Did Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Stick the Landing (Or Does the Franchise Have a Finale Problem)?

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew isn’t the typical Star Wars show, which could have been a problem. Its focus on a group of children and the seedier side of the Star Wars Universe had a lot of potential, but the franchise is coming off the debacle that was the reaction to The Acolyte. Skeleton Crew needed to be a success and with the airing of its final episode, it can be judged as a complete picture.

Luckily, that complete picture is pretty good! Disney took a chance with Star Wars, and it paid off. The show was able to build to a satisfying finale, taking everything that the show has heretofore done well, and putting it on display. While it wasn’t exactly perfect, the final episode stuck the landing, ending the story in the best possible way.

Spoilers Ahead!

Skeleton Crew‘s Finale Paid Off Everything It Set Up

So, going into the final episode: Skeleton Crew had some big mysteries to solve, all while giving viewers a rousing finale. The mystery of who the Supervisor is was the main puzzle, and the show paid it off very well. Clues had been set out that the Supervisor could have been legendary pirate Tak Rennod, but the reveal that the planet is run by a huge droid makes perfect sense. The show had already established that At Attin was a Republic Mint, so putting beings in charge of it who are completely without greed and will follow the rules to the letter is the smartest thing that the Republic could have done. Plus, basing the Supervisor’s appearance on an astromech unit – like a giant R2-D2 – was such a great visual.

The next big mystery was whether Jod Na Nawood was a Jedi or not. Instead of going with him being a lost Padawan who survived Order 66, something that has been repeated several times in recent years, they established that a Jedi in hiding found him as a child and trained him in the ways of the Force. Unfortunately, the Jedi was arrested before Jod’s training could be completed, and he was forced to watch as the Imperials killed her. While there are some holes in this – for example, why wasn’t he taken and trained as an Inquisitor – it’s still thematically sound and different than what many fans expected.

Related: What’s Next for Star Wars After the Skeleton Crew Finale?

Getting the mysteries right was important, but would have been moot if the rest of the episode wasn’t entertaining. However, Skeleton Crew delivered an exciting, fulfilling ending. The early stages of the episode – with Jod quietly menacing the children with their parents’ lives hanging in the balance – builds up the suspense, and then pays it off with exciting action scenes, as the kids and their parents do their best to stop the pirates from taking over At Attin.

However, what really made these action sequences work so well is that they represented the end of character arcs for Wim, Neel, KB, and Fern. Wim was able to be the hero he wanted to be, doing everything he could to foil Jod’s plans, and seeing his father in an all-new light. Neel took the initiative and manned the turbo laser to attack the pirate frigate, putting himself in danger despite his fears. KB showed what she was capable of, piloting the Ebon Cinder out of the Barrier to call Kh’ymm and ask for the help of the Republic. Fern worked with her mother instead of fighting her, building a new foundation of respect. The finale even shows that Jod regretted the violence he was visiting At Attin. His unclear ending says something about him as a character and creates the potential of him returning for a second adventure with the kids – or getting a spinoff adventure of his own.

Skeleton Crew Shows that Star Wars Doesn’t Have a Finale Problem

There have been some fans who say that Star Wars TV series have been having a finale problem, lately. Many recent Star Wars projects have had less-than-stellar endings, and many fans were afraid the Skeleton Crew‘s finale would follow suit. However, that wasn’t the case at all, proving Star Wars doesn’t really have a “finale problem.” The problem with the disappointing endings to Star Wars media, since Disney took over, is more of a general writing problem. Too many times, Star Wars projects have built fan anticipation to such levels that any finale would be disappointing. However, Skeleton Crew sidestepped this.

Skeleton Crew set out with a clear goal in mind – doing a Stand by Me/Goonies-style story set in the Star Wars universe – and it nailed that. The show was able to capture the sense of adventure and wonder that those classic kids’ movies had, and set up interesting mysteries that all led into the next one, getting bigger and bigger. While its character arcs are standard for this type of story, they’re all well done. The show even ends with the potential for sequels; Wim, Neel, Fern, KB, their droid SM-33, and Jod are all compelling enough characters that fans would love to see them again. Skeleton Crew wasn’t interested in changing the lore of the universe, just telling an amazing story, and that’s why the show’s finale worked so well.

All episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are available to stream on Disney+.