Can Jod be stopped?

Skeleton Crew ends with blasters blasting, spaceships soaring through the skies and change for everyone involved. It follows closely the form and beats of Treasure Island with some added parents and X-Wings. For me it’s a great ending to a series that concentrates on kids discovering a big world and never leaves their side – always giving the story back to them despite the temptation to see an adult come in swinging a lightsaber or shooting a laser pistol to save the day.

It has a lot to say about childhood, about friendship and about what it means to choose to be who you are and for these reasons I think it’s going to be a show that lasts in a way that others won’t.

My main criticisms remain – that we don’t get enough of the kids among themselves, learning who they are and seeing them doing life. You could argue that younger people don’t know who they are. I’d propose that most adults are the same and despite this my own experience of younger people is that they are every bit as individual and idiosyncratic as the next person. In other words, I think the show could have stood to have an extra scene or even few lines in each episode to give us more of who each character was.

As a criticism it’s really born from the fact that I liked them and wanted to know/see more. I think that’s pretty positive to be honest.

Following the beats of Treasure Island meant that the biggest challenge was not sticking the landing because that novel is a classic for good reason. No, the biggest challenge was staying true to the sensibility of both Star Wars and Robert Louis Stevenson’s story at the same time. The temptation with Star Wars has been to have cameos and nods to other parts of the universe. The most we got here was the thrill of hearing X-Wings arrive and then a Tantive IV CV90 corvette appearing on screen. This was a real strength of the show – that it stood alone and told its own story.

This new (old) story was fresh, exciting, fun and kind. The stand out for me was Neel, played by Robert Timothy Smith, whose character consistently chooses kindness even when others are swayed or pressured into choosing otherwise. His is a quiet strength and it was delightful to see.

Verdict: The story ends with the loose ends tied up and I’m perfectly content with that. If you’ve given up on Star Wars then I’d say this is a great show to sit down and pass the time with.

9/10 parents (finally) listening to their children

Stewart Hotston