Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 1 and 2 Review: A Fun, Nostalgic Romp

This review contains spoilers for episodes 1 and 2 of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

Star Wars projects of late tend to feel more and more like they’re exploiting nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. From making Rey a Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker to CGI Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian, the franchise has been clinging to its past in an increasingly unhealthy way. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, however, feels nostalgic for different reasons and a breath of fresh air in this increasingly-connected era of the New Republic.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Skeleton Crew will spend its run being compared to Stranger Things, The Goonies, and other stories about a group of suburban kids getting sucked into an adventure. This was clearly the vein of nostalgia that creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford decided to tap into. But Skeleton Crew doesn’t seek to exploit the longing feeling we get when we watch these stories – it carves its own path through the galaxy that’s both new and comfortingly familiar.

Skeleton Crew’s opening scene sets the stakes of this adventure swiftly and epically. The pirate crew we see is ruthless, turning on their captain as soon as he fails to deliver the credits he promised them. When we see some of these pirates again on Borgo in episode 2, it’s hard to forget how dangerous they are as the children come face to face with them.

But the real fun begins on the planet At Attin, where we meet Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith). Wim and Neel are best friends who live in the same futuristic suburban neighborhood and spend their days going to school and playing Jedi. Wim dreams of adventure beyond their sheltered planet, and Neel is the kind of friend who is just kind of happy to be along for the ride. Fern seems to similarly feel trapped on their homeworld, with her mother’s expectations for a cookie-cutter future pushing her to rebel by racing bikes with her best friend, KB.

Like any good childhood adventure, these four unlikely allies must learn how to work together quickly when the long-abandoned ship they uncover shoots them off into space far, far from home. A home, they soon come to learn, that no one else seems to believe exists. On the pirate port of Borgo, they learn that At Attin is known as the lost planet of eternal treasure, a legend that few actually believe in.

The retro-futuristic look of At Attin is impeccably done. The planet still looks like a place you’d expect to see in Star Wars, and yet it’s also not far off from so many other sci-fi depictions of what our planet could look like in the future. It feels like home, in a way. But at the same time, the first episode does a great job of making sure that we know this planet is no utopia.

The pressure put on these kids to conform and find their place in society at such a young age raises all kinds of red flags about how this society is run. When Undersecretary Fara (Kerry Condon) comes to speak to Wim and Neel’s class she says that “we all have a place in The Great Work,” which has all sorts of totalitarian implications, despite the fact that she says the planet is a part of the Republic. At Attin has clearly been sheltered for some time, protected by a barrier meant to keep danger out, but also to keep their people effectively trapped inside.

The true nature of this seemingly idyllic planet is but one of many intriguing mysteries introduced in the Skeleton Crew premiere. Episode 2 ends with the children locked in Borgo’s brig alongside a mysterious cloaked stranger, who we soon learn is a Force wielder as he reaches out a hand to move the key to their cell within his grasp. This is the first time we see Jude Law’s Jod Na Nawood, and while this might not be the most epic introduction in Star War history, it certainly makes us wonder who this guy is and what he did to get locked in a pirate brig.

In these first two episodes, Watts and Ford have truly crafted a story for Star Wars fans of all ages. The show may be primarily focused on these four kids and their journey into the great unknown, but it’s far from juvenile. The stakes are very real, as these youngsters soon come to find out. 

Skeleton Crew is the kind of show I wish I had as a kid, and it genuinely makes my heart happy to think that this might be some kid’s introduction to Star Wars. These young actors are doing an incredible job thus far at making this vast world their own, and I cannot wait to see what shenanigans Wim, Neel, Fern, and KB get themselves into in the coming weeks.

New episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will premiere Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+, culminating with the finale on January 14.

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