Mini Series Skeleton Crew 1.01 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

I guess I'm alone on this one. I thought that was excruciating. Really painful to watch. Couldn't wait for the first episode to finish and had zero interest in watching the second one. The acting was bad. The dialogue was bad. The whole thing was so corny.

 

This is probably the weakest pilot episode for any of the live action series so far. It had a solid start with the pirate action sequence at the top (no prizes for guessing who's under that helmet), but the majority of the rest of the episode felt too pedestrian to me. I get the intention, but Star Wars suburbia just does not mesh with the larger aesthetics of this mythology. Being shown something recognizable is not the same thing as being reminded of something recognizable. It's more about the feeling of the thing rather than the imitation of the thing. At a certain point it stops feeling like Star Wars, and that's a problem.

So while the middle 30 minutes of this episode just didn't particularly work for me narratively, what I will say is that I really like these kids and the actors playing them. As with a lot of great Star Wars, you're able to get a quick read on who each kid is what kind of personalities they have. I'm genuinely excited to see how they develop over the course of the season. Everything started moving for me again once the kids started exploring the Onyx Cinder and the story finally took off.

6/10

 

I’m completely over something “needing the Star Wars feel”, I thought this felt a lot like Star Wars in its own way and I’m getting tired of everything in Disney Star Wars being “snappy freedom fighters shooting endless amounts of stormtroopers”, it’s time to diversify the franchise. This felt like a live action version of a 90’s sourcebook and I’m all for it

 

Question for those who were watching more closely than I was: Was there any trace, any hint of the Empire on the planet?

Given what seems to be explained in the next episode, it seems like this planet could be out in the Unknown Regions, lost to time. The currency used is Old Republic. The droids run most basic tasks. The barrier seems to prevent ships from going in or out. By all accounts, it's a closed off planet.

 

Nostalgia might be the most complicated theory in Star Wars. From the moment a new fan watches a Star Wars movie and falls in love everything that comes later is to some extent a journey to rediscover that first moment of magic. For those of us who became fans as young children it’s also a contemplation on childhood itself.

Over the last six years or so - I guess it goes back a lot farther than that - the animating debate in Star Wars fandom has been over where the franchise needs to go. Everybody wants something “new” and “fresh” but there’s also an understanding that it will always be backwards looking too because there’s just no way not to. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of Skeleton Crew but I liked the premiere a lot and I’m kind of surprised Disney didn’t make something like this earlier.

Well, not that surprised. For starters it takes a lot of work to make something that looks this good. I know a guy in IATSE Local 80 who built sets for this show and my understanding is that most of the shooting had actually wrapped back in 2019/2020. Yeah, it takes awhile to get all the animation effects finished when a production wants to look this good. And I must say it looks fantastic. Sure there will be debates over whether architecture looks too “Earth-like” but damn. It looks fantastic imo, every shot has nice details, everything is very sharp. Forget Obi-wan, this looks better than Acolyte, Mando, Andor, Ahsoka, it’s a new standard.

Maybe it’s not a high-stakes story, but then again maybe it is? Our kiddo heroes feel it is, and that’s the magic of Star Wars. When you’re that young everything feels mysterious, dangerous and exciting. Remember that?

A few more observations

• Episode 1 clocks in at a solid ~45min and ends up being the best character-introducing episode of any show thus far. That’s not easy to do either, we have four main characters, not to mention two parents. All of them feel fleshed out and LFL was very wise to invest enough time for that.
• The actor who plays Wim’s dad is great, brings a strong paternal presence.
• SM33 is perfect for the tone they’re setting. Corny but imposing, a little scary but loveable too.
• Music is old-fashioned Star Wars and well applied to keep the pace moving
• Fern is a bully, but I think we understand why - her cutthroat mom. Again that long pilot episode does the work to really introduce the kids.
• The pirate space port was outstanding, movie-quality
• Don’t want to get my hopes up too much as we’ve been burned so my times before, but I’m *really* looking forward to what Jude Law can contribute. This little show has promise, a lot of promise.

 

I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed the first two episodes. The kids, the vibe and the adventure all feel fun. When the second episode ended I was left wanting more, in a good way.

 

Really liked this, it felt different but also like Star Wars. I actually liked the Suburbia planet but it definetely gave off some dystopic vibes. I am looking forward to finding out what it's deal is. I did really like all the child character, which I found surprising since I'm normally not that fond of child characters. I really hope this show is well received because for me it like Andor but in a very different way is, at least going from the first two episodes, is the fresh breath Star Wars needs.

8/10 for me.

 

I think wrong might be the wrong word. I would say special.
My theory is that At-Attin is similar to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.
https://www.croptrust.org/work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/

The Old Republic may have established this utopian world as a way of preserving species, in the event war were to eradicate them on their home worlds. Granted, at the time of creating this world, a diaspora of many species had long been spreading throughout the galaxy. Consolidation of a menagerie may have been the concept of this world.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey: The World's Biggest Menagerie.
The inclusion of the Holiday Special circus performers might be a subtle hint at what their world is.

We don't know the range of travel for the citizens, if sentry droids are guarding perimeters or forbidden zones.
One of the kids seemed amazed by the variety of aliens at the pirates' port. Perhaps At-Attin has multiple cities that are cut off from one another, grouping limited species in each city.

In order to do things on the sly, perhaps The Old Republic hired pirates to gather and deliver the goods (people) to the planet, and word eventually spread amongst. Maybe the pirates who had not been contracted to collect people began to suspect something of great worth is being stockpiled on a mysterious destination. Rumors spread, and now there's a bunch of pirates who think there's a grand treasure on the elusive planet.

So, maybe wrong isn't such a bad choice of word, if pirates originally abducted people. Hopefully they were all nice pirates, like Stede Bonnet.

 

I wonder what happened to the Pirate Captain? I hope he is OK.

I wouldn't say dystopic...just planned or regimented.

 

Love this idea!
Even though… are you familiar with the Svalbard treaty?
I guess that would be different because a whole load of nations signed it and that means all citizens of these nations can go live in the Svalbard without having to ask for a visa or a permit did you know that?
I could technically up and go live there and fish and hunt and build a house because my
Country signed that treaty years ago that is fascinating!

 

I've been to Svalbard.

 

I thought the pirate attack did its job, and felt plenty Star Wars to me (love that eerie silent opening too). It probably could've used more time to play out, but given that it was a flashback (likely setting up what happened to Jod), we didn't need a drawn out action scene.

There's definitely something off about the "Great Work" thing, and the hyper-regimented adults.

 

Is this a typo? This show was announced in 2022 and filming wrapped up in 2023.
Does your friend understand how quickly kids grow up when he told you this?

 

Great! Any advice? It is actually on the shortlist for next year’s destinations, I think between September and October or the first of November. I am still pitching it to my Han Solo!

 

super fun start to the show, liking the characters, some cool aliens

I would have also pushed that button

 

Ah yes, I have mixed up the dates lol. Still great looking show!

 

This show was actually delayed several times I believe. MSW has been saying for years that it was a largely chaotic production and that Lucasfilm had very little faith in the show.

 

Bonjj Phalfa American Graffiti reference for Lucasheads.
I was bored frankly. And the dad character had the worst dialogue. This is a cute amusement park advert, but seriously. Nostalgia and easter eggs are the only good thing about this show so far.

 

Skeleton Crew has a budget of over $ 140 mill though, so some faith in the idea and show - they have. Thats more than Mandalorian and Obi Wan cost. Significantly more than Ahsoka. Jude Laws rumoured salary about $ 5 mill.

 

Nice idea. I have also been to Svalbard btw. My cousin was working there for some tme.

Maye its a bit too sophisticated for this show though. Not sure. They probably are going for something that also will echo the classical 80s films that feels connected to this show. E.T, Stand By Me, The Goonies. What was the main fear of us who grew up in the 80s? The atom bomb of course. The cold war. And that has been used so many times, its almost a cliche now, but lets face it: A version of it will work very well within the Star Wars universe, with the new angle being that we see it from the childrens viewpoint. Hopefully, not like they are building a new massive and secret super weapon ( again) on the planet. But, maybe there are minerals that are extremely important for a rising facist regime to have or similar. Anyway, its fun that we do not know what the planet is hiding yet. Hope they manage to not spoil anything before the later episodes…

 

Solid 7 on both episodes. Good story without going off on un-needed tangents. Interesting characters. And...


I hope they can keep this up.

 

As George says..it rhymes