TV Series Review: Skeleton Crew (2024) (Disney+) *No Spoilers*

TV Series Review: Skeleton Crew (2024) (Disney+) No Spoilers

If you saw the trailer for Skeleton Crew and decided the show looked too much like Star Wars for little kids, and didn't watch, you missed out on a real treat.

While I will say this show was definitely targeted at bringing in younger fans to the Star Wars universe, it is very much more like family viewing than kids only TV.

Not to mention, characters are literally gunned down or murdered on this show, but without the really graphic violence you might see on a more adult orientated show.

It's actually no more kid only orientated than the first series of Stranger Things (2016), or even the original Star Wars (1977) movie.

In fact the whole show is a not so subtle homage to original Star Wars (1977), Treasure Island (1950), and eighties movies like The Goonies (1985), ET (1982), Explorers (1985) and others.

The plot is very straight forward. A group of children, living in the Star Wars equivalent of the suburbs, find an abandoned spacecraft.

To their surprise the ship still works, blasting them off into space where they must somehow find their way home. Along the way they must contend with all manor of individuals, and determine who they can trust to help them.

Skeleton Crew does several things for Star Wars that it's needed for a long time.

First, and most importantly, it is an ideal jumping on board point for anyone who has never seen Star Wars. It's an entirely new story, with a completely new cast. While there are references to the wider Star Wars cannon, these are more Easter Eggs, than important things you should know. Any references that are key are explained through the dialogue.

Second, Skeleton Crew brings new ideas to Star Wars, like what would a regular city populated by middle class families look like? We've seen backwater towns that look like the wild west, or huge, sprawling metropolis' that don't even look that functional to live in, but we've never seen the sleepy outer suburbs where 'regular' people (and other middle class alien races) live.

The series also introduces a whole new legend to Star Wars lore that I can't really mention without it being a spoiler, but it's a very interesting idea.

It also brings back one idea, that I really like, in that Jedi are rare. It's not the first new Star Wars series or movie to do so, but I really appreciate it when the writers remember that Jedi were all but extinct by the time Episode IV made it's debut in 1977. Jedi are special. It really erodes that quality when you see lots of Jedi together, like you did in the prequels. It makes it seem like anyone can be a Jedi.

If you are concerned about the main cast being children with questionable acting ability don't be. The four leads are well cast and deliver strong, believable performances.

The adult cast is also great but specifically, Jude Law as Jod, a man with a questionable past, and Nick Frost voicing SM 33, a new droid character, also with a questionable past.

I must admit, I wasn't expecting much from this series. I initially started watching to see more of the Star Wars suburbs idea. What I got was a story that was fairly well paced, not too complex, but with enough intrigue, and rising stakes to hook me in. At no time did I feel like this was a 'kids only' show.

What's more, of the characters that make it through to the finale, the series did enough work to get me invested in them. If a season two is in the works, and I really hope it is, I'm on board.

Skeleton Crew is a real opportunity to start fresh in the Star Wars Universe. It's a strong base to build a new saga, featuring characters that have little to no relationship to anyone else in any of the other movies or TV shows.

My only major criticism is with the finale, which feels a little rushed. A lot happens in an impossibly short space of time. It's not bad, by any means, and it probably isn't of any concern to younger audience members who have no concept of how long space travel actually takes (even with light speed). I would've liked to see a longer episode, or perhaps more of a two parter, for the actual action sequences, than what we got.

While the show may start in the sleepy little suburbs of an entirely new planet in Star Wars cannon it packs a punch and is some of the best Star Wars in recent times. As I've mentioned already it's not for kids only, it's very much for families too.

I'm hoping for a second season, or at the very least, to see some of these characters pop up again in other Star Wars shows and movies.

Well worth your time.

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