This article contains spoiler for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Episode 6, “Zero Friends Again.”
The last day of 2024 brought us the sixth episode of “Skeleton Crew,” the “Star Wars” series about a group of kids lost in the galaxy trying to get home. They meet on the way Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law)a scheming pirate with a dozen different names and identities who is wanted by bounty hunters, his old crew, the New Republic and many others. In the final episode, he betrayed the children, took control of their droid SM-33 (Nick Frost) and set out to steal their ship, the fabled Onyx Cinder. As this new episode, “Zero Friends Again,” begins, the children escape Jod’s treacherous clutches and he is able to grab all the treasure he can carry and hit the road. As a result, the children are forced to spend this episode trying to get back to their ship without the help of their adult companion (even as they become increasingly annoying to each other).
Along the way, there are more revelations about the series’ young heroes, particularly KB (Kyriana Kratter) and her health condition, which forces Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) – the not-really leader of the group – to help her with maintenance work on her department for artificial intelligence because she is too afraid to show this weakness to her friend Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). Jod quickly realizes that his previous life has caught up with him. The crew he escaped from after mutinying against him in the series premiere manages to recapture him and has every intention of making him pay for his shenanigans. There, the old pirate codes of the “Star Wars” universe are at the center of a turn of events that seems borrowed from another well-known Disney franchise.
Episode 6 of Skeleton Crew is a nod to a famous Pirates of the Caribbean scene
After Jod’s former crew recaptures him, their current leader Captain Brutus (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) sentences Captain Silvo – one of Jod’s many aliases – to death by airlock. But before that can happen, he is quickly granted the right of “equal time” to present his case. It seems that this is something in their pirate code that gives Jod the opportunity to speak in his own name in his defense. Although he gets a stay of execution and the pirates agree to go to At Attin to look for the treasure there After waking her up with a jaunty rendition of a tune about an ancient pirate myth and the planet itself, Jod is ultimately still her prisoner, thrown into an airlock and ready to be killed at any moment.
It’s a development that’s immediately reminiscent of a situation in 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” in which “Captain” Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) arranges a meeting with his treacherous former first officer Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) gets. by invoking the right to “negotiate”. The term “negotiation” was included in the “Pirata Code” and allowed for a temporary truce between pirates, allowing them to speak without fear of harming each other, which usually ended with them negotiating satisfactory terms and were allowed to go their separate ways. As with Jod (or Captain Silvo, depending on who’s talking to him), this particular parody doesn’t go so well for Jack, and he remains Barbossa’s prisoner after being thrown into the brig.
Pirates and Star Wars go together like peas and carrots
With “Skeleton Crew” putting so much focus on the pirates of the “Star Wars” universe, it’s no wonder that the Disney show now includes several homages to the company other Mega-successful swashbuckling franchise. The series already had has tipped its hat to the original “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme park rideSo it only made sense that it would eventually pay its respects to the “Pirates” films. You can also trace the inspiration for “Skeleton Crew” to an even older Disney work in the form of 1950’s “Treasure Island,” itself a major film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1883 novel. It’s a story in which The rules of piracy also come into play, particularly those of the “black spot” (itself a way of officially signaling that a pirate has been sentenced to death by other pirates). Additionally, the influence of the nefarious “Treasure Island” privateer Long John Silver (whose name is remarkably similar to “Silvo”) cannot be overlooked.
“Skeleton Crew” was a really entertaining ride, combining a nod to older “Star Wars” projects and their series adventure style with a touch of hope and optimism, but also the various dangers and cliffhangers it sets up on the path brings with it. It was just a joy to watch Law push a group of kids through the dangers and pitfalls (and inevitable betrayal) of a galaxy far, far away to get their hands on it and their planet’s treasure. The young actors behind the children themselves, including Robert Timothy Smith as the kindly, peace-preaching Neel, also delivered strong, charming performances while going up against some truly great talent, and they all seem to have the time to spend their lives fighting against pirates, especially in this episode.
New episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew arrive Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. PST on Disney+.
