Skeleton Crew is one of the best Star Wars TV shows (so far)
Exploring a vast, far away galaxy and having fun doing it.
I don’t remember the first time I saw Star Wars.
The grainy, worn images of desert planets, droids, and Jawas just seemed to always be a part of me, no different than that weird mole I was born with. The same was more or less true of Empire and Jedi, but it’s the chapter that would come to be known as A New Hope that feels like it was encoded into my DNA.
So it’s not often that I step back to actually think about why it is I continue to watch, collect, and engage in all things Star Wars. Doing so too much could shake the very foundation my personality is built on. And yet, as I’ve watched the first three episodes of the latest TV iteration in the galaxy — at a time when it’s easy to not even notice yet another SW TV show — I’ve found myself wondering just why it is I’ve latched onto this media franchise so much.
And as it turns out, Skeleton Crew has reaffirmed my enjoyment of Star Wars in a way I didn’t think anything really could at this point.
**Warning: Minor spoilers ahead.**
We’re only three episodes in as of this writing, and hell, The Acolyte started out strong too, but the building blocks of Skeleton Crew make it the best live-action Star Wars show in recent memory, and one of the best produced ever since Lucasfilm was taken under Disney’s wing.
Taking place roughly during the same period as The Mandalorian, there’s no pretenses about the plot. It’s The Goonies in space, more or less, with a bunch of kids who accidentally get caught up in an adventure that includes pirates and treasure. There’s no frills here, and that’s a huge part of the show’s charm.
And let’s pause for a second to acknowledge how long overdue a wolf man space pirate in the Star Wars universe has been. I didn’t know how much I needed Brutus in my life until he showed up. Part of what made the Mos Eisley cantina scene from A New Hope so iconic was the strange cast of nameless characters patronizing the joint.
With only glimpses, I wanted to know each of their stories. It made the galaxy feel so big and mysterious and like a place I wanted to explore forever. And not that I’m complaining necessarily, but instead we revisited the same damn family for eight more movies and countless other iterations.
Skeleton Crew gives us a slice of life in parts of the galaxy I never knew we could visit. The best stuff produced since the Disney takeover tends to follow that same formula. And it’s worth repeating: Pirates! In Star Wars! It’s about damn time.
Yet, we still have X-wings and the force and things that make this clearly Star Wars.
Plus, it’s simply fun. We don’t need complex political infighting, the same villains somehow coming back, or hours of exposition. I just want a bit of magic and a bit of fun, and Skeleton Crew, so far, is delivering. Even just small moments, like in the third episode when the door droids on Kh’ymm’s moon pop out to look over Crimson Jack and the kids. They don’t look like CGI, but instead like handcrafted and hand-controlled props. That little bit of imperfection is another big part of what made the original film so great, and the analog elements act as a nod to not only the lore upon which the show is built, but the way it was built.
Let’s also not forget the force user who is not a Jedi. Somewhere, Rian Johnson is smiling.
AND the use of “wizard” throughout. C’mon man, these guys know what they’re doing.
Hopefully the momentum built up so far carries through. It certainly might not — but at this very moment, if you were to ask me whether I’d Iike to rewatch the first three episodes of Skeleton Crew or one of the prequels, only Phantom Menace would give me pause.
Not everything being put out in the SW-verse is great right now, but I’d argue that’s OK. Variety is a good thing, and sometimes you need to miss. But when you keep trying, sometimes you’ll hit. Right now, Skeleton Crew is hitting the mark, reminding me of why I liked Star Wars in the first place.
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You can watch the first three episodes of Skeleton Crew on Disney+.