a puzzle of sorts before entering the lair. We loved this moment of the episode as it highlighted their ability to work together as a team and reminded us of the sort of puzzles Indiana Jones tackles in his films and Nathan Drake solves in the Uncharted games.
In solving the puzzle, Jod and the kids find their way into Rennod’s lair. Amazing production design is on display here, making this location feel like it has been taken straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. There are all sorts of valuables scattered across the room, including a lightsaber (which comes into play in the episode’s final moments).
With enemy pirates now right outside the doors, the team try to find a dataport that will allow them to uncover the coordinates to At Attin. Neel, who proves he has brains to accompany his sense of humor, discovers something that looks off in the room, which then reveals the coordinates to At Attin! A distorted hologram of Captain Rennod reveals that At Attin is the last Old Republic Mint, meaning the planet is where credits are produced. As Neel aptly says, this truly is an eternal treasure.
So, at last, the kids have the location back home (and we now know more about why At Attin is so sought after by Jod and pirates). Everything seems to be going in the kids’ favor finally, at least for a few moments. But then, the episode takes a surprising and somewhat jarring turn. Jod, who has increasingly grown into his fatherly role in the past two episodes, suddenly loses his charm and warmth, becoming a hardened and merciless pirate instead. Jod challenges Fern for the position of captain, per the pirate’s code (we love a Pirates of the Caribbean parallel), and urges Fern to yield, otherwise he will hurt her. This is a completely different side to Jod, one that feels like it came out of nowhere. Not only that, but Jod’s betrayal feels a bit misguided for the character. Surely, it would be easier to keep the kids on his side until they all return to the ship, at which point Jod could then abandon the kids and go to At Attin himself. Why Jod decides to overthrow Fern’s captaincy here is a little perplexing, as is the sudden change in Jod’s demeanor and personality.
Observing the danger unfolding before his eyes, Wim takes a page out of Neel’s book of bravery by intervening. Wim takes the lightsaber from the treasure room and is ready for his big Jedi moment, when he ignites the lightsaber and…makes a fool of himself. This was a great moment, as it is likely what would happen if a child with no training whatsoever suddenly ignited a lightsaber.
With Wim’s attempt at heroism falling flat, Fern yields to Jod, who now becomes captain of SM-33. Suddenly, the kids use a booby trap in the room to escape Jod and SM-33. The episode then ends on an incredible cliffhanger, with Jod using the Force to bring the lightsaber into his hands.
The prospect of seeing Jude Law’s Jod use a lightsaber in the coming episodes has us so excited, especially as the layers of his character continue to unfold. For the time being, all of the power seems to be in Jod’s hands. He has SM-33, the Onyx Cinder, a lightsaber, and the coordinates to At Attin, which leaves the kids in a pretty dire situation. We suspect the kids and Jod will soon be reunited as they all head to At Attin for a big showdown.
VERDICT: 7.5/10
The fifth episode of Skeleton Crew peels back the layers of the mysteries about At Attin and Jod Na Nawood in an extremely entertaining installment that leans heavily into Indiana Jones influences. “You Have A Lot to Learn About Pirates” is filled with interesting reveals, including information about SM-33 and his former captain, Jod’s true nature, and why At Attin is the place of eternal treasure. The episode adopts a brisk pace, perfectly suited for the kind of adventure story that unfolds. The undercover mission affords some great moments of humor (and a funny Jawa-esque disguise for Neel), while the puzzle solving and booby traps on their way to the pirate’s lair delightfully reminded us of Indiana Jones. Jod’s sudden turn in personality at the end of the episode, however, felt jarring in its execution, although the creators were likely going for this moment to come as unexpected. The cliffhanger, which sees Jod use the Force to claim a lightsaber, has us excited for what’s to come in the next episode of Skeleton Crew (which is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard!)