Ahoy, mateys! Pirates, pirate ships, and a search for lost treasure have returned to Star Wars – and so has the familiar story structure, complete with a boring home planet (A New Hope) and ten-year-old (The Phantom Menace) protagonists flung into a very unexpected adventure in the wider galaxy. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester examine the first four episodes of Skeleton Crew to unpack the story structure, character arcs, and themes unfolding in the first half of the new Disney+ streaming series.

Although the story structure of Skeleton Crew draws from the monomyth that undergirds much of Star Wars, the series also draws inspiration from other 1980s films that followed a similar pattern with younger protagonists, including The Goonies and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Initially the schoolchildren simply want to get back home right away, but soon find themselves jumping repeatedly through hyperspace from one destination to the next. The four kid leads – Wim, Fern, Neel, and KB – have clearly drawn personalities and motivations, seemingly inspired by the varying common experiences of Gen-X youths in the ’80s, such as the latchkey kid fending for himself, the academically demanding mother, single-parent families and two-parent households, and only children or larger families. Their adult ally and guide, Jod Na Nawood (if that is even his real name …), presents his own puzzle of goals and dreams as he helps the kids chart their journey back to At Attin, while further reinforcing connections with more piratical source material like Treasure Island.

We also discuss the world-building developed in Skeleton Crew through four episodes. Much remains mysterious about At Attin, the Jewels of the Old Republic, the Great Work and the Supervisor, and the connection between the children’s homeworld and SM-33’s long-buried pirate ship and long-lost captain. Drawing upon the pirate fiction and real-world pirate history, we speculate about how these questions might be answered in the latter half of the series.

Related Links:

• Fangirls Going Rogue: SKELETON CREW Showrunner Interview
• Fangirls Going Rogue Interviews Cast of SKELETON CREW
• Fangirls Going Rogue: SKELETON CREW Mysteries!