Welcome back to the blog readers. If by some miracle you have not known how much I love this show, make it be so much more evident with my glowing endorsement of the show over the last five weeks. I am loving the charm and youthful energy this series has provided me throughout its run and I am so sad it is coming to an end next week. Would this penultimate episode, titled "We're Gonna Be in So Much Trouble," written by Christopher Ford and Jon Watts, and directed by Lee Isaac Chung, be enough to suffice us? Stick around to find out.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode. And as always, I will not be talking about the performances of the children for obvious reasons.
After last week's less-than-thirty-minute episode that was the most heartwarming one yet, I was unsure if Jon Watts and company would be able to stick the landing, because these Disney+ shows cannot do so no matter how good the show was beforehand. This was the problem with most of the Star Wars offerings we have gotten since The Mandalorian (2019-). But this penultimate episode was not only fun as hell, emotional as hell, it was shocking (in the good way). Jude Law is finally allowed to let loose and it is awesome, and I love these fucking kids man.
I was waiting for the episode where Jude Law got to let loose with his character and really show us what he is made of. This episode was it, and holy hell is he marvelous as the backstabber who you cannot trust for a minute. Obviously this series is targeted at a younger audience that may not understand the intricacy of the whole universe and everything, and Law has to be this crazy and menacing presence without being too complex or going too overboard, but I think this is a role he excels in and perfectly makes his own. And his scene with the children on the ship honestly gave me chills because I have never seen him as menacing as he was in that scene. Kudos to you Jude.
Now I need to talk about the story of this episode because this is probably the best story of any episode we have gotten thus far. We start on At Attin and the parents have completed their plan to contact their children: a forbidden communication device that they plan on sending into space past the barrier. As they are trying to set it off, they are discovered by security droids as one by one, the parents are stunned and captured before Fern's mother Fara does it and gets stunned herself. Back on the Onyx Cinder, the four children reflect on their journey thus far and Wim expresses his guilt for sending them on this adventure in the first place, but the rest of the group confides in him that they had fun and this journey only brought them together. Meanwhile, Jod is still trying to save himself from being killed by Brutus as the pirates arrive at At Attin but discover a gas planet. Jod tries to get someone to fly past the barrier. One does and is killed, so Brutus makes Jod get in the airlock before a signal comes from a ship exiting hyperspace. It is the Onyx Cinder with the children, who marvel at the barrier over the planet.
Jod realizes the ship and makes Brutus capture it with the children. The kids are able to capture Brutus in a mechanical claw-like structure, which leads to Jod shooting Brutus dead and resuming his captaincy, as well as holding the kids hostage. Suddenly, the communication device flies out into space and the pirates seize it, playing the message the parents left for the kids, revealing how to get past the barrier. Fern is able to get control of the Onyx Cinder from Jod and turns SM-33 against him. The five fly out of the ship and through the barrier, which is revealed to be giant mechanical devices that create electricity and the gas barrier. The devices turn green as the ship flies past them, revealing the ship to actually be one from At Attin. As the kids celebrate their return home, Jod reveals he stowed away on the ship and decapitates SM-33 with the lightsaber from Lanupa.
The parents are in the middle of being questioned when the Supervisor (the voice of Sir Stephen Fry) reveals a Republic emissary has arrived to the planet, and Jod threatens the kids into silence as he poses as the emissary. The parents try to get to their kids as the security droids take Jod into one of the over 1,100 vaults on At Attin. They also refuse communication with his frigate ship as he requests a meeting with the Supervisor. As Jod revels in the credits that fall on him, the parents are reunited with their kids. Suddenly, Jod approaches the group with his lightsaber drawn. I love how the kids are all friends now as this journey has forged them into better people than they were when they left At Attin. Just seeing the four playing with each other and messing around with each other put a big ass smile on my face. My heart was also so warm when the kids were reunited with their parents because it really did feel earned. I am really nervous about next week's finale because I don't know if Watts is going to be able to stick the landing in an episode he is directing. I will get back to you next week though with those results.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is shaping up to be one of my favorite series of 2024 after seven episodes, and I am salivating at the mouth to get that finale next week. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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