Skeleton Crew Episode 1 is an effective set-up for a new Star Wars story, following a group of Goonie-like kids as they stumble on something extraordinary.
I think it’s fair to say that the one-two punch of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker broke Star Wars. It was once the biggest franchise in the world, but now, despite constant output on Disney Plus, it’s felt increasingly niche.
You’ve got The Mandalorian, a brilliant space western that eventually indulged Dave Filoni’s past with The Clone Wars. Ahsoka was basically a sequel to Star Wars Rebels. The Acolyte, while underrated, failed to connect with viewers en masse. And then there’s Andor, one of the best things to ever emerge from the series.
Now we’ve arrived at Skeleton Crew, a high-thrills, low-frills adventure with a group of young, cheeky chappies through the galaxy far, far away who have one goal: getting home.
Space pirates!
On a familiarly starry sight, we get Skeleton Crew’s opening text: “Since the fall of the Empire, the New Republic has maintained order. And yet, remote hyperspace routes are increasingly plagued by piracy. These pirates boldly brand their armored hulls as a sign to all ships. Surrender or die.”
Soon, we see a small ship captured and raided by Captain Silvo and his pirates. The ship’s chief urges him that they aren’t carrying any credits and it’s only a bulk freighter – but as Silvo points out, why would their vault be magnetically sealed if it wasn’t holding something of worth?
Silvo isn’t particularly patient. He punches him in the stomach, orders his pirates to throw him out of the airlock, and they open the vault… but it’s empty, apart from one credit. “Mutiny, then?” Silvo asks, as his men turn on him.
A normal school day in the New Republic
Elsewhere, we see Wim enjoying a normal morning before school: playing with his Jedi and Sith toys and enjoying a bowl of cereal (with bantha milk!) while his dad incessantly chatters away. He leaves for work, and Wim runs off to school.
He bumps into Neel, and it’s initially a tense face-off – but they pretend to have a lightsaber duel. On the bus, Wim sees two girls on a speeder (Fern and KB) who veer off the road, but they’re later seen standing in the playground.
In class, Wim couldn’t be any less interested in what the teacher talks about (there’s a lot of boring jargon, but it sounds like an economics lesson). A special guest catches him etch-a-sketching instead of listening, before walking to the front of the class: Undersecretary Fara, who wants to chat to them about the Career Assessment Test.
“In a way, this one test will set the course of your entire future. Once you’re assigned a career path, you’ll become part of our planet At Attin’s contribution to the Great Work, keeping the Republic peaceful and strong,” she explains.
Most of the kids don’t have exciting dreams; one wants to be a senior statistical accountant, another wants to be an analyst. Wim tells Fara he wants to help people, but as the teacher says, that’s not a career – that’s what safety droids are for. It’s clear what he meant: he wants to be a Jedi.
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Neel and Wim walk home, where it’s brutally apparent how different their home lives are: Neel is welcomed through the door with loving arms, but Wim walks into an empty house.
Elsewhere, Fern and KB race past people and along the streets on their hoverbike… until it breaks down (it has a corroded power converter). There’s just one problem: they’re supposed to be racing Bonjj Phalfa and Fern refuses to postpone.
She heads home, and it’s obvious why she’s such a rebel: Undersecretary Fara is her mom. She doesn’t seem too strict, but she also has high expectations for her education. Their conflict, even if it’s unspoken, is clear: Fara wants her daughter’s future to be secure, and Fern wants to be a kid.
Back at Wim’s house, he’s feeling stressed about the test and asks his dad to tell him a story “like mom used to.” His dad says no, because he has to work, but then he twists the knife: “Aren’t you getting a bit old for that?” Instead, Wim reads stories about Jedis and monsters on his tablet.
Wim misses his test
Wim oversleeps, so he takes his hoverbike through the same shortcut as Fern and KB. After smacking his face off countless branches, he falls into a huge ditch in a clearing in the woods. He shouts for help, but nobody hears him. He’s convinced he found a Jedi temple buried underneath the moss, but a droid catches him and escorts him back to school before he gets the chance to look properly.
As he waits outside the Proctor’s office, he meets Fern, who’s in trouble for her usual hijinks. She spins him a lie about the last kid who missed his career assessment, and how they were taken down to a “secret chamber under the school to make him work in the mines, and no one saw him again.”
His dad walks out of the office. As you’d expect, he’s angry and tells Wim to go home and study to retake the test tomorrow (only this time, he needs to get every answer right just to pass).
It’s not a Jedi temple
Wim and Neel set off to dig up this supposed temple, but they meet Fern and KB, who “claim” it for themselves. After some squabbling, they agree to dig it up together. Fern catches sight of a panel, which she uses to open the door.
They hear Wim’s dad looking for him, so they run inside… and the door locks behind them. KB tracks the power conduit under the floors, and the source seems to be in some sort of hibernation mode. When they wake it up, they realize it’s not a temple… it’s a starship, and after Wim presses a button (when Fern told him not to), it starts taking off.
They’re stuck inside before they can get out, and before they can stop the ship, it jumps into hyperspace.
Skeleton Crew Episodes 1-2 are streaming on Disney Plus now. You can also check out our breakdown of the Star Wars timeline, our list of the best Star Wars characters, and the best TV shows of 2024.
