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The following contains spoilers for the latest episode of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”
“Skeleton Crew” is a delight. While it’s as far removed from “Andor” as “Star Wars” shows get, it still manages to deliver fun, whimsy, and frequently scary adventures in the galaxy far, far away, week after week. “Skeleton Crew” also combines the world-building and iconography of “Star Wars” with the swashbuckling fun and dangers of titles like “Treasure Island,” “Indiana Jones,” “Peter Pan,” and “The Goonies.”
Though it may be an all-ages show starring kids, there are plenty of terrifying moments to be found in “Skeleton Crew.” After all, the show’s kids are up against bloodthirsty pirates more than willing to skin their enemies alive and boil their guts for the fun of it.
“Skeleton Crew” doesn’t need lightsabers and Jedi either, even if one of the main characters can use the Force. Still, Jude Law’s sketchy pirate with a dozen fake names is one of the best new “Star Wars” characters in years — a scoundrel who acts like he has a heart of gold, but is more likely to leave you in a ditch than shoot you in the face. He’s also charismatic, funny, and has great chemistry with the series’ young heroes. Jod (Law) has especially good chemistry with Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), the wide-eyed kid who dreamed of being a Jedi and going on adventures but is now regretting ever leaving his home planet.
Their stories come to a boil in the latest episode, “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates,” wherein Jod finally shows his true colors and betrays the kids in an effort to collect the treasure of At Attin for himself. Seeing Jod threatening to kill one of his friends, Wim decides to stand up to the criminal and help by grabbing an old lightsaber in the pirate’s treasure room where they find themselves, finally becoming the Jedi warrior he always dreamed of being. Except, things don’t exactly go as planned, and instead we get a delightful homage to a popular “Star Wars” meme.
Be careful where you point your lightsaber
The latest episode of “Skeleton Crew” is a big homage to “Indiana Jones,” complete with a “Last Crusade” inspired series of booby traps and puzzles leading to the big pirate treasure. At the very end of the episode, Jod takes a knife to Fern’s throat in order to make her yield her position as captain of the Onyx Cinder. In an attempt to save her, Wim grabs a lightsaber nearby and ignites it. However, not realizing that the real thing isn’t like in the pictures or holograms, he ignites it upside-down. Facing the wrong direction, the lightsaber almost stabs Wim in the foot.
It’s a hilarious moment of misdirection and an honest mistake coming from a kid, showing that the reality of being a Jedi or going on space adventures is not at all what he expected. But what makes it so good is that the scene is very reminiscent of the popular meme of Mark Hamill on the set of “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope” pointing his lightsaber directly at his face like a clown.
“This makes me cringe every time I see it,” Hamill once said of the meme while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t remember doing this in the movie. I think it’s just an on-set production still, otherwise Obi-Wan wouldn’t look so remarkably unconcerned.” Indeed, the popular image comes from an on-set photo rather than the actual movie, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a meme mocking Luke’s naivete and incompetence while wielding such an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
Still, as funny as the moment is, it does reveal one undeniable truth: as cool as we all think we’d be if we were to go on a big “Star Wars” adventure, chances are most of us would end up accidentally killing ourselves with a lightsaber.
New episodes of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” premiere Tuesdays at 6 pm PST on Disney+.
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