Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — Yet Another Show Skipped Its Pilot Episode, and It's Worse for It

Streaming Wars is simply a play sentiment column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. Check retired nan past entry: Abbott Elementary Has Nailed nan Evolution of Gregory Eddie.

This week, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — a title that will henceforth beryllium shortened to Skeleton Crew — debuted connected Disney+ pinch a two-part premiere. The show is billed arsenic an Amblin-esque look astatine nan Star Wars beingness (because acknowledging that they wanted to make their ain Stranger Things money would beryllium telling connected themselves), but finds itself devoid of characteristic early on. The first bagian is fundamentally 4 kids, of which only 1 is remotely charming, bumbling astir nan abstraction suburbs while worrying astir a kidsbop type of nan Accuplacer test. There’s a greater problem astatine play though. Dull characters tin beryllium fleshed retired pinch time, and rapport tin beryllium built arsenic young actors person much scenes together (or, much succinctly, nan writers fig retired really to constitute for them), but you cannot lick for an utter deficiency of aviator bagian or, much succinctly, a successful bid premiere.

A aviator episode’s textbook intent is to waste a bid to a network. This believe isn’t arsenic communal successful nan streaming age, pinch nan commencement of my very slightest favourite modern idea: that tv bid are conscionable meant to beryllium very agelong movies hacked up pinch a machete and vomited connected a streaming platform. However, nan logic aviator episodes are truthful important is because it is their occupation to some present cardinal characters and group nan stakes of nan show from nan jump. That’s why pilots are truthful often (but not always) utilized arsenic nan first bagian of a series, and why creators either losing nan creation aliases nary longer being allowed to make a aviator is devastating to tv arsenic an creation form.

I’ve harped endlessly connected nan deficiency of pilots successful streaming and my utter disdain for the thought of tv bid needing to beryllium x-hour movies, but I struggle to deliberation of a show much hopeless for a meaningful premiere than Skeleton Crew. The first episode’s 47 minutes hardly spot a infinitesimal of intrigue, and nan 2nd bagian is only somewhat amended disconnected pinch nan preamble of Jude Law’s definitely-not-the-faceless-captain-we-see-mutinied-against successful nan first moments of Episode 1. That is astir a feature-length film’s worthy of clip wherever each we learned was that 1 kid wants to beryllium a Jedi and daddy doesn’t emotion him, 1 girl’s very tough, 1 kid’s very smart, and nan past one’s very frightened (and, yes, rather cute). Also location are pirates and nary 1 successful nan known postulation knows what nan heck At Attin is. But what we’re not fixed is simply a azygous logic to attraction whether aliases not those kids make it location to Space Pleasantville, aliases what their adjacent move will beryllium if they don’t.

If I had 1 dream for Skeleton Crew, it would beryllium that it would beryllium a caller introduction constituent for young viewers into nan Star Wars universe. Star Wars should have stories for kids! (Star Wars, arsenic a whole, is for kids.) But their expansive scheme to get kids engaged successful Star Wars was, sorry fto maine cheque my notes here… abstraction suburbs. Is nan committedness of pirates going to beryllium capable to get kids hopeful that this could beryllium Goonies successful space? It really doesn’t consciousness for illustration it. The “idyllic” At Attin is simply a spot wherever each of nan children exclusively study and each of nan parents exclusively work. Emotionless droids nudge each demographic along, insisting they travel nan creepy rules of their creepy planet. There’s imaginable for poignance location later on, but really overmuch does that matter erstwhile nan preamble is truthful alarmingly dull?

Skeleton Crew has nan opportunity to displacement distant from nan accepted Star Wars pitfalls, moreover pinch nan Jedi worship! The rumor is, nan first bagian does perfectly thing to prosecute maine pinch that possibility. I’ll support watching because I gotta, but are kids going to? The Rotten Tomatoes people indicates a batch of emotion for nan series, truthful possibly nan desire for a caller Star Wars movie is truthful beardown that group will put up pinch nan full eight-hour movie point erstwhile it comes to nan series. But damn, I miss TV.