Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 8
"The Real Good Guys"
Writer: Christopher Ford & Jon Watts
Director: Jon Watts
Cast: Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Nick Frost, and Jude Law
We last left our intrepid #SpaceGoonies in fairly dire straits. Down in the vaults of the At Attin mint, the mad pirate Jod held them and their parents at lightsaber point, poised to seize the treasure of the ages.
Fortunately for the families, Jod clings to his ruse as Republic Emissary, and extinguishes the lightsaber. He introduces himself with his full, true name, Jod Na Nawood. The parents are quick to apologize for the children's misbehavior. He directs them to confine the kids to their quarters with a detachment of safety droid narcs to monitor them.
This is where his plan falters, and everything quickly — and I mean quickly — spirals out of his control. He'll later wish he'd simply slaughtered them all right here.
While the other families hurry home, Jod insists that Fern accompany him to meet the Supervisor. Fara volunteers to join them and he agrees. Leverage.
A safety droid stares at Wim and his father as they share TV dinners. Immune to new information, Wendle is keen to return to their old routine, even highlighting the placement exam and Wim's place in the Great Work. Wim is exasperated, but wary of saying too much in front of the droid. There are bad people out there in the wider world, he explains, and they have bad intentions for At Attin. Wendle's on his Kool-Aid though. "Well, that's what the Supervisor's for."
Later, Wim attempts to raise Neel by walkie talkie, intent on organizing a rescue mission. The elephant boy is audibly cagey, begging off further communications for fear of the droids reporting back to Jod. Just as his own monitor appears at the door demanding to know who he's talking to, Wim plays it off as banter between his action figures. Cute!
The parallel action makes it seem like the turbolift ride to the Supervisor's HQ took at least two hours, but Jod, Fern, and Fara finally arrive at the top. Now, you'll be forgiven if you were expecting to find Stephen Fry playing an ancient version of Captain Tak Rennod, but the reality is a much earlier fan theory. Housed in a dusty control room is a Wizard of Oz without a human component waiting in the wings. Picture a massive astromech's dome, a gleaming red HAL 9000 eye glaring back at you. This is the Supervisor, voiced by Stephen Fry.
An artificial intelligence controlling all of At Attin? Fern and Jod are surprised, though Fara isn't. It's decreed by the Great Work, after all. Jod again introduces himself as Emissary of the Republic and a Jedi, levitating the lightsaber as evidence. The Supervisor expresses genteel dismay at seeing an emissary again. Jod explains that the Republic has been busy thwarting evil schemes.The Supervisor rotates its dome in commiseration. The outside galaxy is so unstable, it sighs.
Jod gets to the point. He needs his other ship permitted safe passage to the surface. Fara questions why this second ship can't simply land. She started to pick up on Fern's not-subtle cues and Jod's own suspicious manner.
"You ask too many questions of your Emissary," he says, turning on her. "What you need to do right now…is obey."
The Supervisor seems to side with Jod, musing that strict obedience to authority has kept At Attin running smoothly for generations. It says it will acquiesce to Jod's request if he can clear up one small detail. Here it comes.
"You see, the last message from the Republic stated that all Jedi were traitors," coos the Supervisor. "So, which are you lying about? Being an Emissary or a Jedi?"
"He's a pirate trying to invade the Mint!" blurts Fern.
"As I suspected." the Supervisor growls, and it activates a series of safety droids. Jod dispatches them in short order and plunges the blade of his lightsaber into the Supervisor's eye. It sparks and stutters. The droids begin the power down. Fara is mortified. Jod withdraws the blade and the planet goes dark. All power shuts down.
I'm no engineer, but this seems like a bad system.
Wim observes the results of this power outage from bed. His whole neighborhood goes dark. Lights out. Trams roll to a halt. Patrolling safety droids slump dormant.
Up in the tower, Jod searches the still-blinking terminals for something to get his frigate through the Barrier and finds a button marked "Barrier Override." He presses it and, across the room, a large physical lever rises up out of the floor. Fara pleads with him not to do it, that this will permanently eliminate the Barrier, essential to At Attin's survival. She wants to grant the frigate clearance instead. Jod is amenable to maintaining the Barrier. He claims he just wants to take the two ship's fill of credits and go, never to be seen again. Fern knows he's lying, but as she says this, he flips on that lightsaber again. Despite Fern's urging, Fara sets about granting the frigate its clearance.
Jod appears by hologram on the frigate's bridge, where Gunter's manspread himself quite comfortably in the captain's chair. Jod gives the all-clear and orders him to make planetfall. The invasion has begun.
The frigate descends safely through the Barrier. Neel observes its arrival over the suburban neighborhood through the moonroof of his family bathroom, wading helplessly in the tub.
The ship begins firing indiscriminately on homes, businesses, stalled vehicles. Wim's been trying to convince his dad to embark on a mission to rescue Fern and her mother, and the squabble has taken them to the garage where Wendle attempts to get the car started. But the car is part of the insane central power grid. No go.
Hope arrives with the tinkle of hoverbike bells. KB and Neel roll up, and they already have a plan. They need to call the Republic and their X-Wings in for help. If they can get in touch with Kh'ymm, she can make it happen. But they'll need to reach the Onyx Cinder and take it out past the barrier for cell service first. Wim hops on his own bike and the kids take off, a hapless Wendle chasing after on foot. Luckily for him, local delinquent Bonjj Phalfa is idling at the corner. Dad commandeers his bike and catches up with the kids, pleading to end this adventure.
Skiffs descend from the frigate. Teams of pirates begin rounding up civilians. They spy the hoverbikes and take chase, scorching the neighborhood in blaster fire. We are at full Amblin right now.
KB leads them off the main drag and into the woods. Upon landing a gnarly jump, Wendle hoots with excitement. He's finally joined the ranks of real ones.
The chase leads into the city center, through burning government buildings. The pirates take out Neel's bike, but he's okay. He raises Wim by radio with a plan already popping. If he can reach the roof, he's pretty sure there's a massive gun turret up there mirroring the one he saw on At Achrann. He'll use it to lend cover fire. You mad, beautiful elephant boy!
The others reach the Cinder but the landing gear is still locked into the docking clamps. Wendle surmises that they'll need to restore power to open them. He's a Level 7 Systems Coordinator. You bet he can make it happen. They just need to get to the Supervisor's Tower. KB remains behind on the ship, ready to take off as soon as they restore power. Meanwhile, Neel reaches the turret.
The pirates meet little resistance in capturing the planet. Jod wants them to avoid injuring anyone; he needs the populace as labor for the Mint. Grim.
Fara and Fern huddle in a corner. Mom is distraught, ashamed that despite all the subterfuge and rules, she couldn't keep her daughter safe. Fern concedes that the galaxy is a dangerous place, but everywhere they went, even the worst places, there were good people, too. People who could help. She asks her mother to trust her, and she does. But Jod interrupts their scheming and issues a threat over the planet-wide intercom. No one will be harmed if they simply obey. They all work for him now. Kneel before Jod.
Wendle — with Wim in the sidecar — leads a pirate skiff on a merry chase through, let's call it an aqueduct leading to the Supervisor's Tower. They capture Dad, but Wim is able to escape up the turbolift and arrives with walkie talkie in hand.
He's called the X-Wings, he informs Jod. It's over for the pirates. Jod isn't buying his bluff and says the Barrier would've kept him from doing that. Wim improvises. Some bullshit about the "Crystal of the Founders." Guarded by an ancient warrior, the boy says. Too far. Stop. Way up in the northern mountains. Wim, shut up.
Fern joins in on the improv, yes-anding every ridiculous detail in Wim's story. They're just stalling for time, because Wendle actually managed to sneak out from the turbolift and into the control room. Unfortunately, a lot of this tall tale has to do with an active Jedi plot, and Jod knows better. But it buys Wendle enough time to restore power. Wim radios KB and she's able to get the Cinder off the ground. Oh, and she's had just enough time to rewire SM-33's head back to his body, if not outright attach them. Oh, we are so back.
Gunter attempts to fire on the escaping ship, but Neel comes in clutch, taking out the frigate's main cannon with his own! He's able to escape the turret just in time for the frigate to destroy it. KB, SM-33, and the many-eyed rat that lives inside his head safely navigate the Barrier.
Once outside, KB hails Kh'ymm and requests backup. The delightful creature obliges, sending out a request to the New Republic. Just then, a pair of fighters fire on the Cinder and it drops into a rapid descent. Seemingly everyone on the planet watches as it plummets to the ground, disappearing from sight. Fern screams.
"It didn't need to be like this," says Jod. "It doesn't matter who you call. They can't get through the Barrier."
Fern lunges for the lever, but Fara has spent her entire life defending this Great Pumpkin and she's not ready to give it up now. She stops her, giving Jod time to fire off a warning shot. They tumble to the floor. Wendle hurries to defend them, but Jod Force-pushes him into a control panel. Wim reaches the lever but Jod has his lightsaber blade leveled at Wendle's throat.
"You're no Jedi," Wim sniffles. "You lied. And now, the real good guys are coming."
Jod scoffs. No one's coming to save them. Grow up.
And here it is. Jod's origin story. Or the closest we'll get to it this season. He shares that when he was Wim's age all he cared about was not starving. He grew up in a hole. Until one day a Jedi found him. She was ragged and desperate, too. But she saw potential in him and trained him, however briefly. But that's when Order 66 dropped, and he was forced to watch as she died.
"That's the galaxy," he says. "It's dark, with a few pinpricks of light. And for those, I'll kill who I need to kill. Now let go."
And for the life of his father, Wim lets go. He throws his arms around him and Jod extinguishes his blade.
Jod pontificates as the two families embrace on the floor. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, nor harm the planet. He simply wants everyone to go back to work and make the only thing that means something in the galaxy, cold hard credits.
"You can all carry on exactly as you were before."
Something breaks in Wendle. A fire ignites. He balls his hand into a fist and he rushes Jod, punches him. The lightsaber clatters to the floor. The men grapple. Wendle reaches out for the lever. Wim picks up the lightsaber and Jod tries to Force-pull it from his grasp. Wim doesn't let go. Fern hurries to his side and helps him maintain his hold. Wendle nearly has the lever. Jod turns all his attention to Wendle, pulling back his fingers. Fern pleads to her mother once more. Fara rushes forward and joins Wendle in pulling back the lever.
Harsh light streams through the window as the Barrier falls. Wim ignites the lightsaber, standing defiant against Jod.
The pirate drops his blaster, defeated. The sky erupts in light. All of At Attin watches the green mists fade, replaced by a starry night sky. The familiar roar of X-Wings and B-Wings fills the air as New Republic fighters make their descent. They begin firing on the frigate. The pirates retreat to their skiff, which in turn retreat to their ships. The people cheer as the B-Wings begin carving up the frigate.
Back in the Tower, Fern rouses everyone to the turbolift. They need to find KB. Wim calls out to Jod one last time. The pirate regards him with something like respect as the doors close between them. He walks to the window in time to watch the burning frigate drop through the night. He considers something. A small smile starts to form.
The frigate crumples into a canal.
Everyone hurries to the Onyx Cinder, whose nose hangs inside the ground floor of the school building. Neel and Wim reunite in time to see the gangplank drop open releasing a cascade of gold credits, and along with it, KB's limp form. Fern cries out for her and they race to her side. They shake her and she stirs. "Did we win?" The children embrace on the mound of gold.
SM-33 emerges from the ship, head held in the crook of an arm. "Yep. One of my better landings, that is."
Wendle and Fara arrive to usher them all away from the ruined ship. Fern realizes where they are and jokes that Wim won't have to worry about making up the exam. They all depart, save for Wim, who stares up through the hole in the ceiling, in awe, toward the night, the X-Wings, an incoming New Republic corvette, and an endless sea of stars.
And that's the adventure. At least for now.
