Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. Check out the final entry: Abbott Elementary Has Nailed the Evolution of Gregory Eddie.
This week, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — a title that can henceforth be shortened to Skeleton Crew — debuted on Disney+ with a two-part premiere. The present is billed as an Amblin-esque take a look at the Star Wars universe (as a result of acknowledging that they wished to make their very own Stranger Things cash could be telling on themselves), however finds itself devoid of character early on. The first episode is actually 4 youngsters, of which just one is remotely charming, bumbling across the house suburbs whereas worrying a couple of kidsbop model of the Accuplacer check. There’s a larger drawback at play although. Dull characters might be fleshed out with time, and rapport might be constructed as younger actors have extra scenes collectively (or, extra succinctly, the writers work out the way to write for them), however you can not remedy for an utter lack of pilot episode or, extra succinctly, a profitable sequence premiere.
A pilot episode’s textbook function is to promote a sequence to a community. This observe isn’t as frequent within the streaming age, with the delivery of my very least favourite modern thought: that tv sequence are simply meant to be very lengthy films hacked up with a machete and vomited on a streaming platform. However, the rationale pilot episodes are so vital is as a result of it’s their job to each introduce key characters and set the stakes of the present from the bounce. That’s why pilots are so regularly (however not all the time) used as the primary episode of a sequence, and why creators both shedding the artwork or now not being allowed to make a pilot is devastating to tv as an artwork type.
I’ve harped endlessly on the dearth of pilots in streaming and my utter disdain for the thought of tv sequence needing to be x-hour films, however I wrestle to consider a present extra determined for a significant premiere than Skeleton Crew. The first episode’s 47 minutes barely see a second of intrigue, and the second episode is just barely higher off with the introduction of Jude Law’s definitely-not-the-faceless-captain-we-see-mutinied-against within the first moments of Episode 1. That is sort of a feature-length movie’s value of time the place all we discovered was that one child desires to be a Jedi and daddy doesn’t love him, one lady’s very robust, one child’s very sensible, and the final one’s very scared (and, sure, fairly cute). Also there are pirates and nobody within the identified galaxy is aware of what the heck At Attin is. But what we’re not given is a single cause to care whether or not or not these youngsters make it residence to Space Pleasantville, or what their subsequent transfer shall be in the event that they don’t.
If I had one hope for Skeleton Crew, it will be that it will be a brand new entry level for younger viewers into the Star Wars universe. Star Wars ought to have tales for teenagers! (Star Wars, as an entire, is for teenagers.) But their grand plan to get youngsters engaged in Star Wars was, sorry let me examine my notes right here… house suburbs. Is the promise of pirates going to be sufficient to get youngsters hopeful that this may very well be Goonies in house? It actually doesn’t really feel prefer it. The “idyllic” At Attin is a spot the place all the kids completely research and all the dad and mom completely work. Emotionless droids nudge every demographic alongside, insisting they observe the creepy guidelines of their creepy planet. There’s potential for poignance there in a while, however how a lot does that matter when the introduction is so alarmingly boring?
Skeleton Crew has the chance to shift away from the standard Star Wars pitfalls, even with the Jedi worship! The difficulty is, the primary episode does completely nothing to interact me with that chance. I’ll preserve watching as a result of I gotta, however are youngsters going to? The Rotten Tomatoes rating signifies lots of love for the sequence, so perhaps the need for a brand new Star Wars movie is so robust that folks will put up with the entire eight-hour film factor in the case of the sequence. But rattling, I miss TV.
