Editor’s be aware: The beneath accommodates spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 8.

After seven weeks of unforgettable episodes, Skeleton Crew has lastly reached the top of the road with its finale. Episode 8, aptly titled “The Actual Good Guys,” was penned by collection co-creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, and directed by Watts. The episode picks up proper the place the penultimate episode left issues final week, with Jod (Jude Regulation) posing as a visiting Emissary, a lot to the chagrin of the core 4 — Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and KB (Kyriana Kratter) — who’re compelled to face idly by as two of their dad and mom, Fara (Kerry Condon) and Wendle (Tunde Adebimpe), fall for Jod’s lies.

After Fara and Wendle query him about their kids’s conduct whereas they had been on their little joyride, Jod is fast to make sure that the 4 he is been touring with should not given the chance to disclose his true id. He orders that they be confined to their quarters and that the droids monitor them, simply in case they trigger extra hassle. Wendle appears bowled over by these drastic measures, however makes no actual try to thwart them. Noticing that Fern is the almost certainly to trigger hassle for him, Jod means that she accompany him to fulfill the Supervisor, in an effort to show her about the best way to behave, and Fara is fast to volunteer to go along with them.

From there, the unlikely trio makes their approach up the elevate to the Supervisor’s workplace, whereas Wendle takes Wim dwelling to take pleasure in a pleasant homecooked meal (which seems to be surprisingly like a Stouffer’s microwave meal). Wendle tries to speak to Wim about making up his evaluation take a look at, however Wim protests that “it doesn’t matter” after which virtually lets slip that Jod isn’t even a actual Jedi. He stops himself, however not earlier than the outburst piques Wendle’s curiosity — and the ever-listening droids. Wim tries his finest to speak round what he can’t say, and settles on telling his father that there are particular folks on the market who need to wreck issues. After dinner, Wim tries to speak with Neel over the radio about arising with a plan to rescue Fern, however the droids are eavesdropping, and Neel isn’t keen to get in hassle with them.

Was {That a} ‘Wizard of Oz’ Nod, ‘Skeleton Crew’?

When Jod, Fern, and Fara arrive on the higher ground the place the Supervisor is meant to be, every part feels off. There are rows of deserted computer systems, mud overlaying each floor, and a really eerie, unsettling aura. Jod questions if the place is deserted, however Fara assures him that every part is so as. Because the trio approaches the middle of the room, the Supervisor (Stephen Fry) is revealed to be a big droid who has been operating issues on At Attin! The reveal feels very very like The Wizard of Oz, when the good and highly effective Oz is revealed to be nothing greater than a person behind a curtain, although in Star Wars, the reveal occurs in reverse. The Supervisor notes that he has been watching Fern with “nice curiosity” earlier than turning his consideration to the unfamiliar presence in his workplace. Jod introduces himself as a Republic Emissary and Jedi, and the Supervisor makes a remark about how he believed that no Emissary would ever go to At Attin once more. Jod utterly overlooks the implication behind that remark, in favor of asking the Supervisor to assist him get his different ship by way of the Barrier, and that spells hassle for him.

The Supervisor calls Jod on his bluff, revealing that the final phrase that he acquired from the Republic warned that every one Jedi had been traitors. So which lie is Jod telling about his true goal for being on At Attin? The Supervisor orders the droids to apprehend Jod, however earlier than they will full that activity, Jod ignites his lightsaber and drives it into the Supervisor’s orbital socket, destroying the droid and inflicting all the planet to lose energy. As Jod’s true intentions are revealed, he tells Fern to “deliver your mummy up to the mark.” Fara insists that she can provide his ship the entry they should get by way of the Barrier, and Jod takes her up on the supply. However not with out turning his lightsaber on the mother-daughter duo, to make sure that she follows by way of together with her promise. She is true to her phrase, and Jod will get phrase to Gunter (Jaleel White) to deliver the frigate by way of the Barrier to allow them to launch their assault on At Attin.

Wim Lastly Will get His Hero Second within the ‘Skeleton Crew’ Finale

Wim and Wendle watch because the frigate descends onto At Attin and begins firing on the poor, unsuspecting residents of the planet. Wim desires to assist, however with the facility utterly shut off throughout the planet, little or no is working. Fortunately, Neel and KB present up on their hoverbikes with a plan to take Kh’ymm (Alia Shawkat) up on her supply from Episode 3 and name within the cavalry to deal with their pirate subject. Wendle snags a motorcycle from the bully, Bonjj Phalfa (Shane Almagor), from Episode 1, and joins the kids on their harrowing rescue mission.

Wendle and the kids are compelled to take a shortcut by way of the forest to shake off the pirates, however Vane (Marti Matulis) and the opposite pirates tail all of them the way in which again to the Onyx Cinder. Alongside the way in which, Neel will get shot off his bike, however fortunately he isn’t harmed. In actual fact, getting separated from the remainder of the group proves helpful, as a result of Neel is ready to discover a turboblaster just like the one he admired with Hayna (Hala Finley) on At Achrann. Nonetheless, Wim and KB run right into a snag of their plans once they arrive on the Onyx Cinder. The ship has docking clamps on it, which is conserving it grounded, and with out a energy provide, they’re caught. As a Degree 7 Programs Coordinator, nevertheless, Wendle is aware of precisely the place they should go to reroute energy to the docking clamps.

Again within the Supervisor’s workplace, Jod reminds his pirate crew to maintain the residents of At Attin alive, as a result of he wants them to work for him within the mint. Whereas he plots out his new enterprise on At Attin, Fern begins placing collectively a plan to take him down. Fara expresses her worries about their state of affairs, noting that they had been all imagined to be protected from this kind of hazard on At Attin, however Fern assures her that if there’s one factor she’s realized from her journey, it is that irrespective of how scary issues obtained, they all the time managed to search out good folks. Fern means that their finest plan of action will probably be for Fara to distract Jod whereas she steals a blaster from one of many powered down droids so she will be able to stun Jod. Naturally, Jod catches wind of their scheming and fires off a warning blast to maintain them in line.

Whereas Jod broadcasts a message to the entire of At Attin, promising mercy to anybody who follows his orders and agrees to work for him, Wim arrives to place a crimp in Jod’s plan. In the end, Wim lastly pulls off a convincing ruse! Wim tells Jod that he has despatched a message to the B-Wings to return and deal with their pirate drawback, and provides him the choice to give up now. Jod initially sees by way of the bluff, seeing that it is inconceivable to get a message out to anybody with the Barrier nonetheless up, however Wim goes on about utilizing some magical crystal they discovered within the mountains, and Fern feeds into the deception by revealing that Wim has been working with the Jedi all alongside. Jod is fast to shoot that concept down, since “the Jedi are all lifeless.” However they didn’t want Jod to consider them, they simply wanted to maintain him distracted lengthy sufficient for Wendle to sneak previous and allocate energy to the docking clamps.

Jod catches on too late to stop Wendle from fulfilling his mission, and he’s so completely amused by the truth that Wim introduced his father with him. It’s clear that Jod has an actual subject with how cherished the kids are by their dad and mom. Jod is much less amused, nevertheless, by Fern’s try to steal a blaster to take him out, and issues rapidly begin going downhill for the core 4. Throughout city, KB — with the assistance of SM-33’s (Nick Frost) head — is ready to energy up the Onyx Cinder and set off for the celebrities. Neel makes use of the turboblaster to distract the pirates lengthy sufficient for her to get by way of the Barrier, although the pirates do in the end destroy the weapon earlier than he can deal an excessive amount of injury. KB is ready to ship At Attin’s coordinates to Kh’ymm and request help, and she or he guarantees to ship the New Republic (who’ve change into the pirate patrol) to their assist, however sadly, KB isn’t in a position to warn her in regards to the Barrier earlier than catastrophe strikes.

Jod is surprisingly burdened about this flip of occasions, and tells the kids to go be careful the window as KB and the Onyx re-enter At Attin’s environment at an alarming fee. He remarks about how “it didn’t should be like this” and appears genuinely remorseful on the prospect of one of many kids dying. Fern is distraught, watching in abject horror because the ship crash lands, seemingly killing her finest buddy, and Wim is offended. Whereas Jod’s regret appears real, it doesn’t cease him from brandishing his lightsaber and threatening to kill Wim’s father when he makes an attempt to make a break for it to tug the lever to decrease the Barrier. Wim unleashes a bit of extra vitriol in Jod’s path, lastly discovering his voice after being comparatively hesitant to talk up all through the collection, saying, “You’re no Jedi. You lied, and now the actual good guys are coming.” This declaration from Wim lastly unlocks Jod’s traumatic backstory, which has been lengthy overdue.

Jod’s Backstory Explains A Lot in ‘Skeleton Crew’

As pirates are wont to do, Jod launches right into a monologue about his previous. When he was a toddler, all he cared about was not ravenous. That is one thing that the kids on At Attin have been comparatively proof against, however Jod has hinted at — since he scarfed down what little meals he may discover on the Onyx Cinder after his jail break. He reveals that when he was this hungry baby, a Jedi discovered him, and she or he gave him hope. He was particular, and she or he wished to coach him and provides him a greater life, however then she was hunted down, and he was made to look at as she was killed. The second confirms that Jod is a real morally grey character, and never a villain; although he might do villainous issues, he’s only a man making an attempt to scrape by and making an attempt to grab a chance to steal credit, which is the one factor that issues within the galaxy. Skeleton Crew feels very very like a primer to Andor in moments like these, readying kids to see what damaged techniques can do to an individual.

No matter his motives, the kids and their dad and mom nonetheless should cease him. Jod insists that he by no means wished to harm anybody, and he doesn’t need to injury the planet, he simply desires to take management of it, and this little rant results in Wendle leaping to his toes and socking Jod within the face. Chaos ensues after that. Jod drops his lightsaber and Wim snatches it up; Jod shoves Fern round with the Pressure; and Wim and Fern attempt to withstand Jod’s makes an attempt to grab again the lightsaber; and Wendle and Fara go after the lever. In the long run, Wendle and Fara overpower Jod, the Barrier is lowered, and the New Republic launches a formidable assault on the pirates.

Fara, Wendle, and the kids make a break for the elevate, however not earlier than Wim calls again to Jod, who has resigned himself to his destiny. Even after every part, there’s nonetheless no true animosity between Jod and the kids; if something, there might lastly be a bit of respect shared between them. Jod watches as his frigate takes on hearth from the New Republic pilots and his goals of limitless credit go up in flames. (The best way the scene is framed is kind of harking back to the ultimate shot of Combat Membership, a shocking allusion, although Skeleton Crew has had no scarcity of them.) The youngsters and their dad and mom make it to the crash website, the place they uncover that KB and SM-33 survived the touchdown, and Wim watches because the New Republic pilots zip round overhead, which seems like a callback to the closing scene of The Final Jedi with the broom boy.

With its finale, Skeleton Crew delivers among the best remaining episodes since Andor whereas leaving the door extensive open for this story to proceed someplace down the highway. Whereas Watts and Ford have loads of concepts for a Season 2, there isn’t any phrase but on whether or not Disney intends to greenlight extra of the collection, which has been falling behind its friends in its Nielsen scores. The chances have been stacked towards Skeleton Crew, which had episodes touchdown on Disney+ on main holidays—a transfer which is atypical, and remarkable with conventional community schedules. No matter info and figures, Skeleton Crew has confirmed itself to be not solely a extra family-friendly companion to Andor however a collection that completely captures the magic of George Lucas’ storytelling all through his trilogies.

All episodes of Skeleton Crew are streaming now on Disney+.

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