Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Season 1: Episode 7: We are Gonna Be In So Much Trouble
What is it ? : On At Attin the parents of the kids are in the forest trying to launch a beacon to call for help from the Republic, when security droids catch them, they run but are gunned down and stunned one by one, until the final parent launches the beacon into the sky.
Aboard the Onyx Cinder as it travels through Hyperspace to At Attin the kids play, except for Wim who doesn't want things to go back to how they were, the rest of the kids express that they can perhaps hide the ship, or in some other way keep the adventure going.
Aboard the pirate frigate they emerge from Hyperspace around At Attin only to see a massive charged gas cloud where the planet should be. The Pirate captain Brutus mocks Jod for being wrong about the location of At Attin, but Jod convinces them to send in a starfighter to travel through what he claims is a disguise but the fighter is destroyed. Brutus is going to throw Jod out of the airlock, but the Onyx Cinder emerges from Hyperspace nearby, and Jod convinces them that the ship has some method of traversing the cloud that they can install on the frigate, so they tractor beam the ship in.
KB uses her voice changer to sound like a dangerous pirate warning them back from boarding, but Brutus marches up the ramp, only to be grabbed by the loading claw. Jod walks up to Brutus taking his dropped blaster, and shoots him in the head, killing him, and tells the rest of the pirates that it's only kids aboard.
As Jod takes control of the Frigate, resuming his role as Captain, they receive a broadcast, the message from the kids parents, telling them to not give up hope. The pirates accept this as proof of there being life inside the cloud.
Wim tells Jod that he's decietful and the Onyx Cinder is his, but Jod contradicts him. However SM-33 steps forwards and tells them that under the pirate code, each ship should have a different captain and because Jod is currently the captain of the Frigate, the role on the Onyx Cinder is open. Wim tries to claim the captaincy, but Jod smothers his words, only for Fern to claim the ship and orders SM-33 to remove Jod, who he knocks to the ground.
The flee aboard the Onyx Cinder, and fly into the gas cloud, discovering giant orbiting devices generating the cloud, which take out the fighters pursuing them.
As they emerge from the cloud, they see At Attin ahead of them, but discover that Jod is also on the Onyx Cinder. They order SM-33 to deal with him, but Jod uses the lightsaber to cut off the droids head.
On the surface the parents are being dealt with by the droids that control the planet, but it is interrupted by an alert that a Republic Emissary's ship is arriving, and the Onyx Cinder sets down on a landing pad that emerges from the ground.
The Droids approach the ship and ask if Jod in the Emissary, which he confirms and asks to be taken to the mint, and the pad lowers into the ground.
It travels deep underground and a vault door opens in front of it, Jod walking inside to discover a massive chamber filled with billions of pallets of Republic Credits, each pallet worth more money than he has seen in his life. He asks the droids how many vaults there are, and is told thousands.
A speeder descends, delivering the kids parents, and the families reunite and hug, but Jod advances on them and ignites his lightsaber. . . .
High Points : The moment when they claim back ownership of the Onyx Cinder is brilliant, it gives you a second to realise, as the kids are realising as well, that they can claim back their ship and get control of SM-33 as well. That moment is so well timed, as everything falls in line for the kids and they get to escape in a sensible fashion without the adults having to appear idiots as so often happens in TV shows.
I also love the way that the show handles SM-33, voiced by the ever wonderful Nick Frost, who I've been a fan of since he played Mike in Spaced back in the 90's (joining the list of British comic actors voicing droids in Star Wars). SM-33 is a powerful droid, changing the balance of power in many scenes depending on who he is allied with. But he's not ridiculously over powered, and has been taken down on many occasions now. So while he often changes the balance of power, he's not a trump card, so doesn't dictate it.
Low Points : It slightly annoys me that the Droids don't ask for any kind of identification from Jod that he is the Republic Emissary. Even in the days of the Old Republic, the vessels of the Republic must have been stolen or pirated, so automatically identifying anyone who arrives on one as the Emissary seems overly reckless with their security.
So what do you really think ? : Another episode moving pieces into play for the final episode, but this one felt a lot more fun. While there's still not a load going on to advance the storyline, no revelations, there's some fun action, and it feels a lot more natural for where everyone is, it feels as if there's not much left to go until this story is concluded, but the climax is nearly upon us. Great stuff.
Final Words : So everyone is on At Attin, we've to meet the supervisor of the planet, voiced by Stephen Fry, who may or may not be the former captain of the Onyx Cinder. Even the pirates outside the defensive cloud might be available to join in, as only one of the two fighters sent after the Onyx Cinder we saw destroyed, so it might be able to guide the Frigate in.
Score : 9/10
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