TV Review: ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ Episode 6 Deconstructs The Crew With Aplomb

If Star Wars: Skeleton Crew‘s fourth episode was its Neel (Robert Timothy Smith)-centric outing, then “Zero Friends Again” is KB’s (Kyriana Kratter) spotlight episode. Thankfully, while “Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin” was one of the series’ least successful episodes — despite the focus on the ever-delightful Neel — this is one of the series’ best. Not only does it put the spotlight on KB, the least developed of the four kids, but it does so in a way that ultimately pushes everyone else to grow as well as, betrayed by Jod (Jude Law) and thus mentor-less,  they must prove themselves and overcome challenges on their own to continue their Hero’s Journey.

The episode picks up right where the previous left off, with the kids zooming down a Goonies-esque tunnel slide (or a “Luke after getting his hand cutoff and learning the truth about his father in Empire Strikes Back” Cloud City tube, for a reference closer to home) that spits them out in a landfill at the very bottom of the spa/hidden pirate lair above. While Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) — desperate to reassert her role as leader in the face of Jod’s usurpation — is quick to order everyone to start climbing back up to the Onyx Cinder, KB refuses. As teased last episode, all the moisture around her has affected her implants, and she doesn’t want to risk shutting down while clinging to a mountainside. This leads to a reconfiguration of the usual sub-group pairings: Neel goes to climb with Fern, while Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) opts to stay with KB. 

By shaking up the expected character dynamics, everyone gets pushed to experience self-discovery. Neel is forced to assert himself more directly, stepping out of the shadow of being Wim’s friend. This causes Fern to realize a good leader has to listen and respect her teammates’ needs. It’s the very thing that caused her rift with KB. Meanwhile, KB has to expose her physical vulnerabilities, enlisting Wim’s help to repair her implants and expressing her concerns about being left friendless in the process. This causes Wim to gain confidence in himself following Jod’s betrayal, while also helping him see that adventure can come in many forms, and sometimes the simple act of friendship is more heroic than swinging a lightsaber.

The sequence between KB and Wim is also a wonderful depiction of the challenges of living with a disability. It puts in stark relief KB’s struggle to strike a balance between having her limitations ignored or brushed aside (as Fern does) or those limitations looming too large and dominate her life (as she heartbreakingly worries that, should the extent of her special needs come to light, she’ll go back to having no friends again).

Having torn the crew apart then put them back together, “Zero Friends Again” then uses its climax to show off the now well-oiled group dynamic, as the kids manage to retake the Onyx Cinder for themselves. One by one, they slide into their roles without comment or argument: Fern takes charge, Neel takes the wheel, KB heads to engineering and fires up the engines, and Wim mans the guns. The transformation of the ship as “Chekhov’s Hull Detonation Sequencer” is set off to help it escape from death by trash fire is representative of the crucible the characters have undergone over the last two episodes. Like the ship, they arrived on Lanupa in one form but are leaving in another, heading home but changed by their adventures. 

They’re also heading straight back into the orbit of Jod. After being captured by his former pirate crew shortly after betraying the kids, he segues his knowledge of the real treasure of At Attin (and a delightful performance of an At Attin-themed sea shanty) into a reprieve. In the process, he ensures that all plot threads — the kids’ efforts to get home, their parents’ efforts to find them, Jod’s search for treasure, the mystery of At Attin — are on a collision course. The kids are, finally, on their way back home, but regardless of what happens next, “Zero Friends Again” makes it clear just how much they’ve been changed by their adventure. 

New episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are released Tuesdays on Disney+.