By George & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – Episode 7
Prior to the premiere of Skeleton Crew, we had our eyes on several specific episodes of the new Star Wars show. Episode 6 was on our radar as Bryce Dallas Howard was announced to be that episode’s director and we were excited to see Howard helm another episode of Star Wars television. Episode 7, meanwhile, caught our attention as Jude Law had said during the show’s promotional tour that the episode is his favorite of the season as it reveals more about his character Jod “I think [my favorite is Episode] 7,” Law said. “Because so much comes to a head, and you find out an awful lot very quickly about my character.” With that in mind (and after such a heartfelt and entertaining episode last time out), we’ve eagerly anticipated the penultimate episode of Skeleton Crew. And, thankfully, it most certainly delivered (albeit in ways we didn’t expect.”
Episode 7, titled “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble,” picks up where Episode 6 left off as everyone finally has the coordinates to At Attin. After escaping Skull Ridge Mountain thanks to bravery, teamwork, and a new version of the Onyx Cinder, the kids use the coordinates they retrieved from Tak Rennod’s lair to try and finally get back home. Jod, meanwhile, remains captured by Captain Brutus and his fellow pirates, who are using Jod’s intel to find At Attin and determine if what he says about the planet containing a long lost treasure is actually true.
The contrast between Episodes 6 and 7 indicate that episode length isn’t an inherent issue for Star Wars television episodes. Both episodes have similar length yet, unlike its predecessor, Episode 7 feels more like a complete installment of the series. There are more story developments and more reveals packed into a complete episode, as opposed to leaving us wanting more. To qualify, the episode ends on yet another tantalizing cliffhanger, so it would be incorrect to say it didn’t leave us wanting more. However, the ending of Episode 7 didn’t result in any frustration or disappointment at how things progressed. In fact, the opposite was true as the episode packed in a whole bunch into just 30 minutes.
The episode begins by catching up with the parents of the lost children. In previous episodes, we’ve found the snippets of parents to be a tad dry, although they’ve been brief enough to not detract away from the more entertaining components of the show with Jod and the kids. Desperate to make communication with the kids beyond the mysterious barrier of At Attin, the parents hatch a plan to use an unauthorized communication device. However, their plan is thwarted by the arrival of security droids (that is, after Neel’s mom Nooma is interrupted in the middle of saying ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this’). As the parents are stunned by the droids one-by-one, it seems like the goal of sending a message to the kids is lost, but, eventually, Fern’s mother Fara (played by Kerry Condon) is able to get the message out. Fara’s inclusion in this beginning sequence came as a bit of a surprise to us as we were getting the impression that she was maybe not entirely a good guy. Her higher ranking position in the mysterious governmental structure of At Attin had us suspicious, as did her interruption of Win’s father’s plan to reach out to his son in a previous message. Fara proves though that parental love is more powerful than most forces as she betrays the planet’s leadership in an attempt to rescue her beloved daughter. Thankfully, this isn’t the last we see of the parents in this episode (unlike a previous installment, which introduced them at the beginning only to then not feature them for the rest of the episode).
Back on the new Onyx Cinder, the kids happily make their way back home. Well, at least three of the four of them do. As Fern, Neel, and KB excitedly anticipate reuniting with their parents, a disheartened Wim mourns the adventure that will soon come to an end. This is a moment that feels straight out of an 80s Amblin classic like E.T. or The Goonies, one in which, despite all the danger the kids have faced along the way, there is still disappointment that such a novel and fun time will soon conclude. We see Fern offer warmth and support to Wim amidst his sadness, mirroring how Wim previously showed such warmth and support to a troubled Fern in Episode 4. The chemistry between the children and the resultant heart and joy have easily been the highlights of Skeleton Crew, and little moments like this continue to evidence that.
Meanwhile, Jod remains a prisoner of Captain Brutus as the pirates also make their way to At Attin. On arriving to the supposed treasure planet, they are greeted by a toxic maelstrom, which quickly leads Brutus to assume that Jod was lying about there being any treasure and, subsequently, proceeding to execute him via airlock. Just in the nick of time though, Jod uses his characteristic charm to barely escape death. The following interchange between Jod and Brutus makes for entertaining viewing, as the former and current captain of the crew battle for the support of their fellow pirates.
To test whether approaching the planet is safe, Brutus sends out a volunteer to enter At Attin’s atmosphere. Before long though, the toxic atmosphere destroys the volunteer and his ship, and Brutus proceeds to try to execute Jod. The episode’s director Lee Isaac Chung then manages to capture a really tense and suspenseful moment in which Jod is thrown in the airlock, ready to be sent to his death, while he pleads for his life and tries to convince Brutus that keeping him alive is advisable. Once again, Jod is saved with mere moments to spare – this time due to the arrival of the Onyx Cinder out of hyperspace.
Jod concludes (after making quite an assumption) that the Onyx Cinder is the key to safely landing on At Attin. As a result, Brutus and the pirates capture the kids’ ship with a tractor beam. After another fun back-and-forth between Jod and Brutus wrestling for control of the crew, Brutus tries to board the captured Onyx Cinder, only to then be grabbed by an overhead crane.
Jod takes this opportunity to do something quite unexpected – mercilessly execute Brutus. With Jude Law’s aforementioned comments about Episode 7, we had assumed that this episode’s reveal would entail going into Jod’s backstory, but, instead of his backstory, the reveals pertain to Jod’s true character. This is the first of several dark, villainous, and unexpected decisions made by Jod in this episode. The death of Brutus comes as a bit of shame in that the back-and-forth between Brutus and Jod was quite engaging, but, nonetheless, it makes sense why Jod executed him as he now takes back control of his pirate crew and can lead the charge to At Attin.
Under Jod’s command, the pirates take control of the Onyx Cinder and take the children as hostages. Jod initially plans to remove the mechanism of the Onyx Cinder that allows it to safely pass through the At Attin toxic storm and place this mechanism on his pirate frigate, which he aims to use to forcibly steal the treasure on the planet. Before executing this plan though, Jod sees that there is an incoming communication.
The communication is the message from the children’s parents that was sent at the beginning of the episode. In addition to professing their love for the kids, the parents also reveal a bit more about At Attin. They tell the kids that, in order to get back home, they must find a Republic emissary, who knows how to get them through the barrier. Wim’s father says, “You weren’t supposed to find out about any of this until you graduate,” which sheds a bit of light on the secrets of At Attin. It appears that the true purpose and ‘Great Work’ of the planet is known to adults of At Attin, but, for some reason, not the children. In accidentally fleeing the planet and having to return though, the kids will soon discover more about their home world. There is still great mystery surrounding At Attin in this penultimate episode of the series. Each episode slightly peels back the layers of this mystery, and Episode 7 continues to do so as it moves along.
After Wim bravely stages an attack on the pirates to win back the ship, the kids manage to state their claim for the ship after SM-33 reveals that the Pirates’ Code stipulates a pirate can only have command of one ship, and Jod already has command of the frigate. Finally, things look up for the kids as SM-33 swears his allegiance to the kids again and punches Jod, proceeding to kick him and the other pirates off the ship.
With the pirates disposed of (for the time being), the kids and SM-33 make their way through the toxic maelstrom and toward At Attin. During this treacherous journey, SM-33 reveals that the Onyx Cinder is actually an Old Republic Mint ship from At Attin, which led Captain Rennod to steal it as a means to secure safe passage to At Attin.
Just as the kids arrive back home after 7 episodes of being away, things are beginning to look for them. For a few moments, however, as Jod suddenly appears aboard the ship having secretly snuck back on the ship. In yet another unexpected moment in a rather unpredictable episode, Jod proceeds to ignite the lightsaber he stole from Rennod’s lair and beheads SM-33! It’s Star Wars, so we’ve obviously seen plenty of lightsabers before. And yet this moment was still so cool. The glow of the blue blade and the appearance of an ignited lightsaber for the first time in this show made for an epic moment, as did Jude Law’s swift movement to take down SM-33. Although droids can be repaired (and we expect SM-33 to make his return in Episode 8 somehow), one can’t help but feel sad that the droid met such a fate.
The following scene is probably the scariest one in Skeleton Crew to date, which is in large part due to Jude Law’s harrowing turn as Captain Silvo. Jod screams at the children, commanding them to get down on the ground, and later picks on Neel by calling him “unbearable.” (Our hearts broke for little Neel as he looked so sad at being treated by Jod in such a way). This goes from bad to worse as Jod targets Wim and calls him “the worst one” and menacingly taunts Fern. Jod even goes as far to threaten that he will “carve up” the kids’ parents “piece by piece slowly.”
We’ve thought a lot about Jod’s particularly striking villainy in this episode and ultimately think that, while Jude Law delivers a superb performance, the villainous turn doesn’t entirely work for us. Admittedly, it would be more satisfying to see Jod become a fatherly figure like Din Djarin or Hunter and, as such, there is a little of this disappointment embedded in our impression. However, what we feel is off with this turn is how jarring it is and how much it diverges from Jod’s behavior earlier this season. In previous episodes, Jod was really becoming a father figure for the kids – from having a heartfelt conversation with Wim to hugging Neel and Wim closely after reuniting with them on Hayna’s planet to other interactions. All of this does not seem to be the behavior of the man we are seeing in Episode 7 here. Yes, Jod has always been shady and characters like Kh’ymm and Pokkit have warned the kids not to trust him. And yet there has been a heart and emotion to Jod, which makes this sudden darkness so unexpected and seemingly out of place.
The parents on At Attin, meanwhile, are being held by safety droids when the voice of the supervisor (provided by legendary English actor Stephen Fry!) comes on the PA system and announces that a Republic emissary is arriving on the planet.
The Onyx Cinder lands on At Attin, fitting perfectly into a landing port. Jod impersonates the Republic emissary as a means to make his way to the Old Republic Mint on At Attin. The fact that he brings the kids along with him makes sense for the most part, given that Jod said it’s always better to have hostages (although one can’t help but think things may be easier for Jod if he left the kids behind).
One of the safety droids leads Jod and the kids into the Old Republic Mint, a massive underground facility where credits are produced. The entire vibe of this introduction has the feel of Obi-Wan Kenobi being introduced to the cloning facilities on Kamino by the Kaminoans in Attack of the Clones. The musical cues from series composer Mick Giacchino are reminiscent of similar cues from John Williams’ Kamino theme in Episode II, and the safety droid itself sounds quite like a Kaminoan.
The safety droid then leads Jod and the kids into one of the vaults, filled to the brim with Old Republic Credits. The treasure that Jod has envisioned for so long is actually real, a realization that Jude Law plays with incredible, twisted delight.
As Jod celebrates the prize (and continues to calculate how he’ll get the pirate frigate past the barrier), the kids are reunited with their parents, who have been brought down to the vaults by safety droids. With the parents so easily being brought down here, we can assume that adults on At Attin are well aware that their planet is home to an Old Republic Mint and have likely even visited this location before.
The kids’ joy at reuniting with the parents proves temporary, however, as they come back to reality and recognize that the villainous Jod still has them hostage. Jod ignites his lightsaber in front of the kids and the parents, which leads into the credits and the episode coming to an end. The imagery of Jod igniting the lightsaber parallels Anakin igniting his lightsaber in front of younglings he is about to kill in Revenge of the Sith, although we think Jod’s intentions are less murderous here. We think Episode 8 will begin with Jod posing as a Jedi in front of the parents and igniting his lightsaber to prove this point.
VERDICT: 8/10
Living up to Jude Law’s claim that this installment would go into his character Jod like never before (but in unexpected fashion), Episode 7 of Skeleton Crew triumphs as another enthralling and suspenseful installment of the Star Wars series. Interactions between Brutus and Jod as the two wrestle for control of the pirate crew make for some entertaining scenes, while we mourn the unexpected loss of SM-33 and have our jaws drop at the debut of an ignited lightsaber in the series. Layers of the mystery of At Attin continue to peel back as Jod and the kids finally make their way back home and into the Old Republic Mint, which is brought to life with some incredible visual effects and production design. The most striking element of Episode 7, however, is Jod’s turn to villainy, which, while executed excellently by Jude Law, feels jarring and out of place considering the character’s well-intentioned actions in previous episodes. Jod remains a fascinating character, even if the true nature of his morals and personality comes across as inconsistent with the kindness and paternal warmth he exhibited previously. Ending on a cliffhanger that sees the kids finally reunite with their parents, only to still be held hostage by the lightsaber-wielding Jod, has us excited and anxious for next week’s eighth episode. We’ve enjoyed this series so much, even if we have some qualms with how Jod’s character development has been executed, and will be so saddened to say goodbye to these kids in the season finale. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Christopher Ford and Jon Watts are given an opportunity to continue the story of Skeleton Crew in a second season, but, in the meantime, we’ll eagerly count down the days and minutes until the season finale premieres.