Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Being a hero is to be nuanced even when the heroes are kids.

Spoiler Warning for The Real Good Guys

Skeleton Crew delivers a better landing than a lot of Disney Plus shows, neatly tying up one really big adventure while leaving the possibility of more to come in the future. The cast and crew do a fabulous job as the storytelling focuses on a traditional happy ending, wonderfully tying in threads of previous episodes.

Last week’s episode had set-up for the finale extremely well. The kids were home and reunited with their parents, but Jod and the pirates remained a threat to them and to At Attin. This episode builds on that tension. Will Jod get the Supervisor to agree to let the pirate frigate through the Barrier? Will the pirates actually invade? Will he be able to continue to control the kids and ensure they keep their silence? How will the kids overcome Jod and save At Attin?

The storyline in this finale is constructed well. Jod uses the droids to control the kids while keeping Fern and her mother hostage – although Fara does not realise it until Jod acts against the Supervisor – and in doing so seeds his own failure because the droids stop working, freeing Neel, Wim and KB to act.

The capitulation of Fara in allowing the ship access through the barrier to save Fern is understandable (it underscores the love she has for her daughter) yet horrifying because we know that the pirates are capable of much violence and will think nothing about subjugating the populace of At Attin.  This is followed through in the action. The pirate frigate descends menacingly through the sky. They shoot up the infrastructure with callous disregard. We hear the pirates report to Jod that they’ve “made examples” of the few citizens with weapons. We see the cowed populace being herded.

Meanwhile, the kids freed from the droids concoct the plan to save the planet. Neel, Wim and KB using hoverbikes to come to the rescue is glorious. Bikes are the transportation device of children, often depicted in ‘Eighties films showcasing kids on adventures like The Goonies (1985). Moreover, the action here feels reminiscent of the bike chase in E.T. (1982). I adored this whole section of the bike ride with the pirates chasing them, especially the beat where Wendle appropriates a hoverbike of his own and joins them.

The tension is built well as the kids (sans Neel who ends up left behind in the school when his bike gets destroyed) get to the ship, but then Wendle and Wim need to ride further to restore the grid so the clamps can be released on the ship. One of my favourite moments is when Wendle states; “Son, you are talking to a Level 7 Systems Coordinator.” It’s very much a Geeks Rule the World moment which reminds me of the fans coming to the rescue in Galaxy Quest (1999).

Meanwhile the quiet scene of Fern trying to convince her mother to take action as Jod continues to control the scene is powerful in showing the difference between the two as much as they love each other; Fern will act, Fara’s comfort is in authority and what she knows, in inaction. It is an important scene because it helps create the tension later when Fern pleads with her mother to help.

Wim’s arrival with his Dad helps to allow a win with the power being restored briefly. Neel gets his hero moment in giving the departing ship cover with the weapon he learned about due to his friendship with Hayna, and KB gets her hero moment in getting the plea for help out to Khy’mm. But there is another moment of horror as Jod reestablishes his control in the Supervisor tower and the pirates bring down the ship. We truly fear the worst for KB – and splendid acting from Ryan Kiera Armstrong as she cries out in horror.

The scenes where Wim and Fern get their hero moment as they try to take control back and bring down the lever to destroy the Barrier are truly tension-filled – I was cheering for Wendle, shouting at my screen for Fara to help, to pull the lever. And then she does and it’s perfect as the scene fills with light and Wim gets to hold the lightsabre as Fern stands beside him fiercely staring down Jod.

The final scenes with the X-Wings and the New Republic arriving to help defeat the pirates are triumphant and joyful. As the kids race to see if KB is alright and she stirs atop a mound of spilled out credits, there is an emotive group hug which makes you want to reach through the screen and join in. Even SM-33 is there at the end as Wim looks up to the skies to the New Republic ships and the show ends with that shot of the stars.

It’s a great ending.

I have two small criticisms of the storytelling in this episode – nitpicks really. One is on the timing and travel time of things. Once you start to examine the timings and order of scenes in detail, it all feels a little out of whack in the same way travel times in Game of Thrones (2011-2019) went completely out of the window for the sake of narrative ease.

The other nitpick is the Supervisor. While not entirely surprising that the Supervisor ends up being Head Droid and easily defeated, it would have been more narratively interesting for the Supervisor to have been, well, more narratively interesting. It’s a bit of a letdown moment to realise that it’s just the Head Droid as expected, but not as hoped.

The animation right at the end of the Barrier was my only other wince in this episode. It looked a little wonky, but otherwise the CGI and special effects were wonderful. I loved the final battle, loved KB taking off with the ship, and Neel’s heroic cover for her. I loved the production design of At Attin’s destruction from the pirates’ invasion which echoes the apocalyptic sister planet in the earlier episode.

Indeed, there was so much to love in this episode on the production side and great direction from Jon Watts to bring the series to a finish. He and his fellow writers, Christopher Ford and Myung Joh Wesner definitely deserve kudos for their work across the series, just as Watts and his fellow directors deserve praise for their work.

High praise is warranted too for the cast.

Jude Law has been a splendidly conflicted at times, and yet brilliantly cold villain. The reveal of Jod’s backstory of being found by a Jedi only to see her hunted down was nicely done and well-acted by Law in the moment – and it was a good wrap up of the final mystery remaining. That final shot of Jod watching his pirate ship shot down, and the head tilt characterising that he’s already potentially calculating his way out is wonderful and leaves the door open for the character.

Nick Frost deserves a mention for creating a memorable droid for the Star Wars canon, and it was great to see SM-33 back on his feet at the end of the day, having assisted in the tense finale.

The tension and action in this episode would not have worked without stellar performances from Tunde Adebimpe and Kerry Condon. While much less used, M.J. Kang, Cass Bugee, and Geneva Carr (playing the parents of KB and Neel) also deserve a kudos. They all did excellent work and provided that brilliant counterbalance to the kids of adults actually adulting and loving their kids.    

Speaking of the kids – Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter, and Robert Timothy Smith all deserve to take a bow as the audience gives them a standing ovation. Great work across the series and in this episode from them all. Their work here means I want to see more of them as actors, and I would love to see a second season of these characters.

In conclusion

And that’s really my conclusion here – nitpicks and constructive criticisms of the storytelling and production aside, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this series and would like another, please.

It has been wonderfully nostalgic of the films of my childhood, but also the original Star Wars (1977) itself where it was clear that our heroes were the good guys. I love how Star Wars has evolved to bring greater nuance to the concept of good versus evil in the frame of war and rebellion, but I love how here, it is not so front and centre and has been done in a very subtle way.

Jod is a nuanced villain. A potential good guy who has turned to piracy and cruelty to protect himself in what he perceives to be a dark galaxy. But so too are the kids nuanced. It’s been enjoyable to watch their journey as they grew in confidence, evolving beyond their initial character flaws to step up heroically, to save themselves and to save their planet.

In the end, the kids are the heroes and that’s a beautiful message for any kid to take away so they can dream of their own adventures.

End Note: Please like, comment or share if you enjoyed this review!