When I saw the runtime of the last episode skeleton teamI was a little worried. At thirty-six minutes including recaps and credits, it seemed a little too short. I think my concerns were justified and I think this episode and the upcoming finale could have been conceived as one episode, divided into two parts just like the first two episodes. A lot happened in episode 7, but it also felt a little rushed due to the runtime and it ended with an awkward cut given the pace.
We get a few brief character moments as Vim comes down, knowing that the adventure is almost over despite all the mayhem, but this episode wasn’t really about the kids: it was all about Jod and his infinite gold rush. It was about determination to achieve. The episode begins with Brutus still being held prisoner, who chooses to toss him in the airlock after seeing that Atene is just a giant stormtrooper. Zod, choosing not to use his Force powers, continues to talk about a way out of his current situation, criticizing Brutus on “seeing is believing”, then returns once Onyx Cinder returns home. comes up with a story that the key to the ship is to get to the surface… which turns out to be absolutely true, as the ship apparently originally belonged to Atene. I guess all this confirms is that the Supervillain is the same old Captain we saw in episode five.
Jod was a real masterpiece this week. After sweet-talking their way out of the airlock, he takes advantage of an opportunity when the kids catch Brutus in the mechanical claws of Onix Cinder, who we saw in episode four. Jod uses this moment to free himself from his shackles using the Force and proceeds to kill Brutus by shooting him in the head. Despite the show being promoted as a more kid-friendly offering, I actually like it, skeleton team Can be very intense at times. Jod not only kills his former Rebel first-mate, but also destroys the SM-33 (no!) and threatens the children’s parents in a very gruesome and graphic fashion. Jude Law may have been introduced in the beginning as the main and potentially reluctant hero of this show, but he’s a real SOB and I love that he’s not what I thought he would be at the beginning of the show. Will be in. That said, I wish we got a little more insight into his past, but at the same time, I’m grateful that the show didn’t overextend his character with poorly written dialogue. Oh, and while I was very surprised about SM-33’s “death,” I’m sure he’ll be back by the end of next week’s episode, his head reattached to his body and as good as new. .
Jod knows everything about the children’s parents because of a message sent at the beginning of the episode. The strange thing from a storytelling perspective is that the message was ultimately useless to the children, as they flew into the storm regardless. I think this should have been sent much earlier in the season and would have been a piece of the puzzle for the kids, as the message mentioned that for security reasons they couldn’t say where Etienne was. The only real reason for sending the messages then was so the pair could put faces to each respective parent.
Under the guise of an emissary of the Republic, Joad et Etienne is able to make his way into print, where he laughs maniacally as gold credits rain down upon him. Honestly, it was pretty awesome. (As Fern was saying that Onyx Cinder is a ship just for kids, which SM-33 previously said was “good enough” before switching allegiances). That said, the cliffhanger ending felt quite disappointing. Due to the short amount of time, I thought we could have moved on, as Jod firing his saber at the families before cutting to black, it felt more annoying than anticipated. He has gold, what’s the point of drawing? And what’s the point of cutting when we know they’re safe? This creates false tension and makes the wait for next week feel long and a little trivial. It was just a weird and disappointing cliffhanger.
Final episode, directed by Lee Isaac Chung (twisters) featured several big moments, but I felt it should have devoted more runtime to the episode. My frequent criticism of the Star Wars Disney+ shows has been that they often feel too short. I know it’s probably for budgetary reasons, but sometimes half an hour isn’t enough for some stories and between a massive heist with hostages and a crew member it feels like it should have only been ten minutes. Extra time was given. Let’s hope the finale provides that much screen time to really wrap up its stories and get it where it needs to be!
