Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – Very Interesting, As an Astrogration Problem review S1 E3
Very Interesting, As an Astrogration Problem had a mouthful of a title, but it was another entertaining installment of Skeleton Crew, which is benefitting greatly from offering a completely different Star Wars story.
The kids’ parents are upset that the At Attin supervisors isn’t permitting any efforts to reach the children since they’ve left the barrier. It was interesting that the showrunners decided to make a point out of showing that KB has two mothers while not showing if Wim’s mother or Fern’s father is around.
Speaking of the kids, their mysterious new ally introduces himself as Jod Na Nawood. Yeah, that name probably needed to get workshopped a bit more over at Lucasfilm. It’s a garbled mouthful. Jod uses his “Jedi” tricks to distract the guards and back to the ship, but they’re not ready to head out until they recover SM33.
Fern and KB naturally don’t trust Jod while Wim is starstruck at the notion of actually meeting a Jedi. Jod reluctantly agrees to rescue SM33 as he clearly wants something the kids have — most likely the whereabouts of their planet.
Jude Law quickly proves in Astrogration Problem that his casting was a smart choice. He gives Jod that shady scoundrel character that always seems to make a good impression in Star Wars while having enough charisma to suggest he could ultimately make a good hero. If there was some doubt, Jod is revealed as the mysterious helmeted captain whose crew turns on him in a revolt led by Brutus.
Jod runs into an old crew member who is more than happy to tell Brutus he’s escaped. Director David Lowery plays against expectations here by avoiding the dramatic Jod shootout to get back to the ship with SM33. Instead, the transition shifts from Jod realizing he’s about to get made to him dragging SM33 on the ship and yelling for the kids to take off. Yep, this dynamic is already proving to be a lot of fun.
Brutus’ first mate, Gunter (Jaleel White) tips his captain off, but Jod manages to get the ship away to hyperspace before they can pursue. And they leave a major mess in the process. That little bit of humor in Astrogration Problem and the series in general is bringing back a welcome sense of playfulness and fun back to Star Wars.
MORE:
- Wicked movie review (2024)
- Homestead (2024) review
- Dynamite Entertainment 12/11/24 – Space Ghost #8 review
- WAFCA 2024 Award Winners revealed
As luck would have it, Jod happens to have a friend who’s pretty good at narrowing down missing planets. Providing she doesn’t try and kill him first. This friend calls Jod “Crimson Jack,” which definitely sounds more like a pirate than a Jedi Master. Jod’s friend, Kh’ymm (Alia Shawkat), is a very cool character that’s an owl-like creature. Kh’ymm is also a heck of a cartographer. One who can solve even a major Astrogration Problem.
In a very interesting bit, the kids have zero clue what happened to Alderaan and thanks to their seclusion, have completely missed out on the entire Galactic Civil War. Most notably, Wim doesn’t know anything about the return of the jedi.
Kh’ymm is able to do some pretty clever detective work a la Obi-Wan Kenobi and Dex in locating Kamino in Attack of the Clones in finding At Attin. A huge help was the insignia on Fern’s backpack, which her mother had no reason to suspect could be used to help strangers find the planet they’ve taken such major steps to ensured remained hidden.
Jod is all about finding the lost treasure in At Attin. For a moment he seemed amenable to cutting Kh’ymm in on the action until she alerted Rebel Forces of his arrival. This leads to a surprisingly entertaining fight between the two. Lowery played out the owl vs. man fight with another AOTC feeling battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Jango Fett on Kamino. Eventually, Jod got the better of Kh’ymm and headed out with the directions to At Attin. Kh’ymm warns KB not to trust Jod and to call her anytime if she needs help. No offense, Kh’ymm but you weren’t much help when fighting Jod one on one.
Things heat up when the X-Wings arrive and Jod has Wim and Fern has them fire off some warning shots. Lowery definitely captures the feel of kids in this kind of action as Fern is upset that Wim shot “her” target. Wim is having a blast being in a dogfight.
It’s also fun seeing how Jod is working the kids acting as if he’s deferring to Fern’s “commands” that he works for them while maneuvering them to his next objective. What he wants at At Attin isn’t quite clear, but what has become in focus is Skeleton Crew just has to keep following the flow and tone of episodes lke Astrogration Problem to have an entertaining and engaging season.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney
Get the Star Wars Black Series KB and Neel figure now from Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.