Skeleton Crew is the story of four kids growing up on an isolated planet, who discover a spaceship and accidentally wind up lost in space. As they struggle to find their way back home, they fall in with an eccentric droid and a mysterious man who may be a Jedi... but who is most certainly hiding things from them.
Through all its highs and lows, I really love the idea of Skeleton Crew. Like Star Trek, Star Wars is in a franchise with multiple running television series, and each one needs its own distinct niche to earn its keep. Skeleton Crew is the type of Star Wars show that really should exist in some form: a show that's aimed at the young audience that made the franchise a cultural phenomenon in the first place.
There have been plenty of kids in Star Wars over the years, from Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace to "baby Yoda." But in Skeleton Crew, kids are the stars of the story... on their own adventure that feels like something real-life 80s kids dreamed up with their action figures. This is Star Wars going back to its absolutely foundational roots, not just in who the story is for, but what the story is: a kid (or here, kids) from nowhere whisked away into a grand space adventure.
Much of the early commentary on Skeleton Crew (not always intended as "criticism") likened the show to the movie The Goonies. So while I'm not adding much to the conversation to point that out, I feel like it needs saying just how much the show is like the Goonies. As you get to know the characters in the opening episodes, you can easily map each one of them to a specific Goonie. When a mid-season episode sees them venturing into a literal booby-trapped cave in search of treasure, it's impossible for anyone who has seen The Goonies not to think of One-Eyed Willy.
Where Skeleton Crew most differs, and is much better for it, is the inclusion of Jude Law. Going back to the idea of 80s kids dreaming up their own adventure, Law plays a character who feels part Luke Skywalker, part Han Solo. And his performance bobs and weaves between charming charisma and unsettling darkness. Just how dark will he go is a question that hangs over each episode.
But Law appears only briefly in the first two episodes. His full arrival in the story doesn't really happen until episode 3. And until then? Sorry to say it, but Skeleton Crew is hard -- almost painful -- to watch. Our four young heroes have a heroes' journey ahead of them, meaning they have much to learn, and start out in an incredibly naive place. One in particular, Wim, seems to be the main character at this point, and he's insufferable: whiny, impulsive, and constantly causing trouble. (In a later episode, when a character actually calls Wim "the worst," I became the "Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at his TV" meme.)
Yes, I acknowledge, Wim is being a kid, and doing it in the Star Wars show for kids. Wim is not "for me." But he's so not for me that I almost didn't make it past episode 2. Yet two episodes was how Disney+ launched this show, meaning that quite a few viewers got only this impression of the show, and promptly tuned out. (Part of what I alluded to earlier about its poor ratings performance.)
I'm here to say: it's really worth getting over that hump. Once Jude Law is fully on the scene, each episode becomes a playful adventure with just the right touch of menace. The four kids do begin the journey of growth, and most of them become quite likeable. Overall, Skeleton Crew becomes fun, if you've given it the chance. (And quick shout-out to composer Mick Giacchino, whose great score really contributes to that fun. Sure, he probably just got the job in a "nepo baby" way, being son of Rogue One composer Michael Giacchino. But Mick really has one foot in each of the two worlds of this story -- sweeping John Williams-style grandeur, and jaunty pirate-inflected shanties.)
One other thing I appreciated about Skeleton Crew: they really "leave it all on the field." Without giving too much spoilery detail, the concluding episode 8 brings irrevocable change to the characters and their corner of the Star Wars universe. It's hard to say what a season 2 of this show would even look like, other than "completely different." But if it works out that the show's poor performance means this is all there will ever be, narratively that works out fine -- we got a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.
Overall, I think I'd give Star Wars: Skeleton Crew a B. Mind you, if I ever actually sat down to watch it again and had to endure those first two episodes, I might decide I'm being too generous. But after finding its "sea legs," the series is worth the time.
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