This publication contains spoilers for “Skeleton Crew Episode 5.”
In “Skeleton Crew”, At Attin’s coordinates are harder to get than a pirate’s treasure. After being directed to the almost identical planet coded by At Acrann’s “Fallout” and about to be torn limb from limb, the titular team decides to override SM-33’s memory unit. Episode 4 revealed that the droid’s former captain had wiped his memory of At Attin’s coordinates, so the crew’s latest mission is to recover the hidden coordinates of a physical location. This leads to Jod (Jude Law) and co. to the pleasure planet Lanupa, which used to be a dangerous pirate base and has now been converted into a spa.
The intensely coded “Indiana Jones” adventures that unfold here deserve a separate discussion, as there is a batch to unzip here, including the “Star Wars” version of a popular Lovecraftian entity (!). However, most of episode 5’s emotional gravitas comes from Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), who realizes that going on space adventures isn’t as fun as he’d imagined. Ever since Wim and his friends accidentally left their home planet, he was the only one who enjoyed the idea of going on exciting, risk-filled adventures across the galaxy, thanks to his idealism of Jedi heroism. However, after Things Get Too Real in At AcrannWim is forced to face the truth of the situation: he and his friends are lost in space and are in constant danger until they find a way to return home.
When Jod sees Wim down, his initial instinct is to flippantly tell him to get over it. However, once Wim opens up about his fear and vulnerability, Jod emerges with extraordinary pearls of wisdom and heartfelt comfort. What’s surprising here is that he quotes an iconic Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, drawing parallels that reveal a little more about his mysterious past.
Wim’s quote about Qui-Gon in Skeleton Crew could hint at his elusive roots
This isn’t the first time “Skeleton Crew” has referenced “The Phantom Menace.” Wim’s constant adoption of the term “wizard!” is a direct callback to Anakin’s pod race, and the kids calling the Republic credits “dataries” reference Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) using this particular term in the prequel. “Your concentration determines your reality,” Jod advises Wim, noting that his vivid imagination is one of his many strengths and that he can bravely overcome obstacles. This is a direct quote from Qui-Gon’s advice to young Anakin (Jake Lloyd) before his tragic death, where he emphasizes that Anakin must “always remember” that a Jedi’s concentration defines his worldly perception and strength of character. Unfortunately, Anakin loses focus of this profound wisdom in the years to come and ends up charting a dark and complicated legacy with galaxy-altering repercussions.
While Jod’s advice to Wim doesn’t have such tragic overtones, it reveals the former’s likely connection to the Jedi way of thinking, or an alignment with his philosophy, at least. Until now, Jod has danced around the presumption that he is a Jedibut his abilities to wield the Force raise questions about his past. Sure, not all Force users have to be Jedi, but it’s not unreasonable to imagine Jod as a young Padawan or Jedi Knight who turned to piracy after the Purge. Jod’s insistence on not forming bonds is also heavily codified in the Jedi Order, and it remains to be seen whether it is a long-held belief or a philosophy he adopted much later.
There are also hints of Sith-adjacent behavior, as is a little evil to scare and threaten a group of children after gaining their trust. However, I am inclined to believe that Jod is neither Sith nor Jedi in the strictest sense of the term, but rather a secret third thing that functions as the morally gray worldview of someone who is tired of the cruelty of the galaxy. The fact that he picks up a lightsaber with familiarity towards the end complicates things further, but we have to wait and see how this delightful mystery is resolved.
New episodes of “Skeleton Crew” premiere Tuesdays at 6 pm PST on Disney+.
