REVIEW: Skeleton Crew – Season 1, Episode 8, “The Real Good Guys”

Television Reviews

***SPOILERS***

“The Real Good Guys” opens where “We’re Gonna be in So Much Trouble” left off, with the kids and their parents in Jod’s hands. The parents assume Jod is a Jedi, and the kids are forced to play along. Jod takes Fern and Undersecretary Fara to meet the Supervisor. Wim clashes with his dad and tries to coordinate Fern’s rescue with Neel, but droids are watching them all on Jod’s orders. Jod finds that the Supervisor is a droid and destroys it when it questions his story. Although Fara now knows the truth about him, she still helps Jod get the pirates through the Barrier to keep Fern safe. In destroying the Supervisor, Jod inadvertently shut off all power, including the droids. Wim, Neel, and KB leave to save Fern. A frustrated Wendle follows them, trying to stop Wim. Eventually, he agrees to restore At Attin’s power so the ship can take off. At the Supervisor’s tower, Wim distracts Jod with a wild tale of Jedi and magic crystals while Wendle restores power.

Meanwhile, KB and a somewhat repaired SM-33 leave the Barrier and contact Kh’ymm. However, the Cinder crashes to the ground afterward when the pirates fire on it. This devastates Fern but emboldens the children, who finally motivate their parents to destroy the Barrier. Jod is enraged by this, as Kh’ymm’s friends can now get to At Attin, and his plans are foiled. Wim gets the lightsaber, and Jod drops his blaster. X-Wings destroy the pirate ship as Jod watches helplessly. The kids are all reunited with their parents, and KB emerges from the Cinder relatively unscathed, along with SM-33. 

Well, we called it; the Supervisor was indeed a droid. He even resembles HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, which, I assume, is intentional, if strange, given Skeleton Crew’s target audience. This was heavily implied last week when Jod said he wanted to see someone who isn’t a droid. I’m somewhat disappointed that the Supervisor wasn’t connected with Tak Rennod or created by him – or at least, if that is the case, they don’t mention it. I wonder if some of the mysteries were being saved for a future season we likely won’t get. We get resolutions for the most important things, like the kids’ families, so I’m mostly happy. I just wanted closure on Jod and Tak Rennod. We see Jod’s dreams crumble around him, but does he live? Does he escape At Attin? This character has been insanely entertaining, and I’m most interested in knowing what lies ahead for him, if anything. And I am so happy he didn’t save the kids or turn good. I really expected Jod to go full John Silver and sacrifice his treasure to save the kids, but I love that Skeleton Crew didn’t go in that direction. We do get Jod’s tragic backstory, as he tells the kids and their parents he was the Padawan learner of a Jedi who was hunted down and killed. But while Skeleton Crew sympathizes with Jod, it never shies away from making him a terrifying monster. I like it. I also appreciate that they don’t make Jod act stupid in the finale so the kids can get one over on him. He immediately catches on to Fern and her mom scheming to escape, and he separates the kids, placing them under surveillance right away. Jude Law has been awesome as this character, and I’m glad the writing didn’t fail him in the end as it does in so many shows. 

I wanted to love “The Real Good Guys” as much as some of the other episodes, but it’s even more rushed than its predecessors. I’ve loved this show overall, but “rushed” is the biggest complaint I have for sure. It’s particularly frustrating in a season (potentially series) finale, where we need closure for several characters and plot threads. Wim mentioned his mom several times this season, but he never grows from this loss. We don’t learn anything about her, aside from her apparently being dead. I half expected her to be connected to the Supervisor because she was mentioned multiple times. What’s going to happen now that the Republic knows about this planet? Did they know the whole time? The Supervisor states that his most recent communication from the Republic was that the Jedi are traitors, an obvious reference to Order 66.

By the way, this is how you tie a universe together right. I like that this show exists in Star Wars and has its history, but it doesn’t constantly try to remind us about Star Wars stuff and characters. Anyway, a lot of the mystery of At Attin itself isn’t resolved in “The Real Good Guys,” and I don’t think we’re likely to get another season. I would love one; Skeleton Crew is in my top 3 live-action Star Wars shows with Andor and The Mandalorian. If we count season 3 of The Mandalorian, I like Skeleton Crew better than that show. However, the abysmal reception of The Acolyte, a lack of marketing for Skeleton Crew, and the general state of the Star Wars franchise seem to have killed this show. It’s a real shame; much like Andor, I thought nothing of this show at first, but I have thoroughly and sincerely enjoyed it. The Star Wars properties without legacy characters and constant references tend to be the best, Acolyte aside. That was original, but that’s the only nice thing I can say about it.  

The action in “The Real Good Guys” is pretty basic but effective. Ships crash, the heroes blaze past on their scooters, and Jod offers the constant threat of violence. His outburst at the kids last week, yelling about how annoying and naive they are, is still unparalleled. For some reason, that was more upsetting than him killing Brutus in cold blood.  It seemed like Jod cared about the kids earlier in the season, but his mask has fully come off now. Mick Giacchino’s score has been really good, and I love this episode’s end credits and the scene where the kids see the sky for the first time. The sky always looked green and clouded because of the Barrier, so they’d never seen the stars before. 

I enjoyed “The Real Good Guys,” but it’s not my favorite episode of Skeleton Crew. “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates” was the show’s peak, although I’ve liked the whole season. I’m not entirely satisfied with the wrap-up here, as I’d like to know Jod’s fate and learn more about the Supervisor and Tak Rennod. But the acting is excellent, and I enjoyed what happened in the episode. Skeleton Crew has been a surprisingly fun show, and I will miss it if they don’t renew it.

Let us know what you thought of the Skeleton Crew finale in the comments!