This week’s Skeleton Crew didn’t skimp on the CGI set pieces (that escape of the ship from the jaws of the techno crab metal crushing thing was pretty cool to see), but it excelled in an area that the series has been lacking in past installments: focusing on the interpersonal character beats at the heart of the story being told. After all, it’s pretty simple to tell a swashbuckling space epic with lots of ships, CGI, and fighting, but it’s much harder to take a beat and work on building the characters at the heart of the story – especially when you’re dealing with kids, who have, historically, been a bit hit or miss when it comes to doing heavy emotional lifting within a series.
We didn’t get to see Jod wield Chekhov’s lightsaber (it was taken by Brutus after Jod’s capture and Brutus currently has it under his control – but considering we see him with it on the ship, I think it’s safe to say that before the end of the series, we’ll see Jod take it back and use it), but we did get to see Jod give a rousing speech telling the pirates about the treasures of At Attin that they can steal for themselves if they just follow his lead. Now, we don’t know for sure if he figured out the coordinates (we do know KB has them, though), but perhaps he’s counting on getting 33 to give them up? However he plans on getting there, he’s got a mission, a fleet, and a lot of angry pirates on his side (for the moment), which means there’s going to be a battle at At Attin before the series is over.
But back to the real story this week – the key elements of friendship. It was nice to have the crew swap friends for a bit, with Neel gamely following Fern (who once again rushed head-long into her plan without taking time to think it through, although she did come out of it with more respect for Neel’s abilities, so that’s a win) and Wim and KB working together to save KB from a shutdown while Wim learned a bit about how listening and trust are key cornerstones of friendship – something he hasn’t had to think much about considering he and Neel are a bit younger and less mature than the girls and haven’t really dealt with the complex emotions that come with adolescence in friendship. It was a really lovely bit of writing and a really important message for kids to hear – listening to your friends is crucial, but so is being honest with them. Knowing your limits is a good thing and communicating those limits to people doesn’t mean you’re weak or lesser, it means you’re being a good friend. And a true friend wants to know those limits so they can be cognizant of them in your relationship.
Kudos to Kyriana Kratter for taking center stage in this episode as KB worked through her physical issues and dealt with her fear that Fern wouldn’t want to be her friend if she knew that KB wasn’t really able to do everything she used to be able to do before her accident. It was such an open and wonderful performance, hinting at everything that comes with such insecurities. That’s not an easy assignment for an adult, and Kratter knocked it out of the park. I continue to be impressed with the casting of our four central kids, who continue to command the screen and the story without resorting to traditional child actor ticks to make things come across as cute. These characters feel like kids, act like kids, but the actors are still letting their characters grow in real ways as they experience more complex situations and emotions on their journey.
We’re entering the narrative endgame now. The two groups are set to converge on At Attin. The children’s parents are mounting their own internal mission to try and find their kids. And I suspect we’re about to learn just how At Attin has managed to keep itself hidden thus far – and if they’ll be able to continue to do so much longer. Now that we’ve gotten a chance to see our central characters take stock of their friendships in meaningful ways this week, I’m intrigued to see just how we land this story.
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