At this stage of the game, I think it’s safe to say we’re going to be getting more of the “ten hour movie” episode treatment (or in the case of Skeleton Crew, the eight hour movie treatment) rather than the “this is a television series, so episodes are actually self-contained stories being told in service of a larger narrative arc” means of storytelling, so I’ll withhold from making yet another frustrated comment that the series could be stronger if it opted for the latter rather than the former. Although, this time around, I suspect we’ll actually be getting a real continuation of the story from the end of this episode next week (mostly because the story left our characters in a legitimate lurch in their quest to divine what they can from the hidden ruins of the galaxy’s most legendary pirate), so that’s progress.
And, while I’m still frustrated at the means of pacing for the series, I was impressed with the overall arc of this particular episode. We checked back in with the parents on At Attin – who are, as I assume we all guessed, not making any headway with the Supervisor in terms of getting a message or a rescue party sent off after their missing children, so they’re comically taking matters into their own hands. Some have started positing that perhaps it’s actually the droids who control the planet, which would certainly make for quite the finale clash when our missing junior pirates eventually make it back planet-side. As for the kids, well, they learn a key piece of information about home – the planet was the mint of the Old Republic, which means it was, in a way, a Treasure Planet and the choice to hide it was a wise one* – and a key piece of information about who once owned their ship – that would be Tak Rennod, the most famous pirate in the galaxy. Jod, in particular, is very enthused to learn that piece of information, which ultimately leads to him finally betraying the kids and taking control of the ship. Of course, we know Jod doesn’t really want to hurt the kids – his warning to Wim that this wasn’t like one of his epic stories, this is real-life and he can get hurt, proved that – but he also doesn’t want to get nabbed by the various pirates on the planet looking to collect the bounty on his head or lose out on the potential score in Rennod’s lair.
*I hope we also get to learn the other hidden planets’ main source of exports – was one a weapons base, one an agricultural stronghold, one a scientific planet, one a massive shipyard? There has to be a good reason to hide each of them, and if At Attin was the mint, it means the others also needed to have key purposes. You don’t just hide planets with nothing worth taking, after all.
While I enjoyed the small steps forward in the narrative – and the kids finally learning a valuable lesson: when several people (all of whom have different names for the person in question) tell you to get away from someone, you probably need to get away from them – I’m a bit on the fence about the final moment of the episode. No, not the kids using the booby trap to escape – that was super fun and a hallmark of “kids on an adventure” storytelling. It was the choice to have a lightsaber there, and to have Jod pick it up and light it up. Yes, we need to answer the question as to just what his relationship was with the Jedi Order (all signs point to someone who ultimately washed out of the ranks at some stage of his training – although we will hopefully learn just why and when it happened soon), but I’m always of the mind that Star Wars stories without lightsabers and Jedi are more interesting than those with them. Sure, The Acolyte became a really interesting look at the Jedi Order and the failures within it. But something like Andor thrives because it is about the “normal” people of the rebellion and how they can make an impact (and what they have to sacrifice to do so). And bringing in a lightsaber is, well, I just wish this one was more Jedi-lite than it’s starting to become. Although I reserve the right to amend my opinion based on the next installment. Who knows, maybe Jod is really bad with it and it will be more a commentary on how he wasn’t able to hack it?
But I did enjoy this week’s installment more than last – it felt a bit more cohesive and the abrupt ending will likely segue nicely into the next episode, rather than simply serve as an incomplete conclusion that we’ll jump away from and not speak of again in the future. So, it’s a passing score this week with some intrigue as to just what we’re going to get to see come next week’s episode.
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Writing
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Acting
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Direction
