Skeleton Crew Episode 4 Review!

Skeleton Crew’s fourth episode, “Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin” (dir. The Daniels) brings the gang to an eerily familiar world that somehow presents them with even more mysteries. While not as tight as the previous entries in the series, the buoyant sense of adventure is undeniable and remains a steadfast foundation for the series.

Spoilers ahead for Episodes 1-4!

What we saw:

• Using Kh’ymm’s coordinates from Episode 3, the gang arrives at a planet we soon found out is not At Attin, but rather the similarly named (and nearly identical) At Achrann.

• The kids head out to investigate and leave Jod on the shift with his new babysitter SM-33. Jod attempts to snoop around the ship in their absence but soon discovers that SM-33 knows more about the planet than he first thought.

• Fern, Wim, Neel, and KB realize that the planet is eerily similar to their own homeworld, and they are soon after ambushed by a group of kids who are embroiled in a seemingly constant war.

• The gang is brought to the group’s leader who says that they must be trained for combat against the enemy before they are allowed to visit a “Fallen Sanctum” which may hold the secret to getting them home.

• While Fern, Wim, and KB train with provided weapons, Neel has a conversation with Hayna, the leader of the child militia, about his desire for peace and inability to understand why each side doesn’t stop fighting. Neel’s desire for pacifism both intrigues and confuses Hayna after a lifetime of war.

• Meanwhile, Jod takes SM-33 out of the ship in an attempt to jog his memory about the secret location of At Attin, but in doing so, he finds himself at gunpoint from the opposing army and seemingly resigns himself to a quick death.

• The children, having finished their supposed training, lead an assault through the misty streets of the planet, but rather than encountering the enemy forces, they run across Jod who reveals that he paid off the soldiers using Wim’s Old Republic credits. In exchange for his assistance, Jod asks for the release of the children from service, and the crew journeys forward to the sanctum.

• Before they go, Hayna thanks Neel for his words and insight and gives him a light kiss before heading back to her people. 

• Upon entering the Fallen Sanctum, the crew discovers coordinates for a multitude of planets like At Atyuu, At Aravin, and At Acoda, but the pillar holding the coordinates for At Attin has been destroyed…by SM-33.

• The droid reveals that he destroyed the coordinates long ago according to his old captain’s orders, but when Fern attempts to override them (confirming that he does remember some At Attin after all), SM-33 attacks her and threatens to pull her apart.

• Fern is saved by a combination of Neel’s bravery in attacking the droid with a rock and Jod’s resourcefulness of turning SM-33 off completely…causing Neel to faint out of fear and exhaustion as the credits role.

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What we loved:

• Neel taking center stage as the moral backbone of the crew was wonderful to see. Although his storyline’s dialogue was a bit heavy on the expositional side, his desire for peace and goodness was wonderful to see.

• The mystery of At Attin continues to be the most intriguing part of the show, and the fact that there’s at least one planet that is seemingly identical but ravaged by war introduces a host of new questions. How did it get destroyed? Was the Empire involved? Are all the other planets in a similar state?

• SM-33’s reveal about his old captain was simultaneously engaging and terrifying. His protectiveness towards the kids against Jod has been wonderful to watch over the last three episodes, so his immediate turn to destroy Fern without a second thought packed quite a punch.

• While the backstory of At Achrann wasn’t the most interesting part of the series so far, the chemistry between the main crew continues to impress, and the final sequence within the Fallen Sanctum reminds us of how truly special this gang is when they’re firing on all cylinders.

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What’s next:

• After Neel wakes up from his fainting spell, the gang will likely work on extracting At Attin’s coordinates from SM-33’s memory. It’s just a question of how many layers they’ll have to dig through in order to find their way home.

• Was Jod actually telling the truth about paying off the enemy soldiers? While talking his way out of a jam using stolen credits is surely fitting of a former pirate captain, his role as unreliable narrator has us wondering if he’s actually giving the children the entire story about his escape. (It wouldn’t be the first time)

• We didn’t get a chance to check in with the children’s parents this episode to see what’s going on on the surface of At Attin. Have they found a way to get around the Supervisor’s rules? Are there more revelations to come from inside their isolated planet as we look in from the galaxy at large?

Skeleton Crew continues its run with an episode that doesn’t quite live up to the incredible bar set by the first three offerings but nonetheless provides a fun adventure that reminds us just how good it feels to spend time with these characters. As the mystery of At Attin grows bigger by the week, let’s hope the Christmas Eve episode brings some answers and even more excitement to our new favorite crew.

Skeleton Crew is available now only on Disney+!

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