By George & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – Episode 8
The final episode of Skeleton Crew includes a crazy Breaking Bad parallel, key references to The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, an amazing Rebels easter egg, and parallels to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, War of the Worlds, The Wizard of Oz, Batman (1989), and more!
Below are all of the Easter Eggs, Hidden Details & References we noticed in Skeleton Crew – Episode 8….
The Supervisor’s tower looks like Palpatine’s throne room from Return of the Jedi.
The reveal of the Supervisor was very reminiscent of the end of The Wizard of Oz, in which the man (or droid) behind the proverbial curtain is finally shown. The Supervisor itself reminded us of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Supervisor tells Fara and Fern that he has been watching over them “with great interest.” This is similar to the line Palpatine says to Anakin at the end of The Phantom Menace, “We will watch your career with great interest.”
The Supervisor notes that the last message At Attin received from the Republic was that “all Jedi were traitors.” This is a reference to the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, as depicted in Revenge of the Sith. Palpatine branded the Jedi as traitors and commissioned Order 66 to kill them all, which was seemingly the last contact At Attin ever had with the Republic.
Wim’s dad’s car looks similar to the transports you ride on in the Rise of the Resistance ride at Galaxy’s Edge.
The pirates arriving on At Attin felt very much like a similar sequence in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. These visuals also reminded us of scenes from adaptations of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
Fern tells her mother, “Everywhere we went, even the worst places, there were good people too. People that can help us.” This line harkens back to Anakin’s line in The Phantom Menace, “You’ve always said the biggest problem in this universe is that nobody helps each other.” It also reminded us of themes from The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker in which, despite overwhelming odds, good people still came together to help one another.
Neel finds the turbolaser on the roof of the school and uses it to cover KB. Many expected this to happen after Episode 4 showed the kids uncover a turbolaser on the roof of a similar building on Hayna’s planet At Achrann. The payoff is great here, as we see Neel’s bravery shine once again, taking control of the turbolaser and fighting against the pirates head on.
KB flies the Oynx Cinder above the clouds just like Batman did with the Batwing in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989). In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Jon Watts also paid homage to this iconic shot from Batman when Vulture was seen flying in the sky with the moon in the background.
One of the standout elements of the finale is Wim’s dad Wendle, who is played by Tunde Adebimpe. Adebimple is the founding member and co-lead vocalist of the band TV on the Radio, who are known for songs like “Will Do” and “DLZ” (the latter of which played during the iconic Breaking Bad “stay out of my territory” moment). Adebimpe previously appeared in another project from Jon Watts as he played Mr. Cobbwell in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
More of Jod’s backstory is revealed, which ties into key plot elements from the Star Wars saga. Jod says, “When I was your age, all I cared about was not starving. I was living in a hole in the ground, and a Jedi found me. She may have been desperate and ragged like me, but she told me I had potential. And that was…Well, she only taught me a little before they hunted her down. And they made me watch whilst they killed her. That’s the galaxy. It’s dark, with a few pinpricks of light.” Jod’s little monologue confirms that he is indeed a Jedi, who survived the events of Order 66 after his master was killed. It is unclear who his master was, although she is described as “desperate” and “ragged.”
Wim ignites the lightsaber successfully in a nice parallel to episode 5, in which Wim tried to have a big hero moment (only to ignite the lightsaber the wrong way and drop it on the ground).
Some of the New Republic ships that arrive on At Attin are B-Wings. This marks the first time that B-Wings fire all of their lasers in live-action, after it was previously shown in animation in the Star Wars Rebels episode “Wings of the Master.”
Another of the New Republic ships is a Corvette, like the Tantive IV seen in A New Hope.
One of the X-Wing pilots is played by Andy Powers, who previously played the titular clown in Jon Watts’ directorial debut Clown.
Jod looking upon the destruction of his pirate frigate (and, in turn, the destruction of his dream) felt like a visual parallel to the concluding shot of David Fincher’s Fight Club.
The end credits include pictures from Wim’s storypad of Jedi adventures. Some of these pictures feature recognizable moments or elements from the Star Wars saga. One of the first pictures is of a Jedi Temple. Another picture shows two Jedi training, seemingly in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Two Trandoshians (the same species as Bossk) feature in another image. What appears to be Dooku is seen dueling with Anakin (perhaps) in another picture.
The final page shows the four kids and the Onyx Cinder, indicating that the kids ultimately went on an adventure worthy of inclusion in a storybook like this.
