After last week’s rollercoaster ride of an episode, this week the latest Star Wars show takes a beat to put all things in place for the final two chapters. Of the two cliffhangers we were left with, one is quickly resolved, the kids fell down some shoots (à la Luke at the end of Empire), and the other, Jod igniting the lightsaber, is completely ignored. What we get is a more character focus piece that puts the spotlight firmly on KB, the most underdeveloped so far of the four children. We’ve had hints about what her situation is but now we get some verbal and visual answers.
We kick of the episode, directed by Mandoverse regular Bryce Dallas Howard, by splitting the characters up and exploring new pairings, a classic storytelling trope that allows the characters and audience to learn. The kids end up a the bottom of a cliff, below their ship, and can’t agree on a plan to get back up. Fern, the self proclaimed leader, looks to the straightforward solution of climbing back up, while Wim, the wanna-be Jedi, finds some techno-hermit crabs and wants to follow them to safety.
KB interjects and expresses her frustrations with best friend Fern, the first time she has really spoken up for herself in the series, revealing that her implants are corroding and can’t physically do the same as the others. Fern isn’t seeing her for who she is anymore and just assumes that everyone is a competent as her. So they all split up, with Fern and Neel making the climb while Wim and KB wander off after the crabs.
Meanwhile, Jod the pirate-jedi is immediately capture while trying to escape with the treasure and taken before Brutus, the pirate captain, and his former crew to be executed by being thrown out an airlock. In a scene that proves Jude Law’s movie stars credentials, and in classic pirate style, Jod is allowed to plead for his life, allowing Law to deliver a stellar uncut monologue. This is Jod’s crew, he knows them, and he appeals to their desires and Brutus’s greed to buy himself some more time and possible way out of his fate. Buying the explanation of what the treasure is, all the pirates are on the way to At Attin.
The rest of the episode sticks with the kids in their new pairings as they learn and grow into their roles. During the climb, Neel points out to Fern, who is getting ahead of him, that his arms are shorter and he is not physically able in the task as she is. After a beat, Fern slows down, passes him a rope, and coaches him through the climb. She is finally becoming a true leader, thinking and helping rather than just telling her friend to do something and steaming ahead.
But as I said earlier, in this episode we finally get some focus on KB. On her journey with Win, her body starts to fail her and all she can do is just sit down. She tells to Wim that since her accident, the first we have header of this, the headset is what keeps her body from shutting down. Up until now, there has been a question over whether the headset is fashion accessory or a medical aid but here we definitively see that it has replaced her brain stem. . She explains that if the device corrodes that she will die but fortunately, in a Star Wars science way, if Wim melts some scraps and pours them into a mould, he can fashion the perfect replacement. When Wim brings her back to life she calls him Jedi and he learns that there is more to being a hero than looking for adventure.
With KB now reinvigorated, the rest of the episode becomes full on action, something which Howard has become an expert in shooting. It turns out the trash crabs don’t want to save the Wim and KB, they leading them to be food for a larger, Phil Tippett animated crab but, in the nick of time, Neel and Fern come flying in on a garbage hauler dragged Onyx Cinder to save day.
The kids, now reunited, have to use the skills that they have learnt over last few episodes to save themselves and the Onyx Cinder from a giant hellmouth in the form of a walking trash compactor. Fern is the leader, Wim becomes the warrior, Neel the pilot, KB the tech expect as she delivers the knowhow from her computer enhance memory, and to escape they do the one thing an adult told them not to do, push the big button. This sheds the Onyx Cinder of it’s pirate exterior, revealing a sleek, shiny spaceship. The kids are now a crew flying the skeleton of a ship and are ready to return home with a clearer picture of who’s right and who’s wrong, ready to return using the coordinates in KB’s memory.
So we are set to have all the characters converge on At Attin, with the kids to returning home and the pirate after the mint but he show is still keeping a lot of its cards close to its chest. Who was the pirate captain behind the disappearance of At Attin? Who is the supervisor in charge of the planet? Is their an Old Republic mint and if so, who are they printing money for? What side will Jod end up on in the end? And, most importantly for our heroes, who much do the parents know? Even though the kids are going to make it home, there could be heart break on the horizon.
While this episode was short, it crammed a lot in and, although it was lighter on action than previous episode, it grew the show’s heart. The Skeleton Crew are on their way home but the adventure is not over.
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