Skeleton Crew season 1 episode 5 “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates” was probably the most Goonies episode of the entire bunch. It managed to make me laugh, gave the kids to be goofballs, while also making it very clear that this is an adventure. A messy adventure where Jod betrays them and Wim almost offs himself with a lightsaber. But it’s an adventure nonetheless. And it’s still firmly a great entry into the Star Wars universe.
In “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates” Jod and the kids head off to Skull Ridge Mountain where Captain Tak Rennod hid the location of At Attin. But it’s been ages and the planet is no longer a secret hotspot for savvy pirates. It’s a pleasure planet with familiar looking guests, like a Hutt. We also got to meet another bounty hunter named Pokkit, who you know people are going to cosplay because she looks cool.
And then there’s the kids.
I haven’t been shy that the actual children of Skeleton Crew haven’t worked for me all the time. A part of me thinks it’s because I’m not a kid anymore. Another part of me feels like the kids aren’t really bringing it and they consistently feel like the most barebones of trope like characters. But I liked them in this episode. They got to goof off as “Wise Elders,” they solved puzzles, and they fought a bad guy by banding together. And I wish we could’ve gotten more of this from Skeleton Crew season 1 episode 1 “This Could Be a Real Adventure” and not the 5th episode of a 8 episode mini-series.
Then there’s Jod. The chaos demon in my heart is kind of glad that he betrayed the kids. He’s been a crutch. A helpful one. But a crutch. In real life they would need an adult. But this is a space adventure we’re talking about. The kids need to get out there, band together, and show the galaxy what they’re made of. And if that means taking down Jod, who breaks the mold himself because the whole “grumpy dad who adopts kids and his heart grows three sizes” is kind of getting old, then so be it. Plus, even though I like Jude Law as a character, he continues to overshadow every single other character. And that’s a problem. Not for Law. But for the show in general.
Additional thoughts about Skeleton Crew 1×05:
- I need to know everything about the woman who welcomed Jod and the kids to the pleasure planet. She was done from the very start. And it only got worse when the other pirates arrived. I can see her doing an Office style show.
- That alien in the bowels of the planet… are you telling me that Cthulhu was a giant sea monster alien? Because Cthallops, it’s giving Cthulhu.
- Honestly, maybe Star Wars needs to do a show about Captain Tak Rennod. Because you don’t set up traps like that or have a horde like that if you aren’t an interesting person.
- Wim, you’re still the kid that I like the least. And it’s not because you almost offed yourself with a lightsaber. It’s because it feels like this is still a game for him. He had a moment where he realized how serious things were and I’m trying to trust the process with him. But it’s episode 5. And just like with Fern, KB, and Neel, we don’t have time to waste.
New episodes of Skeleton Crew drop Tuesdays at 9pm ET.
