Rebels Georg

SKELETON CREW, Episode 8 | "The Real Good Guys"

Jod’s smug facade falling when Wim yells him name. Even after everything, Wim calls out to him. This man finally broke

First of all these tags are immaculate!

And ur right with the shadows and blue light, makes me think of this part to

Like he’s glimpsing into that blue light for just a moment and sees things as they truly are, his ship is gone, his crew gone, his plan over. Maybe with everything else gone he’ll finally walk into that light

Actually, the most impressive thing about Skeleton Crew was how it understood the value of keeping the story small.

When your heroes are small, sheltered, inexperienced children, everything feels huge and threatening.

When none of the characters have the Force, you don't need characters who can move buildings with their minds. The guy who can do a teeny bit of stuff with the Force has a terrifyingly huge advantage.

Barely using the Force means that little examples of using the Force--like making a small object float--can invoke a major sense of wonder.

When only one character has a lightsaber, you don't need huge sword battles. A single blow from a lightsaber becomes a terrifying dramatic moment.

The villains don't need to have weapons that can blow up entire galaxies. If you have a few villains who can put the heroes, their families, and their home in danger, the stakes are as high as they need to be.

You don't need to draw characters and plot points from fifteen other stories. You just need to set up plot points that are well-foreshadowed in this story.

It keeps the story grounded, relatable, and understandable, while still having tons of tension and excitement and adventure. You don't have to make the story big. You just have to keep the heroes small.

me every time the skeleton crew kids bully that old man

Can’t believe they gentrified Skull Ridge Mountain. Can’t have shit on Lanupa.

Skeleton Crew meets Hera and Chopper and they actually get help trying to find At Attin instead of being with Jod.

"Everywhere we went, even the worst places, there were good people, too. "

I think it’s so so novel and kind and good and true that Skeleton Crew has the bad guy in a coming of age story embody the BADNESS of not growing up, and then instead of symbolically destroying him at the end to show the wrongness of his approach to life and the way those coming of age move past it, they simply have him watch as his negative worldview literally crashes in front of him, so maybe something better can come in

The arcs! The arcs!!!! The character work was so well done!

•Wim wanting adventure and no one else wanting it, and then they learn the goodness of the outside world and he discovers the goodness of home as well. Home IS the treasure world all the pirates want to get to! Because it’s something they didn’t get! And he helps KB and she says bet you thought it’d be more exciting, saving someone’s life? And in the end his dad’s boring job is exciting and saves everyone!

•Wim trusting people because they seem friendly and him being the one able to figure out who the good and bad guys are and warn his dad who believes Jod just like he did, and figuring out who he wants to join in the end (the people that help other people!) BUT being someone who saves other people also means recognizing WHO needs saving, and he’s the one that gets to humanize Jod a little bit in the end

•Wim’s dad starts with aren’t you too old for bedtime stories (growing up=getting boring) and he has a whole arc of acting childish and then childlike, and having to realize there’s more of the story in the world than he thought, and he GETS to realize that! Because all the was keeping him from believing it was the idea that it wasn’t that way.

•Fern and the tower! She lives at the top of the hill and her mom is anxious to keep her safe up there because there’s not room for everyone at the top. But she goes out and learns that being on top is a responsibility, that being a leader and a captain means looking at the people around you and seeing what they are good at and helping them do that! And she also sees the outside world her mom’s afraid of also has good people who will help you in it. The very first thing when she steps into the pirate world a lady they don’t know pulls them aside to help them! And so with her and her mom in the actual tower she’s able to convince her mom to bring the barrier down that separates them from the outside world. It was keeping them safe but it was also shutting out the good!

•Neel teaches the warrior girl the value of a peaceful life. Kindness isn’t weak! Saying sorry isn’t weak! It’s the way you actually resolve things and *live*. He changes that planet. But he also learns from her! Neel who’s kind partially because he’s scared of everything ends by saying we almost died like every day but it was fun! That’s how you know it was a real adventure! And he saves his friend with the actual knowledge Hana the warrior girl gave him—the big gun on top of the school. (Think it’s insanely fitting that Neel who aced his school exams at the beginning gets to defend everyone with the weapon of the school. Again! The boring ordinary takes on new life and power! The goodness of the ordinary! It’s actually exciting! But it does have to transform to be. It has to be part of something bigger!)

•KB is the brains! Jod says trust your gut but Khym the owl lady says think! Use your head! And she learns on the hotel planet with Wim that what she needs is to communicate! And she’s the one that sends the message!

•Jod!!! He gets to be an antagonist and he’s scary not because he’s a grown up but because he can’t grow up!! His nemeses aren’t the adults it’s the KIDS because that’s the level he’s on. He’s Emma Swan!! He’s stuck in the idea that the world is awful and no one’s coming to save anyone so you just have to fend for yourself and take what you can get (pirate worldview), until!!! That literally crashes and burns in front of him! Because someone DID show up to save them! His whole world crumbles!! Who knows!! He can start again!

Me waiting in fearful anticipation for the next skeleton crew episode

I think Mad Captain Silvo is his best alias actually

Din Djarin: I’d die for this kid

The entire Bad Batch: we’d do anything for Omega

Jod: I’d literally kill any of these kids for a dollar and crisp beverage

Imagine: Fern, KB, Wim, and Neel are on their own after ditching their bad pirate dad. They encounter a spry old lady, don’t know whether to trust her. What if she’s just another pirate? “I’m not a pirate, I’m a Liberator of Ancient Wonders.” Wanda Sykes steps into the light.

Another thing I haven't seen people discussing about Skeleton Crew is how it's kind of teaching kids to develop critical thinking skills instead of blindly believing whatever they're told just because an adult/someone they like or trust said it. At the beginning of the show, Wim takes Jod at his word because he's an adult who apparently can use the Force. Wim is so sheltered that his only experience with adults has been that they're automatically trustworthy and always tell the truth. That combined with his idolization of the Jedi primes him to trust Jod on sight, ignoring Fern's repeated warnings until Jod decides to betray them.

After that, he starts to think for himself and figures out that the X-Wings Jod once said were bad are actually the good guys, and we see him moving away from his previously naive mindset that had him hanging off of Jod's every word without question. In an age where anyone can influence anyone else to believe whatever they want them to thanks to the bane of human decency the Internet, this is such an important lesson to weave into a story for younger viewers. It is literally impossible to shelter them from every crumb of nonsense floating around in the world. So stories like this where relatable kid characters have to undergo a journey of disillusionment aren't just a good idea, they're a necessity. Not everyone you look up to has your best interests at heart. Sometimes they have ulterior motives for wanting you to think a certain way. Sometimes they alter details to suit their own agenda while pretending to be an advisor, confidant, or friend. Sometimes they flat out lie to serve themselves. You have to take what you're told with a grain of salt, filter out personal confirmation bias, and properly vet who's passing on the information (and their possible motives for doing so) to determine whether or not their words can be trusted.

Again, I'm so impressed with the work the writers have done on this series. I think everyone (including myself) who wants to write for young audiences regardless of medium needs to be paying close attention and taking mental notes. This is how you correctly educate and entertain at the same time

the sillies pt 2 (pt 1)