Skeleton Crew Episode 7 puts the adults in a classic Steven Spielberg scene

This article contains spoiler for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” Episode 7, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble.”

The penultimate episode of the first season of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble,” brings the action back to the planet At Attinwith all of the series’ storylines and characters converging in the mysterious world of myth. As things get underway, the at-risk children’s parents, Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), and KB (Kyriana Kritter), plan to send them a message and admit them know how to overcome the deadly barrier that stands between them and their return home. Meanwhile, Captain Brutus (Fred Tatasciore), Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) and the rest of the pirates fight over the children and their ship, the Onyx Cinder, when they realize that it could hold the key to crossing the barrier.

Eventually Jod gets the upper hand, violently captures the children, holds them hostage with cruel threats, and leaves his pirate crew behind. When he reaches the surface, he finds the fabled treasure of Attin and the children are reunited with their parents. However, the actual episode ends just as the final conflict begins.

Along the way, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble” samples everything from “Andor” to “Treasure Island” to get ideas. However, one of the best scenes comes straight from a Steven Spielberg classic.

“Skeleton Crew” creators Robert Watts and Christopher Ford have made no secret of the fact that they were inspired by the work of Steven Spielberg, particularly his directing and producing works in the 1980s. “The Goonies” is often cited as an inspirationand it makes sense. “The Goonies” truly cemented the “Kids on Bikes” genre in the hearts and minds of 80s kids everywhere. But of course there was another film that founded the genre in the first place: Spielberg’s 1982 hit “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.”

The seventh episode of “Skeleton Crew” opens with a scene straight out of “ET.” Since the parents of the missing children are confident that Attin’s droids and overseers will do nothing to help find their children, they have created their own communication device, cobbled together from spare parts, to send a message about the borders of the to send planets out. They gather in the forest to spread their message. Unfortunately, At Attin’s security droids with bright flashlights descend on them in the night and give chase, hoping to prevent their message from getting out to the public.

The scene feels like a direct nod to two specific, iconic moments in “ET.” The first is the chase scene in “ET,” previously referenced in the series, where the eponymous alien is chased through the forest at night by government agents with flashlights. The other thing, however, is that ET has cobbled together his own communication device to contact his people and get picked up to go home. “ET phone home,” he tells his friends in one of the film’s oft-quoted lines.

While Episode 7 of Skeleton Crew compares the footage and atmosphere of Spielberg’s classic to its own nighttime forest sequence, this time it also puts the adults in the position of running from the authorities, which is a hilarious switch-up. Clearly, however, they just want to get their kids home safe and sound, and one wonders if it might have been the same for the other aliens trying to reach aliens at the other end of things in Spielberg’s film.

If there’s anything we can learn from the example of the “Kids on Bikes” Spielberg films of the 1980s, it’s that they always have a rousing climax with lots of action and, well, kids on bikes. Since this episode of “Skeleton Crew” ends on a massive cliffhanger after the young heroes are returned to Attin, it stands to reason that we’ll probably see the kids on their hoverbikes again as they try to save the day from Jod Na Nawood and his treacherous behavior in the season 1 finale.

Will they fly into the sky and be silhouetted by the moon? That might be a bit too much, but I would still bet that the hoverbikes play a role. I would bet that too Wim will get his hands on the lightsaber that Jod used to escapeto. It would make a lot of sense for him to become the Jedi he’s dreamed of being since the first episode. Hopefully the droid friend SM-33 for children will also be back. This is just good storytelling in Spielberg mode.

The season 1 finale of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will be released on Disney+ on January 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM PST.