Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Very Interesting, As An Astrogration Problem

December 10, 2024 6:38 PM - Season 1, Episode 3

A mysterious stranger offers to help our heroes.
posted by Monday, stony Monday (20 comments total)

To carry the conversation over from the Episode 1 thread:

I think that most people will agree that Star Wars is only good when it's smearing a thin layer of Star Wars over something else that is already good.

The Goonies plus Star Wars is really working for me.

I think the real advantage here is that everybody involved in the production understands the assignment. When the writer, director, the actors, the production design, and the rest of the crew are all on the same page, everything just clicks, which is what is happening here.

Contrast this to The Acolyte, where the writer was creating a mystery box that she herself probably didn’t know the answers to. Which resulted in a bunch of actors standing around wondering, “What the hell are we doing here?”
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:24 AM on December 11 [2 favorites]

Contrast this to The Acolyte, where the writer was creating a mystery box that she herself probably didn’t know the answers to. Which resulted in a bunch of actors standing around wondering, “What the hell are we doing here?”

The writing was the chief issue with that show, unfortunately. It had an ambition, but not the ability, to pull off what was envisioned. Here, so far, it seems like Ford and Watts are doing exactly what they set out to do.

This episode is definitely the best of the three so far, undoubtedly assisted by Law's presence and the ability to play him and the kids off of each other. It also had this feeling of being "Star Wars" without screaming, "Look, we're totally Star Wars, right?" Which I think is achieved when the setting doesn't overwhelm the story, and that "thin layer" is applied in the proper amount. Basically, it's the right mix of adventure, of comedy, of tension and risks, to hit the sweet spot.

Was I surprised by catowl lady? YES. At first did I feel she was a bit too puppet-like? SURE. By the end of the episode, did I want more of her? Actually, yeah.

I appreciated that the show is also not shy on breaking down the mystery of At-Attin. Why it disappeared from star charts and so on. I'll admit, when the catowl lady started examining Fern's top of the class medallion, I noticed and started counting the symbols around the circle thinking, "Ah, classic Stargate address." Then I saw there were 8 symbols, which also meant, as we all know, that the address is for a gate in another galaxy. [whistles]

SM-33 being suspicious of Jude Law's character? Great. The mystery behind him? Great. The bureaucracy of the safety droid going, "It is clear your children violated the law and left the planet in a spaceship." "Can we reach out for help?" "Don't be silly, that's against the rules!" The identity of the Supervisor is also a growing question.

I need to re-watch this episode again, but final hoot was the kids mentioning how they knew about other planets, including Coruscant and Alderaan, and that glance. Heh.
posted by Atreides at 7:12 AM on December 11 [5 favorites]

I'm going to take a moment to gush about how much I love the puppetry on SM33. Every time he's on screen you can feel the weight of him in a way that you couldn't with, for example, Watto.

There are things (a lot of things!) that aren't necessarily made better by practical effects but in terms of characters being in a room together I've yet to see CGI that can match it.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:13 AM on December 11 [3 favorites]

If I had to guess, SM-33 is probably a combination of practice effects and CGI, which is how they create Neel. I also think this is where you get the best of both worlds when it comes to effects. Sometimes CGI is needed for shots that just aren't, well, practical, and sometimes, you can go completely practical for the heck of it, too.
posted by Atreides at 9:20 AM on December 11

If I had to guess, SM-33 is probably a combination of practice effects and CGI

He’s 100% puppet with the human parts rotoscoped out (0:47).
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:31 AM on December 11 [5 favorites]

Saw the episode title and immediately went to: Very exciting, as a luggage problem
posted by mikepop at 10:56 AM on December 11 [2 favorites]

He’s 100% puppet with the human parts rotoscoped out yt (0:47).

So what you're saying is that he's a combination of practical effects and CGI.
posted by Atreides at 1:00 PM on December 11 [3 favorites]

I have the same issue I had with the Acolyte where I feel that the episodes end a little abruptly. One thing I did prefer from the Acolyte (and Andor), and even the Mandolarian, is that the ship interiors feel more Star Wars 1.0, relatively brightly lit with straight walls, versus the newer very dim look with very complex shapes in the bulkheads (see also: newer Star Trek).
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 5:01 PM on December 11 [1 favorite]

This does feel notably tighter compared to the other shoes in the StarWars TV universe. Even something like Rebels which was very much pitched and advertised as being “for kids” feels slow compared to the cuts and sharp endings in Skeleton Crew. (All StarWars is for kids — and older fans need to remember that — but this show is even moreso tailored to a younger audience.)

Can we talk about how pretty this show is? The backlit shot of the kids and Jude Law walking across the surface of the moon nearly burned my retinas out in the best possible way.
posted by nathan_teske at 7:20 AM on December 12 [1 favorite]

Can we talk about how pretty this show is? The backlit shot of the kids and Jude Law walking across the surface of the moon nearly burned my retinas out in the best possible way.

This was probably one of the best visuals of the year when it comes to Star Wars media (for me at least). I'd be blasting it on my social media except...streaming services make it a pain to get screen captures.

I have the same issue I had with the Acolyte where I feel that the episodes end a little abruptly. One thing I did prefer from the Acolyte (and Andor), and even the Mandolarian, is that the ship interiors feel more Star Wars 1.0, relatively brightly lit with straight walls, versus the newer very dim look with very complex shapes in the bulkheads (see also: newer Star Trek).

The interior of the ship in Acolyte was a choice, and a bad one. I 100% agree with your take. The interior of this ship is a little bonkers because of how much they brought in this sense of pirate ship with all the cargo netting and hammocks and so on. I had to chuckle to myself because the hammocks are clearly the type you buy to set out on a lawn or something, and then there's a light fixture in the background above the table that 100% shows up in new houses on Realtor.com that are intended to be modern and an artsy aesthetic, and here it is, swinging away on a dusty ol' pirate vessel.

We learned a little more about the mystery of At Attin this episode, that it was one of approximately six or so precious planets that were hidden by the Old Republic to keep them safe...yet, all were destroyed but At Attin. Which really didn't answer anything other than clarify what the present day galaxy knows of the planet.

This does feel notably tighter compared to the other shoes in the StarWars TV universe. Even something like Rebels which was very much pitched and advertised as being “for kids” feels slow compared to the cuts and sharp endings in Skeleton Crew. (All StarWars is for kids — and older fans need to remember that — but this show is even moreso tailored to a younger audience.)

I commented on how one of the episodes (I think episode 5 or 6? - It's the one directed by Bryce Dallas Howard) is only 17 minutes long. Someone chirped up and shared they felt it was because the show wasn't written in an episodic format to begin with. Likewise, the creators, Ford and Watts stated they spoke with Dave Filoni who shared with them how George Lucas had prepared for and the process by which he wrote his Star Wars films. I wonder if they aren't really angling for a bit of that serial adventure - always ending on a cliffhanger, so to speak. Watts and Ford shared they went back to things they wanted to use for inspiration, such as Treasure Island (the book) and what not. Maybe they are also approaching it like chapters in a book.
posted by Atreides at 7:39 AM on December 12 [2 favorites]

Watts and Ford have said explicitly that they were watching movie pirate serials from the 1930s and 40s in preparation for this.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 8:01 AM on December 12 [3 favorites]

Even though SM-33 is the most obviously piratical thing in the show (and I imagine that Nick Frost must have had a blast doing the VA), the most obviously piratical bit for me was Jod/Crimson Jack pulling the blade out of the skeleton as he was outfitting himself from odds and ends on the ship. (It occurred to me that having a fight with mundane knives--in a franchise that's usually all about the blasters and lightsabers--makes more sense on a ship that's small enough that they're usually one not-terribly-thick hull away from hard vacuum.)

Also loving the mystery and mythology behind At Attin. So the Old Republic--or someone or something from that time--had planet-killers, way before the Death Stars? Hmm. Also hope that Owlcat comes back.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:07 AM on December 13 [2 favorites]

The Owlcat (Ky'mm or something - we'll just call her Kim) brought up the aspect about how At Attin had essentially been hidden so long, lost for so long, it had been turned into myth and legend. Which made me think that At Attin has probably been disconnected to the outside world for a very, very, long time. We have alien species, like Yoda, or Maz Kanata, who live centuries, so for someone to forget where this planet is, means that it has to likely exceed their life times. Maz, the Pirate Queen, for example, would probably know the chanties, and if she had remembered where the place was (such as being in the High Republic period) then she would have definitely pursued it.

My Old Republic knowledge is pretty terrible, but it has been established that the Sith had developed some pretty nasty weapons in the current canon. See Rebels season two, "Twilight of the Apprentice," where Maul intends to activate a Sith weapon to level on Coruscant to take his revenge on Palpatine. That planet, in turn, is basically a barren rock thanks to the same weapon. I'm guessing there's other examples, too, that I'm just not aware of or have completely forgotten.

So, perhaps At Attin's mystery goes back to the era of the Jedi - Sith War and so on.
posted by Atreides at 11:47 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]

For ancient weapons of mass destruction, there's also the Giant Dinosaur Robot from The Bad Batch season two, "Entombed". Apparently pre-republic.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 12:21 PM on December 13 [4 favorites]

My son and I both enjoyed this episode a lot. Besides being exciting, the show is doing a surprisingly good job of showing moral complexity that children can ponder. We talked a lot about whether Jod should be trusted or not. Another notable moment was the X-Wing pilot mentioning that they refrained from firing to avoid hurting the kids. In a universe which often defaults to good vs evil (or light vs dark) that felt realistic in an unexpected way.
posted by Kattullus at 12:49 PM on December 13 [2 favorites]

Oh, and I came across an interesting short blogpost by the lead digital artist at ILM for Skeleton Crew, Todd Vaziri, on the role of digital effects in the show. Here’s an excerpt:

In the lead-up to the release of "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew", Slashfilm wrote a piece on December 1st that loudly and proudly proclaimed that one alien character on the show was not created with digital effects. The headline "The Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Character Who Surprisingly Isn't CGI" isn't exactly leaving any wiggle room. The piece says "The elephant-like design of main character Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) may look a whole lot like a fully CGI creation, but that's actually quite far from the truth."

In reality, Neel was brought to life using a combination of techniques, including digital effects. Clayton Sandell documented this on Bluesky, based on interviews with "Skeleton Crew" ILM VFX supervisor Eddie Pasquarello and ILM animation supervisor Shawn Kelly.

posted by Kattullus at 1:24 PM on December 13 [2 favorites]

I'd wager we're gonna get Hondo at some point on this show, even if only a cameo a la Threepio in Rogue One (but a speaking cameo, since, like Threepio, the character's voice is the distinguishing thing).

My reasoning:
1- Hondo is the most established pirate character in the Mouse era of SW;

2- they put PIRATES in caps in the opening non-crawl ferchrissakes;

3- Hondo's voice actor is a longtime Disney contributor;

4- the Millennium Falcon ride at the parks, which features Hondo so prominently that it nearly depends on him, takes place after this show timeline-wise AFAICT; and

5- the ride is beginning to fade in popularity—so it makes sense to try to get some more visibility for the character here (i.e., the first time *I* rode Falcon, my sense of who Hondo was was kinda shaky, and it definitely affected the ride's impact for me).
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 6:24 AM on December 16 [1 favorite]

I'm not cheering or rooting for Hondo to appear, but I wouldn't be upset if he did get some kind of reference - and for all the reasons you listed, it seems like it would be inevitable that he make an appearance.

My son and I both enjoyed this episode a lot. Besides being exciting, the show is doing a surprisingly good job of showing moral complexity that children can ponder. We talked a lot about whether Jod should be trusted or not. Another notable moment was the X-Wing pilot mentioning that they refrained from firing to avoid hurting the kids. In a universe which often defaults to good vs evil (or light vs dark) that felt realistic in an unexpected way.

One thought that crossed my mind through that chase was that the children definitely did not seem to appreciate that if their blasts hit their target, they could possibly kill someone. It was like a game of some sort. Likewise, being cut off from the galaxy, they had no idea that those darn classic representations of the good guys, X-wings, were indeed, the good guys. I wonder if this will be addressed later.

Oh, and I came across an interesting short blogpost by the lead digital artist at ILM for Skeleton Crew, Todd Vaziri, on the role of digital effects in the show. Here’s an excerpt:

Todd is a great source online for raising the flag for ILM's digital effects, generally when someone puts down digital effects or plays it off like they aren't being used. He wants his fellow creators to get credit for their work, especially since digital effects are used in so many properties these days. ILM staff are fun to follow online for their insights and behind the scenes info on how things are done. Love those folks.
posted by Atreides at 7:56 AM on December 16 [2 favorites]

the hammocks are clearly the type you buy to set out on a lawn or something,

yo those hammocks totally threw me out of the Star Wars imaginary.

Suburbs? I was distracted by the absolute luxury of public light rail running through the suburbs.. light speed travel is less fantastic than public light rail into the suburbs.

but why are extra galactic space pirates sleeping in target-ass hammocks like they told the PA to go buy them the morning before the shoot? they could have at least broken the spars and painted them up a bit to make them more pirate-y, did they not have brown spray paint around?
posted by eustatic at 3:11 PM on December 16 [2 favorites]

but i'm mostly enjoying this show a lot, it was just a "they left the starbucks cup out on the Stark mead table" kind of moment
posted by eustatic at 3:30 PM on December 16 [2 favorites]