REVIEW: Skeleton Crew – Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2, “This Could Be a Real Adventure” and “Way, Way Out Past the Barrier”

Television Reviews

Skeleton Crew has been the least exciting Star Wars series yet, at least for me. Nothing in the marketing or interviews made it sound particularly interesting, and Disney’s relative silence about it and dumping it in December indicate a lack of confidence in the show. I don’t tend to love shows about children, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong is the only child star I already knew. I like Jude Law a lot, but he and Jaleel White seem like stunt casting done out of desperation. So, in short, I wasn’t looking forward to Skeleton Crew, and it seems like not many other people were, either. But I’m nothing if not stubborn, and I feel obligated to watch every Star Wars show. So how is Stranger-Goonies-Pirates in Space? Let’s find out. 

***SPOILERS***

In “This Could Be a Real Adventure,” a failed score leads a band of pirates to mutiny against their Captain, Silvo. Meanwhile, a regular boy named Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) goes through his usual boring school morning routine on the suburban planet At Attin. However, all that changes when he finds something out in the woods, believing it to be a Jedi temple. However, this causes him to miss an important career exam at school. Wim’s dad is furious but gets him the opportunity to retake the exam. The next day, Wim takes his best friend Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) to the site, and they encounter Fern (Armstrong) and KB (Kyriana Kratter), two girls from school. They all decide to work together to search the site. Neel and Wim manage to pry open a metal door, and inside, they find a deactivated droid and an abandoned starship. KB, Fern, and Neel want to go home, but Wim activates the ship, accidentally sending them into space. 

“Way, Way Out Past the Barrier” finds the kids reeling in their new circumstances. The droid, named SM-33 (do you get it?), appears, and Fern convinces him that she’s his new captain. Under Captain Fern’s orders, SM-33 (Nick Frost) takes the kids to a starport. The kids split up there, and a woman tries to help Fern and KB get home. Neel and Wim anger some pirates, inadvertently revealing that they have old, rare credits from home. SM-33 emerges from the ship to protect Fern, and the others, by extension. However, he gets shot by pirates who imprison the children. Jod Na-Nawood (Jude Law) appears at last, another prisoner of the pirates who offers to help the kids get home. He impresses Wim by apparently using the Force to get the keys to their cell. 

I don’t know what to make of Skeleton Crew. It’s not terrible, certainly not as bad as it could have been. But it’s not the fun fest Lucasfilm wanted us to believe it was, either, at least in the first two episodes. I understand establishing the monotony of Wim’s day-to-day life; it’s relatable and makes the adventure much more exciting by comparison. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find this section of “This Could Be a Real Adventure” somewhat dull, and I’ve seen the same idea executed better elsewhere. I will give them credit for establishing a lot in a short time; Wim’s dad seems well-meaning but works a lot, so the boy feels neglected and bored. From what we can see, Neel has a wonderful home life, with loving parents and three younger siblings. Fern’s mom is Undersecretary Fara, a government official who visits Wim’s class to discuss the career assessment. She has very high expectations for her daughter, who lies about being a bike-racing rebel. For some reason, this all just sounds more interesting than watching it felt. I’d love to know if others had a different experience. Strangely, we don’t learn anything about KB’s home life. This could be a big emotional beat later in the season, or maybe she’s more of an ancillary character than the other three kids. 

There seems to be something insidious, or secretive, going on with At Attin, the kids’ home planet. Undersecretary Fara (Kerry Condon) says, “Everyone has a place in the great work” to Neel and Wim’s class in an unsettling way. I could be misinterpreting this because, as a kid, I felt pressured to choose a job when I just wanted to watch TV and collect stickers. So, I should relate to Wim, but I don’t feel that connection for some reason. This “great work” on At Attin may have something to do with the pirates not believing it’s a real place. Their comment about it being a hidden treasure trove reminded me of Treasure Planet, and Treasure Island by extension. I assume the latter was the intention.

I don’t think the kids are bad actors, especially not Ryan Kiera Armstrong. I heard she got trashed for Firestarter, which I never watched, but she was amazing in American Horror Story, and she does well here. I don’t particularly love Fern as a sassy, no-nonsense kid. She’s bossy, arrogant, and even KB remarks that she’s mean to the boys. I assume this is a setup for later on when they all inevitably become besties for life, so I’m trying to reserve judgment. I think the problem I’m having with caring about the kids may be with the writing. Wim playing with action figures and playing Jedi with Neel should be endearing. Maybe it’s too staged? Too meta with the Jedi toys? Some of the dialogue does come across as wooden or even random. The test proctor tells the kids to use their desk controls if they need to use the refresher, AKA the bathroom. How would this help them do their business? At their desks? Fern also notes that Wim and Neel look pretty strong, strong enough to open what ends up being the spaceship. What brings this on? It doesn’t flow naturally with the conversation about her pranking them. This is a little different, but I found Nick Frost’s pirate-y voice for SM-33 distracting, as it doesn’t sound like any of the other droids we’ve heard in Star Wars. It’s almost too human in a way that takes me out of the story, if that makes sense. 

I didn’t hate the first two episodes of Skeleton Crew, but I didn’t love them, either. The show looks polished, but nothing about the set design or visual effects grabbed me. The music by Mick Giacchino (son of Michael Giacchino) may be the best part so far, but I’m going to wait it out and give each episode a chance. I’m neither thrilled nor disappointed, so I’m not excited or dreading the rest. We’ll see.

Let us know what you thought of the first two episodes of Skeleton Crew in the comments!

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